MAGA’s leading lights dodge responsibility for Epstein ties until now

The Justice Department’s release of millions of files from a criminal investigation into sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein has brought down high-profile careers, spurred new investigations around the world and led to arrests of royals. Yet through all of this, one group has emerged completely unscathed: President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

The past week has made the double standard clear, with one of the Democratic Party’s most powerful policymakers, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and one of the richest men in the world, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, facing consequences for their sordid friendships with Epstein.

Bill and Hillary Clinton’s congressional statements only further highlighted the pattern, with members of the House questioning the former first couple about their relationship with Epstein and photographs of the former president having fun in the company of the financier. The photographs, videos and correspondence that show the current The president’s relationship with Epstein has not drawn similar scrutiny in Congress.

Before Bill Clinton’s statement on Friday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) lamented how powerful people who have associated themselves with Epstein “have not been held accountable and have not even had to answer questions about what they knew and when they knew it.”

The release of the Epstein Files, pushed in part by Comer’s committee, has finally brought about some accountability, Comer said: “We’ve already seen a lot of very powerful people being held accountable for having to resign in disgrace from various boards of directors around the world.”

It’s true: In recent weeks, senior figures in academia, science, law, entertainment and finance have resigned from their positions following revelations of their lengthy and controversial communications with Epstein.

But so far, none of the Trump world figures who were deeply connected to Epstein have faced consequences, and Republicans have shown no interest in investigating the president’s own relationship with Epstein, even as they arrest one of his predecessors for questioning.

However, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is testing the durability of the MAGA protection bubble. She lived next door to Epstein in New York City, and Justice Department records revealed that she visited Epstein’s Caribbean island, Little St. James, even though she had previously said she had cut ties with Epstein in 2005, before he was first charged with crimes for prostituting minors.

Lutnick remains in office despite calls from Democrats and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) for him to resign. But Comer has said he would be interested in bringing Lutnick before his committee. Rep. Nancy Mace (R.S.C.), a member of the panel, said this week that she would vote for a subpoena, and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another member of the committee, said he believes there would be enough votes to authorize one.

“We’re going to continue to ask questions of everyone who appears in photographs on the island and things like that,” Comer said Friday.

Meanwhile, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon continues to energize the MAGA faithful on his podcast despite his extensive communications and intrigue with Epstein. Billionaire far-right activist Elon Musk has also not suffered any consequences for his efforts to be invited to Epstein Islandwhich came to light this month after he previously described turning down all invitations. “Do you have any parties planned?” Musk asked Epstein in an email trying to schedule a visit. And, of course, there is Trump, who Epstein said was his “closest friend” for 10 years and who was known to cavort with Epstein and young women in the 1990s and early 2000s before a reported fight.

Photography by Davidoff Studios via Getty Images

Outside of the MAGA world, accountability has been quicker.

Summers, who was also president of Harvard University, announced that he would resign of his role as a teacher at the end of this school semester after his correspondence with Epstein came to light this month. Summers also resigned from his board position at OpenAI and several political groups. Kathryn Ruemmler, former White House adviser during the Obama administration, declared that he would resign from her position as chief legal counsel at investment firm Goldman Sachs on June 30.

Other former political figures have also resigned from their current roles, including former Maine Democratic senator George Mitchell. from his Mitchell Institute and former Nebraska Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey of his role as president of a clean energy company.

Scientists and academics, including prominent neuroscientist Richard Axel, paleontologist Jack Horner and mathematics teacher martin nowak all have resigned or been suspended from their positions. Brad Karp, president of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, low on February 4. Hollywood’s top agent Casey Wasserman announced that he would sell his company on February 13, although he has not resigned his position as leader of the US Olympic committee for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Hyatt Hotels CEO Thomas Pritzker, cousin of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, low on February 17. Microsoft founder Bill Gates did not give up his personal foundation, but apologized to the staff while admitting to having affairs with two Russian women.

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So why has Trump’s world escaped the consequences of being friends with the world’s most notorious sex criminal?

First, there is the Republican-controlled Congress that acts as a seal of approval for the Trump administration. Without any meaningful sense of itself as an independent power, the Republican Congress has embraced extreme partisanship and evaded administration oversight. The House Oversight Committee interviewed Hillary Clinton, who did not know Epstein and never contacted him, in part to find out why Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, had been invited to her daughter’s wedding (she was a guest’s companion, Clinton said). Trump and first lady Melania Trump were close friends of Epstein and Maxwell.

Second, Trump ended the independence of the Justice Department, meaning it will not pursue any investigation without his approval. This corruption of federal law enforcement, enabled by the Supreme Court’s Trump v. United States decision, removes yet another lever of oversight and accountability.

Third, MAGA is not interested in holding Republicans in general accountable. Trump has granted pardons to campaign donors and fraudsters, not to mention more than a thousand troublemakers, without pushback. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) maintains the nominal support of the party leadership despite having an affair with an employee who later committed suicide.

“Fantastic guy,” Trump infamously said in a profile 2002 of Epstein. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. He’s even said to like beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are younger. There’s no doubt about it: Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

Across the Atlantic, Europe has suffered the biggest fallout with the arrests of former British prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, former British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland and Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen on charges ranging from sharing state secrets to corruption in their dealings with Epstein.

This only further highlights the elite impunity that has come to characterize the second Trump administration. Elected as a tribune of the people to fight elites, Trump has instead acted to protect the rich and powerful from regulation, criminal prosecution, taxes and oversight. Most importantly, he has insulated himself, his administration, and his followers from legal responsibility and oversight.

Epstein’s disparate consequences have not gone unnoticed in Washington.

“There are other societies that are applying due seriousness and gravity to the matter,” Khanna said earlier this month. “And if the British monarchy can take this seriously, what about American democracy?”