Maggie Haberman
President Donald Trump's administration is becoming increasingly worried about the ramifications of Congress reviewing documents relating to convicted child predator Jeffrey Epstein.
That's according to New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman, who reported on the administration's nervousness over the partial release of some of the Epstein files in a Thursday appearance on CNN. Haberman told host Brianna Keilar that Trump's photo-op with law enforcement in Washington D.C. on Thursday night could be viewed as an attempt to distract the media from Friday's release of documents to the House Oversight Committee.
"He is mindful. It is in the back of his mind to try to keep Epstein out of the news," she said. "I think we don't quite know what this is going to look like tomorrow, but he, absolutely, and certainly a lot of his advisers, were happy that Epstein has not been front-and-center as an issue for the last few weeks."
As PBS reported earlier this week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is planning on releasing some of the estimated 100,000 pages of Epstein-related files to the Oversight Committee in response to a recent subpoena. The administration has so far not said what would be in the initial release of documents, and it remains unclear whether the committee will make those files publicly available following its review.
ABC News has reported that some of the unreleased evidence categorized by the FBI includes logbooks of visitors to Epstein's "Little Saint James" Island (which housed his private compound) and "a document with names," which could be the rumored "Epstein list" that Attorney General Pam Bondi has publicly insisted does not exist.
When Keilar asked Haberman how the Trump administration was preparing for eventual media coverage surrounding the new documents, the Times reporter said the DOJ knew unfavorable coverage was "sort of baked in for them." Haberman added that the "big question" of whether to share the files with the public still remains open.
"Do they ever turn these files over publicly, which they clearly have the ability to do and just have chosen not to do it, and instead have looked for judges to release grand jury testimony?" Haberman said. "The judges have said [the grand jury records] don't contain some kind of a smoking gun."
"They know what's coming and they have their talking points," she added. "It's just that it's not a topic that any of them enjoy."
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
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