From Tom Jones | Poynter <[email protected]>
Subject The Epstein story won't go away. The latest twist: It's driving Trump up the wall.
Date July 29, 2025 11:30 AM
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** OPINION
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** The Epstein story won’t go away. The latest twist: It’s driving Trump up the wall.
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Commuters walk past a bus stop earlier this month in London as activists put up a poster showing President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

The week before last, I told a reporter who is pretty plugged into the Washington political scene that I thought this whole President Donald Trump-Jeffrey Epstein story would eventually peter out. New reporting on Trump-Epstein would be sparse, other stories would dominate the news cycle and the Epstein stuff would fade away just like every controversial story in the Trump universe does.

“I don’t think so,” this reporter told me. “I think this story is going to stick for a while.”

The reporter was right. I was wrong. This Epstein story isn’t going anywhere. And Trump seems extremely bothered by it, which is a story itself.

On Monday, The Washington Post’s Emily Davies, Perry Stein, Jeremy Roebuck and Kadia Goba wrote ([link removed]) , “President Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated with his administration’s handling of the furor around the Jeffrey Epstein files, concerned the saga’s unabated domination of the news is overshadowing his agenda, said two people familiar with his thinking.”

They added, “His exasperation follows weeks of missteps and no clear strategy among top officials who underestimated the outrage, especially from the president’s base, and hoped the country would forget about the unreleased Epstein files and move on, according to nearly a dozen people close to the situation, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal deliberations.”

And that’s where I was. I figured the MAGA community would shrug its shoulders and move on. But that hasn’t been the case. Even many Trump supporters are demanding that the Epstein files be released — probably because they were whipped into a frenzy for years by conservative media, influencers and politicians telling them the files were full of sordid stories involving famous and influential people.

Many on the right have targeted Attorney General Pam Bondi for the blame after the Department of Justice announced there was no so-called “client’s list” and that Epstein did, indeed, die by suicide. Others are upset with Trump himself.

Then came a perfect storm to stir up trouble for the president: a press corps chasing every new lead and angle, Democrats who are pouncing on any narrative that makes the Trump administration look bad and a right-wing base that still wants answers.

Meanwhile, any move that Trump makes or doesn’t make when it comes to the Epstein case is questioned. When he says nothing, he comes off as evasive. When he says something, he comes off as defensive. When he asks why we are still talking about Epstein, some may ask why he is still talking about Epstein.

New York magazine’s Chas Danner wrote ([link removed]) , “Every other day, there seems to be new reports detailing how Trump is frustrated or furious or fuming about his administration’s inability to turn the page on the Epstein files, and Trump and his allies have been trying to introduce new distractions and promote other conspiracy theories to deflect from the crisis.”

Now the latest involves Epstein’s longtime partner and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year federal sentence for sex trafficking.

Maxwell spoke to the DOJ in the past week and Trump won’t exactly dismiss the idea that he’ll pardon her. When asked about it during his trip to Scotland, Trump said, “Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon, but I — nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news about that, that aspect of it, but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”

He’s allowed to give her a pardon? That’s not exactly a “no.”

For the record, Maxwell reportedly ([link removed]) wants her sentence either thrown out, reduced or pardoned.

On his Substack show ([link removed]) , former CNN reporter Jim Acosta said, “I think if Donald Trump pardons Ghislaine Maxwell, his presidency is basically over. He is, for all intents and purposes, a lame duck who is damaged goods. Not just to the Republican party, but to the country. Somebody who pardoned a convicted child sex trafficker, my God!”

Meanwhile, CNN’s Brian Stelter astutely notes ([link removed]) that podcaster Joe Rogan isn’t letting the story go — and that’s a problem for Trump. Stelter wrote, “The episode was another instance of Rogan, who endorsed Trump on the eve of last fall’s election, heaping criticism on his Trump administration friends — and another indication that the conspiracy-coded Epstein controversy isn’t fading away. We are now entering week number four of this scandal engulfing President Trump, largely because the outrage is coming from within Trump’s normally steadfast circle of conspiracy-minded media boosters. And as arguably one of the most, if not the most influential of those figures, Rogan’s criticism suggests Trump’s headache will only grow from here.”

So, yeah, expect this story to last a while. As The Washington Post’s Amber Phillips wrote in her 5-Minute Fix newsletter, “The Jeffrey Epstein controversy isn’t going away for President Donald Trump. In fact, it may be ramping up. Three weeks after the Justice Department said there was nothing more to share about the years-old criminal case against Epstein, Washington is still consumed by it.”

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** Hurry up
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Well, isn’t this cold? Donald Trump is suing everyone associated with a recent Wall Street Journal story ([link removed]) that connected the president to Jeffrey Epstein. The suit includes Rupert Murdoch, the founder and owner of News Corp, which owns The Journal. That’s not the cold part.

The cold part is that Trump wants Murdoch to be deposed now because, and there’s no other way to put this, he appears fearful that Murdoch will either be too sick or dead by the time the suit gets around to a trial — should the case get to trial.

In a filing ([link removed]) Monday, lawyers for Trump asked that Murdoch be deposed within the next 15 days because he is 94 years old and “has suffered, but thankfully overcome, multiple health issues throughout his life.” They added that “these factors weigh heavily in determining that Murdoch would be unavailable for in-person testimony at trial.”

The filing said, “President Trump is requesting only to conduct Murdoch’s deposition and have him produce documents associated only with his involvement in, and any discussions related to, the decision to publish the article.”

The filing pointed out various incidents over the past several years in which Murdoch has been ill or injured.

Trump is pushing for the deposition now because, as CNN media writer Brian Stelter wrote in his Reliable Sources newsletter on July 19 ([link removed]) , “It will likely take months or years to know the outcome of this case.”


** Another Post departure
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Another big-name journalist is leaving The Washington Post. Glenn Kessler, the Post’s longtime lead fact-checker, announced he is accepting a buyout. Kessler has been at the Post for more than 27 years, including 15 as the Post’s top fact-checker.

He wrote in his announcement ([link removed]) , “Much as I would have liked to keep scrutinizing politicians in Washington, especially in this era, the financial considerations were impossible to dismiss.”

Kessler said he plans to write books, including a just-completed fiction novel. He said he has an idea for a nonfiction book, and “am open to freelance and consulting opportunities.”

Kessler estimates that he wrote or edited some 3,000 fact checks. He added, “My fact checks were routinely the most-read articles on The Post’s website. I had my detractors, from both the left and right, but many readers appreciated my efforts to sort out the truth in political rhetoric.”

Then Kessler added that he was willing to stay on until the Post found a replacement that he could help train, and that way there would be no gap in coverage. But, he wrote, a deal could not be worked out.

He would go on to write, “I hope The Post finds someone to carry on this important project.”

Meanwhile, Kessler is just the latest in what feels like a sizable exodus from the Post, which recently offered buyouts. The final day to accept the buyouts is Thursday.


** Hicks teams up with Kelly
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Hope Hicks, standing next to President Donald Trump in 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Remember Hope Hicks? She was the White House communications director in Donald Trump’s first term as president.

Now she has a new gig — working with podcaster and former Fox News star Megyn Kelly. Hicks is joining Kelly’s media company, Devil May Care, as chief operating officer.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin notes ([link removed]) , “Devil May Care encompasses Kelly’s flagship ‘Megyn Kelly Show,’ as well as ‘AM Update with Megyn Kelly,’ the forthcoming ‘MK True Crime,’ and all the shows in the recently launched MK Media podcast network. MK Media’s lineup includes ‘The Nerve with Maureen Callahan,’ ‘Next Up with Mark Halperin,’ ‘Spot On with Link Lauren,’ and ‘After Party with Emily Jashinsky.’”

In a statement, Kelly said, “Hope Hicks is exactly the kind of woman I want running my company with me — strong, smart, strategic and the embodiment of class and poise. She’s at the top of a growing media conglomerate and there’s no limit to where she can take it; my best-in-the-business staff and I are thrilled to have her on board.”

Give Kelly credit. After her show on NBC was canceled following Kelly’s clueless and insensitive comments about blackface, Kelly retreated and then returned over the past five years with a successful podcast/videocast. As Weprin wrote, “Kelly was ahead of the curve in the space, with a number of former cable news anchors of different political persuasions subsequently attempting to launch their own ventures, with varying levels of success.”

Hicks, meanwhile, was a star at a young age. In 2017, when she was just 28 years old, she became the youngest White House communications director ever. She had previously worked in The Trump Organization and in the comms department of his 2016 presidential campaign.

Hicks left the White House in 2018, but returned in early 2020 to serve as an adviser to Trump. In between, she worked at Fox Corp as an executive vice president and chief communications officer.


** No deal
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Alden Global Capital’s last-minute attempt to swoop in and buy The Dallas Morning News is dead, according to the Morning News ([link removed]) . Alden’s late rush came two weeks after the Morning News announced it would be acquired by Hearst for $75 million.

On Monday, the DallasNews Corporation announced it had “reviewed and rejected” Alden’s offer. Controlling shareholder Robert W. Decherd said in a release, “There are no circumstances under which I would vote for or support the MNG (Alden-owned MediaNews Group) proposal. I am focused, as I have always been, on the well-being of The Dallas Morning News, the quality of its journalism, and The News’ role in the city of Dallas.”


** Media tidbits
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* The Wall Street Journal’s Nicholas G Miller with “Warner Bros. Discovery Sets Leadership for Post-Split Companies.” ([link removed])
* Variety’s Todd Spangler with “Paramount and Skydance Expect Deal to Close Aug. 7.” ([link removed])
* Speaking of that deal, The New York Times’ Brooks Barnes writes about Skydance CEO David Ellison in “He Placated Regulators to Buy Paramount. But Can He Fix the Business?” ([link removed])
* The New York Times’ Katie Robertson with “Project Veritas Withdraws Lawsuit Against The New York Times.” ([link removed])
* Nieman Lab’s Sarah Scire with “How the Kyiv Independent reached 20,000 paying members — with no paywall.” ([link removed])
* Mediaite’s Isaac Schorr with “Jasmine Crockett Tried ‘Shutting Down’ an Atlantic Profile Because the Reporter Asked Her Colleagues About Her.” ([link removed])
* For The Washington Post, Stefanie Dazio with “Morton Mintz, Post reporter with a muckraker spirit, dies at 103.” ([link removed])
* For The Atlantic, Gabriel Kahane with “A Love Letter to Music Listings.” ([link removed])


** Hot type
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* “Jeopardy!” host and former champion Ken Jennings has a new book out (“The Complete Kennections” ([link removed]) ). Here’s a Q&A that Stuart Miller did with Jennings for the Los Angeles Times: “How ‘Jeopardy!’ whiz Ken Jennings learned to make ‘Kennections’ everywhere and why he fears AI.” ([link removed])
* Finally today, you have to check out this story from my Poynter colleague, Sophie Endrud: “The tragedy of local news hits the stage in ‘The Last American Newspaper.’” ([link removed])


** More resources for journalists
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* Journalists of color: Join a free four-day workshop at Poynter's waterfront campus, where accepted applicants develop the skills needed to become powerful writers. Apply now ([link removed]) .
* Get strategies to find diverse sources, understand systemic barriers and advance mental health equity in your area. Enroll now ([link removed]) .
* Journalism leaders of color: Poynter’s prestigious Diversity Leadership Academy has helped over 200 journalists of color advance their careers. Apply today ([link removed]) .
* Airing tomorrow: Uncover public records and hard-to-find facts in The 5 Ws of Research ([link removed]) , an on-demand course taught by veteran journalist Caryn Baird — free for a limited time.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

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