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by Hero (19.7k points)
edited by
Trump did more to prosecute Epstein than anybody even the lawyer of the victims said he was a great help. Trump administration has released more Epstien files then all other administrations combined

3 Answers

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by Visionary (33.3k points)
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This appears to mostly be fluff, with a kernel of truth. It is true that Bradley Edwards, a lawyer representing Epstein’s victims, said Trump was helpful in the early stages of the investigation in 2009, according to Vox. However, other attorneys have sharply criticized Trump’s role. In August 2025, after the Trump administration delayed and then slowly rolled out its deadline for releasing files, Jack Scarola, another lawyer for victims, condemned the response as a “government-sponsored cover-up,” MSNBC reported.

The claim’s wording is also absolute, stating that “Trump did more… than anybody” and “has released more… than all other administrations combined.”

This isn't quite right. Most Epstein-related material appears to have been unsealed by courts, not presidential administrations. The Miami Herald, for example, secured numerous Epstein documents through a five-year Freedom of Information Act battle, as detailed in a Vanity Fair profile. Many additional records became public through Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, as noted by the Guardian. Further, Reuters reported on a major release in January 2024, which included Epstein-associated names that came from federal judge Loretta Preska in the Southern District of New York.

No credible evidence supports the claim that Trump oversaw the most disclosures, and the disclosures we have seen are mostly comprised of documents that had already been made public (such as those released in February of 2025, as noted by the AP). 

Exaggerated/ Misleading
ago by Novice (580 points)
0 0
This answer is helpful and worded very well! I know that personally, I am not super familiar with all of the sources you used. It might be helpful to include some information about who your sources are, how they typically represent, etc.; your answer would have been bulletproof if I had gotten a grasp on that after reading your answer.
ago by Visionary (33.3k points)
0 0
Thanks astef! That's a good point, just because I am familiar with these sources shouldn't mean I assume that everyone is.
All but Vanity Fair and Vox are legacy news organizations, where Vox is newer general news org founded in 2014 (Ezra Klein's baby) and Vanity Fair is a culture mag. I felt that I had plenty of more typical journalistic sources, so I included those to paint a broader picture about the reporting landscape. They both have a similar Reliability score to MSNBC, according to Ad Fontes Media. (which admittedly could be better, as none of the three meet the 40 threshold for "generally good" reliability. Ad Fontes notes that "scores between 24-40 indicate a range of possibilities, with some sources falling there because they are heavy in opinion and analysis, and some because they have a high variation in reliability between articles.") https://adfontesmedia.com/
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by (140 points)

The claim that Trump did more to prosecute Epstein more than anybody, even the lawyers of the victims is a broad, false statement. 

According to ABC news, and cited here story, Donald Trump states in his early years as a business man that Epstein was a terrific man. When asked about this statement years later, Trump switched his narrative, telling interviewers “I dont think ive spoken to him in 15 years. I wasn't a fan. I was not, yeah a long time ago, I'd say 15 years. I was not a fan.” He then goes on to tell the interviewer- “we want an investigation, I want a full investigation and that's what I am absolutely demanding.” This is all to say that Trump has definitely spoken out about the Epstein controversy before his second term. He has advocated for the release of the files, and when asked about whether or not he would release them, he said he would. 

So, I guess you can say that Donald Trump has done something in an effort to prosecute Epstein. But to say that he has done more than anyone, even the lawyers of the victims, is a close minded, incorrect statement. When his second term started, Donald Trump turned a blind eye to the talk around the Epstein files. As stated by NPR News, and cited here trump-bondi-epstein-files-release-history, Donald Trump says “People should let Bondi do her job, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about." Donald Trump has also stated multiple times throughout his second term that the fixation on Epstein is a hoax, and that all the credible information to be given, has already been given. 

The statement that Donald Trump has done even more than the lawyers of the victims when prosecuting Epstein is quite controversial considering the fact that the Trump administration fired Maurene Comey in July of 2025. Maurene Comey being the longtime lead federal prosecutor of the Epstein case.

False
by Novice (560 points)
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Well done! This response was concise yet imperative to read. I think you could add more sources towards the end to really sum every concept up, but overall, impeccable wording.
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ago by Newbie (300 points)

This statement is partly true but mostly false. Starting with the fact that Donald Trump did not do more than anyone to prosecute Jeffery Epstein. People say that since the Trump Administration arrested Epstein on federal sex trafficking charges and put him in jail, Trump did more to prosecute him than any other person. This is simply not true because people, besides Trump, have tried and successfully prosecuted Jeffery Epstein within the years of 2005-2008. 

The first prosecution, according to NPR, started in 2005 with police opening an investigation in Florida. The article states, “Police open a criminal investigation into Epstein in Palm Beach, Fla., after a 14-year-old girl's parents say he paid her for a massage…” NPR. Also according to NPR in the same case in 2008, “A Palm Beach County grand jury indicts Epstein on one state felony charge of solicitation of prostitution.” NPR. This prosecution landed Epstein only 18 months in prison in 2008 due to a non-prosecution agreement according to an ABC news timeline. ABC states specifically,  “Epstein pleads guilty to state charges in Florida, including procuring a child for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution. The deal includes a nonprosecution agreement giving him immunity from possible federal charges. He is sentenced to 18 months in jail.” ABC News

Secondly, I have seen possible traces of the fact that Bradley Edwards (the victims rights lawyer for the 100+ girls abused by Epstein) stated on X that Trump cooperated with him back in 2009 with the first allegation. Unfortunately though, I could not find a legitimate news source who covered that statement or the fact that he was “a great help” in the prosecution. 

Lastly, the statement that the Trump administration “has released more Epstein files than all other administrations combined” is partly true and partly false. According to CBS News, in early September 2025, the House oversight committee released thousands of files related to Epstein. The exact quote being, “The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday released more than 33,000 pages of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, a well-connected financier whose sex trafficking charges and 2019 death in federal custody have drawn years of public speculation” CBS News. Although in the same article they also state, “Many of the documents were already in the public domain.” CBS News. So for this particular claim, they might have officially released the documents to the public in one report (and more than other administrations had done in the past), but some of those documents citizens already knew about.

Exaggerated/ Misleading

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