Full transcript of “Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s Epstein Letter Isn’t the Scandal You Think It Is”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 What's the status of the so-called Epstein files? Recently, Donald Trump, his administration, Pam Bonnie, did not release the full quote unquote list as had been promised. That sort of embarrassed Cash Patel and Dan Bonino who said that they had had FBI material that would be released. And now, apparently, they're going to release names. But here's the thing, the Democrats did not release any of this information. Donald Trump initially didn't. Then he under pressure says he will. There's another subtext to this and that is we were told by the Wall Street Journal Donald Trump wrote a letter to Jeffrey Epstein to congratulate him on his birthday and that has set the world on fire. But let's just say that everything the Wall Street Journal alleges is true. It's not it's not a scandal for a variety of reasons. [Music]
0:54 Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. I I know all of us are not that interested in the Epstein letter and the Epstein controversies, but let's just go through it very quickly. Recently, Donald Trump uh his administration as characterized by the Department of Justice, Pam Bonnie, did not release the full quote unquote list as had been promised. that sort of embarrassed uh Cash Patel and Dan Bonino who said that they had had FBI material that would be released. Turns out uh Donald Trump then got angry at his base, but especially at the Democrats who said that Trump was trying to hide something. The long and the short of it, there was never a list where he had a list of people who had engaged in pornographic
1:41 or pedophilic behavior at his various residents. What the list uh implied was that in 2008 when he his first trial and then again a few years later there was a lot of testimonies in these indictments and convictions uh and text and evidence that was uh subpoenaed. So names came up in text messages, emails, maybe some video on logs on the airplane. So there's a long list apparently of over 170 people and for some reason Donald Trump initially ordered Pam Bondi or she did spontaneously to contradict her earlier promise to release all the information that started the controversy. And now apparently
2:28 they're going to release names. We already have about 90 names and they range from Louisie Free, the former strong Catholic father of six, FBI director um to Leonard DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, Kevin Spacy, Senate former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell Mitchell. What am I getting at? All of these people had come in contact with this near billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Apparently, he was close to Harvard University. He had a temporary office there. His motus operandi was to lavish money on political candidates, foundations, universities, celebrities, entertain. And there was a subset in that group that engaged in pedophilic behavior
3:15 because remember he was charged with trafficking. Jacel Maxwell was convicted for 20 years as his accomplishment for uh hiring out or forcing, I should say, a 14-year-old girl and others to have sexual relations with these prominent people. But here's the thing, the Democrats did not release any of this information. Donald Trump initially didn't. Then he under pressure says he will. What What's going on? What's going on is there's all of these people of various statuses and no one knows to what degree they happened to meet Jeffrey Epstein. Uh they happened to talk to him on the phone, they had a business engagement, they wrote on an airplane, are they actually engaged in in wrong behavior. But the point is unless you become transparent and let it
4:02 sort out uh this this controversy will turn into a near scandal. So what's what's the status of the so-called Epstein files? I think Donald Trump is going to release all the information that the government has. There'll probably be 150 or 200 names and we'll let the internet mob or individuals or freedom of information request or lower court judges, they will adjudicate it and we will find out the particular statuses. The vast majority of people will be very uh innocent. They didn't do anything wrong. But there will be some people that will have a cast a shadow of doubt. We'll have to find out. There's another subtext to this and that is Donald Trump, it was told uh we were told by the Wall Street Journal wrote a
4:48 letter um to Jeffrey Epstein to congratulate him on his birthday and it was very risque or bo I think they used the word body. We also had letters from people like Alan Dersowitz. This was at a period where Donald Trump was apparently bumped into him or knew him and he saw him at Mara Lago. Remember though in 2019 he said that he had kicked out Jeffrey Epstein uh a couple of years earlier than his first indictment. So whatever the letter is and I'll get to that in a second. Uh Donald Trump had already apparently severed relationships with him after the the the birthday congratulatory letter but before he was indicted. That's so what am I getting at?
5:33 Donald Trump can say I didn't know what he was involved in. That's why I wrote this kind of risque letter, but he's not saying that, but he could say that. And then I found out that he was under uh indictment for uh sexual relations. I s had seen him at my club. He was hitting on a for a young teenager. So, I broke all relationships before he was indicted. The letter just is a very strange imaginary conversation that somebody typed out. Trump Epstein Trump Epstein. It doesn't sound like Donald Trump's vocabulary or his modus operandi. I don't think he uses the word enigma. Uh there's a lot of vocabulary that's non-Trumpian and I don't think he use a platonic dialogue type of uh communications. And then there is an
6:20 addendum where he has a picture of a nude girl and he writes his name in such a fashion that might be construed as uh offering pubic hair in the groin area. and that has set the world on fire. Donald Trump denies all of this and I think it'll be very hard to prove that that typewritten letter was his unless they can tra you know the machine or something like that or fingerprint. I don't know but it's going to be very hard. I don't know why the Wall Street Journal jumped to that conclusion. But let's just say that everything the Wall Street Journal alleges is true. It's not it's not a scandal for a variety of reasons. Donald Trump had no knowledge, I guess, at least that he was involved in these activities. He was just a risque character like many people in
7:05 Manhattan. And then once he did discover at Marago that he was hitting on pre uh pre-adolescent or 14, 13 year old girls, then he supposedly kicked uh Jeffrey Epstein out and he's then later he was indicted. But there's also another u scenario and that is Donald Trump is this has all been invited. This is all uh computed into the Trump candidacy and presidency. We went through the Access Hollywood uh scandal supposedly when he used risque words. We went through the Stormmy Daniels uh embroio. We went through the Egene Carroll. We know that Donald Trump is a multi-billionaire and that the Manhattan social life for men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s was sort of wild. And we don't
7:54 quite know exactly what he did, but we're not shocked that he used a type of language or he associated uh with other people, but there's no evidence he was involved in criminal activity. And so I think it'll die and I think uh the Wall Street Journal will have to make a correction unless they want to take Donald Trump to court and Donald Trump wants to see he's filed suit against them and there'll be a lot of discovery and who knows what'll happen. But for right now, I think he's salvaged this problem and aborted a controversy by just saying, "Get the stuff out there and let the people decide." It's the way it always should be in a democracy in an open society. Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. [Music]
8:40 Thank you for tuning in to the Daily Signal. Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own website at victoransen.com and subscribe for exclusive features. In addition,
