‘Trump and Epstein: It Only Matters if It Takes Him Down’ — My Latest Report in Byline
For my latest report in Byline Supplement, I argue that the Epstein email revelations should be the breaking point between the MAGA cult and Trump
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It’s almost karmic justice. So much was made about Hillary Clinton’s emails, and for those of us who actually read them, the Big Reveal was a devoted staff. But in the mind war, seeds of destruction in the form of character assassination were planted, and she went from being the most respected politician in American in a 2013 poll, to universally vilified just three years later.
Now that a real email scandal is breaking, does America even have the capacity to recognize it as such? Will Trump’s reveal as a child sexual assaulter leave him disgraced? I guess we’ll find out. In my latest report for Byline Supplement, I write that it only matters if it takes him down.
Imagine my delight at seeing my friend Bill Christeson holding the sign in the image selected to illustrate my report. He’s been a frontline warrior for a decade, and I am grateful for his tenacity.
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Below is an excerpt from this week’s report:
Trump and Epstein: It Only Matters if It Takes Him Down
The Jeffrey Epstein email revelations should be the breaking point between the MAGA cult and Donald Trump, argues Heidi Siegmund Cuda
An excerpt from Byline Supplement:
It was always so strange that Donald Trump’s base was forged on conjured stories of Democrats engaging in child sexual abuse and trafficking. These lies were spun from Clinton campaign emails hacked by the Russians in 2016, and because Americans have no information warfare inoculation, the lies grew deep roots. They became the foundation for such conspiracies as Pizzagate and QAnon, and tragically, the belief that Democrats were engaging in harms to children became a foundational tenet of the MAGA Cult.
They wanted Trump to save the children. Only, the evidence pointed in the other direction. It was those in Trump’s orbit who were accused and convicted of sex crimes. On November 6, 2016, I wrote about the charges filed against both Jeffrey Epstein — a convicted child sexual assaulter — and Donald Trump. The charges alleged both men had raped a 13-year-old girl. I dug up an October 2002 article in New York Magazinewhere Trump, who had a history of sexual comments directed at teenage girls, praised Epstein by saying he “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it.”
There have been so many explosive moments that should have ended his political career before it even started — “grab ‘em by the p***y”, anyone? But it’s quite clear, the release of Jeffrey Epstein emails by House Democrats on Wednesday remains the most direct way to break Trump’s base.
If they are truly united in their desire to save the children, then they need to save them from Donald Trump. They can’t have it both ways.
Among the details gleaned from the emails, selected from 20,000 pages received by the House Oversight Committee:
Epstein wrote that Trump “spent hours at my house”
Epstein indicated Trump “knew about the girls” — determined by investigators to have been underage
Writing to his collaborator Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein wrote: “I want you to realize that the dog that hasn’t barked is Trump”, writing that a victim spent hours at his house with Trump
Writing to Trump biographer Michael Wolff, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.”
Epstein and the Russians, etc.
In addition, the emails reveal something we’ve always known: that Epstein was directly tied to the Russians, who we know were directly tied to Trump.
For his part, Trump dismisses it all as a “hoax.”
But back to the facts, I often think about an interview I did with the former president of Estonia, Toomas Ilves, in February of 2022. I asked him why Putin always gets a pass, despite a constant stream of criminal acts. And he said, “More than one politician has been compromised.” And it’s true that more than one politician is mentioned in the Epstein emails. Former leaders of Norway and Austria are included, and such Trump friends as Peter Thiel, Steve Bannon, and Prince Andrew — despite Epstein’s convicted sex offender status.
So, the way I see it, all of this only matters if it takes down Trump, who is running a criminal regime in the US.
As North Atlantic Fellas Organization founding member Matthew Pearce told Byline Supplement: “The International Criminal Court looking at people around Trump leaves the US more isolated than it’s been in years. Allies are stepping back, unsure where the legal lines for Trump are anymore. Against this violent backdrop, years of QAnon brainwashing mean that the reaction to the Epstein emails inside Trump’s base is impossible to predict. Especially as evidence of his own abuses continue to surface.”
“Incredibly dangerous times in the USA,” he said.
Geopolitical analyst from Finland Joni Askola told Byline Supplement: “Now that the Epstein emails are out, they confirm what many of us have warned about for years. Trump was not just a predator protecting another predator and human trafficker. He was also being blackmailed by Epstein and by Russia.
“We do not know the full extent of Russia’s kompromat, but we now have proof that Epstein helped Moscow blackmail Trump during his first term. Trump’s ties to Epstein are the only leverage we can confirm, and that alone is huge. He betrayed the United States to cover up his predatory behavior.”
Askola said that it’s likely the Epstein files will reveal much more, and that Democrats, and world leaders, need to ask whether US foreign policy under Trump was driven by national interest or by blackmail.
“It certainly looks like blackmail,” he said. “Will this matter? How much will this matter? It is hard to say. Trump is almost immune to scandal. He could kill someone on live TV and his base would cheer. The impact depends on what else comes out. But this is his biggest scandal of his second term so far, and it will not go away. It will haunt him until his death.”
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Askola said Trump supporters are now faced with having to “twist themselves into defending pedophilia and treason.”
Or maybe, this bullseye to Trump’s Achilles heel — the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein — will deliver the final blow.
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To read the full report, please take out a subscription to Byline Supplement. If you are unable to do so at this time, please reach out to me individually at bettedangerous/gmail, and I will forward the column — which includes smart commentary from Craig Unger — upon request.
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More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter/producer, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
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Begin each day with a grateful heart.
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I remain hopeful that unintended consequences will be our victory. It’s obvious there’s a lot of “there”THERE! He’s scared and it shows.
I put my money on the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein, but I tend to be an optimist. Not a good week for Trump, who seems desperate and deteriorating.