Seriosly, why?

  • specialseaweed@sh.itjust.works
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    8 hours ago

    I think it’s important to remember that Biden was, perhaps more than any president in my lifetime (and I’m an old man), an institutionalist. He was a senator for just about forever, then the VP for 8 years. He was 78 years old when he became president. He is an old school liberal Catholic, a very nearly extinct person in the Catholic and Christian spheres.

    I think he saw his presidency as a repudiation of right wing reactionary politics. His election, in his mind, was in large part a call to what he saw as the original intent and purpose of the executive branch. To put it plainly, he saw himself as elected because America rejected the politicization of government under Trump. Included under that umbrella of beliefs about the purpose of the executive was the unalienable requirement that the executive not direct the FBI to investigate the opposing political party. Remember, Joe Biden was a senator when Nixon resigned. He was there when Nixon was using the executive branch to attack Democrats.

    Biden appointed Garland to the DOJ. Garland’s record was perfectly fine and appeared well suited to the role, but his biggest strengths (in Biden’s mind) was his nonpartisanship and his conservative view of government. By conservative I mean staying within the lines of what the DOJ should be doing, a cautious view of the use of DOJ power. Again, this was done in reaction to Trump and his… let’s call it “expansive” view of government power. In Biden’s mind, he was righting the ship.

    And Garland was exactly as advertised, to a maddening degree. He was cautious to the point of being timid. He refused to throw the weight of the DOJ into investigations with political implications without reaching an imaginary bar of fairness that just isn’t realistic. You saw it in the Jan 6th investigations. You saw it in the Kushner deals (and all of the Trump family deals which are obviously dirty). You saw it in Garland’s unwillingness to take on wildly politicized federal prosecutor offices because doing so would be political interference (in his mind). You saw it when Robert Hur took unprofessionalism and partisanship to the absolute extreme when attacking Biden under the guise of a special counsel appointment and Garland did nothing because instiutionalism in his mind meant not interfering with the process.

    And you saw it in the Epstein case.

    Garland did everything by the book to an absurd degree that ended up paralyzing justice. Biden didn’t touch Garland or any of it because he believes doing so was itself an injustice, even if Garland was wrong to handle it the way he did. In Biden’s mind, the president should not have the power to demand the DOJ take action in a specific case like the Epstein case, especially if there’s political implications.

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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    8 hours ago

    Because spineless Establishment Dems have some obsession with “playing nice,” even with vicious MAGA Nazi enemies. I have a million questions, starting with:

    Why didn’t Biden have HitlerPig and his henchmen arrested within the first 60 seconds after his Inauguration?

    • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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      41 minutes ago

      Because spineless Establishment Dems have some obsession with "playing nice insider trading

      Ftfy.

      The Dem party is known as the party of insider trading after all!

  • Alsjemenou@lemy.nl
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    7 hours ago

    Okay. Let me give a sane outsider take.

    First thing you have to understand is that there is a big disconnect between the conviction of Epstein and the influential connections he had. All the conspiracy talk about the island being a childporn hub for elites is nothing more than that: conspiracy fantasy. His suicide fueled many more ideas about the elite killing him, but again no evidence at all.

    However, there is a strong public pressure to research the connections between Epstein and the elites he knew. This has most likely been done in the background, since Epstein did shady finances. But Trump has campaigned heavily on the popular sentiment. And it lives in the minds of people a solution to lock up all the elites/draining the swamp.

    So now there is a big problem for the maga populists, there is a ‘list’ of connections to epstein. But there is no further evidence (yet) that those people did anything illegal, or is entirely complicated financial crime. The list probably includes just about the entire political spectrum includes donors and includes Trump. So everybody wants to handle this the correct way, including those donors. Nobody wants their name public because they spoke to a shady financial advisor. And any case against a super wealthy person needs to be watertight, they can afford a legal team.

    Is it possible that there was deeper predatory connections? sure. Epstein had easy access and no question that he was willing to share. Is that going to be written down in a list? absolutely not. Epstein did finances the shady way and that’s more likely the reason so many rich people were interested in his business.

    So this isnt a political issue. Of course, now it is. But that’s because Trump made it one.

  • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    Because it could hurt rich people and both parties are on the side of rich people.

    • Binturong@lemmy.ca
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      17 minutes ago

      This is the actual answer, cutting right through the smoke and mirrors and bullshit. Anyone who had the displeasure of reading through the flight logs that were available in their entirety online almost a year ago and probably still are: saw just what names pop up, often multiple times. This is the most bipartisan issue there ever was, so NOBODY in power wants to touch it.

  • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.works
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    23 hours ago

    Well specifically, it is still an ongoing investigation, so nobody has a “complete set of files to release.”

    In February Pam Bondi said she had the first phase of files in her office, made a big public announcement about having requested all remaining files, and said she was waiting on them to be delivered. She even wrote a letter to Kash Patel about it and publicly released the letter.

    Then when she read whatever was in that second half of files that got delivered to her, she suddenly wasn’t so eager to release it.

    Even more than knowing what is in there about Trump, I would be most interested to know what banks knowingly financed what Epstein was doing. I would guess any bipartisan fears about information in there that could “destroy the country,” is more likely related to banks and corporations that are considered “too big to fail,” rather than any super scandalous information about individuals.

    • wildcardology@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      She released that first phase to MAGA influencers and made a big show out of it. She was asked about releasing the Epstein list and she said it’s on her desk along with mlk and jfk files and would release it

  • citizensongbird@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    My guess is, because Republican leaders and propaganda outlets were constantly accusing Democrats of witch hunts and politically motivated criminal investigations, Dems releasing Epstein’s client list would have been seen as more of the same. Trump’s base would have absolutely called it fake news. So Dems waited until Republicans were in control and then said, “Okay, now you can release it.” With predictable results.

  • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    First, Bill Clinton is almost certainly all over them, and older Democrats still think of the Clintons as the epitome of Democratic success. Some of the old guard is still trying to push focus away from the Epstien files. Just two days ago, Nancy Pelosi was calling the Epstien files a distraction, which is a bat-shit crazy thing to say about evidence that could prove that your opponent was involved in a pedophile ring.

    Second, Epstien probably has some sort of ties to the intelligence community. I don’t know that I believe all these stories about him being a secret Mossad asset, but I think its very possible that the someone in the CIA was using him. Alex Acosta, who prosecuted Epstien in 2008, claimed that he was told to back off because he, “belonged to intelligence,” and they’re clearly withholding a lot of information, there’s definitely something they don’t want people to know. Anyway, since 9/11, the Democrats and Republicans have had basically the same position on the intelligence community (essentially, abject deference), so if the CIA says that it would be a national security risk to release the files, the Democrats aren’t going to release the files.

    • LikeableLime@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      They apparently had video (obviously doctored and they couldn’t even hide that) after saying for years that all of the cameras malfunctioned. That video was released very recently so that leads me to believe there’s more stuff that never got released.

      • auraithx@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 day ago

        The investigation was still ongoing, which Trump ended. And the DOJ is supposed to operate independently from the president.

          • auraithx@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            16 hours ago

            ?? Yes which Trump ended. Investigation was ongoing which meant info couldn’t be released, Trump ended it. What aren’t you getting?

            • Hawke@lemmy.world
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              11 hours ago

              Well, assuming “They were sealed until Jan 2024” is true, then from that point forward they could have been released but weren’t.

              • auraithx@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                11 hours ago

                The investigation was still ongoing so they couldn’t have. There was thousands of people involved. It didn’t stop until Trump stopped it the other week.

                • Hawke@lemmy.world
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                  11 hours ago

                  And why would “investigation is still ongoing” stop them from releasing it? My opinion: either a convenient excuse, or yet another self-own from the Democratic Party.

                  They chose not to release it, despite being under no true obligation.

  • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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    1 day ago

    Legal Eagle just released a video about “the real Epstein files”. The main point they covered in the video is victim impact. The victims could be threatened and harassed because of the info.

    Another point not covered is that criminal case info is typically not disclosed. Releasing a list of accused perpetrators (i.e. pedophiles/child rapists) encourages vigilante justice. It also interferes with any ongoing investigations, which should (at least in theory) still be ongoing.

    I don’t want Trump to release the case info. I want his DOJ to announce charges against people like Les Wexner, based on that info. And I want it to not just be his political enemies and bullshit lies.

      • AmidFuror@fedia.io
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        1 day ago

        Dig into the bus crash more. It was minor, but Giuffre then checked herself into the hospital and made pretty bizarre claims about her health. Then she went home and killed herself shortly after.

        There was nothing nefarious about the crash, and it revealed she was having mental health issues.

    • danc4498@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I very much get the first point. Victims need to be protected at all costs. Even if it means the public doesn’t get to know things.

      To the second point, the way Trump handled it felt very much like “case closed, nothing to see here”. This does not feel like justice is going to be served.

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Did they cover the part about how Biden’s DOJ had absolutely no fucking excuse to take that long to prosecute?

      • snooggums@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        We can’t seem like we are making it political because he’s running for office or some bullshit was always the excuse.

        • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          Yet they waited 3.5 years until right after he won the Republican nomination to bother charging him and that was just for the Jan 6th bullshit let alone the Epstein stuff.

          • snooggums@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            He should have been tossed in jail by February for insurrection. The whole hand wringing about ‘appearances’ excuse is why we can’t hold anyone in power accountable.

            • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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              1 day ago

              Yeah the sycophants are always quick to make up a million excuses why Democrats can’t ever accomplish anything they talk about, while simultaneously pretending they’re “fighting fascism” by supporting this farce.

      • socsa@piefed.social
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        1 day ago

        There probably just isn’t the kind of direct evidence people imagine. You can’t prosecute people just for associating with a creep.

        • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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          1 day ago

          I specifically mentioned Les Wexner for a reason. While the public information includes an absolute ton of red flags, and it’s very likely that he bought child prostitutes, it doesn’t reach the level proof beyond a reasonable doubt. IOW, it’s unlikely to reach a conviction in court.

          These people are also rich enough to drag out a court case for decades, even longer than the government. As such, they aren’t likely to take a plea agreement that’s more than a slap on the wrist and without admitting anything serious.

        • grue@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          Okay, fine. Then if there was never going to be a prosecution, then there was no impediment to the Biden admin releasing the files.

          So, which is it: did the Biden administration fuck up by slow-walking the prosecution, or did the Biden administration fuck up by failing to release the files even when it had no intention of prosecuting? Those are the only options!

  • Quacksalber@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    The give reason must be procedual, but the real reason is that the Epstein files undoubtedly also contain the names of democrats or democratic backers. They were more than happy doing nothing with those files.

    • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      So, no hiring hackers to actually change votes to Biden/Harris votes, but anything short of that? I dunno, if that were their standard they would have released the Epstein stuff. My real guess is that some Democratic politicians are also on the list. Even if it’s only a couple, they might have figured running against a convicted felon gave them such good odds there was no need to throw any of their own under the bus. And apparently none of them said, “Well but what if he hires hackers to change votes to Trump votes?”

      • 4am@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        Musk and Eaton had the means to change votes, not sure what your first statement is about.

        • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          I’m convinced that Trump won because his team changed Harris votes to Trump votes, plain and simple. The differences between their totals were statistically anomalous compared to all the downballot candidates, the variations were just below thresholds that would have triggered automatic recounts, and these anomalies were present in the 7 swing states only. Those facts alone should justify formal audits, which I hope will happen. But it all kind of depends on the fate of the one lawsuit filed so far.

    • magnetosphere@fedia.io
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      1 day ago

      …or they’re friends with child rapists, or owe favors to child rapists. Those three are the only answers that make sense.

      • nimpnin@sopuli.xyz
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        1 day ago

        That is the more likely true explanation. All of these rich and powerful people know each other, owe favors to each other, have dirt on each other etc. That makes them less likely to put anyone in their circle in danger.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Yup.

      Clintons were very good friends with Biden but also trump.

      Neoliberals poisoned the party so much that during Epstein’s hey day the letter by a name didn’t matter, trump himself was a big donor to the Dem party back then.

      Neither Biden or trump could release just the names of people they don’t like, because they’d snitch on the people they liked and then you’re on the hook for protecting the ones you liked.

      Someone like AOC is the only shot at a president that would actually release it. We need more politicians who have a loyalty to voters over a party.

      Party leadership changes, and we got a rare window right now the party won’t block someone like AOC. We can’t count on that being true in 2032 if she doesn’t feel ready in 2028.

      Ready or not, it’s time.

      • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Someone like AOC is the only shot at a president that would actually release it.

        You act like Bernie doesn’t exist. I’m 100% confident that he’s not assosiated with that hot mess in any way.

          • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            C’mon now. Old elderly white men who could die any minute is what this country has exclusively elected since 2016.

            If anything he has a better chance than AOC at being president, simply for having white hair, wrinkles, and a penis.

    • itisileclerk@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 day ago

      That’s my thinking, US citizens are prisoners of the immorality of the richest regardless of their political contributions. Trump has masterfully exploited this with the “devide and empire” maxime.

    • tired_n_bored@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Note how normal people have no issues saying that Democrats may be (or likely are) in the Epstein files, but MAGAs are like “The files are a hoax but if they exist he is not in them but if he’s in them it’s just a juvenile mistake, who cares”

  • takeda@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 day ago

    Because you don’t publish details of investigation. You publish indictments once investigation is done. That’s essentially weaponization of DOJ.

    Republicans were promising to release (and suggesting Democrats are on it). Now as they have the power, they refuse. Claim the files don’t exist then that they are fake, then they are boring.

    At this point it is very clear that trump is in them.

  • nthavoc@lemmy.today
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    1 day ago

    Because “High Road” and “Moral Victories” were their focus and always pretend to act surprised when the goal posts are moved by the republicans. At least that’s one reason.

      • nthavoc@lemmy.today
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        1 day ago

        I agree. But that whole honor system and gentleman’s agreements went right out the window in 2016. They had 4 years to see that coming and really didn’t do much to stop it; not even a slick behind the scenes move. Just sat there and let it happen. Had an ace in their sleeve and decided to keep it in a locked up in a safe for the Donvict to crack right open.