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OPINION

Earlier this month, Donald Trump was asked time and time again about releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files. Epstein was a financier and child sex offender…a vocation and avocation that don’t necessarily go together.

As he tried to answer the question, Trump - a well-documented liar - looked like a teenager caught by mom and dad coming home with the family car an hour after curfew. Most of us know that look...we lived it...profuse sweating and uncontrollable stuttering from the brain’s inability to engage the mouth with a credible excuse.

The best Trump could do was look - choose one - stupid or foolish. He suggested we all forget Epstein…old fake news…he’s seriously dead anyway. There are plenty of reasons to not let the questions about Epstein - especially about the list of clients that he procured underage girls for sex - set like today’s sunset.

How things have changed for Donald the Liar. He’s on video tape hobnobbing with Epstein…both of them ogling young women. In 2003, Trump said, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy.” Epstein returned the favour, claiming on tape that he was Trump’s best friend for more than a decade.

(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

On Aug. 10, 2019, just over a month after pleading guilty to the sex trafficking of minors in New York and Florida, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell. The medical examiner ruled it suicide by hanging. Since then, conspiracy theories - often fuelled by law enforcement and the Justice Department - have multiplied like rabbits.

Earlier this year, the FBI released closed circuit television footage they said supports the conclusion that Epstein died by his own hand. Troubling, however, is the fact that two minutes and 53 seconds are missing from the video. Forensic analysis proved the video was altered…even though the FBI said it was not.

Epstein died to escape prosecution…all charges were dropped. But British jet-setter Ghislaine Maxwell, an ex-girlfriend and companion for 20 years, had recruited young girls for him and was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and conspiracy.  She helped Epstein procure young girls, including a 14-year-old girl, for prostitution. She’s now serving a 20-year sentence…and hoping for a Trump pardon his last day in his office in 2027.

A look at Epstein’s career shows mostly unspectacular accomplishments…he was hired when he was 21 years old to teach high school…despite not having a college degree…at Dalton School in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He was fired less than two years later for poor performance…with multiple allegations about inappropriate behaviour around teenage female students.

He tried his hand at banking with Bear Stearns, but was fired for violating Securities and Exchange Commission rules. He then started his own business - one way of avoiding being fired - where he helped clients recover stolen money from fraudulent brokers and lawyers.

During this time he also told several people he was an intelligence operative. He was not. He then consulted for a collection agency…earning tens of thousands every month for years. After that, he played at being a corporate raider…mostly failing to take over troubled companies.

He continued re-inventing himself during the 1990s and 2000s…mostly failing, but taking huge fees from companies and wealthy individuals and living the life of a jet-setter. His most successful venture was his life-long practice of social climbing…using people to get ahead.

All this time…he preyed on young girls…and ingratiated himself to other wealthy pedophiles. Common sense would indicate - given his history of a fantasy life - that he made friends of other perverse wealthy men…by getting them young girls for sex.

What’s missing are facts - who, what, when, where and how - and it’s reasonable to assume details exist that could prove or disprove Epstein’s actions. It’s certainly suspicious that Trump double-talks and avoids Epstein queries. Too many friends involved? Trump himself…he’s not exactly squeaky clean when it comes to abuse of women?

True to form for Trump and Republicans…there are more questions than answers. Earlier this month the Department of Justice fired Maurene Comey…daughter of much-hated former FBI Director James Comey…and the lawyer who prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein. No reason was given for the firing.

The Department of Justice released an unsigned and undated memo earlier this month…that alone should raise suspicions…it’s rarely been done. Why…accountability.

The memo stated: “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” Odd, since Trump and Epstein were known for recording conversations and writing notes about everyone they knew…both socially and in business.

The Wall Street Journal ran a story about a letter from Trump to Epstein on his 50th birthday in 2003…raising more questions. Then there’s the $1.2 billion in wire transfers to and from Epstein during the 1990s and 2000s. The names are easy to check. Following the money almost always finds a crime at its final destination.

Donald Trump’s great lengths to quash the Jeffrey Epstein fervour among Republicans isn’t working…and one particular Congressional effort to force the release of files could spiral the whole Epstein debacle out of his control.

It’s called a discharge petition - a call for a Congressional vote to force an action…in this case, the release of files - and requires a majority of 218 votes in the House of Representatives.

Historically, only four percent - one out of 25 - discharge petitions lead to an actual vote…but all Democrats would support a vote…meaning only a few Republicans are needed to force the release of files.

Given the number of Trump MAGA voters pressing for the release of files and names - promised by Trump and most Republican leaders for years - the necessary Republican votes in the House might be easy to come by.

Meanwhile, Trump looks like the perfect fool…or someone guilty…and the liar that he has been his entire life. Of course, Republicans are known for complaining loudly before falling in lock-step like perfect little goose-steppers.

The best outcome, of course, is finding the truth about Epstein…and others…Republicans or Democrats. The worst outcome simply proves once again how Republican politicians aren’t decent folks.

In that respect, it’s a no-lose proposition for Americans…and the rest of the world. Canadians know this. Americans somehow forgot…and as tragic as it has been to watch the fall…now we’re all wondering whether the U.S. can ever be a shining light of democracy again.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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