What’s the deal with the Epstein thing?

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has been commanding his supporters to move on with their fixations over the disgraced financier and registered sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

They need to stop pushing the “Jeffrey Epstein hoax”, the president has said, as his administration’s handling of the files relating to the late paedophile investor continues to divide the Make America Great Again (Maga) base. He implored his supporters on social media not to “waste time and energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about”.

But then during the election campaign, Trump promised to release the so-called “Epstein files”, which have been central to ongoing conspiracy theories since the disgraced financier died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. He was found hanging in a New York jail in August 2019.

Trump’s problems started when the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published a two-page memo earlier this month after what they described as an “exhaustive review” of material relating to Epstein. The memo concluded that, contrary to some speculation, there was no “client list” and “credible evidence” that Epstein “blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions”, and that he had died by suicide.

The Maga base has since been in uproar. The conclusions ran contrary to numerous conspiracy theories that have been circulating, including by Trump’s supporters, after Epstein’s death.

Hence before joining the Trump administration, FBI director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino had previously publicly questioned whether Epstein was murdered, as part of a conspiracy to protect powerful figures who were associated with him.

Responding to the rumours about Epstein’s alleged client list, Attorney-General Pam Bondi replied in February: “It’s sitting on my desk right now.” Her statement created expectations that the Trump administration would expose that list, and other sensational material about Epstein and his death.

But now that Bondi failed to deliver the goods, she has become the focus of attacks by the Maga base. Some conservative pundits and Republican lawmakers are calling on Trump to fire her.

Trump has defended Bondi, who played a central role in his efforts to overhaul the judicial system. In a lengthy post on his Truth Social account, he said: “What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals’? They’re all going after Attorney-General Pam Bondi, who is doing a fantastic job.” And he added: “Let Pam Bondi do her job – she’s great.”

But the uproar does not show signs of dying anytime soon. The base is not buying Trump’s explanations and it is not clear what would satisfy it, short of confirmation of the conspiracy theories, including exposing the so-called client list revolving around Epstein.

The irony is that Trump’s entire political career involved spreading conspiracy theories, including suggesting that former president Barack Obama was not born in the US. Now, he is trying to cast the blame for Epstein’s conspiracy theories on Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

In a way, the recent scandal goes to the very foundation of the Maga movement, with its adherence to conspiracy theories that are supposed to make sense of the political world. It seems Trump is discovering that if you live by conspiracy theories, do not be surprised if you die by one.