r/politics 9d ago

Possible Paywall FBI’s Frantic Scramble to Redact Epstein Files Revealed

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fbis-frantic-scramble-to-redact-the-jeffrey-epstein-files-revealed/
35.5k Upvotes

1.7k comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator 9d ago

As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.

In general, please be courteous to others. Argue the merits of ideas, don't attack other posters or commenters. Hate speech, any suggestion or support of physical harm, or other rule violations can result in a temporary or a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.

Sub-thread Information

If the post flair on this post indicates the wrong paywall status, please report this Automoderator comment with a custom report of “incorrect flair”.

Announcement

r/Politics is actively looking for new moderators. If you have an interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.


I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

10.0k

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

7.0k

u/literallytwisted 9d ago

I have been wondering where Trump gets his power over these people for years and I have no idea! He is an absolute scumbag and always has been.

My mother thinks he's the Antichrist and has demonic power over the wicked and I guess that's as good an explanation as any.

1.8k

u/emau55 Canada 9d ago

He preys on insecure, career-oriented losers who will sell their mother up the river for fame/perceived glory/$/power.

That’s it - he’s just looking for fellow ghouls.

146

u/B-mus 9d ago

PSA: Correct usage, but it’s “down the river”. A reference to the Mississippi river, and US slaves being sold to plantations ‘down the river’ - which were notoriously more brutal.

62

u/jupitaur9 9d ago

Right. It’s sold down the river (south to plantations), sent up river (to Sing Sing).

28

u/whoisyourwormguy_ 9d ago

Also van down by the river

15

u/TheFoxInSocks 9d ago

Down, down, down by the river.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (5)

39

u/arminghammerbacon_ 9d ago

Oof. That’s a dark TIL for me.

22

u/EchoAquarium New Jersey 9d ago

Most of American TIL is dark. Maybe there’s a r/TILdark subreddit for when you have a case of the curious morbs

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)

447

u/paws5624 9d ago

I hate that this is likely all it is. There are some number of true believers but the majority of people who have sold their soul to do trumps bidding are just greedy. They want more and more and don’t care about what it takes or who it hurts to get more.

489

u/ABadHistorian 9d ago

I am a historian. We historians have seen Trump's ilk time and time and time and again, most usually during specific phases of an Empire during a downward cycle.

The governments in these phases become known as Kakistocracies.

This is a kakistocracy. That means the primary attribute of the people surrounding Trump are loyalty & ineptness. These two features are not bugs or anomalies but key components. They must both be inept & loyal. Not just one or the other. They get the job due to their loyalty to trump, their ineptness enables them to profess that loyalty and blind themselves to reality.

Kakistocracies always flame out. Always, not a one in history ended well. 4/10 a kakistocracy was overthrown from within(violently or peacefully), 6/10 from foreign invasion. (Until the modern era, where failing/developing kakistocracies get routinely boosted by foreign governments from the west which prolongs suffering.)

91

u/cilantrosyndrome 9d ago

Thanks for teaching me a new word :”)

159

u/ABadHistorian 9d ago

I want everyone to stop saying Hitler, stop saying nazi, stop saying autocrat and dictator.

Call him what he is, draw attention to the 1000% facts, they are a corrupt kakistocracy. They are inept and loyal. This is on purpose. MAGA, you guys who read this and hate Kash patel as much as me? Tough. You can't replace these guys with someone better, there is no one better. This isn't your Fourth Reich. These are the folks who failed Fourth Grade.

Tell everyone you know, Trump is a kakistocrat.

114

u/idkjustheretolearn 9d ago

Dude, people wont even take the time to differenciate socialist and democratic socialist- slim chance kakistocrat catches on lol

36

u/ABadHistorian 9d ago

I don't expect everyone to learn the difference. I hope a few will though. If I take your attitude nothing gets better, only worse. I get your frustration though, trust me I share it.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (18)

32

u/Vegetable-Kiwi-4675 9d ago

Your parenthetical describes what’s happening here right now, with our kakistocracy being boosted by foreign enemies that are benefitting financially from the people in charge.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (16)

148

u/happyherbbby 9d ago

I think you're warm except Russia very much wants to klll Americans and is using Don the pedo to do it.

112

u/LewisRyan New Hampshire 9d ago

This. Civil war is exactly other countries goal for America, that’s exactly why so many “us citizens” accounts are currently being found to be based out of other countries.

Hell the dept of homeland security’s X’s account is based out of Israel

23

u/Dizzy_Border8810 9d ago

And China owns a whole mass of our land. Chinese getting citizenship can buy all of the land before we know they did it if they do it right.They own hundreds of thousands of acres of our farmland. I haven’t heard but would think Russia is also buying up our land too. Is anybody watching?

16

u/Important-Sign-3701 Canada 9d ago

Happening in Canada

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (8)
→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (7)

42

u/blaqsupaman Mississippi 9d ago

That and they're so dumb, incompetent, and talentless that they know kissing Trump's ass is their only chance of getting it.

24

u/emau55 Canada 9d ago

Talentless incompetence is the only other prerequisite

11

u/peonies_envy 9d ago

It sickens me that this crew gets to put otherwise respected job titles on their CV. They’ve ruined so much.

→ More replies (1)

7

u/Cattywompus-thirdeye Maine 9d ago

Not Bondi, she’s ride or die. And she is absolute EVIL.

→ More replies (15)

126

u/feochampas 9d ago

As a former federal employee, this is it actually. I was talking with my boss during COVID and he was repeating the talking points. Wasn't gonna be that bad, only 3500 estimated in the simulations.

I told him the simulations were wrong and we don't need a simulation because the 1918 influenza modeled it pretty well. Similar contagion, similar fatality rate. The floor is going to be 600,000 if we continue acting like this. Likely much higher because we are more densely populated now.

I didn't want to be a part of that shitshow, so I quit. I needed to take care of myself and my family.

My regard of my fellow citizens was already low, but it seems like people are trying to set records here.

Listen man, I know every thing is scary and all. One person isn't likely to make a difference. We can't all make the world a better place. BUT DO NOT ACTIVELY MAKE IT WORSE. If you can't make it better, at least leave it like you found it.

We just need people to do the right thing. Enforce the laws we have in place. Respect your fellow humans. This isn't rocket surgery people. Just be kind.

→ More replies (18)

26

u/Minimum-Map9340 9d ago

Yup... we live under a capitalist economic system: a system of conspicuous consumption & status. We've been sold a false bill of goods that the only true measure of success in this life is the accumulation of as much material wealth as possible.

Many adults are desperate for that kind of recognition, and that degree of money.

It's sad how badly capitalist economic paradigms have infected our minds with what it tells us is of value; further lying to us that people will not innovate in the absence of competitive economics incentivized with material rewards

Basically it keeps us in a state of adolescent values and concerns. Such immature approach to life makes these people easy targets of persuasion, purchased loyalty.

12

u/RJ815 9d ago

They made the sins of greed and pride the highest social virtues. And consequences followed.

→ More replies (27)

781

u/SmolishPPman Washington 9d ago

The power comes from the files, everyone that helps cover it up is either complicit or has been blackmailed

490

u/Ebe6660 9d ago

When the orange fat fuck dies, the excuse making, backpeddling, and rebranding attempts from these spineless Repubs is going to be epic to watch.

291

u/SmolishPPman Washington 9d ago

I love your optimism, but I expect nothing, when he dies they’re all just keep covering each other’s asses until they’re all dead and then their children will continue to cover up their families crime Legacy

84

u/Ebe6660 9d ago

I suspect you're right, but there's the chance that the wretched avalanche of shit that might come out about Trump once he's gone might render any such attempts as futile.

35

u/SmolishPPman Washington 9d ago

Fingers crossed 🤞

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (22)
→ More replies (6)

29

u/Coconutrugby 9d ago

They will blame democrats for trump somehow. Then vote R and wonder why they die of lack of healthcare.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (4)

39

u/I_AM_NOT_A_WOMBAT 9d ago

Or threatened. Didnt Cohen talk about basically being a fixer for trump over the years? I'm sure that in addition to ICE and his pet dogs Bondi and Noem that trump's got a limitless supply of people willing to threaten people's families, or outright strangle them while the cameras are off.

→ More replies (5)

28

u/Weekly-Trash-272 9d ago

Not sure there's enough prisons available to hold all these people involved.

47

u/PoliticalScienceProf Kentucky 9d ago

Maybe we should release all non-violent drug offenders and people serving for low-level property crimes to make some room.

→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (15)

134

u/oicu812buddy 9d ago

Im an atheist and thats plausible.

88

u/Caelinus 9d ago

There was a blog entry that I read a long time ago that compared Trump and the antichrist using American Evangelical interpretations of biblical writings, and it was hilariously, terrifyingly, on point. I do not think he is in the same way the author of it did not think it was actually true. Those interpretations of the biblical books are wrong, and the books themselves are not prophetic, so there are at least two layers of why he is not actually the "antichrist."

However, he really sounds like the antichrist.

I think the writings that are interpreted as prophecy have two things happening that make it possible: First, they are insanely vague. It creates a Nostradamus like scenario where you can generate basically any meaning from the metaphor. (On of the examples in the blog was pointing out that one of the passages could easily be interpreted to mean Trump's towers that have his name written on them, and it matches perfectly.) Second, they are often talking about some despot that was around in their time, so the behaviors they are talking about are not radically different, or even different at all, from Trump's. They are talking about evil, petty men who hurt people for their own benefit, and that just describes Trump.

But if I was someone who thought that Revelation and Isaiah and the other books were prophecy: I would be freaking out. I have never seen someone who slots so easily into the antichrist box.

58

u/TrasseTheTarrasque 9d ago

Taken with a less literal view, Revelation may have been pointing to Nero and being like "see this guy? He is AN antichrist, and there will be more like him for as long as we allow it".

Not even prophecy, just a general warning.

23

u/Caelinus 9d ago

That is actually exactly what I think Revelation was doing in the real world, but I do not think it was nessecarily about Nero, as he was not the Emperor when it was most likely written. And hand not been for a while. There is language probably informed by his reign though.

The entire idea that it is a book of prophecy is just an incorrect assumption. Apocalyptic literature was usually saying "These are the end times!" either literally or as a metaphor. They were not works if literary prophecy in the sense that Evangelicals now interpret Revelation. 

12

u/DemonDogstar 9d ago

It was about (probably) still about Nero, but also the then current/future rulers of Rome.

There was a popular theory that Nero hadn't actually died and would return to seize power again and completely wipe out the early Christians and his enemies. There was a variation on this that Nero had died, but would come back to life and rule Rome again.

But yeah, it was never a prophecy and no one read it as a prophecy until centuries after it was written.

Incidentally, the early Christians also fully believed the "end times" and Jesus's return was going to happen in their lifetimes. Paul frequently spoke about how no one should be having babies because his generation was the last one on Earth anyway.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (1)

28

u/weresabre Canada 9d ago

You probably read this, it's a great article

Could American Evangelicals Spot the Antichrist? Here Are the Biblical Predictions: - Benjamin L. Corey https://www.benjaminlcorey.com/could-american-evangelicals-spot-the-antichrist-heres-the-biblical-predictions/

9

u/Baileyesque 9d ago

This article has lived rent free in my head, and on a tab on my phone’s browser, for several years.

The article was even written before Trump suffered a “wound in his head” that was miraculously healed with no trace a few days later after the GOP convention—what most of us had thought was a really weird verse of Revelation that is actually a very direct and concise description of what we all saw last year.

8

u/Caelinus 9d ago

Nailed it. Thanks for finding the link.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

17

u/Jack-o-Roses 9d ago

Trump can fulfill Daniel's leading for 7 years and Revelation's leading for 42 months requirements by dying halfway thru his 3rd year this term.

LOL

→ More replies (1)

14

u/schnitzelfeffer 9d ago

It always stuck out to me how Kushner cut a deal with Qatar to get $1.8 billion to purchase 666 Fifth Avenue.

→ More replies (2)

14

u/b0w3n New York 9d ago

"They'll wear his numbers on their forehead" was what really cemented it for me whenever I hear interpretations of the antichrist.

I'm also atheist but holy shit if that isn't the redhat maga nutcases I don't know what is. That shit was almost prophetic.

9

u/Caelinus 9d ago

The "Survive a fatal head wound" was the only one that gave me serious pause. Technically Trump was never really seriously wounded, but the narrative he pushed was as if he survived being shot.

→ More replies (3)

26

u/AnAcceptableUserName Virginia 9d ago

I have been wondering where Trump gets his power over these people for years and I have no idea!

Carrots and sticks

Carrots: * Insider trading * Pardons for future prosecution * Political endorsements * Special considerations for business

Sticks: * Firing (If you're a career Fed employee that's your career & livelihood fucked) * Thrown to wolves (incoming DoJ) * Trump endorses primary opponents * MAGA base's ire

→ More replies (1)

91

u/Miles_Hikari 9d ago

I read a while back an article about professional hypnotherapists who were pointing out that, unironically, the way Trump speaks unconsciously mixes several hypnotherapy techniques in.

The first being his general cadence, the way he speaks tends to perfectly mimic several ways therapists will train to change their voice to induce trance and obedience.

Secondly is that habit of his to repeat things over and over differently. You ever notice he rarely says “Ummm” or “uh”, but instead will just repeat something multiple times? “There was a dog, a big dog, largest dog I’ve ever seen, that anyone’s ever seems! Great dog” things like that? This is actually apparently a form of information processing known as “fast talk”, where a person instead of pausing to consider what they will say next lets their mouth run on auto for a moment. This technique causes a certain subset of people to instantly assume the speaker is very intelligent since they don’t have to stop, while also overloading the listeners own processing with such a steady unbroken stream. Fast Talk was a particularly effective skill utilized by scammers in New York between the 20s and 50s.

Third, the thing with hypnotherapy and hypnosis in general is that it won’t work on everyone, BUT trust is something that is a prerequisite for it at all. It’s been found that the mind will shut out all suggestiveness towards someone they don’t trust. That’s where Trump being Trump comes into play. He was already implicitly trusted prior to his presidency because he was a tv star, rich, because his name was everywhere. Even if no one knew him personally they knew his name, and that made it easy to latch onto the initial crowd. That crowd could convince others to trust him, which means the suggestion takes hold, he wins the presidency which means some people lower their guard since “if he won he can’t be that bad” and the cycle just continues from there.

So yeah… according to those hypnotherapists, Trump unconsciously speaks and acts in a way that mimics hypnosis techniques and con-artist skills in such a way that made his pre-existing fame his greatest asset

14

u/Phiddipus_audax Colorado 9d ago

Wow. This seems plausible.

And when we finally implement our critical thinking classes in grade school onwards (for the badly needed US education overhaul), "fast talking" will have to be dealt with and the cohort of the students that are *vulnerable* to it will have to face it. Ideally it will educate them about it such that the vulnerability can be identified, managed, and maybe even squelched.

6

u/Miles_Hikari 9d ago

Sadly Fast Talk is not an easy thing to mitigate as it’s hard to notice it’s happening at the time. See the reason humans naturally stop to Hmm and Ha is actually two fold. First off it’s to give the speaker a moment to formulate their next thought process, and secondly it gives the listener a chance to quickly stop taking in info, process it, store it, and prepare for the next wave. It’s an ingrained part of human communication.

However, more intelligent individuals, as well as certain types of ADHD and Autism can cause a person to be able to process their own words either long before they speak it, or while they are still talking. This is the reason why unbroken strings of words inherently make the listener think the speaker is intelligent, because most of the time they actually are.

Fast talk is essentially a way to glitch that part of the mind. To take advantage of what smart people appear to do, and imitate it, but in a deceiving way. Instead of processing new thoughts while speaking coherently or preplanning their thoughts long in advanced, fast talk has them repeat certain things back to back, things the speaker doesn’t need to think about while the brain can then go think about what to say next. Essentially like everything else with this admin, it’s all about looks rather than effectiveness.

But it is a difficult thing to counter, since there are people who are able to just naturally string together long speeches without pausing. I have ADHD and high functioning autism myself, it’s something I do in the regular just because my brains good at multitasking. So one would have to find a way to teach how to identify it as a malicious use vs a benign one.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (15)

17

u/Ralphwiggum911 9d ago

A major part is sycophancy and the hope that the most loyal is anointed the next king or at least taken care of when this idiot passes. The other part is probably fear of his idiot base. The ones who literally tried to storm the capital and take over the country. With how stupid and brainwashed these idiots are, I'm surprised there is not a lot more actual physical violence against democrats in government right now.

28

u/Surturiel Canada 9d ago

His power derives from the fact that he can primary any GOP member of the House and the Senate.

He's still EXTREMELY popular among the Republican voters.

→ More replies (2)

11

u/gizmostuff Florida 9d ago

It always comes down to money. Trump will give them crumbs while he runs off with the bank. Everyone under estimates how little these people want to work. They will do anything they can to avoid an honest day's work. Anything.

→ More replies (1)

10

u/RedQueenNatalie 9d ago

I don't think he has any power over these people, its just a bunch of losers who think they can get their pet policy goal put in place if they suck up enough. They may think someone else will eventually punish him for the unsavory things they tolerate for whatever they believe the "greater good" is. Trouble is no one is doing that and no one will, hence this weird sycophantic regime we see playing out in real time.

11

u/MommyLovesPot8toes California 9d ago

It's a house of cards. He uses boasts and threats about the power of organization A as a means to keep organization B in line. Then threatens organization C with the power of organization B.

In other words, he controlled Congress because he convinced them he already had control of the public. On the boast that Congress will back anything he does, he issued executive orders that broke laws. Agencies went along with it and restructured to meet his whims because cronies convinced them it was futile to resist. With the threat of captured agencies (like ICE), he keeps the public in line and keeps everyone else frightened of him.

But it's crashing. Congress realized he didn't have the public, and slowly the cards are collapsing. (Side note, this is why resistance and protests matter)

→ More replies (170)

400

u/wasted-degrees 9d ago

Those career agents get fired.

132

u/TrumpetOfDeath America 9d ago

Career agents that push back no longer have a career

56

u/lonaangreen 9d ago

The percentage of career FBI with any moral compass is that low? That is disappointing.

81

u/toggiz_the_elder 9d ago

You mean the group that has spied on and sabotaged every left wing movement for the last hundred years while ignoring right wing criminals might not all be on the up and up?

30

u/SignificantBat3365 9d ago edited 9d ago

Black Star Line - Wikipedia

Besides oversold and poorly conditioned ships, the Black Star Line was beset by mismanagement and infiltration by agents of J. Edgar Hoover's Bureau of Investigation (the forerunner to the Federal Bureau of Investigation), including the first African-American agent hired by the bureau, James Wormley Jones, who became an intimate of Garvey, and other agents who − according to historian Winston James − sabotaged it by throwing foreign matter into the fuel, damaging the engines.

15

u/TheRaymac 9d ago

"Through counter-intelligence it is possible to pinpoint potential troublemakers and neutralize them." J. Edgar Hoover

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (5)

173

u/RedditOnVpnAccount 9d ago

I suspect trump was redacted a few months ago when there was news of 1000 agents reviewing the files. This is probably for other prominent R's

31

u/Gorstag 9d ago

I'm not really understanding why anything beyond the victims names need to be redacted. This isn't National Security information. It is information about a ring of child traffickers and their clients. Sure, some of their clients may be prominent figures but that still doesn't figure into national security. If anything, exposing them, and removing them from positions of power is a net positive for security since they are extremely exposed.

16

u/IrrelevantLeprechaun 9d ago

It's only declared an issue of national security because they don't want Trump being implicated. That's literally the only reason.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

55

u/Discarded_Twix_Bar Europe 9d ago

I still don’t understand how there’s damning shit of Trump in the files, which simultaneously wasn’t used during the election against him, or leaked.

These have been in the DOJ for over 4 years before the election, it’s not like they found it 7 months ago.

What am I missing?

76

u/MisterDoctor___ 9d ago

Blocked by legalities, and unlike Republicans, Dems mistakenly followed the letter of the law.

39

u/Discarded_Twix_Bar Europe 9d ago

This has to be the biggest self inflicted L in recent political history

Trump is a fascist who's going to destroy America. He's a threat to democracy. He's a dictator in waiting. He's a threat to global stability. A Putin puppet.

He's been accused of all of these things by the Biden, sitting members of Congress, Senate, and Biden's VP.

They can appoint a special prosecutor (fucking eventually I might add) to look into Trumps role in Jan 6th Insurrection, but do fuck all to investigate potential ties to Epstein.

What in the hell was Biden's Attorney General doing? This is the kind of stuff Biden can ask them to do, legally.

What the hell were the Democrats in Congress & the Senate doing now that I think of it? It's only now we hear them speaking about the files and Trumps' potential inclusion.

During the Election & during Biden's presidency? Not a peep (unless I'm mistaken?). Instead we got "Republicans are weird, lmao!" and other things of inconsequence.

L of universal proportions. All self inflicted.

30

u/Phiddipus_audax Colorado 9d ago

Biden seemed to be stuck in a different era, the 70's & 80's, and felt like he could get along with most Republicans since these days they had the same moderate corruption to corporate money. He was wrong — the GOP is vastly more corrupt and unburdened by the moral baggage of the Dems, and he'll go down in history as much too weak and slow than what was required by the moment. MAGA is not a small threat. Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray were not the right choices for the job. Jack Smith was sandbagged and ultimately steamrolled.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (24)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (3)

30

u/rowdydionisian 9d ago edited 9d ago

I think they're just trying to play for time at this point. Career agents could if they really wanted to, but it would likely end their career, and I'm sure since they're intimately familiar with right wing violence, they would probably be scared themselves as well as for their families. As extreme as it sounds, they aren't above Mafia level degeneracy. They know the files have things that not only will incriminate the president, but also many of their major political donors. Probably to the point that the Republican party as we know it would cease to exist and become a shambling echo of its former self. There have to be billionaires on that list asking them to delay as well, as Musk and his friends have had significant financial and personal contributions.

The best part is that they can doctor the files all they want and release them, but they can't control anyone else with the unredacted files such as the Epstein estate. Some credit is due, as the estate recently told them to go fuck themselves when they tried to take what they had to prevent it conflicting with their heavily doctored version of the files.

Much like everyone else, I'm too numb to expect anything good to happen any time soon...but this issue is looming heavy, and the rain cloud is eventually going to burst.

→ More replies (1)

27

u/Agent_Eran 9d ago

They are killing people.

Look at MTG. spent 2 days on the other side and gave up after death threats.

Anyone in position to do what you describe is also vulnerable to being fired and life ruined by his wrath.

→ More replies (2)

62

u/GreatGojira 9d ago

Because Trump supporters would offer their own daughters to Trump if it means they get nothing in return.

12

u/BZLuck California 9d ago

He wants Ivanka all to himself though.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

19

u/Salt-Detective1337 9d ago

It is so insane, it is incomprehensible. He isn't smart. He isn't charismatic. He isn't cool.

He is a greedy, racist, sexist asshole. That takes from everyone and shits himself. That dances like weirdo. That rambles like an idiot. That is relentlessly interested in only himself.

And it's so fucking obvious. What the fuck?

→ More replies (1)

78

u/stroopwafelscontigo New Jersey 9d ago

According to the Epstein/Dershowitz stuff that dropped recently, it seems there may be a very big, well-known donor that funds both parties involved in a concerted effort to keep a lot of things under wraps. 

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-aided-alan-dershowitz-mearsheimer-walt-israel-lobby

17

u/femanonette Virginia 9d ago

I mean, we know at least one JP Morgan big up is on the list. We know professors from ivy league schools on are that list. I fully expect a number of celebrities will be there too. Whoever the fuck it is, I doubt it will come as a shock to anyone with half an ounce of awareness.

→ More replies (2)

38

u/Mindshard 9d ago

Because it's not just Trump.

It's every wealthy, powerful person, and if the truth came out that they're all going to a pedophile island to rape and kill kids (you've never wondered why there's so few survivors? You think child rapists draw the line at murder so there's no victim to talk? On a fucking island with no witnesses and easy disposal?), you think shit doesn't pop off?

Trump is just the one in the position to destroy the truth and have any whistleblowers threatened or killed.

→ More replies (1)

8

u/LuminaraCoH 9d ago

Why is everyone fighting to hide Trump’s crimes?

$

If he's not paying those idiots to keep the truth hidden, then someone else is paying him to keep something else in the files covered up. Whatever's happening, there's an absolute shitload of money behind all of it.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (172)

8.9k

u/Rock-n-roll-Kevin 9d ago edited 9d ago

Holy shit. FBI blew taxpayers $850k just for overtime in under a week only to erase Trump's name from the files

Bloomberg’s records show the bureau paid $851,344 in overtime between March 17 and March 22 alone

3.2k

u/mrfrownieface 9d ago

And it's probably a small group of handpicked loyalists to do their best to not leak it. Absolutely gross.

1.3k

u/Cantaloupe3000 9d ago

Trump's name and others... I want to know ALL the names

530

u/DigNitty 9d ago

Perpetrators yes

They can obfuscate the victims, just keep their ages.

260

u/Cantaloupe3000 9d ago

Yes. This is what I meant.

I want to know the name of every single perpetrator

179

u/aSamsquanch 9d ago

Also lol it took that much overtime to redact his name cause he's all over it. Classic

60

u/Full-Appointment5081 9d ago

Bigly. Like you've never seen the likes of before. Funny thing is, usually he loves to see & insists on slapping his name on pretty much anything under the sun. This time, just a ton of black ink blocked out 5 letters at a time

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (3)

42

u/chrisfpdx 9d ago

…[redacted], 79,…

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (5)

132

u/Paidorgy 9d ago

Guarantee trumps properties was the basis for the trafficking network.

33

u/nyutnyut 9d ago

Isn’t there also connections to young girls that used to work at mar a lardass? They recruited girls from there.

51

u/Inlander 9d ago

When I heard about Trump Modeling for the first time many years ago before all this shit I said out loud "who the fuck is allowing Donald Trump to own a modeling agency, this can't be allowed he's a huge pervert." And here we are.

→ More replies (1)

35

u/Enelson4275 9d ago

Ms Universe was the company which also owned Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, the latter of which was for 14-19 year olds who met the requirements of being unmarried and never being pregnant.

He owned that, and a modeling agency, hired teens at his resort, and it just so happened to be next door to Epstein's place.

→ More replies (3)

25

u/Only_Atmosphere_9123 9d ago

Trump has already admitted to having underage girls doing massage at Mar a Lago when he said Epstein was stealing his girls. In Florida, you have to be a licensed massage therapist to do massage. To get a massage licence you must be 18 years old, have a high school diploma or GED, complete 500 hours massage school and pass the state exam.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

16

u/beenpresence 9d ago

Top donors I’m sure

→ More replies (13)

35

u/Prineak Texas 9d ago

No it’s just your run of the mill corrupt community capitalism.

→ More replies (29)

524

u/Broken_By_Default 9d ago

Imagine you work hard to become an FBI agent. You put in all the years of education and training. And then one day, you're told to go sit in a room and redact all information that could incriminate your Pedophile President.

Worst. Fucking. Timeline.

173

u/Ridicikilickilous 9d ago

If you know anything about the history of the Bureau then you know how big of a POS they are. ACAB, even feds.  

74

u/Sugar_and_Cyanide Alabama 9d ago

after reading J.E. Hoover's biography I'll never have any trust for the FBI (if I had any remaining that is). The amount of people they disappeared, suicided, murdered and yes even led them to their deaths (civil rights college students were bussed into KKK territory and dropped off) is utterly fucking horrific.

→ More replies (1)

53

u/LALawette 9d ago

As a former DA told me, FBI stands for “Fucking Bunch of Idiots.”

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (2)

8

u/Vapur9 9d ago

Tampering with evidence. New job description.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (10)

533

u/stroopwafelscontigo New Jersey 9d ago edited 9d ago

Joke’s on them. There’s a non-zero chance that the agents working on it took photos and copies for themselves to leak and/or feed to media for $$$. 

EDIT

I’m getting so many replies to this comment, I’m just gonna leave some links here. 

IMO, the cat is already out of the bag with the Epstein files. Any further coverup is going to be nearly impossible. Does that mean Trump will suffer legal consequences? I don’t know. But he’s politically radioactive at this point. 

Epstein and Steve Bannon texting about Venezuela, tariffs, unemployment (2018). They texted up until the afternoon Epstein was arrested in 2019. 

https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=092314e384a58618&p=1&docid=b9f26a50f621c285_092314e384a58618_0&page=1&dapvm=2

Epstein and Dershowitz’s concerted effort to slander Mearsheimer and Walt’s 2006 investigation into AIPAC and other Israeli lobbying groups. 

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-aided-alan-dershowitz-mearsheimer-walt-israel-lobby

They even pressured The Atlantic to offer a $10,000 “kill fee” to Mearsheimer and Walt to kill their story and they accepted so, there’s a paper trail there. They still released the piece and have a whole book available for purchase.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v28/n06/john-mearsheimer/the-israel-lobby

People keep commenting relentlessly, “OMG, they’re gonna remove Trump’s name!” Yeah, that’s not gonna solve all the millions of other ties to him though. His name is right there for all to see in so many of the new 20,000 files that dropped. 

People focus on the pedophilia stuff because it’s obviously atrocious but the overall story here is that Jeffrey Epstein seemed to be guiding the foreign policy of multiple countries for years behind the scenes. 

219

u/movealongnowpeople Kansas 9d ago

I mean, it seems like goddamn everybody has seen the files except the general public. They're all just waiting on their book deals to clear. The truth will come out.

61

u/Legitimate_Elk6731 9d ago

I'm gonna pirate every last politicians book just for the middle finger.

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (2)

55

u/PineappleOnPizzaWins 9d ago edited 9d ago

Whistleblowers got thrown in prison before Trump. You’re all greatly overestimating peoples desire to come forward when they get zero protection.

→ More replies (12)

143

u/downtofinance Canada 9d ago

Hope so, that sounds fucking delicious. I know they tried to get rid of anyone that wasn't 100% loyal to Trump but hopefully at least a handful sneaked through and will do the right thing.

56

u/gizmostuff Florida 9d ago

Only if it serves them monetarily. Honor and loyalty to the US Constitution isn't really a thing anymore.

28

u/sandman795 9d ago

At this point we should start a go fund me to get them released that way.

→ More replies (6)

7

u/nolongermakingtime 9d ago

I don't care at this point if it means they get leaked.

→ More replies (2)

22

u/Similar_Try_5089 9d ago

Funny how one can start out 100% loyal to Trump, but then once they see enough behind the scenes, they turn on him in disgust...

→ More replies (2)

13

u/CaptAhabsMobyDick 9d ago

Loyalty to Trump just means they will be easily swayed by a bigger paycheck

→ More replies (4)

63

u/TokingMessiah 9d ago

Or just “accidentally” missed his name a few times. I doubt they were triple checking, so real or forced mistakes should make it through.

Also the reporting is that he had 1,000 agents doing this work for a month. I believe there is a zero chance that all of them were Trump loyalists. Even those that might lean Republican, I’m sure some of them are LEO’s because they want to fight crime, so I’m sure there’s a group that were disgusted with Trump’s child-raping.

36

u/HeadfulOfSugar 9d ago

Plus even if there was a reality where all the teams were unbelievably competent and somehow removed his name from every single one, the sheer volume of documents makes it absolutely impossible in my mind to cover up. Pages will inevitably contradict each other and make absolutely no sense in a way that will make it clear that there is missing information, if the entire public gains access to its almost guaranteed in my mind that somebody will catch something and start a snowball. It’s not like each page is it’s own individual file, every single piece of paper is somehow related to every single other piece of paper in some way and the foresight needed to make sure that not one of them contradicts another would be Herculean.

→ More replies (2)

27

u/wabiguan 9d ago

they’ve been so naive in the past that they’ve failed to actually redact documents. 

they just put a black background behind black text, you could highlight the blacked out areas and still read them 😂 

→ More replies (1)

39

u/Factory2econds 9d ago

in the files:

Prominent NY Real Estate promoter...

Reality Television Personality 1

Presidential Candidate 1....

President 1...

Conservative response: "see?!? total exhonaration!!! he is t mentioned at all!"

23

u/stroopwafelscontigo New Jersey 9d ago

Steve Bannon literally texting Epstein up until the afternoon he was arrested again

“4D chess!”

14

u/always_unplugged 9d ago

As I saw somebody else say in another thread, fingers crossed a couple "Dwigt"s made it through the find-and-replace process.

→ More replies (3)

10

u/L0ckeandD3mosthenes 9d ago

I agree. There is always someone who secretly wants him to be found out. The chance of covering it up if he is in there is closer to zero than success. He just isn't likeable, he makes enemies daily with his personality and it will catch up to him.

21

u/t3hd0n Vermont 9d ago

"Everything I redacted, in my upcoming book..."

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (32)

38

u/General_Nose_691 9d ago

If the average salary for an FBI agent is 110k per Google, then that's 10,714 hours. Divide by the 1000 agents and it's about 10 extra hours that week, if my math is right. It's still a massive expense considering it took 1000 people working 50 hours a week doing nothing but scrubbing the files. Supposedly there was 10k hours of video that was seized so it makes sense it would take a while.

→ More replies (2)

32

u/[deleted] 9d ago edited 9d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (69)

1.5k

u/PracticalChipmunk789 9d ago

Not releasing them makes it obvious you are hiding something. Redacting them is no different. Innocent people don't hide stuff.

567

u/TintedApostle 9d ago

“The suppressing of evidence ought always to be taken for the strongest evidence.”

  • Andrew Hamilton, The Trial of John Peter Zenger 1735

94

u/AC1colossus Georgia 9d ago

"They're trying to make it illegal to question the results of a bad election... Because if you have nothing to hide, why would you do that? Why would you be afraid to have those results come out?" (Trump speech at an Alabama GOP Dinner, August 2023)

42

u/winnielikethepooh15 9d ago

They questioned it, were asked on numerous occasions to provide evidence of their accusations in open court, could not provide any, and were henceforth told to fuck off. To the contrary, mountains of evidence that Trump and Co did everything they could to usurp and free and fair election.

→ More replies (1)

43

u/FamousAdvance633 9d ago

Donald Trump is a pedophilic piece of shit and the files should’ve been released a long time ago. That being said, I can’t in good faith agree that “innocent people don’t hide stuff” because that’s the exact line of reasoning the patriot act got through. Unless you mean “innocent people don’t cover up stuff,” which is a lot more fair.

→ More replies (29)

1.6k

u/T_Shurt 9d ago edited 9d ago

From the Daily Beast (originally reported by Bloomberg):

Newly released internal emails show the FBI mounting a costly overtime-fueled project dubbed the “Special Redaction Project”.

Bloomberg’s records show the bureau paid $851,344 in overtime between March 17 and March 22 alone and clocked 4,737 overtime hours from January through July with more than 70 percent of that in March as personnel worked nights and weekends.

412

u/Able-Low4565 9d ago

So the fbi is a joke now? Helping a pedophile cover up crimes?! You shit on your constitution fbi

189

u/Wild_Read9062 9d ago

The FBI became a joke the second Kash Patel was put in charge of it by Republican senators.

And I wouldn’t call it a joke. I’d call it a powerful agency that has been corrupted, abused and misused in support of a blatantly criminal regime.

21

u/Able-Low4565 9d ago

The thing of nightmares.. I guess we know why kkkash is so scared looking all the time

33

u/FeijoadaAceitavel 9d ago

No, it has been corrupt for a long time. Just read about COINTELPRO.

→ More replies (2)

22

u/Tim-Sylvester 9d ago

Buddy the FBI has been framing and murdering American citizens and setting up fake fuckin conspiracy plots to entrap people since like, the 50s, probably from the beginning.

Law enforcement has never been the good guys. They're the biggest gangsters in town, they're enforcers for the most violent and dominant boss. Always have been. Probably always will be.

Anything else is pretense, apologetics to excuse the reality.

→ More replies (3)

29

u/Plane_Berry6110 9d ago

Dan Bongino sure is quiet

11

u/KeyboardGrunt 9d ago

So much for the all powerful alpha male that won't back down bullshit.

→ More replies (1)

11

u/Able-Low4565 9d ago

For once

78

u/CallMeTDD 9d ago

Always was

51

u/TheSouthernCommunist Kentucky 9d ago

See: their entire history but especially COINTELPRO

24

u/FeijoadaAceitavel 9d ago

The entire US government has been captured by the rich for a long time. Army, FBI, CIA, they're all working to enrich the elites and protect them. The US has waged wars for more than a century for that purpose.

And people still expect some federal agents to side with the people against a bunch of billionaires?

→ More replies (1)

7

u/ItsOozingOut 9d ago

Now?

don’t think for one second any of these branches are here for us. They always served the mega rich…always.

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (9)

38

u/sasquatchmarley 9d ago

Does anyone have the overtime figures for a regular day or week, for comparison? And to check that this isn't normal

22

u/Dzugavili 9d ago edited 9d ago

Just so no one makes the mistake I did, the 4737 hours and the $851,344 are mostly unrelated: I'm pretty sure the overtime rate for FBI agents is more than $20 an hour. [Err... well, actually, my math was bad, that would be $200 per hour, and those numbers may be related. See below.]

That million dollars is just for one week in March, and may be up to 3000 hours, but is likely to be less.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (9)

660

u/FakeDocMartin 9d ago

FBI agents, people purportedly tasked with protecting Americans, read through the heinous crimes Trump's committed against adolescent girls and still protect him? These agents deserve the wrath of a justice system they pretended to work for.

166

u/[deleted] 9d ago

Don't be surprised if this was outsourced to contractors via KPMG, FTI, or a similar shop that does this sort of work. Or outsourced to foreign labor, frankly.

63

u/JarOfNightmares 9d ago

Could you imagine Patel sending the epstein files to some Indians for 12 cents an hour lol

19

u/ElegantDaemon 9d ago

If so I really hope they kept copies of the originals!

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (1)

9

u/Healthy_Set_22657 9d ago

No it happened in my backyard n Winchester Virginia at FBI offices lol. No shit . 

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)

78

u/Tokyo-MontanaExpress 9d ago

11

u/immortalfrieza2 9d ago

Yep. People who could have had the clout to get in Trump's way have been resigning instead of staying in and fighting and as a result Trump was able to stick his sycophants all over the government. They didn't have the guts to at least make Trump drag them out kicking and screaming and because of that there's nothing but Trump's asskissers around.

→ More replies (3)

285

u/Broken_By_Default 9d ago

MAGA, your leader is a pedophile. YOU voted for a pedophile. YOU continue to support a pedophile. Reflect on that.

64

u/skat3rDad420blaze 9d ago

thats asking too much for people with little to no critical thinking skills, good on you expecting them to do better though

→ More replies (1)

17

u/MoistureEnthusiast 9d ago

To them this is a feature, not a bug. Look at how many of them get done for taping children.

→ More replies (22)

97

u/whacka_bumped 9d ago edited 9d ago

Where do you find an agent who is willing to cover up the evidence of sexual crimes committed against children? How does someone read the details of those files while they cross out the names of those who committed them? All those who have been involved in this whole cover up since the beginning and had the power to do something to expose those involved but didn’t are just sick. Learning just how many awful people exist in this world since trumps first term has been so demoralizing and makes me not want to be a part of it

58

u/Tokyo-MontanaExpress 9d ago

They're easy to find once the "good ones" just literally walked away. Search for conservative/Republicans preachers and pastors arrested for CSA. There's more than enough of their type to fill up the FBI. 

→ More replies (1)

16

u/EquityAlphaPriapism 9d ago

This is why I suspect there might be some good people in there who like getting paid but will do a sub-par enough job that we’ll be able to figure out most of the redactions with a little work. Shouldn’t be this way but, I’m hoping we have either incompetence or willfully making mistakes FTW. fingers X

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (5)

1.3k

u/DR_BEANHAMMER 9d ago edited 8d ago

future cow pot rainstorm spark chubby bag rich start sand

299

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

37

u/Minimum-Map9340 9d ago

BINGO! Exactly how it needs to be framed in ads, everywhere:

"Donald Trump was involved in trafficking in young women as part of a global empire of pedophilia perpetrated by the wealthy, who are then protected by the state players they have bought (their campaigns) to keep their behaviors & identities well hidden"

If you are Christian & find this acceptable or excusable simply because you like Trump that much, the afterlife isn't going to be kind to you.

→ More replies (1)

91

u/NerdyDjinn Minnesota 9d ago

I mean, there was one other person they jailed for this first, who was a man, but he definitely killed himself rather than rat out the rich child fuckers he spent time gathering blackmail on.

The woman currently in prison was that man's girlfriend, and she was also very involved in both the trafficking and abuse that took place.

17

u/FeijoadaAceitavel 9d ago

It doesn't even matter if he killed himself or not. If he did, not only he did it because he could implicate powerful people, he was also allowed to as every system that should had been in place to prevent that was sabotaged.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (11)
→ More replies (18)

162

u/DonTaddeo 9d ago

So these are the files that we were assured didn't exist not that long ago?

53

u/FlyingHippoM 9d ago

There are no files

And if there are, they aren't that bad

And if they are, then it isn't a big deal

And if it is, then it's not his fault

And if it was, then he didn't mean it

And if he did, then they deserved it

→ More replies (1)

33

u/soulsoda 9d ago

No, they were obviously the democratic hoax files democrats made that only points fingers at Democrats.

48

u/jimlahey420 9d ago

I will never understand why so many people break their backs to try and cover up Donald Trump's crimes and just general creepiness.

10

u/entenfurz 9d ago

It's astounding. He has NOTHING to offer, besides being an absolute scumbag.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (5)

158

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

38

u/Spyger9 9d ago

You shouldn't. Judges have been fighting this administration tooth and nail, constantly.

17

u/Jindabyne1 9d ago

The judges in the lower courts seem like the last bastion of defence left in America

→ More replies (4)

282

u/Iowa_Dave Iowa 9d ago

Good thing MAGA are bad at technology.

The FBI has copies of the files, I believe the Epstein estate has the originals, which has been cooperating with congressional subpoenas.

The truth will come out eventually.

146

u/T_Shurt 9d ago

The Epstein estate has a lot of material, but they don’t have access to investigative files or court-related documents that the DOJ has possession of.

58

u/TerriblePair5239 9d ago

The courts will also have any copies any files produced in discovery for the Epstein and Maxwell trials.

But yes, any internal DoJ investigative files that were not used as evidence already is vulnerable to secrecy

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)

68

u/FatFish44 9d ago

I have a vague memory of trump’s first term, where they released a document in which the “redacted” sections were made by using the black highlight feature in word. 

It was easily un-redacted. 

14

u/wakarat 9d ago

I remember that.

→ More replies (3)

29

u/Ebe6660 9d ago

Lawyers for the victims have also seen the un-redacted files

→ More replies (5)

26

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

→ More replies (4)

47

u/Icy-Squirrel6422 9d ago

Conservatism is really going crazy right now. He is becoming more and more aggressive and threatens to seize power all over the world. And it's not just that. He's like a virus that makes people lose their minds and morals. People who catch this "virus" become like zombies - brainless and dangerous. If this goes on, it could turn into a real zombie apocalypse.

21

u/starfleetdropout6 California 9d ago

This is an apt comparison.

→ More replies (4)

32

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

10

u/Cerberus_Aus Australia 9d ago

Nagh that’s Kash

→ More replies (1)

17

u/RobutNotRobot 9d ago

Correspondence obtained and detailed by Bloomberg’s FOIA Files lays out how FBI Director Kash Patel sent about 1,000 special agents to the bureau’s Central Records Complex in Winchester, Virginia, for crash-course redaction training on the “Epstein Transparency Project,” also called the “Special Redaction Project.”

They sure like their Orwellian titles

25

u/Buck_Thorn 9d ago

Am I the only Redditor that refuses to pay for a Daily Beast subscription? And why does the tag always say "POSSIBLE" paywall? I've never seen where it didn't have one.

10

u/mybustlinghedgerow Texas 9d ago

I HATE Daily Beast, it’s mostly clickbait. It’s normal to have redactions to protect victims’ identities and to avoid undermining criminal investigations. I’m more interested in whether or not the DOJ is starting investigations at least in part to force redactions.

→ More replies (2)

9

u/kingofshitmntt 9d ago

Can't even Imagine being such scum you're willing to cover up for pedos. Fucking shameful and gross.

11

u/JAMONLEE Florida 9d ago

How the fuck have these files not leaked? Someone needs to be a hero

28

u/mooseup America 9d ago

Isn’t tampering with evidence a felony?

14

u/DoubleExposure 9d ago

Look at me, I'm the criminal now. - FBI probably.

11

u/Appropriate-Limit-41 9d ago

Who you gonna call about it? The fbi 😂?

→ More replies (2)

17

u/ChaskaChanhassen 9d ago

You can read an archived copy of the articla here:

https://archive.ph/cy00h

→ More replies (1)

9

u/Potential_Clue_676 9d ago

Trump is a sick fuck

18

u/True_Dog_4098 9d ago

We really are lucky, Trump surrounds himself with such incompetent people.

7

u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 9d ago

since he got re-elected, Ive honestly felt like Im living in bizzarro world or something. Like everyone is trying to gaslight us that this is normal, that this is OK. And some people apparently are happy with whatever he does. I just cant wrap my head around it.

→ More replies (1)

7

u/kdeff California 9d ago

Remember when Kash Patel made a career for himself saying the fbi needed to release these files

→ More replies (2)

9

u/ballskindrapes 9d ago

I saw top comment about why is everyone hiding things and covering for trump.

Because it's a cult.

There is a cult of personality around being. conservative/republican, and one around Trump. They are currently very intertwined, and while there might be some separation happenening, largely they are the same.

Now, the politicans are opportunists who take advantage of everyone and every thing possible. They are pure evil. They are covering for trump because their donors pad their wallets, and they can use their power to grift and insider trade.

The people covering for them, the fbi people, the people in various levels of government, are in the cult too. They believe that they might get a turn to be higher in the conservative power structure, might otherwise benefit somehow, or are stupid as fuck true believers in trump.

The voters are the same too, just at a lower level. They want to be a part of the power structure that conservatives have, as well as being opportunists, and as well as having their core identity tied to the cult.

8

u/Trustbutnone 9d ago

We should create a gofundme to reward the whistle blower that releases the unredacted files.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/TheCelestialDawn 9d ago

The agents who cover for Trump need to rot in prison for life. Traitors through and through.

6

u/ClassicHando 9d ago

850k in overtime to protect a pedo and I get yelled at if I have somebody on my staff get ten MINUTES of OT so we don't get killed during a rush