Epstein Files IV: Trump Turns On His Followers — Day 2

UPDATE: More attacks against MAGA are driving this into uncharted waters.

Note: Update from today’s Trump tirade below.

Let me start by saying that I have a number of non-Epstein posts and essays in various states of completion that I could be working on.

But, I’m not.

This story is breaking through bigly and no one should take their foot off the gas.

Beyond the outrage in certain MAGA circles, I think that what many of us have done in the eight days since Trump’s Injustice League tried to brush Epstein under the rug on a holiday weekend has made a difference.

Whether your writing or sharing — media corporations track tending stories and their intensity. And decent corporate media companies also look at the responses their anchors and pundits receive there from viewers. You may think that doing that on BlueSky or Substack is simply preaching to the choir, but there are impact beyond any political bubble.

So, here we go again with an update and thoughts:

Media & Democrats

On that pressure, my first post was aimed at pushing liberal corporate media to cover this story and elected Democrats to push it hard. On both fronts that has happened. This is now leading most MSNBC prime time shows every night and elected leaders from Speaker Jeffries down are talking and forcing votes to put Republicans on record and give more air to this fire.

Are they throwing gas on it? No. But, for inherently timid Dems, it’s not bad. And this story has the hallmarks of a slow burn that isn’t going away like our typical gnat news cycle in the Trump Distraction Era.

On the media side, special kudos to Lawrence O'Donnell who has trained his focus and writing on the story with the biting wit and righteous moral indignity that has only increased since the Trump Regime came back to power.

Tonight (7/16/25) he took things much further with his commentary. For those media watchers reading between the lines, he seems to be treading very close to the Jane Doe/Katie Johnson story — which in any other world/era would be a very legitimate story to reopen and investigate given the totality of Trump’s history and the already established Epstein connections.

That may be a bridge too far for MSNBC or Universal brass. Sadly, I get that.

If that is the case, those great reporters freed from corporate media (

Joy-Ann Reid

,

Jim Acosta

,

Terry Moran

, and

Don Lemon

) as well as some of the truly awesome independent journalist here on Substack and other platforms should cross the rubicon and deliver this shocking addition into the media bloodstream. Because that will take it to 11.

I respect each and every reporter/anchor I just tagged, and I assume they are at least somewhat familiar with this story. But, if staff for any need a refresher you can get a start from my article here.

The Trump-World Implosion

While I believe our social media action has truly helped, there’s no doubt that the rip in the space/time continuum of the seemingly fact-impregnable MAGA-Verse is the main driver here.

And that rip doesn’t look like it can be sewn up anytime fast. If anything, it’s pulling apart more.

Trump reaching into his Obama-Clinton-Biden bullshit bag of greatest hits suddenly smells like real bullshit to many of those most incapacitated by vapors in the original adult diaper gaslighting.

These people know this issue and they know that Ghislaine Maxwell’s investigation and indictment and the investigation, charges, trail and death of Epstein all happened under the eye of Donald Trump.

Trump’s cult has always been built on a foundation of bullshit. And this is all smelling like it could have the same foundational properties as sand. I’m not saying it’s all about to come crashing down, but when the master bedroom is teetering on the verge of collapse you probably don’t want an inspector popping over to check things out.

Again, I’m making no predictions. But, for tons of true-believer voters (and actual elected crazies) this is a belief-shaking event which might start to call more lies into question. And for the majority of elected crazy cosplayer Republicans, it might start looking like the best thing to do is knock a few grand off the asking price and try to sell quick without an inspection.

Or, maybe call in the inspector and get out with the insurance payoff.

Mike Johnson may have said Trump was saved and anointed by God Almighty from one side of his mouth today. But, calling for transparency from the other was quite a tell.

Trump Isn’t Helping

As the one trick pony has said of others, Trump doesn’t have much of a hand to play here either. And he didn’t do himself any favors again today.

The Obama-Clinton-Biden bullshit reeked more today than the actual smell standing beside Donny with a full Depends. You could almost smell it through the TV.

And calling the Epstein issue pretty boring stuff? That’s not going to play well.

And tying it into his Russia, Russia, Russia litany of lies is just another way to weaken the foundation further.

Trump did seem to subtly shift AG Bondi into the bus lane.

And Johnson was there for the less subtle assist:

“I think she was talking about documents, as I understood that were on her desk. I don’t know that she was specific about a list or whatever, but she needs to come forward and explain that to everybody,” Johnson said.

Sounds like Johnson if fine with sacrificing the once-virgin to his real god of expediency. Sure, that’s a well-established D.C. get-out-of-scandal-free card move.

What does Trump do then? Can he use the bus, volcano, or wolves to sacrifice the AG and maybe pay her off with a stash of bitcoin? What exactly does she know? Was she a true Epstein conspiracy virgin or in on the game?

If it could work, we may be past that point. Dribs and drabs might become sources and bombshells that have nothing to do with the Injustice Department no matter how tight the Trump goons have it tied down.

Because, here’s Trumps biggest problem: He’s a fucking serial sexual predator. Scratch that — a serial sexual monster. And he has been for longer than I’ve been alive. Every bit of evidence shows that and every fiber of my being tells me it’s true.

Yes, eternal damnation may be the only thing that gets him in the end.

But, this mutation of a human has left a trail of destruction and suffering in his wake for decades. And he’s been living on borrowed time longer than any god, karma, or decency should allow.

Maybe, just maybe, it might be happening.

Update: Trump took his war against his own voters to another level today. First he attacked them on his Truth platform then did it again in the Oval Office. The official word now is that Epstein is now a hoax, just like all the other lies he’s peddled. Of course this meant another day at the top of the news and more MAGA culture die-hards publicly splitting with him.

It also reinforces the very valid theory that Trump simply has no choice — his sexual crimes are simply too monstrous to ever be known. In turn, that only increases the likelihood that someone else comes out, something else is leaked, and that feeds the frenzy to to discover more truth.

Trump has tried some of his usual distractions (new tariffs! Attacking old enemies! Changing the formula of Coke!?) and none of it is working. Does he go bigger? Very possibly. But, at this point the fact that it’s a distraction will rival what he’s doing to distract.

He’s done it every time before, but it’s really hard to see any clear path of escape. All eyes should be on elected Republicans. If and when they start to turn, it’s a whole new ballgame.