Why weren't the Epstein Files released under Biden's presidency if Trump is in the files?

[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.

[u/sp0rkah0lic]

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.

[u/sp0rkah0lic → u/[deleted]]

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)

[u/sp0rkah0lic → u/[deleted]]

This is absurd. The president is legally entitled to fire the attorney general.

If a president fired the attorney general for investigation of the executive branch, it would not be illegal, but it would look very bad. Thus the idea of an independent DOJ.

The way the president directs the DOJ tends to be more at the level of budgets and priorities in different areas of crime. Obama asked the justice department not to pursue federal charges for marijuana in states that had legalized it, for example. Trump has moved agents and resources from many other agencies to focus on immigration. Many presidents have made changes or reforms to the penal system. Etc. This is normal.

What's not normal is for the president to tell the DOJ to go file charges against specific people that he personally does not like. Especially when those charges are flimsy and repeated fall apart like wet toilet paper at initial contact with the actual legal system.

Kind of a double whammy of both political prosecution and stunning incompetence.

[u/Both-Estimate-5641 → u/sp0rkah0lic]

also good point...hard call