As the Epstein files resurface, Trump’s desperate $15 billion lawsuit reeks of distraction — and it’s not working, writes Dr Norm Sanders.
LIKE ANY GOOD con man, Donald J Trump has mastered the art of “Look! Over there!”
Now that Jeffrey Epstein has risen from the grave, Trump has furiously tried to stamp out the story using his old tactics. He blasted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell (his appointee) for not lowering interest rates. Ho hum. His statement that Rosie O’Donnell should have her citizenship revoked caused barely a ripple in the news cycle. (Admittedly, not much of a story anyway.)
No, Epstein dominates the news. Trump made a valiant effort to grab the initiative by filing a libel lawsuit against News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal. It comes after the paper published a story about a collection of letters gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, including a note bearing Trump's name and an outline of a naked woman.
The drawing, depicting a woman's breasts and a “Donald” signature in the place of pubic hair, surrounded several lines of typewritten text, according to the newspaper, which reviewed the letter.
The letter concluded with the line:
‘Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.’
According to the docket filed in federal court in South Florida, Trump is suing for libel, assault and slander.
Common sense would dictate that it would be best to ride it out while the news cycle rolled on, but Trump is not known to be heavily endowed in that area. Instead, he is seeking $15 billion in damages. It should be noted here that News Corp not only owns The Wall Street Journal, but also a barrel full of other enterprises like The New York Post, The Times (London), The Australian, Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and Fox News.
So far, Fox News has been keeping up its usual barrage of Trump propaganda. But Rupert may lose patience and dump Trump. After all, Fox News was the mouthpiece of the MAGA movement for years and helped put Trump where he is today. If Rupert pulled the plug, Trump would be in even bigger trouble than he already is.
Another prominent MAGA member has already jumped the fence. Elon Musk has ended his bromance with Trump and is flooding X with posts attacking him over Epstein.
As reported by ABC News America:
In one post, Musk called the Trump Administration's actions ‘a cover up (obviously)’ and claimed in another that ‘So many powerful people want that list suppressed’.
In response to Trump calling the matter the “Epstein Hoax”, Musk mockingly wrote, “Wow, amazing that Epstein ‘killed himself’ and Ghislaine is in federal prison for a hoax”, referring to former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell who is serving a 20-year prison term for aiding Epstein in his sexual abuse of underage girls.
Using X's AI chatbot, Grok, Musk asked:
‘Would that mean the government right now – as we speak – knows the names & ages of all those who traveled on Epstein’s plane?’
Grok replied:
‘Yes, the DOJ and FAA hold extensive passenger manifests and flight logs from Epstein's jets...’
Responding to criticism from Musk earlier this month, Trump posted to his own social media platform:
‘I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely “off the rails”, essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.’
Musk was Trump’s top donor in the 2024 Election, contributing $US 277 million (AU$419 million). He helped pave Trump's path to victory and led the Administration's effort to slash the Federal Government before departing from the post in May.
It is an indication of Trump’s massive hubris that he is willing to make enemies of both the world's richest man and the owner of a global media empire at the same time.
If this wasn’t enough, Trump has also enraged high-profile members of the MAGA base.
Laura Loomer, a former enthusiastic Trump ally and far-right conspiracy theorist, wrote on X on 9 July:
Pam Blondi [sic] is covering up child sex crimes that took place under HER WATCH when she was Attorney General of Florida.
She needs to be fired.
In an interview with Politico, Loomer warned that Trump’s handling of the Epstein files threatens to “consume his presidency”.
Loomer added:
“The best thing that the President can do is appoint a special counsel to handle the Epstein files investigation.”
The Hodge Twins, with 3.4 million subscribers to their YouTube channel, are also critical of Trump.
They posted on X on 7 July:
Trump has to fire Pam Bondi.
She went on camera and told the world she has the Epstein client list on her desk.
Now they say there is no list??
And then, of course, there is Alex Jones.
The conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder posted on X:
‘Next the DOJ will say “Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed.” This is over the top sickening.’
Jones is remembered for many conspiracy theories over the years, including that the U.S. Government failed to prevent, or was involved in, the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks.
Those with long memories might recall that Jones spent the past three years in federal bankruptcy court after being ordered to pay $1.3 billion to families of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting victims in defamation suits in Connecticut and Texas for falsely claiming the shooting was a hoax.
Another of the MAGA A-listers is far-right influencer Jack Posobiec, who posted on X on 7 July:
‘We were all told more was coming. That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn’t have to be.’
Posobiec is best known for promoting “Pizzagate“, a conspiracy theory alleging that Democratic politicians were involved in a paedophilia ring. The theory picked up steam during the 2016 Presidential Election when Pizzagate theorists alleged that then-presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring out of a Pizza Palace.
Conspiracy theories never stand up to close scrutiny, but are red meat to Trump’s true believers. And then there are always Trump’s old standbys, the Democrats, the Deep State and the Fake News media.
Trump and his tribe launch new distractions with frantic regularity.
A recent one was an attack on Barack Obama by Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, who:
...called for Barack Obama and former senior U.S. national security officials to be prosecuted after accusing them of a “treasonous conspiracy” intended to show that Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Election win was due to Russian interference.
She said Obama and senior officials in his Administration had “[laid] the groundwork for... a years-long coup” against Trump after his victory over Hillary Clinton by “manufacturing intelligence” to suggest that Russia had tried to influence the Election. That included using a dossier prepared by a British intelligence analyst, Christopher Steele, that they knew to be unreliable, Gabbard claimed.
Given the forces arrayed against Trump over the Epstein affair, don’t expect the barrage of distraction to end soon. Recently, the Trump camp launched an attack on Barack Obama in an AI-generated video.
The video posted on Truth Social shows the former President and Democratic Party leader being arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Oval Office. The clip starts with Obama saying, “No one, especially the President, is above the law,” followed by other Democrats, including Joe Biden, stating, “No one is above the law.”
Then it shows Obama being handcuffed by two FBI agents, while Trump sits nearby, smiling throughout the arrest. The clip ends with Obama in a prison jumpsuit, sitting inside a gaol cell.
Trump may not be smiling when he learns that no one, including himself, is above the law. If he loses control over a few Republicans in Congress, he could be impeached again. His record of presidential impeachments is reasonably safe already, but three would keep him on the top of the list forever.
Another possibility is a palace coup. Trump has been very successful in orchestrating the destruction of American democracy and the world order so far, but the oligarchs who support him are showing signs of annoyance with the Epstein affair and the Donald’s unpredictability. They and the alt-Right might just throw Trump under the bus by actively encouraging impeachment.
After all, Trump is no longer needed now that he has successfully spearheaded the transition to autocracy in America. Even the oligarchs must be suffering from fatigue caused by all the Trump dramas. Installing JD Vance as president won’t change the autocratic agenda, of course, but at least the noise level will drop.
It is ironic that Trump, who successfully rode conspiracy theories to the White House, is now frantically trying to stamp them out.
Watch this space.
Dr Norm Sanders is a former commercial pilot, flight instructor, university professor, Tasmanian State MP and Federal Senator.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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