Following the uproar over the US administration’s refusal to release the Department of Justice files related to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the crisis between US President Donald Trump and his base has proved to be uncontainable.
Information continues to be made public that verifies a friendship between Epstein and Mr Trump and has fuelled speculation that this refusal is based on an effort to suppress information.
Strongly buttressing those concerns, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department informed the President it discovered his name is mentioned throughout the Epstein files. Mr Trump sued the Journal and its owners including Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 billion on Friday. The paper is noted for meticulous reporting and successfully standing by its stories.
Apparently as a means of distraction, Mr Trump made an allegation on his bespoke Truth Social media platform. He posted an AI-generated video depicting former president Barack Obama being arrested and imprisoned by FBI agents. It contained no disclaimers that it was fictional or generated by AI.
The fictitious arrest video is prompted by new claims by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that, led by Mr Obama, the Democratic Party attempted to “steal” the 2016 election that Mr Trump won. The DNI report is unconvincing, based on well-known information, tangential facts, random claims and unverified assertions.
But it seems to be the latest effort by the Trump inner circle to push back against the long-standing and well-verified fact that the Russian government intervened in the 2016 election, a finding that he was eventually forced, however briefly, to officially accept.
The extensive report compiled by special counsel Robert S Mueller III issued in April 2019 demonstrated conclusively that Russia had engaged in “sweeping and systematic” intervention efforts to try to ensure the defeat of Hillary Clinton and the victory of Mr Trump.
Moreover, it found that one-time Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort constituted “a grave counterintelligence threat” and had shared intelligence including private Trump campaign polling and other data with Russian intelligence agents. Mr Manafort was convicted of multiple crimes and sentenced to 73 months in prison, but was pardoned by Mr Trump in 2020.
Mr Mueller was unable to establish any definitive collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and said that Justice Department rules prevented him from recommending any criminal charges against the President. The scandal has haunted Mr Trump ever since.
The attempt by Ms Gabbard to flip the script on Mr Obama and the Democrats through her new report and Mr Trump’s effort to use this to try to change the subject from Epstein indicate desperation. So does the new initiative by Speaker Mike Johnson to suddenly adjourn the House of Representatives to avoid any vote – which would probably pass with a few Republicans joining Democrats in demanding release of the files – under current circumstances.
Among the most embarrassing new revelations was another report in the Wall Street Journal about a 50th birthday book of tributes to Epstein from his close friends that includes, allegedly, a risque drawing and intriguing note from Mr Trump. The two men were reportedly close until a 2004 real estate dispute.
But this apparent effort to shift the topic may fail, both because few believe that the FBI has arrested Mr Obama, and only the most gullible will prefer the new Gabbard report over the existing Mueller one. Moreover, by linking, once again, the Russia intervention scandal, which was all-too real, to speculation about the Epstein files, the administration may end up fuelling the idea that it has something to be concerned about.
The Justice Department says it is planning to meet Epstein’s main accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a lengthy sentence for sex trafficking. There is a potential win-win scenario in the offing. If Mr Trump were to pardon Maxwell, and she were then to confirm that he had little or nothing to do with Epstein, problem – presumably – solved. It’s far-fetched at this stage, but not much more than a President posting a video of his predecessor being thrown in a dungeon.
As for the idea of Mr Obama being arrested, it’s admittedly a provocation. Until it isn’t. There is no reason to think that the FBI is contemplating arresting the former president, and there are certainly no grounds to do that.
But there are also grounds to be alarmed that Mr Trump is trying to acculturate the American public to the idea that his political enemies might be rounded up and tossed in prison. There were many possible distractions available to the President. Depicting him organising the arrest and imprisonment of his rival and predecessor is a disturbing choice indeed.
