Epstein, Trump, and the Era of Elite Impunity

This week, we all took a few steps closer to finally getting a glimpse of what has been the biggest political MacGuffin of the year: the Epstein files. The long-delayed swearing-in of Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva allowed the pro-disclosure caucus in the House to finally reach the magic number of “yes” votes on their discharge petition ordering their release; opposition in the House virtually collapsed after this, and the Senate used its “consider and adopt” power to ratify the lower house’s decision in advance. The bill now goes to President Trump’s desk. He should sign it and then try to use its contents to wage all-out war against the Democrats.

All this may come to nothing. There is no reason to believe the Trump Justice Department – ​​which essentially functions like the Trump Justice Department. own private legal advisor— will treat these materials with discernment. Frankly, you shouldn’t be surprised if they contain few smoking gun arguments. There is no doubt about Epstein’s guilt; the rest is just suspicion. Conservatives darkly warned their liberal counterparts: “Be careful what you wish for; what if it involves a bunch of crusty old Democrats? »

To which I say, “Don’t threaten me with having a good time.” » Watching the Epstein story unfold in the media – through the shouting of lawmakers and the flood of vulgar emails poured into the press – I couldn’t ignore how it all is just one big pile of rot at the center of polite society. My TNR colleague, Matt Ford, expressed similar feelings in a recent article he admitted that what was truly hopeless about the Epstein affair was that the very idea of ​​civic virtue seemed to have been murdered and in its place a culture of elite impunity had developed.

For my part, I’m less concerned about whether a Democratic Party luminary catches a misguided Epstein and more about whether Democrats waste the opportunity to attack these corrupt arrangements and the presidential administration that has made them its North Star. This iron is, at the moment, particularly hot. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday finds that Trump’s approval ratings have reached surprising new lows, with respondents particularly “unhappy with his handling of the high cost of living and the investigation into recently convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.”

Epstein and the economy: these are the two albatross around Trump’s neck. The question, however, is whether Democrats will have the courage and sense to pursue both paths to Trump’s ruin. This may not seem like a problem, but Democrats seem pathologically opposed to multitasking, which is why they make the importance of food prices their priority to the exclusion of all other issues. This approach is so monomaniacal that on several occasions over the past year, Democratic lawmakers have dismissed other concerns as “distractions» – including Trump’s rampaging paramilitary forces.

Let’s Give Democrats Their Due: Their Affordability Case passed the electoral tests earlier this month. And the administration is scared: Trump and his allies are attempt weak affordability arguments of their own accord. It’s been a while, but Democrats are suddenly setting the tone in Washington.

That the Epstein affair hurt Trump at the same time is a happy coincidence for Democrats who are looking for a boilerplate to unlock a broader argument about the harm Trump has done to our republic: the ICE goons on our street, Trump’s destruction of the White House, the high cost of living, the administration’s various decisions to harm people during the shutdown, all the weird ghouls occupying executive positions that once went to qualified civil servants, and the eternal stench of oligarchic swamps. permeating public life – all of these issues that disrupt the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people are at the heart of elite impunity.

There are no distractions here, no options to evaluate; It’s all one story: Just like Epstein, powerful plutocratic interests have found their man in Trump, and together they are leading the country to ruin for their own amusement and enrichment. Here’s how Ford captures it:

At its core, Trumpism is a permission structure for evil. It is the abolition of ethical standards and the erasure of moral authority. It challenges checks and balances, rejecting the idea that power can be abused or corrupted because it justifies itself. Trumpism isn’t really about immigration, or inflation, or trade, or draining the swamps, or building the wall—it’s ultimately about the dark thrill of abusing those his supporters view as inferior, either directly or by proxy.

As I’ve pointed out before, Trumpism isn’t working and people are getting angrier and angrier. According to the latest Marist NPR/PBS News poll, Democrats have built a 14-point lead over the GOP in the congressional wildcard vote. Now is the time to hit these scammers, and they don’t need to be precious about it. Think of it like this: Trumpism is the culmination of a dishonest plan that began nearly half a century ago, in which the rich and powerful plundered our wealth and destroyed the civic fabric of this nation. Yes, as the Epstein affair suggests, it really is a great thieving cabal of plutocratic reprobates that has done us harm. Now is an opportunity for courageous Democrats to crush these bastards and take back what they stole.

This article first appeared in Power Mad, a weekly TNR newsletter written by Associate Editor Jason Linkins. Register here.