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The U.S. Justice Department released more than 3 million pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, revealing new details about Epstein's interactions with President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others.
Do the Epstein files spell trouble for the Trump administration? Newsweek contributors Jonathan Tobin and David Faris debate:
Jonathan Tobin:
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Both ends of the political spectrum have had high hopes at various times that the Epstein scandal would embarrass their opponents. But Epstein’s networking operation was bipartisan in nature, as is to be expected with anyone that successful. The people who will be embarrassed by the latest revelations were always going to be a broad cross-section of the rich, famous and powerful. They will, once again, fuel all sorts of conspiracy theories. But this story will only do lasting damage to the Trump administration if it continues fumbling the release of the files. If they play it straight, it will provide endless fodder for the conspiracy nuts and podcasters who thrive on that sort of thing, but have no real political consequences for Trump, or the Democrats for that matter.
David Faris:
The Epstein scandal will continue to haunt the White House. The fact that Epstein’s network of vile bozos was bipartisan will not make this problem go away, given that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is merely the latest Trumpworld figure linked to the disgraced financier. Such a revelation about any prominent Democrat would end with a swift resignation, whereas President Trump himself is still unable to explain away his long friendship with Epstein. The scandal won’t end his presidency, but the damage is real and the risk of new, ill-timed revelations has to worry anyone whose job involves getting Republicans elected.
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Tobin:
All the Epstein files tell us about Howard Lutnick is that—accompanied by his wife and children—he stopped by Epstein’s island for lunch and once got a tour of his Manhattan home. Come on. Absent a hint of actual wrongdoing, the idea that this should force a resignation is a standard that no Democrat has ever applied to a member of his own party.
Faris:
Defending the indefensible always leads to moral rot. Lutnick’s alleged island visit came years after Epstein’s plea bargain, and he obviously lied about cutting ties with him. This elite impunity is what Americans have repeatedly rebelled against, only to inadvertently deliver the country to a cabal of its very worst practitioners.
Tobin:
I think we’ve long established that neither political party is interested in moral virtue. Why else would Democrats still honor the Clintons—who apparently were closely connected with Epstein? This case is about real crimes. If all you’ve got on Lutnick is hyperbolic bluster, then you’ve proved my point about why this story isn’t going to have any tangible political impact. There are real examples of elite impunity among the D.C. uniparty. That lunch isn’t one of them.
Faris:
Look over here! Look over there! Just don’t connect the dots between the 21st century’s most notorious scumbag and the president, whose sordid coterie just happens to include one rich, grifting scumbag after another, whose names just happen to keep turning up in the Epstein files. I’m sure it’s all a coincidence.
Tobin:
Raising alarms about people who met Epstein but are not alleged to have done anything wrong is not the same thing as discussing a scandal, let alone adopting a moral stance. Like most of our leaders on both sides of the aisle, Trump is no monument to virtue. But smearing him in this manner has never worked for Democrats, and never will.
Faris:
You don’t need to have committed actual crimes to be shamefully complicit. What’s so damaging about the Epstein scandal is not just how MAGA used it to return to power but that ultra-rich men like Trump and Elon Musk knew exactly what Epstein was up to and gladly traipsed around with him anyway.
Tobin:
Conspiracy theories have taken over so much of our political discourse. They turn every discussion toxic, sending us down rabbit holes rather than engaging us in serious debate. The Epstein scandal is a terrible story but it is not the great puzzle at the heart of our national existence. Each end of the political spectrum has seized on it as a code to unravel the deep-seated wrong at the heart of our national soul and discredit the people they don’t like. That is itself a symptom of the rot in our national culture. Those who fan these conspiratorial flames based on guilt by association aren’t brave voices speaking up for truth. They are demagogues doing real harm.
Faris:
The Epstein imbroglio has indeed disgraced high-profile figures on both sides of the aisle, including Bill Clinton. But it is Republicans who control Washington, and after cynically exploiting the Epstein conspiracy and then ineptly trying to bury it, they now want to hand wave it away. But the slow burn of revelations only serves to remind Americans that President Trump is a lifelong degenerate who to this day eagerly surrounds himself with hucksters and criminals like Epstein. No amount of desperate spin can hide his complicity or cover up the fetid stench of moral decay emanating from the White House.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him: @jonathans_tobin.
David Faris is a professor of political science at Roosevelt University and a contributing writer at Slate*,* The Nation*,* The Week and Newsweek*. He is the author of* It’s Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. You can follow him on Bluesky.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
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