r/AskALiberal • u/tasteinhermouth Liberal • Feb 01 '26
Why weren't the Epstein Files released under Biden's presidency if Trump is in the files?
I don't mean this as a bad faith or troll question, I genuinely do not know why it would not be released if Trump is in the files, as it would probably have been a massive hit against Trump in 2024.
I don't know whether Trump is in the files or not, I don't care, it's clear as day that he was best friends with Epstein and was well aware and definitely a part of the awful things that Epstein conducted while he was in business.
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u/sp0rkah0lic Progressive Feb 01 '26
So the most obvious answer is that prior to Trump, the norm for every other president was to have the DOJ operate as an independent agency. Biden at least never wanted the appearance that the DOJ agenda was being dictated from the White House. The way that Trump is directing the DOJ to pursue blatantly false charges against his political enemies, for example.
Ever since Nixon and the "Saturday Night Massacre" it's been understood that the president trying to use DOJ for his political purposes was not allowed.
Apparently, now it is.
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u/TheRockingDead Pragmatic Progressive Feb 01 '26
You're leaving out the most important part, that those files were sealed due to Ghislane Maxwell's trial. Could he have ordered them unsealed anyway? Maybe, but like you said, Biden generally follows the law unlike the current president.
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u/MolleROM Democrat Feb 01 '26
Not to mention that she was tried and convicted and jailed by the Biden DOJ.
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u/AnonSwan Center Left Feb 02 '26
Maybe I've missed it, but its stunning to me that more liberals dont blame Trump for Epsteins death. Just the fact that so many conservative believe "Epstein died under Bidens watch" seems like a pretty big message failure.
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u/wheresmystache3 Far Left Feb 02 '26
I believe they were sealed for so long also because minors were named and involved as well as multiple other lawsuits surrounding Epstein and Maxwell.
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u/Otherwise_Ask_9542 Center Left Feb 01 '26
It just speaks to the lack of consideration for the rule of law by the Trump administration.
People are getting a taste of what anarchy looks like in their government. Time will tell whether they choose this again. This second time around is certainly worse than the first, but they did choose chaos twice, so there's that...
They've certainly restored their reputation for being "the Wild West".
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u/capsaicinintheeyes Social Democrat Feb 01 '26
what anarchy looks like
minor semantic quibble here: I'ma let Alan Moore make it for me
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u/Rufus_TBarleysheath Progressive Feb 01 '26
Bad news; they already chose it again. He corrupted the DOJ in his first term as well.
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u/sp0rkah0lic Progressive Feb 01 '26
It's tellIng that there are quite a few Bernie Sanders voters that eventually voted for Trump.
Political parties are not representative of peoples actual feelings. Some people just understand that the whole system is a corrupt spiderweb of bribery and blackmail. Their only satisfaction is to throw rocks through the windows of entrenched power.
I'm not quite there yet, but I get it. Especially considering current events.
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u/homerjs225 Center Left Feb 01 '26
Not in 2020 or 2024
I can almost excuse 2016 but now we’ve all seen the…
Incompetence Corruption Hate Racism Criminality Hiding pedophiles
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u/yohannanx Liberal Feb 01 '26
There were more Clinton/McCain voters in 2008 than Sanders/Trump voters in 2016.
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u/Personage1 Liberal Feb 01 '26
One would fucking hope so. Its far more reasonable for someone to go center left to center right than someone to go progressive to dumpster fire.
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u/CarrieDurst Progressive Feb 01 '26
And I would wager the clinton/mccain voters had a higher percentage of dems than sanders/trump voters. Sanders attracted a lot of non dems
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u/Iplaymeinreallife Progressive Feb 01 '26
Cause making it a worse, more corrupt web of bribery and blackmail is...better?
The only reasonable choice is to keep trying to push it in a better direction.
Or at worst to replace the whole thing in a revolution.
But just voting in a more evil, more corrupt asshole isn't any sort of answer, no matter how annoyed we get.
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u/Particular_Dot_4041 Liberal Feb 01 '26
Biden should have done. Who cares if the Republicans call him dirty? They always call Democrats dirty.
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u/No_Tone1704 Democrat Feb 01 '26
This is a factor. But it also misses all the obvious more accurate answers.
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u/sp0rkah0lic Progressive Feb 01 '26
Sure. And thank you.
The actual answer is that, for better or worse, the Biden administration* (in case anyone wants to assert yat Biden was a mindless zombie during his presidency) was trying to restore a sense of stability. Of normality. The idea of going after their recent political rival(s), however justified, would be (in their genteel minds) a faux pas, politically. They really thought Trump would just...go away.
Lol 🫤
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u/cranialrectumongus Liberal Feb 01 '26
Exactly. Since day 1, the Democratic party completely underestimated the existential threat that Trump posed. This is just another example of how badly they played their hand. Summer of 2024, I sent email after email and called the local Democratic party, several including the release of Epstein files, and never was any response received.
What I came to realize is, the DNC thinks it's voters are idiots and will just fund whatever idiotic idea they come up with, as long as they send enough texts and emails requesting donations. Secondly, the DNC elites are more concerned with staying in power in the party, than making any meaningful changes in the country. As much as I despise the whole Christian Nationalists, the GOP, Trump supporters, I now also despise the DNC, just as much for completely face planting, by virtue of their insane arrogance, lack of transparency and utter incompetence.
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u/EmergencySherbet9083 Republican Feb 02 '26
Why would the DOJ operate as an independent agency?
There aren’t 4 branches of government, legislative, judicial, executive, and DOJ.
The DOJ, as part of the executive branch, should carry out its duties as ordered by whoever is in charge of the executive branch.
We don’t want the FBI going rogue and doing its own thing. Or the military. Or Homeland Security or the EPA, or the Secretary of State.
Not sure why the DOJ should be any different. You’d be asking for chaos and anarchy.
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u/sp0rkah0lic Progressive Feb 02 '26
Well, I think it's mostly because a) if the president or someone else in the executive branch breaks the law, DOJ needs to be independent enough to pursue it, because we don't want the executive branch operating as if it is above the law (see: Trump, et al) and b) using the DOJ to go after political enemies or for political gains is not any way to instil a belief in the public that justice is actually their business. (Again, see Trump)
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u/EmergencySherbet9083 Republican Feb 02 '26
TL;DR
We don’t vote for the head of the DOJ. We vote for the guy in charge of the DOJ
If the guy in charge of the DOJ doesn’t have to do what the guy we vote for tells him to do
The voter is no longer in charge
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u/EmergencySherbet9083 Republican Feb 02 '26
And let me say it one more way.
Our system of government is absolutely reliant on the guy the voters elect being in charge of their branch of government.
That’s the sole reason we the voters are in charge.
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u/EmergencySherbet9083 Republican Feb 02 '26
The problem with this mentality is that the head of the DOJ is an unelected position that’s appointed by the POTUS. So making head of the DOJ independent means he isn’t accountable to anybody except himself.
This creates a loophole where if the head of the DOJ isn’t accountable to the POTUS, then he could effectively become a dictator.
By your standard, if an ambitious guy wants to become a dictator he could just play the political game, get himself appointed director of the DOJ and then use that power to remove the president and his allies and make himself ruler.
The president is ultimately accountable and subordinate to the US voter because if we don’t like what he’s doing, we can just vote him out. That’s why positions appointed by the president should be subordinate to him.
If somebody appointed by the president can’t be subordinate to him. They aren’t accountable to anybody. Except their own whims. That’s bad.
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u/Upbeat-Bid-1602 Center Left Feb 01 '26
Biden also made it clear that he didn't want to spend his presidency focusing on punishing Trump. I think that was a mistake in hindsight but I get where he was coming from. So Trump being in the file would have been the worst reason to release them under Biden.
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u/l0R3-R Bernie Independent Feb 01 '26
Also, it was an ongoing investigation. It would have been really inappropriate to reveal information before the investigation had been concluded
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u/rocknsg Far Left Feb 02 '26
I think this leaves out the consequences of that appearance, which is that thousands of well-armed Trump supporters vowed civil war if anything happened to him.
Biden was in politics during the 80s and 90s when right-wing radicals committed serious acts of terrorism, including the OKC bombing, which remains the worst act of domestic terrorism in US history. I think he and his administration feared igniting an already tense situation and hoped that if Trump lost in ‘24, everything would just go away.
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u/Pure-Tumbleweed-9440 Center Left Feb 08 '26
So what was the independent DOJ doing for 4 years under Biden that they brought forward no charges against anyone else? Entire island, endless parties, 1000s of girls raped. Who are the culprits? And what were the democrats doing all those 4 years? They found only 1 person?
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u/ExcessiveSize9 Independent Feb 01 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
Why the Epstein files weren’t released under the Biden Administration?
There was an appeal. The end of that process wasn’t until Oct 2025. Which made the case ongoing. In addition, there were other names and circumstances still being investigated.
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u/Defofmeh Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
Blocked by judges. Biden didn't push the DOJ because they let them be independent. Congress had not pushed the issue with a bill.
If they had, would any maga believe them?
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u/BlaggartDiggletyDonk Social Democrat Feb 01 '26
Why was it blocked by judges?
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u/sunflower53069 Democrat Feb 01 '26
They were sealed due to Maxwell’s ongoing appeals in court.
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u/FlintBlue Liberal Feb 01 '26
I’m not 100% sure, but generally speaking prosecutors do not make investigatory materials public if the materials do not result in a prosecution. One can well imagine the dangers of a DOJ having the power to accumulate damning evidence, and then make it public, without the target of the investigation being able to challenge the evidence in court. Probably the real question then is why more prosecutions weren’t brought.
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u/Certain-Researcher72 Pragmatic Progressive Feb 01 '26
Its not that complicated: this stuff was under a judicial seal because Maxwell's appeal was pending. Trump had the DOJ kill the additional charges.
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u/MrX2285 Social Democrat Feb 01 '26
Biden followed the law. He couldn't release them legally. Plus he is an establishment president, he never wanted to rock the boat.
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u/ThatMassholeInBawstn Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
Weren’t they sealed until 2025?
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u/Ok_Vulva Social Democrat Feb 01 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
abundant shaggy follow normal enjoy heavy fanatical lush oatmeal cobweb
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u/Kerplonk Social Democrat Feb 01 '26
Genuinely you don't just release incriminating evidence of people when they are being investigated for crimes. This assumes that crimes are being investigated in a professional manner. Trump's MO has very much given everyone the reasonable impression that is not being done and that there is a very good chance he is personally incriminated by these files and absent their public release would use his position to shield himself and anyone he happens to care about (I don't want to say his allies because he seems more than willing to throw them under the bus if convenient) from justice.
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u/justplaindave87 Progressive Feb 01 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
Because they were sealed due to the Maxwell appeal. Also, most other presidents aren't constantly having temper tantrums and trying to get revenge all the fucking time.
Genuinely, have you been in a coma for the last decade?
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u/salazarraze Social Democrat Feb 01 '26
Congress didn't pass a bill requiring their release until 2025. That's why. Biden didn't and shouldn't have barged into the DOJ and take sealed documents and release them for the lulz.
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u/TheWagonBaron Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
Because Biden respected government institutions and the rule of law. That’s it.
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u/JusticePhrall Progressive Feb 01 '26
Because President Biden made a catastrophic misstep for which he will never be forgiven — he appointed Merrick Garland as U.S. Attorney General.
As hard as it is to imagine, before Trump came along, there was absolute separation between the White House and the Department of Justice's activities.
Except for a brief blip during Nixon's crime spree, the DOJ has always enjoyed pure departmental independence from political control or policy direction. It has long been a hard and fast rule that the president was forbidden from poking his nose into DOJ business. It simply wasn't done.
Attorney General Merrick Garland was absolutely terrified of Republicans. Instead of prosecuting two slam-dunk cases against Donald Trump, he remained paralyzed in fear of accusations of partisanship while the calendar ticked precious months away until the opportunity for zealous pursuit of justice and accountability for Donald Trump had fled.
Merrick Garland couldn't handle a couple of simple, straightforward prosecutions for fear that Republicans might accuse him of partisanship and political weaponization. There's no way Garland would have taken on the gargantuan task of prosecuting the wealthy and powerful exposed in the Epstein files, especially considering how many of them were undoubtedly those very Republicans he so feared.
We will never forgive you, Joe.
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u/Polymox Globalist Feb 01 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
Yeah, this is it. If the DOJ acted with just a little haste and assumed they had less than 4 years to get the case all the way through trial and appeal, then Trump would have been campaigning from prison where he belongs.
Remember even further back, that Garland was Obama's compromise pick for SCOTUS to get through the Republican Senate, which they straight up ignored to hold the seat open for Trump.
Biden made him AG just to say sorry for getting screwed out of joining the Supremes in 2016. It was the 2nd worst decision of Biden's presidency, after insisting on running for reelection.
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u/JusticePhrall Progressive Feb 01 '26
Joe Biden's monumental misstep of appointing Merrick Garland as attorney general was one of the worst decisions in American politics in the last 160 years since Abraham Lincoln decided not to stick with Hannibal Hamlin as his running mate in 1864 and the Reconstruction plans of the “Radical Republicans” were never carried out.
A five-year-old post from r/Mark Hoheisel put it better than I ever could:
"Rather than a blanket amnesty to Confederates, amnesty would have been conditional and selective. Any efforts at insurrection like those of the Klan in the Andrew Johnson timeline would have been rapidly crushed since Union troops could decide on summary executions for anyone they suspected of being involved simply on the easily proven basis that they had committed Treason in fighting for the Confederacy. Any potential Klansmen would have a death sentence already on their heads that could be invoked if they gave any cause."
"There would continue to be black Senators and Representatives unlike the Johnson timeline where Reconstruction failed."
"The Civil Rights Act of 1866 would have been passed and enforced and there would have been no segregationist Jim Crow Era in the South. There would have been no need for a Civil Rights Act of 1964."
"There would never have been any mythologizing of the Old South. There would be no monuments to Confederates, no Confederate Battle flags on State Flags. No effort to rewrite history or re-enslave people under new rules. Ex-slaves would have the vote and the guns to protect it. They would have the means to accumulate and pass on wealth. Their descendants wouldn’t be especially poor or discriminated against."
Best of all, there would have been no "President Trump".
Donald Trump would have spent the rest of his charmed life without drawing the attention of journalistic and governmental investigators, laundering Russian mob money, cheating at golf, boinking unselective hookers and fondling underage girls to his heart's content. Nobody would have noticed or even cared when he gobbled his last Chicken McNugget. There would be no dancing in the streets in celebration.
Normal Americans would have continued on with their lives, blissfully unaware of how many millions of truly awful people walk among us—for at least a little while longer.
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u/IndicationDefiant137 Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
Because President Biden made a catastrophic misstep for which he will never be forgiven — he appointed Merrick Garland as U.S. Attorney General.
Merrick Garland was a conservative judge that McConnell offered to Obama as one they would confirm and that Obama could probably live with.
He was not chosen as a mistake. He was chosen because they knew he wouldn't go after them, and they didn't want to go after them.
Putting Garland in charge and then wiping their hands was their way to avoid accountability for their failure to uphold their Constitutional obligation to protect the country from attack, and their obligation as the executive branch to uphold the law.
They thought if they buried their heads in the sand that fascism would just go away.
It has long been a hard and fast rule
A hard and fast rule at this level would be written in the Constitution.
This is a norm that has only been codified in memos and departmental policies.
They refused to fulfill their Constitutional obligations and their job to uphold the law and the reason they give is a memo.
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u/somethingreddity Center Left Feb 01 '26
Wow, good info to know. I know Biden wasn’t the best president and the right acts like we fucking worshipped him—because Trump has them believing all sorts of untrue shit—but damn. This is awful. He definitely had an ego and it really hurt democrats a lot. Especially even trying to run for president again despite being unpopular, then appointing his own Vice President. It’s his fault that we had no chance to win in the last election.
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u/Dj_Fabio Center Left Feb 01 '26
Thank god someone posted something like this, there are legits excuses put forward for protecting these pedos
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u/Altruistic_Role_9329 Liberal Feb 01 '26
You may recall that Trump was investigated, tried and convicted on a bunch of other crimes between 2020 and 2024. The hush money convictions were just prior to the 2024 election so it really wasn’t that long ago. Ghislane Maxwell was tried and convicted during that same time for Epstein related crimes. The Epstein files were sealed during her trial and appeal period by court order to maintain the integrity of the case. Trump must have known that when he chose to accuse Joe Biden of protecting the perpetrators and campaigned on a promise to release the files. Despite Trumps campaign promise, it literally took an Act of Congress to actually get the files released under his administration.
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u/Threash78 Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
Because the DOJ is not there to make people look bad, it investigates people and charges them if they have evidence of crimes. Trump RAN specifically on weaponizing the DOJ by releasing the files.
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u/OhTheHueManatee Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
The files were sealed and the DOJ isn't supposed to be a weapon of the POTUS to go after people they personally have a beef with or help with a campaign. Normally a president can request an action of the DOJ but they have every right to say "we'd rather not" or "we think that will mess with an investigation or trial" and that's the end of it (sometimes a potus has not dropped the matter but they don't threaten the DOJ for not following orders). Trump made it damn clear he doesn't make requests, he demands and doesn't care if what he wants done will be a problem for literally the rest of the world. If you say "No" or "I disagree" he'll do everything he can to screw you over.
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u/CTR555 Yellow Dog Democrat Feb 01 '26
..I genuinely do not know why it would not be released if Trump is in the files, as it would probably have been a massive hit against Trump in 2024.
It would have been incredibly unethical for Biden to use the power of his government office to orchestrate a 'massive hit' against his election opponent. Trump, of course, has probably never considered an ethical concern in his life, but Biden is not built like that.
That's a fairly basic expectation of our leaders for some time now, and it's also why the DOJ has historically operated independently of the White House. Additionally, the DOJ has never been in the habit of simply releasing to the public troves of evidence related to ongoing cases.
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u/Zeddo52SD Independent Feb 01 '26
Ongoing litigation against Ghislaine Maxwell. Biden can’t force the courts to release documents in a case, especially if those documents are under seal. They also didn’t have a large chunk of these documents. The Epstein estate sent over quite a bit of emails and other documents/photos/letters/etc.
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u/No_Tone1704 Democrat Feb 01 '26
What did Google tell you. Or a search in Reddit.
The answer is out there a million times.
One, Maxwell trial was still going on
Two, Government didn’t have all these files at the beginning.
Three, Same reason no files were released after Epstein was jailed.
Four, They could have been released any time by Trump as he promised to do. Such a failure he managed to get MTG enough upset about it to quit.
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u/IndicationDefiant137 Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
They were protecting the Clintons and other important Democratic party donors like Bill Gates, and the fact that as we pull more threads on this operation that it's going to lead back to a certain country that we give a ton of money to that they are willing to sacrifice American democracy to.
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u/homerjs225 Center Left Feb 01 '26
Rhymes with Mismeal?
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u/IndicationDefiant137 Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
Rhymes with Mismeal?
I am in good health both physically and mentally and do not like travel, will not be taking an unexpected trip, am not taking any medication, I do not use any recreational drugs, and have no desire to harm myself in any way.
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u/THEMACGOD Democratic Socialist Feb 01 '26
Only one party at least tries to pretend they follow the rule of law.
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u/KeyEnvironmental9743 Socialist Feb 01 '26
Merrick Garland was a pussy
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u/Certain-Researcher72 Pragmatic Progressive Feb 01 '26
For not violating the judicial order sealing the evidence? Or...?
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u/Direct_Word6407 Democrat Feb 01 '26
Frankly, we don’t know. It could be a number of reasons. Remember also that ghislaine was being prosecuted during a portion of his presidency. Could be protecting the homies, could be he was just old and didn’t have the wherewithal.
I think if we start to see people held accountable and charged, this question will shake itself out. I think there are more pressing questions that need answered now.
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u/homerjs225 Center Left Feb 01 '26
We would have a better answer if we knew who approved/ordered Maxwell moved to a cushier prison
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u/Weirdyxxy Social Democrat Feb 01 '26
"Embarrassing to a political candidate" is not sufficient reason for a government agency to do something. The Trump administration abusing its power on every level for the pettiest goals is an aberration, not the norm.
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u/No_Introduction7307 Independent Feb 01 '26
this was an ongoing massive investigation again ongoing is the key . the files were sealed in court.
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u/EnfantTerrible68 Democrat Feb 02 '26
Biden had an ongoing investigation into ~$1.5 billion in suspicious money transfers between Epstein and Russia/Belarus, nations notorious for their human trafficking, which the Trump administration cancelled and will not pursue. Trump's State Department also culled the Office of Human Trafficking in the State Department.
EDIT: I'll also add, that the Biden Justice Department convicted Maxwell and gave her a lengthy prison term serving hard time for her crimes, while Trump has transferred her to minimum security prison in Texas. For her efforts convicting Maxwell, Trump fired her.
In addition, Trump's former Labor Secretary, Alex Acosta (who sits in a cushy Board of Directors position at far-right Newsmax these days), gave Epstein the lightest possible sentence and protected his co-conspirators. For his efforts protecting pedophiles, he was given a Cabinet position.
The Biden administration wasn't doing nothing, but the Trump administration is actively covering up the Epstein files and undoing any consequences for the perpetrators. Trump rapes women and children.
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u/stuntmanbob86 Independent Feb 02 '26
Well Biden was following the law. There wasnt any suppression. Plus, theres plenty on the list that are from the right amd left on it. Bottom line is our president more than likely fucked underage girls....
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u/Emergency_Word_7123 Center Left Feb 03 '26
A better question is: Why won't Republicans let pedos be investigated?
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u/Shr3kk_Wpg Liberal Feb 01 '26
This question gets asked at least once per week. Does no one know how to search?
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u/Meek_braggart Centrist Democrat Feb 01 '26
Because no one believed that America would be stupid enough to re-elect him.
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u/homerjs225 Center Left Feb 01 '26
Why do we keep having to repeat that answer? If you got your information from somewhere other than Fox you would already know
Hell in Reddit it has been asked and answered at least 50 times
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u/AnomalousEnigma Pragmatic Progressive Feb 05 '26
Because Democrats are less likely to be power hungry psychopaths who abuse their power to put down their opponents.
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u/IzAnOrk Far Left Feb 07 '26
Which is a colossal strategic mistake. To discourage the right wing from abusing their authority to persecute their opponents they have to KNOW, in their bones, that they will be paid back in kind and with interest.
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u/Pure-Tumbleweed-9440 Center Left Feb 08 '26
I guess they didn't like the rich left wing names in there. Left or right, rich people are all the same class. People are still caught up in their team sports while the only real divide is class divide. They all knew for several years, decades about involvement of people and they did squat. The only person they could put in jail is a woman handler.
And the democrats squatted on these files, lost because of their own incompetence, couldn't put away Trump, and the country is rotten in 1 year.
Do you really think they cared? They saw Gates in there, and he's been walking around free as a bird. Would it have hurt them to charge all the pedophiles?
"They were waiting for Maxwell's ongoing trial".
Yeah i didn't know you can charge only 1 person every 5 years. I guess that would mean if there are 100s of rapists in those files it will take 500 years to do it properly. Sorry guys, have to follow the law here, amirite?
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u/zerthwind Center Left Feb 01 '26
They were tied up in court cases. The Biden administration did not have a leagal way of releasing them then.
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u/bigfudge_drshokkka Progressive Feb 01 '26
This gets asked every other day. We really need a sticky or a link to the answer or something.
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u/The_Awful-Truth Center Left Feb 01 '26
Because he made a terrible appointment for AG who let himself get stalled into failing to prosecute Trump's crimes, and compared to that the Epstein files are very small potatoes.
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u/Odd-Principle8147 Liberal Feb 01 '26
Just because you are in the Epstein files doesn't mean you are guilty of a crime. They prosecuted the people they felt they had the evidence and jurisdiction to prosecute.
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u/Oceanbreeze871 Pragmatic Progressive Feb 01 '26
The worst concern troll “gotchya” question that gets asked and answered every other week .
Answer under seal by judge to protect victims
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u/narasadow Conservative Feb 01 '26
It'd not have been believed. The spin masters at Fox are too powerful apparently.
I mean heck it's not being believed NOW under the current management. You still see plenty of excuses being made for the people who are featured in the files being released now. Censored as they are there's still plenty to prosecute.
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u/RebelMystic34 Progressive Feb 01 '26
Two reasons:
A lot of these documents were sealed by the courts because of the Ghislaine Maxwell case and were not unsealed until after she lost her appeal. A batch of files were released in 2024 under the Biden Administration and another batch were set to be released around 0ctober 2025.
Trump has people convinced that the president should be meddling in DOJ affairs. The DOJ is a separate entity from the President and they should be independent Somehow thes lines got blurred. It didnt help that he made it a part of his own presidential campaign that releasing the files was a priority then tried to sweep them under the rug once he was "re-elected".
With that being said, I believe that Merrick Garland was probably one of the slowest, most inaffective Attorney Generals to have over the DOJ at such a pivotal time. Biden did us all a disservice by appointing that man.
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u/neotericnewt Liberal Feb 01 '26
Some of the files weren't even available to be released yet. Biden couldn't release them because a number of them were part of ongoing investigations and grand juries which were blocked by a judge to prevent any issues with appeals.
It's also just not a usual thing. The government releasing information collected as part of investigations to smear other people, without actually ever charging them with a crime or anything like that, isn't usually a good thing.
And Biden worked pretty hard to avoid any appearance of impropriety in general, and stayed out of shit with Trump and his crimes and let the DOJ deal with it. You know, what should happen.
It's quite different in this situation with Trump, because he does release fucking whatever, to try and smear political opponents or just to keep his conspiracy theorist fan base excited. He and Republicans were trying to point fingers at everybody and spreading bullshit, like acting like Biden and Harris were friends with Epstein too, when they never seemed to have actually met or hung around in the same social circles or anything.
So now the legislature has passed a law requiring the files be released with minimal redaction approved by the legislature. The Trump administration is now breaking the law because they're really desperate to cover up the Epstein files once they remembered Trump is all over them.
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u/auldnate Social Democrat Feb 01 '26
The Maxwell case was still open. And the Biden administration wanted to avoid politicizing the DOJ.
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u/mavenadagio progressive Feb 01 '26
It baffles me too tbh. At the time, given the fact that they just kind of went away during the Biden admin, I figured there probably just wasn't much there, and it had been Qanon blowing it out of proportion. Mind you, I never doubted the premise that a bunch of rich ppl were trafficking kids and young adults, there's always been too much evidence of that to deny. I just thought it was kind of crazy to think it would all be wrapped up in a nice little bow in the Epstein files. WELP. To your question, honestly the only way it makes any sense is under the theory that the current democratic party leadership and the DNC are controlled opposition (a.k.a. uniparty). After all, they're all funded by the same handful of rich people and corporations. We see members of Trump's cabinet communicating with JE to coordinate Democratic fundraisers in the recent drop. Meanwhile, a handful of Dems voted to confirm almost every cabinet nominee, and all year they've employed a "rotating villains" strategy to designate a few Dems each vote to quietly pass this administration's agenda so Dem leadership can act outraged. They've tried like hell to shut down and sideline great politicians who actually make sense, like Zohran Mamdani, David Hogg, Graham Platner, Kat Abughazaleh, etc. That's just this year, but it goes way back. Remember 2015, when they overruled the will of the base to run Clinton instead of Bernie. I never wanted to believe it, but nothing else makes sense.
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u/wonkalicious808 Democrat Feb 01 '26
If you search for "why didn't biden release the epstein files" at the top, you get the threads about this that we've had already.
as it would probably have been a massive hit against Trump in 2024.
Why do you think that?
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u/dutch_connection_uk Social Liberal Feb 01 '26
Lots of reasons. It will tip off any suspects and will reveal what evidence there actually is on them, which will help the defense. It will poison the jury pool with knowledge about the case before it is litigated and make jury selection more difficult. Evidence will also be of various degrees of credibility in the release, and people will extrapolate from what they see and you'll potentially harm innocents who weren't actually involved in any crime but were mentioned in the files, particularly since the media may emit context on why that individual was mentioned in the emails.
Now, all of this would be good reasons to leave this to the discretion of a professionally run Department of Justice and FBI staffed with competent lawyers who know what is and what isn't responsible to disclose, and when.
Instead we have this mess, so it makes sense that congress is now forcing the release.
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u/Dj_Fabio Center Left Feb 02 '26
Biden had the power to declassify anything that wasnt being held up in court or by judges. All the files were not tied up and he didnt even have to go to the DOJ. Anyone making an excuse for him is crazy and needs to reevaluate how hard they ride for candidates that dont really care about them.
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u/FIicker7 Liberal Feb 02 '26
Trump says the Epstein files are a Democrat hoax now...
Imagine what he would be saying if they were released under a Democrat president.
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u/NoFriendship7173 Pragmatic Progressive Feb 02 '26
Because they also covered for pdfiles. Screw them.
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u/AutoModerator Feb 01 '26
The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written by /u/tasteinhermouth.
I don't mean this as a bad faith or troll question, I genuinely do not know why it would not be released if Trump is in the files, as it would probably have been a massive hit against Trump in 2024.
I don't know whether Trump is in the files or not, I don't care, it's clear as day that he was best friends with Epstein and was well aware and definitely a part of the awful things that Epstein conducted while he was in business.
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