"The issue now threatens Trump’s survival as president—and, by extension, every Republican’s political career"

 

If you thought the Trump squad’s deal to conditionally dismiss New York Mayor Eric Adams’s multiple corruption charges in exchange for assistance in the lawless onslaught against immigrants was a “corrupt bargain,” as many attorneys in the South District of New York U.S. attorney’s office and Main Justice did, buckle up.

A potential, disgusting deal between the Trump regime and Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted colleague of Jeffrey Epstein, is gaining new attention. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years for conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor.

In the midst of a firestorm that Donald Trump can no longer contain regarding his refusal to release all materials concerning Epstein and his clients, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (Trump’s former personal attorney) announced a meeting with Maxwell (whom Trump previously wished well).

Maxwell is currently appealing her conviction. What could possibly be the basis for the number two person in the Justice Department to meet with the woman at the center of the criminal enterprise that now threatens to envelop Trump in a scandal like none other in his sordid career? (Interestingly, Attorney General Pam Bondi, already the object of scorn for her insistence that there is no “list” to release, has now taken a back seat.)

The prospect for such a meeting has set off alarm bells, even within the MAGA camp. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) actually got something right when she proposed that Maxwell could be “bartering for something.” Put more bluntly, Maxwell could be making a deal to pardon or shorten her sentence in exchange for exonerating Trump. This would be the height of corruption, raising the potential for impeachment and/or criminal investigation.

It seems preposterous that anyone would believe Maxwell’s possible exoneration of Trump after getting a deal from the ethically compromised Justice Department. However, Trump may be so desperate to persuade a segment of his most deluded cult members to let up that he is willing to risk elevating the scandal.

So far, it seems to be backfiring. On Tuesday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) offered a motion in the House Oversight and Government Reform committee to subpoena Maxwell. It passed on a voice vote. Members of Congress will apparently be able to ask questions about Epstein’s associate, her contact with the Trump Justice Department, and the existence of documents. While she might assert her 5^th Amendment rights not to testify (so long as her case is on appeal), the questions posed in and of themselves should be enlightening.

Moreover, the scandal has forced the House to grind to a halt. “Republicans on the House Rules Committee continue to oppose allowing any legislation to reach the House floor for a vote this week,” the Washington Post reported. “That’s because they fear Democrats will introduce amendments related to Epstein. Democrats on the panel did so twice last week, and Republicans faced blowback from constituents and the MAGA base for voting against releasing the files.” The GOP chair of the committee said it might not meet again until September, and the House is set to scurry out of town for recess on Wednesday.

The Blanche meeting, like all the other attempts to divert attention (e.g., an appalling AI video showing President Obama’s arrest, the release of Martin Luther King, Jr. files, demands that the Guardians and Commanders revert to their previous names, and a threat to prosecute Trump nemesis, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff) is unlikely to quell the uproar. While clueless, cynical legacy media practicing access journalism might insist the issue is going away (or Trump, at least, is gaining the upper hand), these developments show the opposite.

Trump is in a frenzy. Republicans are no longer complacent about a coverup. The public overwhelmingly disapproves of his handling of the scandal. Social media continues to stay on the case. And now the spectacle of Maxwell’s testimony provides the opportunity for wall-to-wall coverage.

House members on both sides of the aisle are irate with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who refused to move forward with a vote to compel release of the documents. Rep. Tom Massie (R-Ky.) earned the ire of the Speaker (and Trump) after he scolded Johnson: “Who’s he gonna pick? Is he going to stand with the pedophiles and underage sex traffickers? Or is he gonna pick the American people and justice for the victims? … It’s irrespective of what the president wants.”

That comes close to the nub of the issue: Will Republicans go along with a massive coverup, the sort of corrupt self-protection racket that authoritarian leaders pull to defend indefensible conduct? The issue now threatens Trump’s survival as president—and, by extension, every Republican’s political career.

Once the MAGA GOP is seen as the party that protects rich, creepy, abusive, elite men at the expense of everyone else, they will be recognized for the villains they once claimed Democrats to be. After all, a deep state cover-up of sexual predators who victimized children should be the final straw for all but the most deluded Trump cultists.

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