# The Epstein Files Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [July 17, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997 "2025-07-17T23:21:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/101 "2025-07-22T19:38:33Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Mike Johnson, that little toady, is [shutting down the House](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07/22/us/trump-news) until September to stave off a vote on Epstein and to “avoid political games”. Fuck you, you little worm. Strange, is it not? Just yesterday trump himself was asking for Congress to forgo the usual August break to work hard though some very important files and pieces of ~~ass~~ legislation: > **[Lawmakers typically get a month off for 'August recess.' Trump wants to...](https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-august-recess-vacation-nominees-2025-7?op=1)** > > Congress is typically out of session for the whole month of August. Now, Trump wants them to abandon those plans and stay in DC. > President [Donald Trump](https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump) is leaning on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to cancel the so-called “August recess,” when both the House and the Senate go out of session for a month in the dead of summer. > > The reason: The president is eager to get more of his nominees confirmed. > > “Hopefully the very talented John Thune, fresh off our many victories over the past two weeks and, indeed, 6 months, will cancel August recess (and long weekends!), in order to get my incredible nominees confirmed,” Trump [wrote on Truth Social](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114882283904953607) over the weekend. “We need them badly!!!” And now they can’t go for holidays soon enough. Coherent as usual, I call that. Wonder whether they will get away with that too. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/102 "2025-07-22T19:42:08Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Donald won’t release the Epstein files because he’s protecting himself and/or people on whom he depends for cash and flattery----his fellow elites. trump can just get his complaint AG to delete and erase everything that would embarrass him, and if they like, add stuff to condemn Democrats. These files have been in the hands of Bondi for a while now, if released why do we assume they would be unaltered? > [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > The thing is, there is a spreadsheet that flags every mention of Trump they found in the files. This spreadsheet exists. _At one time it existed._ > [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > It seems Trump is so entangled with this mess that it might bring him down. Bring him down- how? 60 votes in a GOP controlled Senate? Being convicted of mnay felonies didnt do it. > [@griffin1977](#): > > The Democrats need ride this horse as far as it will go. It is nothing but win for them. Unless Bondi removes every bad mention of trump and adds in some nasty fake stuff about Dems. > [@Atamasama](#): > > They blamed the Clintons though, naturally, because MAGA. Hillary apparently has mad ninja assassin skills. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/103 "2025-07-22T19:50:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > These files have been in the hands of Bondi for a while now, if released why do we assume they would be unaltered? These people are stupid, wouldn’t a forensic computer specialist be able to tell if they have been altered? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/104 "2025-07-22T19:51:57Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > These people are stupid, wouldn’t a forensic computer specialist be able to tell if they have been altered? Not if they turn over only paper files. Or scan those altered paper files and submit that. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/105 "2025-07-22T19:52:58Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Hey, it worked for Gary Condit… And a whole lot of sharks. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/106 "2025-07-22T20:15:26Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Many people were involved with illegal activities around Epstein. So many underaged victims. Maxwell was the only person to serve time for it, when there should have been many more. It’s absolutely a travesty. How often does law enforcement go after the customers of pimps? How often do customers maintain private worries years after the pimp’s arrest? I don’t see this as a travesty at all. Maxwell served time, Epstein decided that ending his life was better than life imprisonment. That’s 2 people punished. The travesty will come in early 2029 when Trump pardons Maxwell. Another travesty occurred in 2008, when Acosta delivered a sweetheart plea deal to Epstein. The overarching travesty of course is that President Sex Pest wants to be President for Life and half the country doesn’t care. ETA below: Cite? Real question. Let’s figure this out. (Or bow out, and I’ll do the googling.) Agree with your 2nd paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/107 "2025-07-22T20:16:18Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > How often does law enforcement go after the customers of pimps? How often do customers maintain private worries years after the pimp’s arrest? When the customers engage in sex with **minors**? All the time. These aren’t prostitutes, these were underaged girls often tricked into going there (based on testimony) and then paid off after the fact. This aren’t women turning tricks on the street or working in an established brothel. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/108 "2025-07-22T20:32:19Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I don’t see this as a travesty at all. You don’t see child sex trafficking as tragic? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/109 "2025-07-22T20:33:20Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > You don’t see child sex trafficking as tragic? I perceive child sex trafficking in general as tragic, with this case being a egregious example of it. But I suspect most all of them are pretty horrific. ETA below: Because such tragedies occur all the fucking time. Travesties imply something unusual. Ok, I googled. Here’s one case of the perp trafficking one minor and given a life sentence. No evidence of the authorities working with customer lists: > **[Phoenix child sex trafficker sentenced to 174 years in prison](https://www.azfamily.com/2025/05/29/phoenix-child-sex-trafficker-sentenced-174-years-prison/)** > > A convicted child sex trafficker has been sentenced to nearly two centuries behind bars, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday. Here’s another case of a GOP donor sentenced to 21 years for a far more extensive list of victims. No evidence of the authorities working with customer lists: > **[GOP donor Anton Lazzaro sentenced to 21 years for sex trafficking minors in...](https://apnews.com/article/anton-tony-lazzaro-gop-operative-sex-trafficking-e4fc3e85fe5597b645e74d921246b963)** > > A formerly well-connected GOP donor convicted of giving teenage girls gifts, alcohol and money in exchange for sex has been sentenced to 21 years in prison on sex trafficking charges in Minnesota. To prove my perception, I’d need more examples collected systematically. This isn’t my wheelhouse. But these were the first 2 cases I located. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/110 "2025-07-22T20:38:36Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I perceive child sex trafficking in general as tragic, with this case being a egregious example of it. But I suspect most all of them are pretty horrific. But you don’t see the fact that the perpetrators weren’t brought to justice as a travesty? Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/111 "2025-07-22T20:53:04Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Here’s another case of a GOP donor sentenced to 21 years for a far more extensive list of victims. No evidence of the authorities working with customer lists: I retract example #2, because the perp may have not been a pimp. There many not have been any customers. I can’t tell for certain. Here’s another case with a life sentence. Fox News link: > **[Colorado child sex trafficker sentenced to 472 years in prison](https://www.foxnews.com/us/colorado-child-sex-trafficker-sentenced-to-472-years-in-prison)** > > A convicted child sex trafficker in Colorado will spend the rest of his life in prison, and then some, after receiving the longest sentence for a human trafficking case in U.S. history on Tuesday. No evidence of authorities working with customer lists. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/112 "2025-07-22T21:03:26Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > No evidence of authorities working with customer lists. In the first case that you give, it says that the girl was messaging with different men and the pimp was looped in to approve/decline the offers. If I was an officer, I’d be going through the girl’s chat history and creating a list of people to investigate and send the town prosecutor at. I’d expect many or all of those people to plea for a sexual offender registration and no jail time. I wouldn’t particularly expect most of those to end up making the news, nor to be mentioned in the trial of the pimp, nor would I expect my list to be mentioned in the news. We only know of the pimps because the town prosecutor actively promoted the court case and conviction. Generally, the press isn’t aware of most activities undertaken by the police nor the attorney’s office. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/113 "2025-07-22T21:08:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If I was an officer, I’d be going through the girl’s chat history and creating a list of people to investigate and send the town prosecutor at. I’d expect many or all of those people to plea for a sexual offender registration and no jail time. I wouldn’t particularly expect most of those to end up making the news, nor to be mentioned in the trial of the pimp, nor would I expect my list to be mentioned in the news. Is this standard practice? If so, good. I’ve heard complaints about disproportionate law enforcement focus on prostitutes as opposed to their customers, but that isn’t child sex trafficking and this isn’t my wheelhouse. I’m surprised that an investigation of the kind that you report _wouldn’t_ be mentioned in the news stories that I reported. I would think such mention would have a deterrent effect. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/114 "2025-07-22T21:16:28Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Is this standard practice? If so, good. According to the Wikipedia, there’s about 800-900k people listed on sexual offender registries. They didn’t sign up out of the goodness of their hearts. You’d need to envision a cop that feels like molesting kids is a smaller crime than street walking and who would rather cruise around hoping to find a woman soliciting herself out, versus taking a ready to go digital list of a few dozen pedophiles that you can easily crank out some good numbers for the month with, and decides to go with route 1. I’d venture to guess that the issue for ladies of the night is that 1) some creep cops are trying to get free sex - but that’s incidental to what they’re doing most of the time, outside of public view - and 2) lefties love sex workers (for the womens’ sake, of course) and hate cops, and the news room is mostly populated with lefties. Between those two, the coverage is skewed. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/115 "2025-07-22T22:51:18Z")
I appreciate the reply Sage\_Rat (I do), but I don’t think we’ve found evidence (or even a single example) of law enforcement following up child sex trafficking convictions with a careful or not-so-careful arrest of those on the customer list. Sure there are lots of people on the sex offender registry (25% related to crimes committed when they were a minor, some guilty of public urination) but that doesn’t give us a clear idea of the nature of their arrest. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > 1. lefties love sex workers (for the womens’ sake, of course) and hate cops, and the news room is mostly populated with lefties. Between those two, the coverage is skewed. I trust coverage is skewed, but lefties aren’t particularly fond of prostitution customers (while newsrooms in general get along well with cops who feed them stories). The simple explanation is that serious investigation of prostitution client lists is atypical, though it happens. Fox40 News link: " Sacramento deputies bust johns, rescue sex workers in trafficking sting" [https://fox40.com/news/local-news/sacramento-county/sacramento-deputies-bust-johns-rescue-sex-workers-in-trafficking-sting/](https://fox40.com/news/local-news/sacramento-county/sacramento-deputies-bust-johns-rescue-sex-workers-in-trafficking-sting/) > ([FOX40.COM](http://FOX40.COM)) — With the hope of busting johns and rescuing sex workers, Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies were out in full force Friday night for a human trafficking sting operation. > SCSO deputies, some armed and wired, and undercover cops posed as prostitutes in north Sacramento near Watt Avenue. The area has historically been a popular place for sex workers. > “Tonight, we’re focusing on Johns, basically, in the county,” said SCSO deputy Shayn Bowen. “There’s lots of sex workers, especially underage sex workers that are out there.” Hoo-boy. That looks like a media event dressed up with trigger words like “Sex trafficking”, and “Underage sex workers.” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/116 "2025-07-23T01:06:44Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I don’t think we’ve found evidence (or even a single example) of law enforcement following up child sex trafficking convictions with a careful or not-so-careful arrest of those on the customer list. Sure there are lots of people on the sex offender registry (25% related to crimes committed when they were a minor, some guilty of public urination) but that doesn’t give us a clear idea of the nature of their arrest. Doing a deep dive on sexual offender metrics is probably more involved than I can get to. A specific example though would be the FBI’s Operation Cross Country, which appears to be a yearly initiative to hunt down sex traffickers and pull in everyone involved, from all angles. Here’s an announcement on the results of Operation (Year?) 12. > **[FBI Announces Results of Nationwide Sex Trafficking Operation](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/fbi-announces-results-nationwide-sex-trafficking-operation)** > > The FBI, working with its state and local partners during two weeks in August, identified and located 84 minor victims of child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation offenses and located 37 actively missing children during a nationwide... ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/117 "2025-07-23T01:13:56Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Travesties imply something unusual. The [definition](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/travesty) of a travesty is a distortion, or grossly inferior imitation. This is a travesty of justice, specifically. Justice was not served. The person most responsible escaped justice through death, and many others who deserved severe punishment for raping children or supporting the enterprise escaped any consequences at all. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/118 "2025-07-23T04:49:50Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > This is a travesty of justice, specifically. Justice was not served. Fine. Then I’m saying this travesty is routine, as there’s no direct evidence here that cops _ever_ troll through client lists of convicted child pimps, though they should. And outrage would be more usefully directed against more active and recent cases, in the interest of deterrence. Sage\_Rat has usefully cast reasonable doubt upon my contention. And if I’m very wrong, that is a very good thing. But I haven’t yet located direct evidence to the contrary, including at the FBI link. * * * In other news, what is Trump afraid of? What sort of evidence could hurt him? I say flight logs to Epstein island indicating repeated visits is something that might hurt him, though it wouldn’t be sufficient evidence to convict him of anything. I say there’s fire underneath the smoke and Speaker Johnson appears to agree with me. The cover-up is frantic: [https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/house-and-executive-branch-now-totally-derailed-by-epstein/sharetoken/2e0cb9dd-63de-4d92-9446-1fb15fe985d2](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/house-and-executive-branch-now-totally-derailed-by-epstein/sharetoken/2e0cb9dd-63de-4d92-9446-1fb15fe985d2) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/119 "2025-07-23T05:01:47Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > In other news, what is Trump afraid of? What sort of evidence could hurt him? I’d wager it’s more than nothing at least. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2025, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997/120 "2025-07-23T12:23:32Z")
What do you think Maxwell will “admit to” in order to get her pardon/commutation? Because I know that is what they are planning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-epstein-files-question/1020997.md?page=7)