The Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Was Never Just About Epstein. The prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein was never a justice story.

It was a protection racket for the rich and powerful - Democrats and Republicans alike. Originally posted on Substack by Beth McDonnell, I read this on Facebook, where it was posted by Paul Stanley Brinkerhoff

Opinion: The Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Was Never Just About Epstein. The prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein was never a justice story. It was a protection racket for the rich and powerful - Democrats and Republicans alike.
As I see the timeline and many facts gets twisted by the right, let’s start with one thing: Donald Trump is the president right now, and Donald Trump is the one covering it up.
This isn’t some deep-state mystery. It’s a plain-as-day sequence of cowardice, complicity, and criminal obstruction that stretches across four administrations, but now, with Trump back in power, the cover-up is happening in broad daylight.
***Disclaimer: This is long, because I refuse to leave out a single fact I know about.***
CHAPTER 1: THE SWEETHEART DEAL AND THE OFFICIALS WHO BURIED IT
President: George W. Bush | DOJ: Alberto Gonzales → Michael Mukasey | Florida AG: Pam Bondi
The Jeffrey Epstein case started like thousands of others, but ended like none of them. In 2005, a 14-year-old girl told Palm Beach police that Epstein sexually assaulted her. Detectives uncovered dozens of additional underage victims. There were flight logs, phone records, video, and graphic witness testimony. The case was airtight.
At first, the local police tried to do their jobs. The Palm Beach Police Department referred the case to the FBI, who built a 53-page indictment for federal sex trafficking and abuse. Epstein was looking at life in prison.
Then the protection kicked in.
• His legal team included Alan Dershowitz, Ken Starr, and Jay Lefkowitz, all wired into Republican power circles.
• In 2007, Alexander Acosta, then the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, cut Epstein a backroom deal so corrupt it didn’t even make sense on paper.
• Epstein pled guilty to just two state-level prostitution charges.
• He served 13 months in a private wing of the Palm Beach jail.
• He was allowed to leave 12 hours a day, 6 days a week on “work release” - even though one of the girls he was convicted of abusing was just 14.
• The deal gave immunity to “any potential co-conspirators." Meaning all the powerful people in his orbit walked free, or were promised they would.
• The victims were never notified, which violated federal law.
At the time:
• Alberto Gonzales was Attorney General (2005–2007), and
• Michael Mukasey took over in 2007 and served through the end of the Bush administration.
Both men led the DOJ while their department signed off on one of the most shameful immunity deals in modern legal history. They could have blocked it. They didn’t. They buried it.
ENTER PAM BONDI
At the state level, Pam Bondi was already climbing the ladder of Florida’s legal establishment. She had served as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County and by 2010 would become Florida’s Attorney General. Her silence on Epstein’s sentencing, his absurd “jail release” privileges, and the trafficking accusations happening right in her own state was no accident.
When Bondi became AG in 2011, multiple victims were already speaking out. The press was starting to investigate. Civil suits were being filed. She had full authority to revisit the state-level sentencing, investigate co-conspirators, or refer Epstein for additional prosecution.
She did nothing.
Even when new names surfaced in lawsuits, when Maxwell’s role became public, when Epstein violated his parole terms, Bondi refused to act.
Instead, she downplayed the situation and moved on. She actively shielded her office from any involvement in civil suits. Her entire handling of the case was marked by obstruction, delay, and public silence.
Why? Because Epstein’s world and Florida’s political elite were the same circle. Because she was protecting donors, allies, and higher ambitions. And because she always knew who wasn’t supposed to go to prison.
And now? She's in charge of the Department of Justice itself, overseeing the files, case records, and immunity deals she once helped suppress.
Under her leadership and clearly Trump's direction:
• The DOJ has refused to release Epstein files.
• This week, Bondi oversaw the firing of Maurene Comey, the federal prosecutor who secured Maxwell’s conviction.
• She’s helping Trump block the Supreme Court from hearing Maxwell’s appeal, which could expose just how dirty that 2007 immunity deal really was.
The same woman who ignored Epstein’s crimes in Florida is now using the full power of the Department of Justice to bury the truth. She’s not acting alone, she’s doing exactly what Donald Trump wants.
CHAPTER 2: THE DOJ LOOKED AWAY AGAIN (2009 - 2016)
President: Barack Obama | DOJ: Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch
Obama’s DOJ also could’ve reopened the case. The non-prosecution agreement was outrageous, and Epstein’s trafficking spanned multiple states and jurisdictions. But they chose not to act.
They didn’t revisit the deal. They didn’t investigate Epstein’s circle. They didn’t go after Maxwell or the elite men in the flight logs.
CHAPTER 3: TRUMP LET HIM DIE (2017 - 2019)
President: Donald Trump (First Term) | DOJ: Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr
Epstein was finally re-arrested in July 2019 by federal prosecutors in New York, under Trump’s Department of Justice. But let’s not pretend this was some bold move by Trump to bring justice.
The moment Epstein became politically inconvenient, Trump went on the campaign trail, first in 2016 and again in 2024, spinning Epstein into a weaponized conspiracy. He said that Epstein was at the center of a global liberal sex trafficking ring. He pointed fingers at the Clintons, at Hollywood, at Democrats in general. “I’ll expose them all,” he promised his base. “You’ll see what I uncover.” He made Epstein shorthand for “evil liberals.” QAnon exploded from that very lie.
But what Trump never said onstage was the truth: he and Epstein were close friends. Trump had called Epstein “a terrific guy” who like himself "likes beautiful women… on the younger side.” Epstein confirmed that Trump was his “best friend.” They were photographed at Mar-a-Lago, attended endless parties together in Manhattan, appearing on the same guest lists for years.
When Epstein became political damage, Trump changed his tune, claiming he “didn’t know him well.” But he did. And more importantly: he could have released the Epstein files after his second arrest in 2019. He had the full power of the federal government. But he didn’t. He didn’t declassify anything.
Naturally given the hype during the campaign, Epstein’s 2019 arrest made headlines. And less than five weeks later, he was dead in a federal jail cell.
• Epstein reportedly just tried to kill himself. Yet, they removed his suicide watch.
• His cellmate was transferred. No one replaced him.
• Cameras malfunctioned. Guards “fell asleep”.
• His neck injuries were consistent with strangulation and not a hanging.
• The Metropolitan Correctional Center, was a federal facility was run by the U.S. Department of Justice, which at the time was led by Attorney General Bill Barr, one of Trump’s most powerful and loyal cabinet members. That means Epstein’s death happened under Barr’s direct authority, while serving Trump.
CHAPTER 4: TRUMP PROMISED THE FILES, THEN BURIED THEM
After Epstein’s death in 2019, Trump had full control of the Justice Department. Then he “won” a second term in 2024 and his power has returned.
Did he release the flight logs?
No.
Did he unseal the black book?
No.
Did he release the files?
No.
Did he expose Epstein’s elite clients?
No.
CHAPTER 5: THE MAXWELL CONVICTION
In 2021, under President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland, Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted as part of the DOJ’s ongoing investigation into Epstein’s trafficking operation.
The case was groundbreaking, not just because it finally brought one of Epstein's co-conspirators to justice, but because it defied the very immunity protections she was supposed to have.
Maxwell, like other Epstein associates, was covered under the infamous 2007 non-prosecution agreement, the sweetheart deal engineered by Trump’s longtime Florida allies, including U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer, and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. This deal was supposed to grant blanket immunity to Epstein’s “co-conspirators.”
By all legal precedent, that deal should have shielded her. But Biden’s DOJ ignored it, and rightly so. Garland’s prosecutors argued that justice couldn’t be stopped by a backroom arrangement designed to protect predators and power brokers. And the jury agreed.
Now, Maxwell is appealing, trying to get the case overturned, elevating it to the Supreme Court. She is citing the very deal that was promised by Trump's circle to protect her.
And here’s where Trump’s hypocrisy explodes into full view: the man whose DOJ helped craft that deal now wants her locked away forever. They are trying to block the case from being heard, because it appears Trump is terrified of what might come out.
CHAPTER 6: MANY MAGA ARE TURNING AND TRUMP IS PANICKING
So, we all know during both campaigns Trump stoked conspiracy theories about a “deep state” sex trafficking ring centered around Epstein and the Clintons. He promised his MAGA base that he would release the secret client list and files, exposing all the “sickos” hiding behind power and money.
Alt-right influencers like Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec, and Benny Johnson were vocal about exposing Epstein’s files, but in the past two weeks, they have gone quiet, reversed their stance, or shifted blame. Reports surfaced that Trump personally called or pressured these influencers. In turn, they suddenly backed off.
On the other end, Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan broke from Trump, publicly accusing him of hiding the truth. QAnon forums, which had been thriving on Epstein conspiracies, are now in meltdown. Their “hero,” Trump, is the one blocking the release of the files they obsessed over for years.
Then came the vote in Congress.
Every Democrat in Congress voted to release the Epstein files.
Every Republican voted no.
The DOJ could still release them at any time, and so could Trump. But with both refusing, Congress had a chance to force it. Yet, always on brand, the GOP backed Trump and blocked it.
We have also all seen how Trump’s narrative flips daily:
• First, he said the files would prove the Clintons and other democrats were guilty.
• Then, he said the files didn’t exist.
• Then, he said the files were written by his enemies and full of lies.
• Then, he called the whole thing a hoax.
• Then, he insulted anyone who kept demanding transparency, calling his own supporters “dumb” for wanting the truth.
To add fuel to the fire, Trump just fired Maurene Comey, the federal prosecutor who secured the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell, and yes, she is the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. Now she’s gone, clearing the way for even more secrecy.
CHAPTER 7: SO WHO'S EVEN LEFT TO TESTIFY?
That is a great question given multiple potential witnesses have died, remain in prison, or are awaiting trial.
• Jeffrey Epstein: died August 10, 2019, in federal jail; death ruled suicide but coroner noted injuries consistent with strangulation
• Jean-Luc Brunel: Epstein’s modeling agent and alleged recruiter; died by suicide in French jail in 2022
• Steven Hoffenberg: Epstein associate and convicted fraudster; died in 2022 under unclear circumstances
• Virginia Giuffre: One of Epstein’s most vocal victims and accusers; reportedly died recently under suspicious circumstances
• John Connolly: Former FBI agent linked to Jeffrey Epstein’s earlier 2008 plea deal; died with unclear details
• Barry Mannakee, Prince Andrew’s Butler: Said to have possessed Epstein’s “black book”; deceased under unclear circumstances
• Joseph Recarey, former chief of the Palm Beach Police Department who investigated Epstein: Died at age 50 with limited details
• Nathaniel Gorton, Federal judge in Maxwell’s case: His son was killed by a masked assailant posing as a delivery driver in a suspicious attack
• Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s close associate and recruiter; convicted in 2021 and serving a 20-year federal sentence
• Tova Noel and Michael Thomas: MCC guards charged with falsifying records related to Epstein’s death; currently out on bond awaiting trial
CHAPTER 8: CAN'T THE MEDIA JUST MOVE ON?
This is not complicated. Trump had one job according to MAGA and many democrats too: Tell the truth. Expose the guilty. Unseal the files.
For the majority of Americans, this is seen as a bipartisan, elite-run protection scheme. And right now, Donald Trump is its loudest defender and most aggressive enforcer.
The GOP wants it to disappear. Trump is begging people to forget. But we all know MAGA never lets anything go. They chanted “lock her up” for a decade over deleted emails. They demanded Epstein’s files. Not for justice, but because it became part of their identity.
Now, Trump has ordered his influencers to drop it. He mocks the believers who won’t move on. And, like clockwork, some already have. Not because it was never true, but because the truth no longer serves the lie they built their identity on.
Democrats, meanwhile, have a habit of always moving on, rolling over and doing little. Of "trusting" that truth will win on its own.
Not this time.
This is the story.
This is the lie they built everything on.
Don’t let it go.
Burn it into history.
✍️ Beth McDonnell - or read on Substack -