Trump used Epstein files to manipulate MAGA. Now he must ask their forgiveness. | Opinion

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Right-wing influencer Liz Wheeler took to X recently as rumors of discontent between the FBI and the Justice Department spilled out on the airwaves and online over the handling of the so-called Epstein files.

The reported conflict between Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Director of the FBI Dan Bongino has left many conservatives speculating that President Donald Trump might have to choose between the two.

Wheeler and others have made their preference known: They want Trump to fire his attorney general.

The conservative influencer class has good reason to be upset with Bondi. In February, not long after Trump took office, Bondi invited a group of media stars from the MAGA universe to receive an initial release of the Epstein files.

In a theatrical manner, these popular personalities waved the now infamous binders triumphantly in front of cameras as they left their meeting with Bondi.

But after opening the binders what they found were heavily redacted documents in which the only substantive information pertaining to the deceased financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was information already released to the public.

Bondi misled Trump supporters about Epstein

This marked a uniquely outrageous moment in American politics, particularly among Trump’s most ardent supporters. Trump’s attorney general seemed to have deliberately misled leading opinion makers to believe they were receiving information that would clarify who among America’s elite businesspeople, politicians and celebrities were on the infamous (but merely alleged) Epstein list.

We finally would receive confirmation about who it was that Epstein had trafficked underage girls to and who might have motive to have Epstein killed. The disgraced financier was found dead in his jail cell on Aug. 10, 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Opinion: MAGA is coming for Trump over lost Epstein files. Bondi may pay the price.

Epstein’s death, of course, has been ruled a suicide by the New York City medical examiner. But many Americans in Trump’s anti-establishment base flatly dismissed that finding.

That included not just right-wing commentators, but future members of the administration, most prominently Bondi, Bongino and current FBI Director Kash Patel.

The outrage against Bondi among the conservative influencers over the binder fiasco was intense. Bondi blamed the FBI for not giving her more information on Epstein, but the bureau insisted that everything that could be released was released.

Epstein conspiracy was fed by distrust in 'deep state'

The issues involved go beyond the now-dead financier. The distrust of the "deep state" and Democratic and Republicans elites is deep and abiding among many conservatives.

Trump leveraged that distrust in his bid for a second term, including a call to release the Epstein files (although a careful review of interviews shows that Trump was never as adamant about it as his followers).

Trump's surrogates, including Bongino, were uncompromising in their opinion that Epstein had trafficked girls to elite politicians and others and that the federal government had covered up those crimes.

Releasing the files was, in their view, a chance to clean out corruption and to validate their own conspiratorial distrust of Washington.

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But even as Bondi outraged the base in February, the conservative influencers remained loyal to Trump, insisting that he was committed to transparency and justice. In time, the truth would come to light.

Yet, the official position of the FBI's Patel and Bongino has been that Epstein hanged himself in his jail cell and that no foul play was involved. That was in gross contradiction to everything both men had said before assuming leadership of the FBI.

Still, the Trump faithful clung to the hope that the Epstein list would reveal the larger conspiracy of powerful men sexually exploiting young girls.

Now, the Justice Department and the FBI have released a memo stating that a “systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’” The message was clear: the Epstein case is effectively closed.

But it wasn’t just Patel and Bongino who insisted the case was closed. When Bondi was confronted by a reporter at the White House, Trump interrupted his attorney general to disparage the question: “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?”

Trump said the matter was a waste of time and a “desecration” to focus on Epstein instead of more important things.

What followed that exchange is something I have not seen since Trump was first elected in 2016. Many of his outspoken supporters publicly expressed doubt about his integrity and even suggested that Trump may be collaborating with the forces who are protecting Epstein's clients.

Scapegoating Bondi, Bongino distracts from the truth

The right-wing comment sections on X have become battlegrounds between apologists for Trump and those who are still searching for ways to imagine that the president has been misled or is operating with the best of intentions.

Ironically, it may be that what we are seeing is actually an act of integrity with respect to the Trump administration, the DOJ and FBI. Despite having stoked the Epstein conspiracy theories, these individuals, with the responsibility of government now on their shoulders, are compelled to be truthful on this most sensitive of issues.

Bondi, Patel, Bongino and Trump now have to confront a monster that they nurtured – a monster of conspiracy-driven outrage that fuels so many supporters of the president and which now has set itself on Trump and his administration.

Liz Wheeler and other right-wing influencers are trying very hard to avoid the most plausible scenarios. By calling for Bondi to be fired, Wheeler and others want to make it seem as if the problem with the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein controversy is one of optics. If it were a problem of optics and a bad rollout of information, then one could say that the problem is with Bondi.

But the scapegoating of Bondi or Bongino is a distraction from the truth. Either Trump and his team are lying about Epstein or they are now telling the truth after years of feeding the conspiracy.

They were either right then and are lying now, or were wrong then and are now telling the truth.

I hope for the latter. But then Trump and his camp would have to admit their mistake.

Trump is not used to asking for forgiveness from his followers. But if he doesn’t ask for it now, many of his most loyal supporters may not give it to him.

John Wood Jr. is a columnist for Paste BN Opinion. He is national ambassador for Braver Angels, a former nominee for Congress, former vice chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, musical artist, and a noted writer and speaker on subjects including racial and political reconciliation. Follow him on X: @JohnRWoodJr