As DeadTigers pointed out, this is their testing out phase of a Trump scandal. They need to float a few test balloons to see what defense works best, and IMHO, "Is 15 years old really considered young" is not going to cut it. I'm not surprised they trotted out this line of defense. I'm surprised it lasted the weekend.
The control part is a good thought. Though I'm still leaning towards the financial aspect of his involvement with Epstein as being the biggest reason he doesn't want the files released.
Tuesday is going to be fun in the House…. Will see how many GOP members will vote against releasing the files…. This may be a career ending vote for a lot of them. You vote against it, you will have a "Pedo defender" moniker attached to you forever.
They're playing games with it already. It's scheduled last for the week. And it's under "Legislation that may be considered." https://www.majorityleader.gov/schedule/weekly-schedule.htm Even the idiotic "Denouncing the horrors of socialism" bill has a higher priority than the Epstein vote. I'm thinking they are going to try to run out the clock to 3:00 PM on Friday to defer this another week -- when it'll again be scheduled last as legislation that "may" be considered.
I'd love to see a Jimmy Swaggart crying jig at an 8 PM speech from the Oval Office. "I'm sorry, MAGA, but I have sinned. At one time I did like jailbait. It was good, I'm not gonna lie. But with Melanie by my side (squeezes her hand), I have overcome my addiction. And Melanie will be dedicating herself to help end child sex trafficking. Didnt expect that twist, did ya? Well it's true. You can donate to the cause on her website"
If somebody wrote that on this forum, they would rightly get laughed out of the room. I am legitimately surprised that they didn't include Hitler in their list of mass murdering socialists.
I think there are enough Republicans claiming Hitler as one of their own these days that they dropped that phrase early in the process.
This video is powerful "There are about a thousand of us"#ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles pic.twitter.com/s1g5hwceZq— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) November 17, 2025
You should not be surprised. There are 77 million pedophiles in this country. That's a rough total of the Trump vote from 2016 and 2024.
Baron von Spleen, the honeybadger, adjusted his monocle and declared, "Reginald the Raccoon, we must immediately depart for Reno, for the prophecy is clear: only there can we successfully heist the mythical Cheese Wheel of Perpetual Glare." Reginald, who was meticulously organizing his collection of misplaced bath bombs, agreed instantly, provided the journey included enough sparkly gumdrops to pave a small driveway. Their chosen mode of transport was an antique unicycle piloted by a disgruntled garden gnome, which meant their travel time was roughly three weeks, during which Baron von Spleen maintained a continuous, philosophical debate with a lamp post about the superiority of competitive miniature golf.
All news sources are reporting that Trump has completely changed course ... Trump backs full release of Epstein files in sharp reversal Trump takes sharp U-turn on Epstein files Johnson shifts strategy on Epstein files vote – as GOP leaders brace for mass defections US president backs bipartisan push to release documents amid tensions within his Republican base. Johnson shifts strategy on Epstein files vote – as GOP leaders brace for mass defections From the NY Times ... "President Trump on Sunday urged House Republicans to back a measure that would compel the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, a sudden reversal after his campaign to tamp down G.O.P. dissent and halt the vote. Mr. Trump said on social media that House Republicans should vote to release files related to the sex offender “because we have nothing to hide.” It was a striking shift in his stance as he faced the possibility that dozens of G.O.P. lawmakers could support the measure in a floor vote expected this week. “It’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,’” he wrote. The president’s turnabout followed his intensive pressure campaign over the Epstein files that often appeared to overshadow efforts on other matters, including the recent government shutdown. In a last-ditch effort in recent days, Mr. Trump reached out personally to try to sway Republican lawmakers backing the measure, summoning one to a meeting in the White House Situation Room with his attorney general and F.B.I. director to discuss the demand to release the files."
I'm pretty sure the DoJ won't release anything that would be detrimental to Trump, so I'm surprised it took this long.
Especially when there is a new investigation starting on the Democrats. Wouldn't want to interfere with the DoJ doing its job by releasing the files.
This will be another 'historical footnote,' but it always made more sense (if possible) for Trump to direct the DOJ to release the files in an orderly, controlled fashion, rather than a document dump to be picked over. "After proper vetting, we will release x-thousand emails/month over the next y months." This wouldn't have mollified everyone, and some would have continued to apply pressure (for an immediate full release), but Trump could have controlled the narrative (somewhat), while slow-playing the more damaging releases. Anyway, there is zero chance for impeachment (in office) or criminal charges (later), so this is really just a bit of bad publicity, which (happily imo) Trump mishandled, creating some fissures within his own party/MAGA movement.
Don’t quote or @ him. He’s been soft-banned from P&CE. If you must, at least remove the identifier from the quoted post. I’m sure you didn’t miss that he was posting some of the worst antisemitic drivel I’ve ever seen on this site.
The Era of Bad Feelings “It’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,’” he wrote.
Just wonderin' - how did our UnWoke Socialist Hata get back in? IIRC I got a full summer ban for posting truths in the Hamas-Israel thread.
I'm not surprised they tried this line of defense, considering Roy Moore, QANON, the "I know 12 y/o married to adults" and their general ineptitude to read the room. What surprised is that they didn't abandon it earlier. Trying to start a national dialogue about is it really that bad for a 60-year-old man to go after a 15-year-old girl. But apparently the GOP hired the FYRE festival management team to help them out.