The Press is Dead, Long Live the King

On the release of Epstein files

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Last week, the Justice Department released a batch of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. It’s been a while, so here’s a reminder: Epstein was an American financier and convicted child sex offender. Unsurprisingly, he was also something of a con artist—a teacher without a college degree who pivoted to finance and climbed the social ladder until he had ties to everyone from Prince Andrew to Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. He died by suicide in 2019 while in custody.

The file release was highly anticipated. Conspiracies have surrounded Epstein for as long as he’s been infamous, and there’s nothing the modern American public loves more than salacious details on deranged humans who have caused irreparable harm. Trump’s administration, which is going to great lengths to brand itself as the “Most Transparent Administration in History,” has been promising this release—along with other “top-secret” disclosures—since the beginning of Trump’s term.

So, did the White House release the files? Technically, yes. They invited a group of fifteen social media influencers to a private meeting and handed them binders. Within hours, disappointment spread across social media. News outlets across the country headlined the letdown, criticizing the so-called bombshell release for containing little, if any, new or groundbreaking information. In fact, most of the files had already been circulating online.

Dozens of headlines dissected the file release all weekend. And they all missed the lede.

The real story isn’t that the files weren’t new. It’s that the White House handpicked 15 MAGA-loyal “journalists”—social media personalities—as the only people to receive them.