Republicans, it’s time to give up the Epstein saga once and for all

Hey Republicans, it’s time to get out the shovels and dig a very deep hole. Then bury forever the stench and false innuendo coming from the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Especially now that the dead monster’s cohort, Ghislaine Maxwell, has told the Justice Department that she never once saw President Trump “acting inappropriately in any way” and that he “was never inappropriate with anybody” despite a long association with Epstein.

Those should be the final words of the sordid saga and give the GOP the confidence to stop runnin’ scared on the subject and drop its foolish obsession with the case.

The party is wasting precious time and its House majority by chasing shadows while more pressing matters for the American people go begging for attention.

The need for an urgent course correction stems from the fact that, in recent months, it sometimes has been difficult to decide which party was more obsessed with the case of the dead pedophile and sex trafficker.

Crockett gets it

Even Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the foul-mouthed radical Texas Dem, told reporters that the case was not a priority for Democrats in the same way it has been for the GOP.

The Epstein case, she claimed, “wasn’t a promise that we made. So this was not something that was front and center.”

For once, she’s right. The GOP is driving the Epstein train, and frittering away confidence in its ability to govern.

In truth, there is some overlap with the Dems, as both parties have charged at various times there exists a hidden trove of documents that will shame and incriminate various members of the other party.

For Dems, Trump is their fantasy target. Bereft of vital everyday issues against him that resonate with voters, some lefties, especially in the media, have been putting outsized bets on the idea that the Epstein case holds the key to their redemption and the president’s collapse.

That focus makes some sense because they are completely out of power in Washington and are desperate for anything that could give them an edge against the president and the GOP.

In the House, the fixation is centered on the Oversight Committee, with some Dems seeing gold in Trump’s admitted friendship with Epstein in the ’90s and early 2000s.

The really odd part is the way the GOP has behaved. Although there has never been any credible claim of wrongdoing by the president, most Republican members on the Oversight Committee have been erratic.

They have been so determined to find a Holy Grail of Epstein documents that they voted with Dems to issue a broad subpoena to Trump’s own Department of Justice.

That amounts to friendly fire on the White House.

To be fair, the DOJ has made a bad situation worse and helped stoke conspiracy theories. Attorney General Pam Bondi initially promised to release files earlier, including an Epstein client list, then backtracked, saying the documents didn’t exist.

Reported blowups between Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, and his deputy, Dan Bongino, fueled a suspicion even among some Trump supporters, including in Congress, that the administration isn’t just confused, it’s actually hiding bombshells.

Bongino threatened to quit, and Bondi has been bleeding support, though Trump continues to express confidence in her.

Lingering doubts

Still, the GOP congressional push for documents reflects how those earlier mistakes have helped to spread doubts.

A key issue is whether the department has been hiding a client list because Bondi flip-flopped on whether one existed.

She also said in a memo that the case was closed and that no more files from it would be released while confirming earlier probes that Epstein died by suicide in a New York City jail while awaiting prosecution.

Neither Epstein’s brother nor Maxwell buy the idea that he took his own life.

Nonetheless, the release of the transcript and recording of the two-day Maxwell interview are strong reasons for the GOP to call off the dogs and turn to other matters.

The interview took place in a Florida prison last month and was led by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in December 2021 of sex trafficking and conspiracy charges related to Epstein, told Blanche “I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way.”

Her strong support for Trump’s claims that he did nothing wrong won’t satisfy the Dems, but should be more than enough for the GOP to move on.

Yet, oddly, that doesn’t seem to be the plan.

Comer wants more information, saying earlier in the week that “There are many records in DOJ’s custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted.”

He added, “I appreciate the Trump administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information on this matter.”

Try to imagine a Dem committee chairman issuing a subpoena to an attorney general under a Dem president, then badgering for more and more.

It would never happen.

Remember that, as attorney general, Eric Holder called himself Barack Obama’s “wingman.” And when former AG Merrick Garland learned Joe Biden wanted Trump prosecuted, he quickly complied — with two history-making indictments.

Fishing expedition

Yet Republicans on Comer’s committee enthusiastically join with Dems to demand everything Justice has on Epstein.

Even now, Comer never says what he suspects is out there and who would be damaged by it.

Absent some focus, it smells like a fishing expedition of the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, his committee, which is the House’s chief investigative panel, never delivered the goods it promised to find on the Biden family influence-peddling scheme around the world.

There was tons of tantalizing talk and interesting bank records were produced showing Biden family members sharing in some payments, but there was no big final delivery, just a quiet ending, which let the “Big Guy” off the hook.

Unfortunately, a similar pattern seems to be unfolding about another Biden matter. Just recently, eight months after Trump took office, Comer started to call witnesses in a probe of who in the White House planned and carried out the plot to deceive the public and Congress about Biden’s severe cognitive decline.

An early witness, Ian Sams, a former press aide, testified in a secret hearing that he only saw Biden twice during the more than two years he worked for the president.

“It raises serious concerns about who was calling shots at the White House,” Comer said.

It certainly does, Sherlock. But it’s your job to provide the answers to those questions, including whether Biden was mentally fit to have the nuclear codes.

What are you waiting for?