Nothing to see here: Trump press chief in full denial mode over Epstein

 

Nothing to see here: Trump press chief in full denial mode over Epstein

 

Karoline Leavitt defied the laws of moral physics to insist that the true wrongdoers were Biden and the Democrats

 

David Smith

David Smith in Washington

Wed 12 Nov 2025 21.54 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/12/trump-karoline-leavitt-jeffrey-epstein

 

Donald Trump was described as “that dog that hasn’t barked” in an email by Jeffrey Epstein. Don’t tell Kristi Noem, who has a way of dealing with troublesome hounds.

 

The US president would love nothing more than to let sleeping dogs lie, but that hope was dashed on Wednesday when Democrats released emails suggesting that Trump was aware of Epstein’s conduct and had spent hours with one of the disgraced financier’s victims.

 

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, who says a prayer before each briefing, was dispatched to the podium to defy the laws of moral physics by explaining why the true wrongdoers here were Joe Biden and the Democrats.

 

Leavitt’s critics have compared her to M3gan, an AI-powered lifesize doll in the sci-fi horror films of the same name. She speaks uncannily fluently with barely an um or an er. There was no escaping the chill that went through the briefing room as she dismissed Epstein questions as coolly and clinically as an AI datacentre.

 

Weijia Jiang of CBS News asked: “Did the president ever spend hours at Jeffrey Epstein’s house with a victim?”

 

Leavitt ducked and lobbed back a double negative: “These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong.”

 

She went on: “And what President Trump has always said is that he was from Palm Beach and so was Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein was a member at Mar-a-Lago until President Trump kicked him out because Jeffrey Epstein was a paedophile and he was a creep.”

 

Up until now Trump and his spin doctors have been breaking the cardinal rule of political scandals, insisting there is nothing to see here, only for a drip, drip, drip of revelations to keep the story alive. Why not just release the full Epstein files, asked one reporter, and put the matter to rest?

 

Leavitt fired back: “This administration has done more with respect to transparency when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein than any administration ever.”

 

She claimed the justice department has “turned over thousands of documents” to the American people, and that the administration was cooperating with the House of Representatives’ oversight committee. “That’s part of the reason you are seeing these documents that were released today.”

 

It was fabulously audacious. No matter that every Democrat in the House of Representatives wants to release the files while all but a few Republicans are opposed because of their devotion to Trump. In Leavitt’s black mirror, it’s the Republicans who are champions of transparency.

 

“This administration has done more than any, and it just shows how this is truly a manufactured hoax by the Democrat party, for now they’re talking about it all of a sudden because President Trump is in the Oval Office,” she said, a note of indignation rising in her voice. “But when Joe Biden was sitting in there, the Democrats never brought this up. This wasn’t an issue that they cared about because they actually don’t care about the victims in these cases.”

 

Leavitt then got philosophical. “There are no coincidences in Washington DC,” she said. “And it is not a coincidence that the Democrats leaked these emails to the fake news this morning ahead of Republicans reopening the government.”

 

In her telling, it was all a “distraction campaign” by the Democrats and the liberal media so that Leavitt would be asked questions about Epstein instead of the government reopening thanks to Trump.

 

She was asked about a CNN report that indicated that the White House would meet Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who has signed on to the petition to force the House to consider compelling the release of the Epstein files.

 

“Doesn’t it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress whenever they please?” she responded. “Doesn’t that show our level of transparency?”

 

Again, you almost had to admire the chutzpah. Then Leavitt pulled a familiar tactic that is serving her and Trump well in his second term: she switched gears and took a question from Reagan Reese, White House correspondent of the Daily Caller, a rightwing website co-founded by Tucker Carlson.

 

Reese announced: “I have a question on the government shutdown.” Leavitt responded: “Thank you. I’m glad someone does.”

 

The playbook had worked again. When momentum among the press pack is building dangerously, Trump or Leavitt nips it in the bud by calling on a friendly face who is sure to change the tone and lighten the mood. Instead of going after the Epstein emails like a dog with a bone on Wednesday, reporters asked about a variety of subjects, including Jack Schlossberg and which Wall Street executives were coming to dinner at the White House.

 

What might have been a wretched, career-threatening crisis for any another political leader became just another passing storm in the room. Leavitt did not break sweat.