By Philip Yeung
The scandal that won't go away
Trump has wallowed in scandals all his life. But the one that stinks to high heaven and refuses to go away is the Epstein case. So far, it has claimed two lives by suicide, ensnared two US presidents, one former, one sitting, and has tarred and scarred Britain's Prince Andrew. Scandals don't come bigger than this.
What about Trump's promise to release the Epstein files?
This time, there are too many witnesses, too many files, videos, and photos, and too many sordid details involving underage girls. Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking, is yet to testify before Congress. Trump can't wish away the bawdy birthday letter he sent Epstein, made titillating by his squiggly signature that resembles pubic hair on his hand-drawn picture of a nude woman. Back in May, Attorney General Pam Bondi told the president, according to the Wall Street Journal, that Trump's name appears on Epstein's list multiple times. During the election, he ran on the promise of releasing the complete Epstein files, client list and all. He rode into the presidency on the back of this case, dealing the democrats a death blow. Bondi, for her part, had earlier declared that the client list was sitting on her desk for her review. Now that it threatens to engulf Trump, he and his fumbling officials are frantically denying that there is a client list. Trump even tried calling the Epstein case "boring", and therefore not worth revisiting—except he doesn't do boring. He used to have orgies of fun in Epstein's lavish love nest. For ten years, the two sexual predators were joined at the hip. The self-contradictions are so off-the-wall that even his MAGA base refuses to buy his bare-faced lies and denials, with cult followers burning MAGA hats in anger. Death, taxes, and Trump lies—they are the unavoidable facts of life.
Will the files ever see the light of day? Will they be "disappeared"? Will the American public ever know the truth?
Desperate attempts at distraction
To distract unwelcome attention, Trump has stooped low to save his own ass. He has resorted to the bizarre ruse of releasing an AI-generated video of Obama's arrest for allegedly manufacturing evidence in the Russian election interference "hoax", promising to prosecute the former president for "treason". When Trump calls something a hoax, you know it is too hot for him to handle.
Trump has made Obama his nemesis
Trump hates Obama. First, the "birther" accusation falsely claimed that Obama was born in Kenya and thus ineligible to run for the US presidency. He failed. His next attempt to discredit Obama has descended into the ridiculous by getting the former president arrested on AI. This is his wishful thinking gone wild. I suspect he targets Obama because he is the first and only black president in American history, and we all know how Trump feels about people of color. Worse, Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize, and Trump has not. While all other US presidents had refrained from being a kibitzer on their successors, treating them with deference, Trump has never stopped badmouthing Biden and Obama to make himself look good. There is not a single gene of decency in his body.
The smoking gun on Trump's entanglement in juvenile sex scandal
Files or no files, Trump's words become the smoking gun that convicts him in the court of public opinion. When Epstein was flying high, Trump used to gush about their friendship, calling the orgy-loving financier "a great guy who is fun to be with". Now that Epstein has become a scrotum-shrinking liability, his former buddy is just "a creep". Friendships are fragile with Trump. They are all transactional and temporary. Jeffrey Sachs recently quotes Henry Kissinger as saying that "to be an enemy of the US is dangerous, but to be its friend is fatal". The same applies to Trump. You become his friend or enemy at your own risk. Prudently staying out of his way is staying out of harm's way. How do you deal with a buffoonish bully with a neurogenetic disorder? With a ten-foot pole.
Trump needs a Houdini act for his great escape
In his previous brushes with the law, Trump has cunningly managed to wriggle off scot-free. But this time, even his base and media cheerleaders are in open revolt. In the CCTV surveillance tapes released by Bondi covering the maximum-security prison where Epstein was held, there is a disturbing 1-minute gap that cannot be explained away. Was it a suicide or a cold-blooded murder? Conveniently, Epstein died before he could testify in court and spill the beans on his uber-VIP clients who had good reasons to silence him for good.
In the days to come, Trump will desperately canvass every diversionary possibility. Humiliating Obama is just the appetizer. The main course is coming up. Don't rule out bombing Iran again, or invading another country, or, God forbid, igniting World War III to save his political hide. But tricks won't scrub away the stubborn stain. He is guilty by association and guilty until proven innocent. This time, pulling another Houdini on yet another monumental scandal might be a bridge too far. Credibility is like virginity. Once you lose it, it is impossible to get it back.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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