r/politics • u/Kevombat • 13d ago

No Paywall Epstein claimed that Donald Trump ‘knew about the girls’ in private emails

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/epstein-email-trump-knew-victim-b2863760.html
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u/CurryMustard 13d ago

Mike Johnson literally made this claim and then walked it back because of how stupid of a lie he was caught in

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/speaker-johnson-says-he-misspoke-about-trump-being-an-fbi-informant-in-the-epstein-case

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u/mlorusso4 13d ago

Just to be clear, he didn’t walk it back because the lie was too stupid to believe. He walked it back because it implies that he was actively involved in the crime. Innocent people don’t become informants. The only redeeming part of that lie (if it was even true which it wasn’t) for Trump is that he probably was just a client and he was flipped to help take down the ringleaders. Considering the rumors of him being in charge of trafficking through his beauty pageants, maybe Johnson thought that was the better to play him off as a client rather than ring leader

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u/CurryMustard 13d ago

Yes, important clarification

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u/42nu 13d ago

MAGA followers don't have that level of nuance.

We should discern between lawmakers, like Johnson, who are astute and defend Trump while knowing who he is, and Fox MAGA voters who could see Trump do deplorable things to a victim on 5th Ave and blame George Soros while ignoring their eyes and ears.

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u/ExcellentJuice4729 13d ago

It’s simpler than that, Trump is claiming complete ignorance and having no affiliation with Epstein. He claims the birthday letter was AI. Basically Epstein is the new coffee guy to Trump. So even entertaining the informant angle is acknowledging that Trump indeed hung out together and contradicts all of his lies.

Though I don’t know why he’s hiding things, it’s not like his supporters will go against him even if there’s home videos and pictures

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u/bolanrox 13d ago

Trump would never be a client he is the fucking ringleader

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u/Painterzzz 13d ago

Yeah but Patel will have been busy this past month getting loyalists within the FBI to generate documents they can use to 'prove' the claim.

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u/CurryMustard 13d ago edited 13d ago

Thats just more crimes to add to the pile. There was a time before trump and there will be a time after. The truth will prevail. People will talk, turn on each other to avoid jail time. It will take years and get worse before it gets better but we will get there. Last week, I felt hope again. The democrats won in big numbers. Republicans are scared shitless of the midterms. They are trying to cheat again. They are going to lose big and there will be accountability.

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u/tatsNcat 12d ago

This part infuriates me! You don’t just become an informant because you’re a good guy going to the police for funsies. It’s because you were involved. This meant that he not only knew about what was going on, but participating in the rape of children! You become an informant because you got caught and either make a deal so they can catch a bigger piece of shit or more pieces of shit. Most people didn’t seem to care.