The Epstein Files
The U.S. government has been slow-rolling the release of the Epstein files this whole year. They finally had to release everything—but they just... didn't. They giggled and twirled their hair and went "oopsies, we'll keep breadcrumbing you for the rest of the year, okay?" And they know no one can really do anything about it. When they released the latest batch of files, named Dataset 8, it was with with redactions that could be undone by anyone with the ability to ctrl+c, ctrl+v. I wouldn't call myself savvy, honestly, but I can get by enough to know copy+paste.
So people downloaded the files and started posting these revelations online.
And the DOJ went gasp! "Oopsies! Let us fix that really quick." They pulled Dataset 8 back, fixed it very quickly, and then re-released it. Except now, it's missing some pages.
The lunacy, right?? The incompetence?? Are they really that stupid?? Part of me desperately wants to tell you that yes, they are that stupid. But America is a land steeped in government propaganda and I fear that's the angle they may be playing.
But wait! What if the DOJ employees knew all of this was wrong and felt that the files shouldn't be redacted, so they just highlighted the text in black? Their boomer bosses wouldn't know how to check for a copy+paste "hack". They barely know what a PDF is! It's a hero story! I think this is certainly best-case-scenario.
Or, it was done intentionally. Who downloaded the originally released files? Journalists aren't clamoring to talk about the originally released documents and the redaction flub. They aren't talking about it at all—just moving forward as if the new release was the first one. But on social media, it's teenagers talking about it. College students.(yes, I still use social media. gimme a break.) So, how do we know what the college students say is true? We can't independently verify; there is no primary source to reference except for what the student can provide. I know that some files have redactions right now that are simply black highlighter. But not all of them are. And the missing pages—how can we verify that?
One story is flying around TikTok about a teenage girl who got pregnant after being abused by president Donald John Trump Sr. So it only made sense that Trump be there when her uncle threw her newborn baby into Lake Michigan. It makes me sick and sends shockwaves down my spine. But I can't verify the story because I have no access to a primary source. I have no idea if it's true. < sarcasm >So I might easily agree with the administration when they say the college student is full of shit. Maybe I would even agree that the college student should be punished for such slander.< /sarcasm > You can bet his MAGA base will.
It's infuriating to not know what is real in this way. I'll keep looking for ways to either verify or debunk this story and others I come across, because the truth matters. In America, propaganda often wins. Epstein's victims have seen how a story can be buried, discredited, or killed. They deserve justice. We must remove the many layers of propaganda that have allowed their abusers to thwart accountability for all these years.