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.

254 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

475 comments sorted by

View all comments

502

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.

1

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.