Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

The Elon Musk versus Donald Trump war is bringing me and others an inappropriate amount of joy. Their pain is our gain! But apart from that fun, there is one very substantive issue raised in this war. That is Musk’s repeated demands to release the files of Trump’s long-time friend and serial rapist of underage girls, Jeffrey Epstein. On Thursday, while battling with Trump, Musk dropped what he dubbed a “bomb” writing on Twitter, “Time to drop the really big bomb:@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!" On Friday night, Musk doubled down in his demand for these files, writing on Twitter that “I will apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files.” (Musk later deleted that post.) You don’t need to be the remarkable Inspector Poirot—of Agatha Christie fame—to get that Trump does not want the Epstein files released. Common sense tells us that Trump’s lies surrounding his relationship with the notorious rapist of children and the refusal of his Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the complete Epstein records—despite even MAGA influencers clamoring for it—tells us that these files are bad for him. So in a very lawyer like, non-political spin manner, let me lay out the facts about Trump and Epstein’s relationship and Trump’s lies. It is undisputed that Trump and Epstein between the 1980’s to the 2000’s, socialized together among the rich and somewhat famous crowd of Palm Beach, Florida and New York City. As The Washington Post detailed-and photos back up—we saw "Epstein and longtime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, Trump and his then-girlfriend, Melania Knauss, double dating at a celebrity tennis tournament at Mar-a-Lago. Partying with Britain’s Prince Andrew. Hanging out with National Football League cheerleaders. Dancing, laughing, palling around at a party Trump threw to celebrate his “freedom” after he divorced his second wife, Marla Maples.”

[...] It was in 2005 that Epstein was first criminally investigated after reports that a 14-year-old girl was molested at his mansion. A grand jury indicted Epstein in 2006 on a single count of prostitution and he was arrested. From there Epstein would receive sweetheart deals from prosecutors over the years allowing him to continue with his crimes. But in 2019, the Miami Herald detailed how Epstein had molested in area of 50 underage girls in a massive sex trafficking ring that he and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell had engaged in. That reporting triggered a federal investigation that resulted in Epstein being indicted in July 2019. The US Attorney in New York, Geofrey Berman, at the time explained, “The indictment unsealed today alleges that, between 2002 through 2005, Epstein sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls by enticing them to engage in sex acts with him in exchange for money.” Berman continued, “Epstein allegedly worked with several employees and associates to ensure that he had a steady supply of minor victims to abuse and paid several of those victims themselves to recruit other underage girls to engage in similar sex acts for money. And as alleged in the indictment, Epstein committed these offenses in locations including New York, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida. That means Trump and Epstein were still very close for at least the first two years of the Epstein’s sex trafficking —2002 to 2004--with underage girls. FYI the indictment alleged that Epstein’s crimes begin “at least in” 2002 meaning Epstein could’ve been committing crimes before that. As The Washington Post reported, “When Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book of phone numbers appeared in a court file a few years ago, it contained 14 numbers for Trump; his wife, Melania; and others in Trump’s inner circle.” After the 2019 federal indictment, Trump said he was "not a fan" of Epstein. Trump also denied that he had ever flown on Epstein’s private jet dubbed by the media as “the Lolita Express” because of it being used to transport underage girls. That was a lie. We now know Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet at least seven times according to fight logs released as evidence in the trial of Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. And in that 2021 trial, Epstein's former pilot, Lawrence Visoski Jr, testified that Trump flew aboard Epstein's private plane on various occasions.

No Excuses 1990