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The Justice Department’s latest dump under the Epstein Files Transparency Act released millions of pages that finally put a bright, uncomfortable light on contacts between Jeffrey Epstein and figures across the political spectrum — including Steve Bannon. What the files show is messy, bureaucratic and explosive by design, but they are not a substitute for proof of criminal conduct, and Americans should be wary of breathless media narratives that leap to judgement.
Among the most bizarre items is a long, meandering filmed interview between Bannon and Epstein from 2019 — footage that has raised eyebrows because Bannon recorded hours of material and released almost none. The video, as reported, ranges from high-fallutin’ talk about finance and philosophy to awkward, unsettling exchanges about Epstein’s views and past; it’s headline-making theater, but theater is not a conviction.
Newly disclosed messages also reveal that Bannon and Epstein discussed legal maneuvers, including the possibility of invoking a Kovel arrangement to cloak documentary footage with privilege through a lawyer’s involvement. That planning — whether clever, defensive, or merely media-savvy — has been spun by pundits into insinuations without evidence of criminality, and the public deserves facts, not innuendo masquerading as investigative triumph.
The broader tranche of documents even lists breakfasts and meetings, and some redacted releases named well-known figures from both Silicon Valley and politics, fueling a feeding frenzy on cable news. Democrats and left-leaning outlets have rushed to weaponize every name-dropping line as a smoking gun, ignoring the long-established reality that Epstein cultivated relationships with people across ideological lines. Context matters; a shorthand mention in a schedule isn’t a crime scene.
Independent reviews of the files and internal FBI notes make a sober point that the public should not forget: investigators repeatedly found that evidence tying other elites to provable, chargeable sex trafficking was, in many cases, absent or uncorroborated. The rush to treat leaked pages as final truth undermines both the victims’ fight for justice and the constitutional safeguards that prevent political show trials.
Conservatives should be clear-eyed: Epstein’s depravity must be exposed and any enablers who broke the law should be prosecuted, full stop. But we must also push back on selective outrage and partisan theater from revenge-hungry rivals who use leaks to settle scores and erase due process; this isn’t passion for truth, it’s a political weapon that corrodes institutions.
What matters now is straightforward: demand transparent, nonpartisan investigations that focus on crimes, not character assassination; protect the principle that people are innocent until proven guilty; and call out the double standard when the left turns a pile of documents into a political hit job. Conservatives can — and should — be ferocious defenders of victims while also defending the rule of law against opportunistic media and political mobs.
