Let’s just take the Epstein situation in context for a moment. For many years, my belief is what they had his contact book and maybe some emails with some not famous rich guys who were pedophiles. People like Epstein, or Jerry Sandusky before him, love having other famous people around them, partially for cover, partially to be able to blackmail them if they’re in trouble. That’s basically what I made of Epstein’s relationship with Trump and other famous people. It was no different than Sandusky’s relationship to Andy Reid or Peyton Manning. So I expected that if we ever saw the files, we’d be greatly disappointed by what was in them. After all, this is what happens every time a major conspiracy theories government files get released.

Well, I am wavering in that opinion. If that were the case, Trump would have released them to clear himself and taunt his enemies. If the files contained damning information about Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, or any of the other Democrats he claims were Epstein friends, Trump would release them. Trump could release all the files with an executive order today. He’s not. Even if the files cleared Clinton or anybody else, he’d still be releasing them and claiming otherwise. There’s only one reason plausible for why Donald Trump is not weaponizing the actual Epstein files- it’s suicide. If he releases these files, he’s opening himself up to trouble.

Let’s be clear, the government has not released anything so far. The House Oversight Committee Dems released a couple of e-mails in which Epstein flat out says Trump knew what was going on, and the estate of Jeffrey Epstein released 20,000 or so pages of e-mails. The e-mails dampened speculation that Clinton and some others went to Epstein Island or were involved, but I wouldn’t say the book is closed there. The e-mails were clear as day on Trump though- whether he took part or not, he knew. And Epstein told Maxwell to use that to her advantage, to blackmail him. Trump isn’t disputing the authenticity either. Hell, the only argument coming from his supporters is that “Bubba,” who Trump gave a blow job, was not Bill Clinton. I mean cool, that’s big to know. How about the rest of it?

We don’t know enough to know how bad this story is. If there are really files implicating Trump, God knows who else they are going to drag in. Every “CC” on an e-mail is being combed through now. It could get ugly. The e-mails are the tip of the iceberg. We need the rest of the emails, and not redacted. We need all of the other seized evidence, which was most of this guy’s apartments. We need all the texts too. We need everything. I think it’s becoming at least partially obvious where it would lead. I think we need the real important question answered though- when it’s obvious that Donald Trump at least knew what was happening, will anyone actually change their minds on him?