The Jeffrey Epstein saga has become a real-life true crime drama that not only never ends, but has started to consume the very people responsible for its survival, with the latest chapter serving as a reminder that the conspiracy wing of Make America Great Again has learned absolutely nothing from its mistakes. With Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) pushing to release the entire “Epstein files” (whatever that means) and alleged victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking network threatening to name names, Washington is buzzing. Why? Well, because Epstein has now become an anchor around the neck of the Trump administration.

Don’t get me wrong: Epstein was unconscionably evil, and he remains an icon of the sordid underbelly of power and abuse. His victims deserve justice, as does the entire network of immoral men who treated countless women and girls like disposable playthings. But now, thanks to President Donald Trump and his inner circle, this saga is no longer about Epstein or his crimes, but the overarching conspiratorial notion that there is always more to uncover.

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MAGA fanned these flames, but they are now losing control, building the sort of irreparable scandal that could upend an entire presidency. Long gone are the days when Epstein was a weapon to be used against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or former President Joe Biden. Today, Trump is president of the United States, the executive who has now become the face of the faceless political elite that the Epstein saga represents.

Despite this reality, Trump’s strategy has been defense and denial. After spending years leaning into conspiratorial rhetoric and tossing red meat to the fringes, MAGA is now failing to control the narrative, oscillating from calling the underlying scandal a “hoax” to telling their own audience that there is simply nothing to see here.

And for Trump’s enemies, blood is in the water, and it’s blood from a self-inflicted wound — perhaps a gaping papercut from the insanely embarrassing release by gleeful bought-and-paid-for influencers of the already released Epstein binders.

At this point, the Trump administration is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sure, the release of all the Epstein files sounds good, except for the fact that this arguably illegal action would bypass our system of law and justice by handing a treasure trove of context-free ammunition to be wielded against anyone, including Trump and his allies, caught in this vast web of power, regardless of their guilt, let alone the damage that could be done to victims whose lives would be exposed and upended.

But at this point, it doesn’t even matter whether the files are released, because the Trump administration may have lost the trust it took for granted from its most conspiratorial supporters. After all, you can’t tell people for years that the truth is being hidden from them and then, after promising to reveal that truth, tell them it was out there all along.

SIX TAKEAWAYS FROM EPSTEIN SURVIVORS SPEAKING OUT ON CAPITOL HILL

When we remember that MAGA’s bread and butter is a base of disenfranchised Americans who revolted against the status quo of Washington, how could the Trump administration possibly believe they could get away with feeding Americans the same excuses they once rejected?

Make no mistake: this could very well be the one scandal from which Trump fails to escape. So what’s the answer? Well, the problem for Trump here is that there isn’t one.

Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist. Follow him on X (@ighaworth) or Substack.