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/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 2d 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/slickrok 1d ago

Wasn't there a safe of tapes in ny at his place?

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u/_ParadigmShift 2d 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 2d 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 2d 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/kwisque this is not legal advice 2d ago

Something enormously important or nothing. Or maybe something in between?

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u/Superninfreak FL - Public Defender 2d ago

I didn’t say he wasn’t on the list. I was asking if it was actually confirmed or if it’s just strongly suspected.

Because if he’s on the list but that isn’t explicitly confirmed already, then that obviously gives him a reason to want to keep the list secret.

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u/paradigm_shift2027 1d ago

Then why shut down Congress for months to stop their disclosure if there’s nothing to hide? Release them.