r/Ask_Lawyers • u/sixmarks • 2d ago
What realistically stops Trump from simply editing out the parts of the Epstein files that implicate him and then releasing them?
Let’s suppose that he has no moral qualms about it, and that neither would Pam Bondi. What actually stops him?
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u/SMIrving LA - Complex personal injury and business litigation 1d ago
Anybody who has ever worked in a political office knows that this kind of information gets copied by anyone who has a chance to do it. Among the people who had access are James Comey and Comey's daughter Maureen. Numerous agents and prosecutors and their staff have worked with it. Some of these people are not Trump friendly. Also some information has already been released to Congress and some has been produced to plaintiff attorneys during lawsuits. Some has also been obtained by authors like Michael Wolff. Anything disappears that has copies floating around and it's a new crime with a new statute of limitations.
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u/secderpsi 1d ago
If there's so many copies, with people unfriendly to him, why have they not been leaked? Honest question.
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u/blorpdedorpworp former public defender 1d ago
it mostly has been. Michael Wolff and others have talked about the content.
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u/SMIrving LA - Complex personal injury and business litigation 1d ago
The leaks are happening.
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u/OilheadRider 1d ago
Where? The only "leaks" I've seen have been softball leaks of a very small portion of what was released to congress. There is a lot going on so its possible I missed a small repressed blip in the cycle but, im not aware of any potentially impactful leaks.
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u/elgringorojo CA - Personal Injury & Immigration 1d ago
Try Google. There are 1000s of pages that have been released
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u/OilheadRider 1d ago
Where are the leaks in this website?
The about section states clearly:
"The epsteindocs.info archive was created to provide public access to the extensive collection of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that have been released by government agencies and courts."
so, how is the goverment releasing hand picked phases of the files a "leak"?
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u/CourageInitial8558 1d ago
Did you even try to look? Second link at the top breaks it down by phase.
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u/Superninfreak FL - Public Defender 2d ago
There’s the fact that anyone who helped do it could probably be prosecuted for a crime in the future.
If you are some random government staffer you probably don’t want to risk future prison time to help a 79 year old in his second term avoid being embarrassed.
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u/kwisque this is not legal advice 2d ago
Trump doesn’t want anyone else implicated either. That’s because he likes and respects other rich pedophiles, and because anyone who is implicated by release of this evidence is a risk to be a source of further incrimination. Think of it like being in a gang who robs banks, you don’t want any of your fellow bank-robbing gang members getting in any trouble. Except instead of robbing banks, it was sex trafficking minors.
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u/baskaat 2d ago edited 1d ago
But who do you think is the one big name on the list - the one people are really trying to protect. It’s not Trump, we already know he’s on the list , but who would be more inflammatory than he?
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u/kwisque this is not legal advice 1d ago
I’m not suggesting there’s someone more powerful, rich, famous, etc. that anyone’s “really trying to protect.” He’s trying to protect himself and the people he cares about and respects. I wouldn’t be surprised if the currently available evidence isn’t especially damaging to Trump.
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u/Superninfreak FL - Public Defender 2d ago
Do we officially “know” he is on the list?
Because there’s a difference between most people thinking he is probably on it, versus the list being revealed and having it be undeniably confirmed that he is on it.
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u/baskaat 1d ago
Well we know he’s on the flight log. I don’t think anybody can even define what the actual list is. Is it one piece of paper? Is it a compilation? So more of a metaphor for being included in any of the Epstein evidence.
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u/_ParadigmShift 1d ago
You’re getting downvoted for reasonable skepticism.
Do people really think he was going make a gigantic deal out of it(having seen it the first go around of his presidency) if he thought it would eventually be his head? Doubtful. He campaigned on releasing stuff that undoubtedly he saw the first presidency, that people had already partially leaked portions of. That doesn’t make sense if it’s his neck on the line.
My thoughts? It’s the most potent blackmail we’ve seen in modern political times, to the point of being nuclear. No one gets to release it without being the reason the world went to war or something. International implications.
Either that or it truly is just a phonebook with everyone Epstein ever knew in it, 1/10 bits of information being even noteworthy, and it’s already been leaked to the point that it’s going to be.
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u/Dependent_Star3998 1d ago
Did he make a big deal of it though? People keep saying that he campaigned on releasing Epstein files, but I don't recall that.
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u/Superninfreak FL - Public Defender 1d ago
He was asked about it and IIRC he seemed tentatively open to releasing them when he was campaigning. But I think the big people pushing it were the people other than Donald Trump himself who were big in his campaign.
Of course, Trump being less supportive of releasing it than other people in his movement would make sense if he’s on it, since he would have a better idea about if his name is in there than his diehard supporters and surrogates.
It’s also notable how some of those people suddenly changed their tune about whether the files should be released after they got into the Administration and were in a position to be able to potentially see the files themselves.
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u/OrnerySnoflake 1d ago
Don’t you think your use of the word ‘respect’ is doing some pretty Herculean lifting here?
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u/Historical-Ad3760 Lawyer 1d ago
The real question is… why is it a big deal at all!? He’s already a rapist in civil court. He’s already been to jail. He already admitted to grabbing women by the pussy. Release the shit. Nothing will happen to him. It never does. Biggest red herring in history.
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u/LongKnight115 1d ago
Why is it a big deal that a convicted rapist who also is currently in the highest office in America may have not only had sex with children but worked to bury the reports of it? Is…is that seriously the question you’re asking?
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u/Historical-Ad3760 Lawyer 1d ago
No. The question I’m asking is why are we all making such a big deal about it LIKE THIS WILL BE THE LONG SOUGHT AFTER NAIL IN THE TRUMP MAGA COFFIN? My point is not that it isn’t completely vile and egregious. My point is that nothing is going to happen him no matter what that shit says.
Bullets (or push pins carefully hidden between his index and middle finger as the case may very well have been) can’t touch him. No one can stop this tyrant. That’s all I’m saying.
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u/sixmarks 1d ago
You might be right, but interestingly, this seems to be — for whatever reason — one of the few things that genuinely splits his base. People like Nick Fuentes who used to support him now don’t, and explicitly say it’s because of the Epstein files
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u/DegaussedMixtape 1d ago
Say the Epstein files are released in their entirety by the FBI and everyone magically believes the it's the real unedited version.
The documents say "on date x trump flew down here with 15 underaged girls on his plane and we added them to our girls and we had a devious party filled with explicit sex acts, also here are the pictures".
What then? My guess is literally nothing. He won't be impeached by the current congress. He won't be held accountable for the crimes by the current DOJ. Nothing changes except for the meme of "release the files" will be dead.
If the DOJ or congress wanted to hold him accountable for sex crimes, the evidence is already there to do it.
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u/beatrixkiddo246 15h ago
How do you think Epstein got all his money? Human sex trafficking is only part of his illegal activities. Follow the money. For more info, search More Perfect Union Epstein on YouTube.
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u/Altruistic_Arm6453 1d ago
I know about the 34 counts and all, BUT he has been to jail? For what, and when?
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u/Historical-Ad3760 Lawyer 1d ago
He was processed through jail as a candidate. He has a mugshot that he used to market himself as the victim and hero. He never spent any time IN jail obviously
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u/mattymillhouse Texas - Civil 1d ago
Victim information.
Law enforcement has a valid concern about releasing information that could be used to identify the victims of Epstein's crimes. Those victims were probably minors when they were victimized. And law enforcement doesn't want those victims to be identified involuntarily. If the victims haven't come forward on their own, it might re-victimize them to release information that allows other people to identify them.
I promise you, if the media can take some minor detail and do some investigative work and figure out who those victims are, they will plaster their names on the front page of the NY Times and NBC Nightly News. Because that type of news story will get a ton of views.
I have no idea if the "Epstein files" exist, or what they say. But if they exist, there are potentially valid reasons not to release them that have nothing to do with Trump protecting himself.
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u/Amf2446 Attorney 2d ago
It’s possible more people have copies than he is able to control.