16 Thoughts On The Trump-Epstein Bombshell

Here’s the story if you’re just tuning in. Let’s get right to it:

1. Only a small number of people in the world can at this point say with total certainty that the lewd birthday letter Donald Trump wrote to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 is authentic.

2. But we should strongly assume the Wall Street Journal verified it beyond basically any doubt.

3. The relevant nightmare precedent here is the so-called Killian Documents controversy, or “Rathergate,” in which Dan Rather and CBS News vouched for the authenticity of documents pertaining to George W. Bush’s national guard service that turned out to be forgeries.

4. Even two decades later, that debacle is lore in modern newsrooms. Between institutional memory of Rathergate, and Donald Trump’s preemptive promise to sue, it’s almost unthinkable that the Journal would have published unless they were certain they weren’t being set up.

5. There are other good reasons, too. For instance: If the Trump letter to Epstein were forged—never reviewed by federal prosecutors, as the Journal reports, or deemed by DOJ to be fake—Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and Dan Bongino would know it, and one or two or all three of them would’ve leapt to Trump’s defense.

6. Instead, we got spittle-flecked but substance-free ravings from Vice President JD Vance, who couldn’t possibly know the truth of the matter.

7. Vance complains, “Where is this letter? Would it shock you to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it?” But Trump claims, “the supposed letter [is] a FAKE.” These characterizations aren’t totally contradictory but like 99 percent contradictory.

8. I don’t know when or under what circumstances, but the physical letter will presumably become public at some point, people with real-time memories will be asked about it, its authenticity be almost as impossible to dispute as the Access Hollywood tape, and then Trump will have been caught lying about it. Ready for that, MAGA? Ready for that, Republicans?

9. The text of Trump’s note to Epstein reads:

   Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything.

   Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.

   Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.

   Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.

   Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.

   Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?

   Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.

   Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.

   Here’s the context: ...