The Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Is Snowballing and Trump Can’t Seem to Stop It

Here’s the truth about conspiracy theories: Once they take root, there’s no turning back. And when you add a political ideology and champion Donald Trump, they spread with lightning speed.

Trump has publicly flirted with nearly every major conspiracy theory of the past fifty years, championing one of the most reckless by insisting, without evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen. Adding to this is the astonishment his supporters have been met with by the latest news: the “MAGA” world is being denied the truth about the life and death of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after years of inspiring promises about Trump’s reclaiming of state secrets.

Like so many things that have become a headache for Trump, this one began with a frantic race for the title without thinking about its outcome. The Epstein affair has become a snowball, hurtling toward the mountain of “MAGA” to the point where the president no longer has the power to stop it. Is it on track to snowball? Some of its most prominent members have remained silent about what they previously described as a dangerous conspiracy that deserves to be exposed.

But there are signs that this “MAGA” hype may differ from its predecessors. The divisions within the “MAGA” movement are palpable. Trump’s base may not be easily drawn into another culture war or ostentatious conspiracy theory. This could reverberate into next year’s midterm elections and beyond, potentially shaping the second half of Trump’s term.

Steve Bannon, a former Trump strategist, warns that up to 10% of Trump supporters could defect, feeling aggrieved, which could cost Republicans a dozen House seats in November.

In a sign that this case is overshadowing almost everything else, even those considering a 2028 campaign are taking the bait and speaking out. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley posted on X: “Release the Epstein files and let this run its course. This is why people don’t trust the government.” “You can never go wrong with transparency. Redact the victims’ names, then reveal the rest.” Charlie Kirk, who leads the powerful populist movement Turning Point USA with young MAGA activists and has produced much of the content on the Epstein case, suddenly took a novel approach here, claiming he was done with the subject.

Backtracking. Epstein was at the heart of a network of wealthy and privileged individuals suspected of exploiting young women and girls in a sex trafficking ring involving a multitude of high-profile figures. Trump, who had counted Epstein as a friend for over a decade, drew suspicions about the man, a regular at Mar-a-Lago, through campaign rallies and online posts.

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to two felony counts, paid restitution to 30 victims, and registered as a sex offender. Ten years later, Epstein pleaded not guilty in New York to several counts, including sex trafficking.

Epstein died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell; authorities ruled it a suicide, but many Trump supporters were convinced he was killed to protect his powerful associates, who could have been implicated if Epstein had targeted his former friends. Finally, a minute is missing from the recording of his front door the night he allegedly committed suicide.

(Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and accomplice, was convicted in 2021 of federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. She was accused of helping Epstein recruit and abuse minors. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.)

For years, Trump had hinted at the existence of a client list for Epstein. A few weeks into his second term, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the list was on her desk, and MAGA influencers received binders of documents, which they held up for the cameras. (These binders didn’t contain any welcome surprises, but rather documents that were largely already circulating.) But last week, Bondi and fellow Trump supporters Kash Patel and FBI Director and Deputy Director Dan Bongino issued a statement asserting that no new disclosures about Epstein were planned: “The Department of Justice and the FBI are determined that no additional disclosures are appropriate or warranted,” the two organizations said in a joint statement.

The memo sent shockwaves through the president’s political base. Trump’s most ardent supporters have remained unmoved by his claims that the findings were fabricated by former President Barack Obama, who left office in early 2017, and a “deceitful” Hillary Clinton, who has not held a government position since 2013. Last week, during a Cabinet meeting, Trump flew into a rage when Bondi was asked about the alleged Epstein files, claiming that no one was really interested in the hackneyed idea. He then launched a vicious attack on social media, demanding that his supporters immediately back down.

Trump understands the magnitude of the outcry and the unpredictability of the unrest it has sparked. More than a decade ago, he stoked the false and racist notion that Obama was not born in the United States and was therefore an illegitimate president. He promised to release the files relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, as well as those of his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. He also promised to release the 9/11 files, which he falsely claimed, without factual basis, included Muslims dancing in the streets and on the rooftops of the New York metropolitan area that day. He also suggested that Fort Knox be searched for missing gold.

Trump now faces this grim reality: he promised good, and either it didn’t come, or it could be embarrassing for him or his friends. Either way, it has angered his conspiracy-minded allies like never before in his first term. Fellow firebrand Laura Loomer—a conspiracy theorist who accompanied Trump to Ground Zero for the 9/11 anniversary last year—demanded Bondi’s firing if she couldn’t provide evidence of Epstein’s affair. Meanwhile, Loomer suggested removing the file from her office and assigning it to a private investigator. Another influencer, Bennie Johnson, suggested Trump’s public safety team interview former President Bill Clinton. Bongino, who spent years spreading the Epstein innuendo, was so angry that he clashed with Bondi in the West Wing of the White House and missed work on Friday, considering leaving a job he had always hated.

For their part, Democrats are cautiously exploiting the disarray within the opposition party. On Monday night, they forced the House Rules Committee to vote on a request to release the Epstein documents, prompting Republicans on the committee to block the vote to prevent Trump from overreaching. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Monday that he could support efforts to compel the White House or the Justice Department to provide a fuller accounting of what they know about Epstein, saying they had lied about possessing the documents before or were still lying about them. For now, Democrats appear content to let this crisis fester and let it distract Trump from a moment when he should be celebrating a victory on a key domestic bill.