# If Epstein information and testimony directly implicates Trump, what happens? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 10, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850 "2019-07-10T17:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/1 "2019-07-10T17:47:08Z")
Suppose there is evidence and/or testimony that comes up in the Epstein case that implicates Trump in the rape of children. What would be the short and medium-term political fallout? My guess – if the evidence is allegations from victims of Epstein that also implicate Trump, similar to the past allegations from victims against Trump, nothing will change. Supporters will continue to find ways to rationalize supporting him; Republican officials will change nothing; etc. Maybe the Democratic Congress would start a formal investigation into whether Trump raped children, but I doubt it. If the evidence includes Epstein’s own testimony (or the testimony of other bigwigs who end up in big trouble), in an effort to get shorter sentences, most of the above would be the same but the Congress would almost certainly start a formal investigation. The DOJ still wouldn’t (even if federal crimes, like transport across state lines, were involved), I’m almost certain – Barr has shown clearly that he values defending Trump over the law and justice. If the evidence includes audio or video of Trump discussing (or, og forbid, doing) the abuse of chidren, then I predict chaos – most Trump supporters would still support Trump and insist these are fake (as would Trump himself, I would presume), and Republicans in office would split down the middle (even as most would try to avoid talking about it at all). Congressional investigation and impeachment would be almost certain, but I have no idea if it would end with Trump’s removal from office. There are probably other possibilities in between these, but this is what I think. These are mostly guesses, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/2 "2019-07-10T18:12:25Z")
Furrowed brows from the GOP. Cries of “fake news” and “but Clinton”. Not much else. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/3 "2019-07-10T18:38:27Z")
We’d have deflection the likes of which not even God has seen. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/4 "2019-07-10T18:43:39Z")
“You know what else they say about my people? The polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and rape a child and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s like incredible.” ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/5 "2019-07-10T19:03:58Z")
> **[Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, explained](https://www.vox.com/2019/7/9/20686347/jeffrey-epstein-trump-bill-clinton)** > > Here’s what we know. > [@](#): > > The 2009 subpoena: In 2009, Brad Edwards, an attorney who has represented various Epstein victims, had Trump served with a subpoena for testimony in a case against Epstein. > > But Edwards is not alleging any wrongdoing from Trump; rather, the opposite. He said in a recent interview that he had served subpoenas on many connected people in 2009, and that Trump was “the only person who picked up the phone and said, ‘Let’s just talk. I’ll give you as much time as you want.’” > > Edwards added that Trump “was very helpful, in the information that he gave,” calling it “good information that checked out and that helped us.” And, he said, Trump “gave no indication whatsoever that he was involved in anything untoward whatsoever.” > [@](#): > > The Katie Johnson lawsuit: This is the only accusation against Trump for Epstein-related wrongdoing. An anonymous woman sued Trump in 2016, claiming that in 1994, he violently raped her at an orgy hosted by Epstein. She said she was 13 years old at the time, and accused Epstein of raping her as well. She first filed suit in California under the name “Katie Johnson,” and when it was thrown out there for technical reasons, she filed it in New York under “Jane Doe.” > > But many journalists were wary about this claim. There was no corroborating evidence offered (except for affidavits from two anonymous people claiming to have been told of or witnessed it), and the suit appeared “to have been orchestrated by an eccentric anti-Trump campaigner with a record of making outlandish claims about celebrities,” the Guardian’s Jon Swaine wrote. Jezebel’s Anna Merlan tried for some time to get to the bottom of what was going on and concluded in June 2016, “The facts speak less to a scandal and more, perhaps, to an attempt at a smear.” > > Trump himself said, “The allegations are not only categorically false, but disgusting at the highest level and clearly framed to solicit media attention or, perhaps, are simply politically motivated.” > > All that was before the _Access Hollywood_ tape and before many women had spoken out publicly to accuse Trump of sexual assault. But even after that, the anonymity of “Katie Johnson” and the sketchiness of her associates kept mainstream US journalists wary about this accusation. She ended up withdrawing her lawsuit days before the 2016 election; her attorney Lisa Bloom said it was because she was getting death threats. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/6 "2019-07-10T19:07:30Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If the evidence includes audio or video of Trump discussing (or, og forbid, doing) the abuse of chidren, then I predict chaos – most Trump supporters would still support Trump and insist these are fake (as would Trump himself, I would presume), and Republicans in office would split down the middle You mean a 50-50 split between insisting that it’s irrelevant and insisting that there’s nothing wrong with it, I presume… ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/7 "2019-07-10T19:16:32Z")
This seems like outlandish conjecture to me. Trump has never otherwise been accused of sexual misconduct with children, other than his behavior at Miss Teen pageants, right? Conjecture about him credibly being accused of “child rape” seems over the top. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/8 "2019-07-10T19:23:45Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > This seems like outlandish conjecture to me. Trump has never otherwise been accused of sexual misconduct with children, other than his behavior at Miss Teen pageants, right? Conjecture about him credibly being accused of “child rape” seems over the top. I’m not predicting anything – I’m asking about a hypothetical scenario. But that’s an interesting “other than” up there… With most folks, we’d hope “…has never been accused of sexual misconduct with children” would end right there. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/9 "2019-07-10T19:24:15Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > Conjecture about him credibly being accused of “child rape” seems over the top. [Donald Trump Is Accused Of Raping A 13-Year-Old.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-rape-case_n_581a31a5e4b0c43e6c1d9834) ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/10 "2019-07-10T19:37:16Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/11 "2019-07-10T19:48:54Z")
Unless it’s Trump, on video, raping a child, it won’t make any difference. Even then, maybe not. It could be the “Deep State” using “Deep Fake” or whatever that video editing software is (too lazy to look it up) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/12 "2019-07-10T19:51:19Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > This seems like outlandish conjecture to me. Trump has never otherwise been accused of sexual misconduct with children, other than his behavior at Miss Teen pageants, right? Conjecture about him credibly being accused of “child rape” seems over the top. He has never been accused of sexual misconduct with children, other than the time he was accused of sexual misconduct with children?" ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/13 "2019-07-10T20:31:40Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > He has never been accused of sexual misconduct with children, other than the time he was accused of sexual misconduct with children?" And that other time. ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/14 "2019-07-10T20:32:22Z")
To be fair to Best Leader Trump, he was not accused of touching any Teen USA contestants, _only_ walking in their dressing room while changing… But then you have this- _In a New York magazine profile of Epstein before he went to prison, and long before Trump ran for president, Trump acknowledged that he knows Epstein. “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,’’ Trump says in the story. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it ― Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”_ But short of HD quality video of the incident, nothing would happen because his base wouldn’t care- you’d see video of middle aged redneck wimmin talking about how they had sex with older men at that age, Jerry Lee Lewis did it too!, etc. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/15 "2019-07-10T20:37:12Z")
The response from Republicans will be but…but…but… her emails! They’re a personality cult and nothing will ever convince them that Donald wasn’t sent by God to become dictator for life. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/16 "2019-07-10T20:37:44Z")
If the Pope were to testify he saw Trump rape a child they would just say the Pope is a commie pinko left wing liar. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/17 "2019-07-10T20:38:26Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > He has never been accused of sexual misconduct with children, other than the time he was accused of sexual misconduct with children?" He’s kept his sexual misconduct with children to an absolute minimum. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/18 "2019-07-10T20:59:30Z")
anyone else ever heard of a guy who said he would date his daughter if she was not his daughter? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/19 "2019-07-10T21:05:59Z")
N/m ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850/20 "2019-07-10T21:11:17Z")
Suggest Trump is a sexual predator, and the only proof we have is him bragging about it himself. Make similar accusations against Democrats, and where is the evidence again? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-epstein-information-and-testimony-directly-implicates-trump-what-happens/836850.md?page=2)