Epstein case Days of chaos in Washington

The chaos surrounding the shutdown has barely ended when the Epstein scandal hits Washington: while Donald Trump's spokeswoman has her own interpretation of the latest revelations, the House of Representatives could vote on releasing the files as early as next week.

Karoline Leavitt snaps at the reporter at the White House press conference. She actually asked about the newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails first - and not about the end of the shutdown.

So be it. After all, Leavitt couldn't have expected the topic not to come up. What do the emails mean? "This is truly a constructed hoax by the Democratic Party," counters the 28-year-old.

She also explains why: "Now - all of a sudden - they're talking about it because President Trump is in the Oval Office. When Joe Biden was there, the Democrats never came up with it. It wasn't something they cared about. Because they don't care about the victims in these cases. They care about scoring political points against President Trump, as we saw with the shutdown."

Party posse over Giuffe's name

Leavitt also speaks openly about the fact that the victim, whose name is redacted in the emails, was Virginia Giuffre. The mother of three took her own life in April this year. The Republicans on the House Oversight Committee had previously arranged the outing themselves.

They accused the Democrats of blacking out Giuffre's name for political reasons. The background: Giuffre stated on the record in 2016 that she had never seen Trump participate in the abuse of girls in any way. The tenor: the redaction was intended to make the president look bad.

The emails would only prove that Trump "did nothing wrong", according to Leavitt's reading. Epstein and he had both lived in Palm Beach, Florida - and at some point Trump had thrown Epstein out of the Mar-a-Lago luxury club because the now deceased was "a pedophile and a creep".

Trump puts pressure on Boebert - in vain

It was not only the newly published emails that made headlines yesterday in the Epstein case. The New York Times (NYT) also reports that Trump is increasing the pressure on Republican politicians who are in favor of releasing the files. He has called Lauren Boebert and summoned her to the White House.

Boebert thanked Trump for the meeting on X and added: "Together we will continue to work for transparency for the American people," she wrote, as quoted by the NYT and ABC News. The entry has since been deleted. Instead, Boebert posted a video of a TV commentator praising her for taking a stand against the party and the president. She does not withdraw her signature from the petition.

Why is the White House trying to get Boebert to withdraw her vote? Karoline Leavitt reinterprets the question: "Doesn't it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to inform members of Congress?" It is important to talk to each other.

The mother of all questions

It is not an easy press conference, which spokeswoman Leavitt denies. She deflects the journalists' questions in an extremely professional manner, but then can't get past the elephant in the room. As she steps down from the podium, Andrew Feinberg from the British Independent calls after her:

Of course, Leavitt does not turn around to answer this question. The London "Guardian " comments on the press conference: "Leavitt defies the laws of moral physics to emphasize that Biden and the Democrats are the real culprits."

And what happens to the petition to release the records now that Democrat Adelita Grijalva was able to take her oath of office and sign the document? "It's a completely pointless exercise that's completely controversial," Mike Johnson said last night on the subject. "I guess we'll just do it. I mean, they have 218 signatures."

Trump warns his party

It is therefore possible that the petition will come before the House of Representatives next week. If it gets a majority there, the Senate would also have to approve it. "Only a very bad or stupid Republican would fall for this trap," warns Donald Trump, who would ultimately have to approve the release.

This is probably why Mike Johnson calls it a "pointless exercise". At the same time, the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are themselves releasing further Epstein files that they have selected.

In all of the documents released on November 12, Trump's name appears 1,500 times, according to an AI count by CBC News. However, the majority of mentions are from news articles and social media posts.

Maxwell's special treatment

At this very moment, it is being reported that Jeffrey Epstein's confidante and accomplice is allegedly receiving special treatment in prison. After being transferred to the hemp tantalum in Bryan, Texas, where no serious cases are actually held, she is said to enjoy further privileges there.

She is allegedly allowed to choose her meals and have them delivered, as well as receive visitors who have a computer with them to send documents and emails on her behalf. This is very unusual. She is also allowed to visit the gym outside of opening hours accompanied by guards.

The question remains as to what would happen if the House of Representatives and Senate were to wave through the petition to release the Epstein files and the President had to sign this bill. It seems that Donald Trump is doing everything he can to prevent this from happening.