Trump's cover-up breaks open, entire ‘Epstein class’ in danger
Meanwhile, Trump is safe in his executive suite.
First, it was NPR. Then it was MS Now. Then it was CNN. Now it’s the Times. All four media organizations have determined that files are missing from the tranche of documents related to child-sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that was released by the US Department of Justice.
But it was independent journalist Roger Sollenberger who truly got the ball rolling. Last week, by sorting through a mountain of material, including court papers related to Ghislaine Maxwell’s felony trial as well as civil suits against her and her former boss, he was able to determine that the FBI interviewed a woman in 2019 who had accused Donald Trump of sexually and physically assaulting her in the 1980s, when she was 13 to 15 years old.
“The FBI interviewed this woman — who claimed that Trump forced her to give him oral sex when she was in her early teens, then punched her in the head after she bit his penis and kicked her out — at least four times,” Sollenberger wrote on February 18.
Given this drumbeat of recent reporting, something appears to be breaking. That includes Trump’s defense, which until recently has been offense. He always attacks to protect himself. However, we may be seeing conditions in which self-defense becomes self-incrimination.
Not only of himself, but the entire “Epstein class.”
Roger Sollenberger: “The FBI interviewed this woman — who claimed that Trump forced her to give him oral sex when she was in her early teens, then punched her in the head after she bit his penis and kicked her out — at least four times."
Of those four FBI interviews, only one summary describing the woman’s allegations was released by the Justice Department. The other three are missing. In all, NPR said over 50 pages of FBI interviews, as well as notes from them, have not been released.
The woman told the FBI she has been abused and raped by Epstein, but did not know his public profile until his arrest on federal charges in 2019. In the one FBI summary available to the public, according to NPR: “the woman discussed ways Epstein abused her as a girl and, in identifying him to investigators, showed a cropped photo of the disgraced financier.”
Her attorney said it was cropped because she "was concerned about implicating additional individuals, and specifically any that were well known, due to fear of retaliation."
The FBI agents noted it was a "widely distributed photograph" of Epstein with Trump.
In an interview with Wajahat Ali, Roger Sollenberger explained the significance of the photograph. He said she was able to identify Epstein because of his association with Trump.
Courtesy of Wajahat Ali.
The questions arising from news of missing files, and their salacious details, will beget more questions, but I’m struck by the official response. A White House spokeswoman said:
Just as President Trump has said, he's been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein. … Meanwhile, Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Stacey Plaskett have yet to explain why they were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender.
Though Trump is everywhere in the files we know of, and in the files we don’t know of, his people claim he’s been totally exonerated, as if following the law somehow redeemed him.
Moreover, they seem to think they can smear the president’s enemies by their association with “a convicted sex offender” without the president himself being smeared in the process.
I won't get into Plaskett’s case. She represents the US Virgin Islands. As such, she’s not a voting member of the House Democratic caucus. As for Jeffries, he didn’t solicit money or meetings. A consultant hyped him to Epstein. Yet even a third-party connection to Epstein was enough for the White House spokeswoman to accuse him of guilt by association.
What are they thinking? Because the more they smear those with even the thinnest connection to the Epstein files, the more they remind us that Trump is everywhere in them.
The Economist/YouGov released a poll last week showing that 53 percent believe Trump is engaged in a cover-up of Epstein’s crimes. The same poll found that half of Americans, including 51 percent of independents, believe Trump was “involved in" his crimes. Another poll by Data For Progress found that most Americans, including 60 percent of independents, think the president has been “mostly dishonest” about releasing the Epstein files.
These polls were taken last week. Imagine what they would find today after news of Trump allegedly punching a teen girl in the head after she bit his penis, then, all these years later, he used the power of the presidency to cover up knowledge of the crime.
Courtesy of CSPAN.
Even Chuck Schumer is walking tall, like a man for law and order. Today, he said:
We are going to reveal this massive cover-up. We will not rest. It’s an all-out oversight effort. We’re gonna pull on every thread. We’re gonna chase every lead. We’ll talk with whistleblowers. We will get to the truth. Our working group Senate Democrats will go review the unredacted files in the coming days. … Pam Bondi should listen carefully. The truth will come out. The whole ugly truth about what she’s doing to protect people in the files will come out. The whole world is gonna know exactly what she knew, when she knew it, and what she did to cover it up.
Meanwhile, Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, called on the president to testify in person. “We want to understand right now, where the missing FBI files are,” Garcia said. “These are files that accuse the president of the United States of serious, serious accusations around sexual abuse, and the fact that they’re not in the files, and have been apparently either removed or discarded, is incredibly concerning.”
But the stakes are not only for Trump.
The deeper Trump's hole gets, the greater the awareness among workaday Americans of the yawning difference between them and what's becoming known as "the Epstein class."
To some, that means impunity. That’s what Reuters found in its survey. Nearly 70 percent “said their views were captured ‘very well’ or ‘extremely well’ by a statement that the Epstein files ‘show that powerful people in the US are rarely held accountable for their actions.’”
But to others, it just means rich. Data For Progress found that 74 percent identified all “wealthy elites” as “Epstein class.” Another 66 percent agreed with Jon Ossoff’s statement: “The Epstein class that has accumulated power and doesn't play by the rules and has impunity at the expense of ordinary Americans. The Epstein class has got to go.”
The more Trump seals himself away in his executive suite, and the more he surrounds himself with yes men, the more the Epstein class is likely to face the wrath of the American people enraged by the injustice of not only a president abusing his power to cover up child-sex crimes but of presidential policies that are impoverishing the American people.
“For all these Republicans that are doing so well right now,” said a caller to Washington Journal, “I have three potatoes. I have half a tomato. I have three bananas, one apple, one can of soup, a half a loaf of bread, one egg and one can of green beans. I do not get paid until the third. … The [midterms] are coming near and that can’t be any more true for me.”
A 65 year old legally blind and disabled woman says she has unintentionally lost 28 pounds because she can’t afford enough food under the Trump administration. “Like the previous caller said, the end is coming near, and it couldn’t be any more true than for me.” Heartbreaking
— Karly Kingsley (@karlykingsley.bsky.social) 2026-02-26T15:18:42.597Z
What is the Editorial Board?
The Editorial Board is a newsletter about politics in plain English for normal people and the common good. As such, it will always be open to all.
It is, however, not free to make. It takes time to research and write four or five pieces a week. It takes time to put it all together. And I got bills to pay!
So please consider rising above the free list today (check your status at the bottom of this message) and subscribing. It's just $9 a month. So cheap! Save 31 percent by subscribing for the year. If you're already subscribing, please consider a tip!
Thank you! –JS
Subscribe here!
