Trump's Love Letter to Jeffrey Epstein
"We Have Certain Things in Common, Jeffrey"
“Donald Trump might finally have crossed the line.” —Politico, July 18, 2015
Let us start with a moment of context and humility.
Ten years ago today, Donald Trump insulted John McCain — and pretty much every man and woman who had ever been a prisoner of war. Appearing at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, then-candidate Trump said of the decorated McCain: “He’s not a war hero…. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
There were boos and much of the punditocracy (including me) thought, well that’s that. Trump has finally crossed a line. There was no way that Republican voters will tolerate or accept that sort of classless insult.1
Well.
We know the rest. And it’s worth remembering a decade later, as Trump continues to wrestle with the demons of his character and his past
Happy Friday.
(Coming attractions: Our Sunday podcast features Garry Kasparov on the looming threat of autocracy. )
A note to readers:
We are in this for the long, long haul, and some of us have been in this fight for a very, very long time. I’m frequently asked: What can we do? How can we fight back? How can we get through this? How can we stay sane?
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The WSJ Exposé
Late Thursday, the Wall Street Journal dropped its much-anticipated story on Trump’s relationship to Jeffrey Epstein: “Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump.”
Some pundits are underwhelmed, perhaps remembering all of the other stories that failed to dent Trump’s cultish support.
And, indeed, the latest story does not expose allegations of women who accuse Trump of sexual abuse and assault.2
It does not reveal details about a case in which a federal grand jury found that he had sexually assaulted a woman in a dressing room — and then defamed her.
It doesn’t unearth Trump’s claim that he walked in on naked girls at beauty pageants.3
And it is not like The Journal found an old tape of Trump bragging about grabbing women by the pussy or boasting about all the women he had bedded.4
Because, surely, that would the sort of bombshell that would shock the conscience of the nation, right? (Sarcasm emoji.)
**
We knew that Donald Trump was besties with Epstein and his procuress Ghislaine Maxwell. There are videos, pictures, interviews.
There were also — reports the WSJ — extremely suggestive birthday cards.
The WSJ uses the anachronistic word “bawdy” to describe them, but we should not be bound by such Murdochian-prudity. The notes quoted by the WSJ are on the far-side of creepy.
The letter bearing Trump’s name, which was reviewed by the Journal, is bawdy—like others in the album. It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly “Donald” below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.
Who among us has not written notes to the world’s most notorious pedophile like this?
Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person.
“Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything,” the note began.
Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.
Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.
Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.
Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?
Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.
Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.
**
To be sure, this is not a smoking gun, at least legally speaking. But the thing drips with smirking slime. “This is beyond gross,” posted David French. “This is beyond troubling.”
So what do we make of this? Let’s start with what we know for sure:
Trump was so concerned about this story that he personally called Rupert Murdoch and the WSJ’s editor, Emma Tucker, to get it killed. (The good news? they apparently didn’t blink.)
Trump threatened to sue the paper for libel if they published it; and now says he intends to follow through.
But, but, but…
Trump was so spooked by the story that: Trump Calls for Release of ‘Pertinent’ Epstein Grand Jury Material Following WSJ Article - WSJ
No, that doesn’t mean the Epstein Files will be released. Notes former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg: “Trump knows SDNY prosecutors seeking to indict Epstein and Maxwell didn’t ask questions about him in their grand jury presentations while he was POTUS. It’s a red herring to distract from the evidence that matters: witness interview notes, videos, photos, etc.”
Trump is raging:
In other words…
Whatever the pundits think, Donald J. Trump thinks this is very much a BFD, and you can see the flop-sweat flying.
He could have ignored the story or shrugged it off. Instead, once again, he has elevated the story — and placed it at the center of the Epstein Controversy that Won’t Go Away.
As for his threat to sue the WSJ: Any lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s litigators will entail extensive and probing discovery — a process that could expose even more details of Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
And perhaps even lead to the full release of the Epstein Files.
Friday dogs
Big, scary beasts.
..
“Senator McCain is an American hero because he served his country and sacrificed more than most can imagine. Period,” said Spicer. “There is no place in our party or our country for comments that disparage those who have served honorably.”
Via Wikipedia: Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations
Since the 1970s, at least 25 women have publicly accused Donald Trump of rape, kissing and groping without consent; looking under women's skirts; and walking in on naked teenage pageant contestants. Trump has denied all of the allegations. He has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media,[1][2] and has made lewd comments about women, disparaged their physical appearance, and referred to them using derogatory epithets.[2][3][4]
In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump was heard saying that "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the pussy."[5] The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign[6] and caused outrage across the political spectrum.[7]
The story is actually quite well known. In 2005, Trump described to Howard Stern how he got away with going backstage while the contestants were naked:
Well, I'll tell you the funniest is that before a show, I'll go backstage and everyone's getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it. You know, I'm inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good. [...] You know, the dresses. 'Is everyone okay?' You know, they're standing there with no clothes. 'Is everybody okay?' And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that. But no, I've been very good.
**
In a 2016 Buzzfeed News investigation, nearly half a dozen former contestants of Miss Teen USA claimed that Trump walked in on them changing — some of the girls in those rooms were reportedly 15 years old when it happened.
One incident reportedly occurred in the 1997 Miss Teen USA beauty pageant. Mariah Billado, the former Miss Vermont Teen USA, recalled, "I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, 'Oh my god, there's a man in here'." She then remembered Trump saying, "Don't worry, ladies, I've seen it all before." Four other women also alleged that Trump entered the dressing room…
From a 2016 CNN report: “Donald Trump’s decades-long history of misogynistic comments and crude sex talk.”
In an April 2005 episode, Stern asked Trump if there was ever a time when he had sex with Miss Universe or Miss USA contestants.
“I never comment on things like that,” Trump answered.
Later, Artie Lang interjects from the background, “Give us the first letter of the country you had sex with.”
“How many letters are there?” Trump joked.
Stern then posed a scenario wherein one of the beauty pageant contestants went up to Trump and asked to have sex with him.
“Now you’re not the type that would say no,” Stern said.
“I don’t want to hurt their feelings,” Trump replied.
Co-host Robin Quivers then asked Trump if sleeping with the contestants could be construed as a conflict of interest.
“It could be a conflict of interest,” Trump said. “But, you know, it’s the kind of thing you worry about later, you tend to think about the conflict a little bit later on.”
Stern then put on a fake foreign accent, saying that “some of these foreign girls” say hello “with vagina.”
“Well, what you could also say is that, as the owner of the pageant, it’s your obligation to do that,” Trump said, before discussing how he got away with going backstage when the contestants were naked.
While I would love for this to be the fever breaker, I was alive in October of 2016. Very soon it will be “boys will boy” and “harmless locker room talk”. These folks have zero difficulty with cognative dissonance.
Pillows disguised as incredibly handsome German Shepherds!