The perfect storm is brewing, but despite that, hope remains imprisoned

The political and economic dam walls are under extreme pressure, and cracks are appearing, but if Caesar falls, liberation will not be delivered, I fear.

To date, I have resisted wading into the Epstein debate, preferring instead to focus on the broader epidemic of child abuse in society. Having had time to reflect, I have decided to add my contribution for what it’s worth. I thought it might make for a break after writing a five-part series on where we find ourselves in this moment. It also allows me to breathe before I embark on my deep dive into Project Esther tomorrow and my latest assessment of the Gaza conflict, which I first wrote about back in early May.

In the Coliseum that is Washington, DC, the crowds are making demands of Caesar that place his fantasy empire in peril, and the foundations of that empire are currently being shaken to the core. Often, it’s not the act that ends you, it’s the lies that deliver the fatal shot. Trump has spent his entire life telling lies with total disregard for the rule of law. We have reached a point where his past behaviour, as a sexual predator and his weaponisation of the legal process to sue accusers into submission, are now coming back to haunt him. I imagine the White House dining room has been repainted with Ketchup punctuated by fragments of pottery this week if Trump is acting true to form

As far as the MAGA vision is concerned, his narcissistic personality precludes him from considering that he is vulnerable in this moment, because he believes that his cult will never abandon him. But I suspect there are moments in his day right now when, for all his belligerent arrogance, he’s terrified by the thought that if he doesn’t die in office, he may well die in a prison cell. He’s right to be worried, because what he fundamentally fails to realise is that he has now served his purpose. He captured the White House, the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the popular vote. His budget bill has now passed and is law of the land, and as a bonus, he has passed a rescission bill to redirect already appropriated funds to wherever he likes.

If he dropped dead tomorrow, those financing this torching of government and the establishment of an international extortion racket would quietly raise a glass and enjoy a cigar as he is laid to rest in his gold casket, shouting, ‘The useful idiot is dead, long live our new anointed puppet JD. ’ Trump’s departure from the political stage would be celebrated around the world, only to realise that what follows will be a whole new level of malignant malevolence. The problems of the US will not disappear with Trump; they will take on a far more disciplined and focused approach to tyranny.

We can all get excited about the thought of Trump doing the perp walk. I have no problem with that. I’m even ready to order the popcorn, but it’s like a hangover. You feel good until you wake up and realise your problems have not gone anywhere. Having said that, it does have significant entertainment value, and we all need some of that before we have to face the reality of it all.

Every playground bully makes the mistake of picking on the wrong person to bully, and Trump stupidly chose Rupert Murdoch, so the battle has begun. Trump has proved us wrong in the past, so it’s always a gamble to bet against him, but the Wall Street Journal seems in no mood to back off. In a new piece released late yesterday by Sadie Gurman, Annie Linskey, Josh Dawsey and Alex Leary, which I have gifted for you, they report:

When Justice Department officials reviewed what Attorney General Pam Bondi called a “truckload” of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein earlier this year, they discovered that Donald Trump’s name appeared multiple times, according to senior administration officials.

In May, Bondi and her deputy informed the president at a meeting in the White House that his name was in the Epstein files, the officials said. Many other high-profile figures were also named, Trump was told. Being mentioned in the records isn’t a sign of wrongdoing.

It is worth noting that none of the new revelations are in any way proof of his involvement or participation in the heinous criminal acts committed against a number of children, let’s call them what they are, rather than ‘underage girls’. As the father of an abused daughter, I am a believer that we should not attempt to dress this up as anything other than what it is: child sexual abuse.

Of course, Trump is calling it fake news as he always does, but my question to him is simple: if it’s a hoax, release all the information, and that will prove your claim. To hell with who is implicated; the victims deserve justice, and the American people deserve the truth. If any victims wish their details to be redacted, nobody will have a problem with that. For years, Trump and his sycophants have hailed the Epstein files as their smoking gun. They have weaponised its existence as a campaign prop without an ounce of regard for the victims. They claim to be the party that protects children, despite many in their ranks and their evangelical churches having been prosecuted for child sex offences.

There is a trust deficit now, even within his own base, and polling shows his favorability ratings are plummeting. His attacks on Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal are just the sign of a trapped animal seeking escape from a well-documented past. He’s a convicted criminal for good reason; he has proven to be a man of deeply flawed character with a flagrant disregard for the rule of law. A fraudster and a sexual predator. These are not matters up for debate; they are who he is and what groups of his peers have found him to be.

The other thing I find deeply disturbing is Pam Bondi’s role in this. I used to think Bill Barr carried water for Trump, but she carries water and then bathes his feet and elephant ankles. He is vociferously defending her not because of her ability to do the job, but for her unwavering willingness to do as she is told. The extent to which she has attempted to protect him in this is, in some ways, farcical, yet the level of fealty is genuinely breathtaking. Never in US history has an Attorney General been willing to risk a future jail sentence in this way. History should tell her that jails have been littered with those who have taken bullets for him.

How can the American people have any faith in what is coming out of the Justice Department when the Deputy Attorney General is meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice? What steps are being taken to verify what is being discussed and what he is authorised to offer her in return for her testimony? This is the most corrupt administration in modern American History. Trump will already have been made aware that this might not end well for him. We already have a situation where Trump is denying being told that his name appeared several times in the documentation held by the DOJ. So, either he is lying about being told or Bondi is lying about telling him. Both can’t be true.

I will give Democrats their due here; they have been relentless in their attempts to put Republicans on record on the subject, which will be critical if midterms take place next year. In a piece yesterday by Emily Brooks from The Hill, she reports:

“Today, Oversight Democrats fought for transparency and accountability on the Epstein files and won. House Republicans didn’t make it easy, but the motion was finally passed to force the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement.

“Let’s be clear: this is a huge win for the American people. The public deserves to know who was complicit in Epstein’s heinous crimes, including people with immense power in our government. Today’s vote was just the first step toward accountability, and we will continue pushing for the truth.”

This train is hurtling down the track, and there really is no stopping it. As ever with Trump, he will have to be dragged, kicking, screaming and lying to the table. Given that the Republican Party is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, there is no way of telling what the outcome might be. I said a couple of weeks ago that Trump would fail, and my opinion has not changed; it’s just a matter of which straw will break the camel’s back. If I’m honest, I really don’t care how the wannabe emperor meets his demise; I just want it to be deeply humiliating, leaving him liable to prosecution for his endless crimes against the American people.