First Draft: 🤬 ‘Epstein Is a Democrat Problem’

Trump pins his former bestie’s sprawling pedophile ring on liberal lawmakers, the NFL tells bigots to pound sand, and MAGA declares war on… the Federalist Society?

🎸 On this day in 1977, ‘Rumours,’ Fleetwood Mac’s 11th studio album and the single best record of all time, was released. Forged in near-total emotional chaos, it is also one of the most infamous slow-motion car wrecks in pop history. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had just ended a long, volatile relationship, but still had to write, sing, and harmonize together every day. Christine McVie and bassist John McVie were divorcing and barely speaking. And all of this unfolded under the watch of drummer Mick Fleetwood, whose own marriage would collapse during the sessions.

Hi, folks. Peter here, in desperate need of a proper chem lab eye wash station. The Zeteo team and I just finished reviewing the 2007 draft indictment of Jeffrey Epstein by federal prosecutors in Florida, which was dropped by the Bush administration’s Alex Acosta after discussions with Epstein's lawyers Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr. It’s never been available to the public before, and it is… the stuff of nightmares.

In today’s ‘First Draft,’ the latest Epstein files release has Donald Trump playing a pathetic blame game, federal prosecutors are fed up defending Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice’s rogue actions, the Clintons dodge a contempt charge, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell comes out swinging in defense of Bad Bunny (wrong sport, I know), and victims of ICE violence testify on Capitol Hill.

Don Dares the Dems

Epstein and Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 22, 1997. Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images.

Holding court before a scrum of White House reporters yesterday evening, surrounded by a coterie of Republican allies from the Senate, Donald Trump finally washed his hands of the sordid Epstein saga.

“Speaking of Epstein, I will say this,” the president proclaimed, following a question about his recent meeting with Peter Mandelson, a former ambassador to the United States who was forced to resign from British Parliament yesterday over his links to the convicted child sex trafficker.

“A reporter named Wolff and Epstein conspired, this just came out yesterday, in the millions of pages of documents… conspired against me in order to fight like hell to make sure I lose the election. That’s the only thing that was mentioned about me.”

Apologies for this interlude in the interest of fact. You likely won’t be gobsmacked to learn that assertion is far, far from the truth. In the quote above, not only is Trump (accidentally?) referencing an email from a previous Epstein file dump in which controversial author Michael Wolff implored Trump’s onetime bestie to “help finish” his 2016 campaign following the release of the Access Hollywood tape, but the president is also neglecting to mention Epstein refused said ask. So where, praytell, was the conspiracy?

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