Regarding the public uproar over the Epstein File that may/may not exist, I have absolutely NO advice to give the Trump administration. That’s because their PR strategy ought to be tethered to reality, and I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes.
Neither does anyone else on the outside. (And, I suspect, also on the inside — which is probably how they got into this PR mess. This whole kerfuffle screams more of dysfunction than corruption.)
All we really know for sure is that… it’s weird. Everything about the Jeffrey Epstein story is frickin’ weird.
But we can slice away the lies and falsehoods with a few either-or assumptions. For example, one of two things must be true: Either there’s more to the Jeffrey Epstein story then we’re being told — and this includes his client list, his affiliation with intelligence agencies, the criminal investigation, and his “suicide” — or this is an unfortunate example of overblown, overhyped media slop with no real “there” there.
If the latter is true, then the right PR strategy for the Trump administration is transparency, transparency, transparency. And when you’re done with that, start over again: transparency, transparency, transparency!
Conspiracies live in the gaps of details. When (just to pick one crazy example) you have thousands of hours of video footage, if a single minute is missing, that’ll be the media story. It won’t be: “Thousands of Hours of Documented Footage Conclusively Prove That Epstein Committed Suicide.” Instead, it’ll be: “What the Hell Happened in the Missing Minute?!” or “What Are They Hiding?!”
And y’know, that ain’t ideal if your PR objective is to kill the story.
Like you, I’ve heard the gossip: Maybe there are so many big names on the “Epstein List,” the Democrats and Republicans are paralyzed in a game of Mutually Assured Destruction. Or maybe Trump has the list and intends to exploit it for his own purposes. Or, perhaps, Epstein (and his still-living associate, Ghislaine Maxwell) were working for the CIA/Mossad/KGB/whoever, and disclosing too many details would endanger field agents and/or intelligence-gathering tactics.
Could be one thing. Could be a combination of things. But as a general rule, you can’t supplant an old PR narrative with a new one unless — and until — you give the public a new narrative that makes more sense. (Bonus points if it’s also more entertaining.) Plausibility is critical.
The original MAGA narrative was that the Epstein File was totally real, and the Trump administration was gonna release all the info. You even had the visual of Attorney General Pam Bondi boasting about all the shocking details we’d see.
More than anyone else, Bondi’s words, actions, and broken promises were responsible for this story spiraling out of control. Unlike many Trump cabinet members, Bondi’s credentials were impeccable: She was the former attorney general of the state of Florida, and certainly no stranger to high-profile cases.
Yet, for whatever reason, she overpromised and underdelivered.
Was it incompetence? Is there a power struggle going on that we don’t know about? Any truth to the (alleged) friction between Pam Bondi and Dan Bongino?
Beats me. Too much smoke and not enough fire to discern the details.
But I guarantee you this: You’re not gonna turn the page on the Epstein controversy by scolding the media with: “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?”
You’ve gotta give the public more than that.
PRedictions: One way or another, the Epstein controversy will continue. Maybe he was murdered; maybe it was suicide; but his ghost will continue to haunt us. Bondi’s unforced PR error has resurrected this story.
The Democrats will flock to it, because they sense blood in the water. But an awful lot of MAGA-adjacent influencers will join them, partly because they can’t resist a good conspiracy; partly because they’re natural contrarians; and partly because of the ugliness of Epstein’s actions. Too many loud, powerful voices are now incentivized to keep this controversy going.
And so it will.
If the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in the midterms, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein case will be investigated. It’s a slam-dunk.
Pam Bondi is 100% gonna be subpoenaed.
PRojections: We made a “PRojection” of our own in our weeklong series, “The Top 25 Conservatives of the Last 25 Years” — hope you checked it out. Regardless of how you feel about the composition of the top 25, it’s humbling to recognize how many generational geniuses have graced our movement. Truly, over the last quarter-century, we’ve had an embarrassment of riches.
And we still do: Their legacy didn’t end when they did.
Men such as Rush Limbaugh, Andrew Breitbart, and Antonin Scalia continue to inspire and motivate. In thousands of podcasts, radio shows, web articles, TV programs, and YouTube videos, their words continue to echo; their legends continue to grow.
It’s a beautiful thing.
PRaise: Special “PRaise” to Rush Limbaugh for making #1 on this list! (Really, who else could it have been?)
PRedators: Not really a “PRedator,” but we ought to talk about Limbaugh’s estate: Whoever is managing it isn’t doing an impressive job.
And maybe there’s a very good reason for it. Maybe this is what Rush would’ve wanted. Maybe it’s stipulated in his will. If so, he certainly earned the right to place limitations on the future use of his intellectual property.
But it’s too bad. The Limbaugh estate is, presumably, sitting on decades of content. And we KNOW there’s still a market for it!
I hope there’s still a strategy for sharing it with the world.
