MAGA voters ‘betrayed’ by Trump after shutdown of Epstein files investigation
| Updated:
The White House investigation into the Epstein files is over – with nothing to be found, despite previous promises from top Republicans to expose big names involved with the prolific sex offender. Is this a cover-up, or was it all just a conspiracy theory?
Listen to this article
Read time: 4 mins
In brief…
- Earlier this year, attorney general Pam Bondi said a list of Epstein clients and associates was sitting on her desk. This week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that list does not exist.
- US disinformation journalist Anna Merlan tells The News Agents there is a sense of “betrayal” among Trump supporters, who were waiting for his administration to name high-profile people involved.
- The News Agents say the Republicans have “raised expectations” for years, and have dashed the hopes of their conspiracy-theory loving supporters.
What’s the story?
The Epstein Files? Don’t exist. That list of potential sexual offenders involved with the sex offender? Not a thing.
The Trump administration has ended the investigation into the high-profile names believed to have associated with Jeffrey Epstein before his death, after years of fanning the flames of conspiracy theories of who might – and who might not – be named.
Earlier this year, attorney general Pam Bondi said she had the list of names sat on her desk.
In 2023, Kash Patel said it was "evil" that the FBI would not release the Epstein list. Now, leading the bureau as part of the Trump administration, he says it simply does not exist.
This week, White Office press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the investigation into the Epstein files had been closed, and there was no more evidence to be revealed. Job done. Nothing to see here.
The news left Republican and Democrat voters disappointed, with one side hoping that Trump would expose a ring of high-profile sex offenders, and the other expecting Donald Trump to be named in the seemingly non-existent files.
Trump has denied all allegations against him.
This suggestion was fuelled by an Elon Musk tweet, shared after stepping down from his unelected role in Trump’s administration, directly accusing the president of being named on the fictitious list.
Do MAGA supporters feel betrayed by Trump’s administration?
Anna Merlan, a US journalist specialising in disinformation, technology and extremism tells The News Agents that White House claims that the list does not exist leave people such as Patel and Bondi in an "uncomfortable and unusual" position.
“A lot of people, especially in the MAGA movement, believed that there was a discrete list of people who not just associated with Jeffrey Epstein, but took part in sex crimes against women and girls with him,” she tells Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel.
“They specifically believed that this list would contain the names of powerful Democrats and people on the left.”
Merlan says conspiracy theories about the Epstein files are as common among the left as the right, but says there is a sense of “betrayal” among the MAGA right, who believed Trump would bring details of Epstein’s associates to light.
“There is a huge, across-the-board desire for anyone who participated in these crimes alongside Epstein to be brought to justice,” Merlan adds.
“This is something specifically that the MAGA right has talked about for years as something that they think is incredibly important, and accused the Biden administration of not doing enough.”
She says many on the right believed prosecutions were about to happen, and are struggling to process the fact that the story has simply disappeared.
“Donald Trump has long styled himself as the only person telling the truth, the only person who's not hopelessly corrupted, the only person who will give them what they want,” she says.
“So now it is a very unusual position for them to say that they feel betrayed by the Trump administration.”
She says if there was compelling evidence against Trump, he would have been prosecuted under the Biden administration.
What’s The News Agents’ take?
The News Agents say that for millions of MAGA supporters, they saw one of their favourite conspiracy theories disappear overnight.
The Trump administration has also stated that Epstein's death was a suicide, despite suspicious circumstances around his death in prison in 2019.
“MAGA supporters love a cover up. They love a conspiracy,” says Emily.
“They really wanted to get to the bottom of this. They thought Donald Trump was their man.”
Like Pizzagate before it, a 2016 conspiracy theory surrounding Democrats which has been thoroughly debunked, for many people on the US right, closing the door on the Epstein files has come as a big loss.
“It's a really hard sell when you've raised expectations over so many conspiracies that there is something deeply dark going on,” Jon adds.
Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.
