I’ve had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth
– John Lennon
Lennon was singing about Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon’s coverups. Huge at the time. A national upheaval. But today, Watergate feels almost quaint.
The coverup of our century is the Jeffrey Epstein case.
This pedophilia scandal seems like it should’ve ensnared dozens — if not hundreds — of the rich and powerful. And yet … it didn’t. Despite common-sense facts staring us in the face. The Epstein uproar didn’t start under Donald Trump, but one way or another, he now owns it.
Epstein first hit American awareness in 2005, when Palm Beach police investigated him after a mother accused him of molesting her 14-year-old daughter. Later, the FBI identified at least 36 underage victims. No small number.
In 2007, facing federal charges, Epstein struck a plea deal any other pedophile would’ve accepted castration to get: 13 months in jail with generous work-release privileges. The deal also granted immunity to unnamed co-conspirators. It trampled over victims’ rights — and justice itself.
Who did Epstein know that allowed such judicial magic? In 2020, a judge ruled the plea deal violated victims’ rights.
After “serving” his sentence, Epstein returned to New York and resumed flying with the world’s rich and famous to his notorious “Pleasure Island.” A brash, unrepentant move. Anyone else would’ve disappeared into quiet billionaire retirement.
But Epstein went back to factory-scale sex parties, reportedly often with underage girls. Trump himself once said Epstein liked the young ones. Why did Epstein feel so untouchable?
Was Epstein clueless — or dangerously clued-in and glued-in? As a convicted sex offender, how did he still wield power? Why did the rich and powerful keep showing up at his parties, flying on his jet, visiting his island? If not criminal, it was irresponsibly reckless from people who should’ve known better. You would know better.
We haven’t seen the full “list” — but we’ve seen the flight logs. A who’s who of moral ambiguity: Woody Allen, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, Prince Andrew, Gov. Bill Richardson (who once made a lewd pass at my wife), Harvey Weinstein, Michael Jackson, Donald Trump. A pattern of scoundrels, maybe?
Sure, flight logs aren’t convictions. But when known sex manipulators repeatedly pile into a jet with a convicted sex offender, headed to a private island — it raises more than eyebrows. Are the hyper-privileged so casually immune to “small indiscretions?” Are such crimes now petty and normalized in their world?
In July 2019, Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport on federal charges of trafficking minors from 2002 to 2005. Weeks later, on July 23, Epstein was found dead in his cell. Suicide, they said — even though he was on suicide watch, with cameras and guards.
To say his death sparked conspiracy theories is an understatement. It practically wrote the manual.
In 2021, Epstein’s partner-in-crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted on five federal charges — including trafficking minors — and sentenced to 20 years. She remains there today.
Read that again: Convicted for trafficking minors. There were clients. So, who were they? How can it be that not one of these perps has been brought to justice?
If ever a case begged for transparency, it’s this one:
Sordid sex crimes. Global billionaires. Political elites. Royals.
A suspicious death in custody. A convicted accomplice.
And zero clients charged
Americans want answers. We don’t like pedophiles, and we really don’t like being told to “move on.” This isn’t pizza-gate fantasy. This is real, documented and festering in secrecy.
We’re told we’re a nation of laws. But if Maxwell was convicted of trafficking underage girls — who exactly was she trafficking to?
We talk about “American exceptionalism.” If it means anything, it should mean equal justice. But many Americans feel this case is being buried to protect the powerful.
If it’s just smoke — release the files and prove it.
If it’s fire — then burn down the rot.
Either way, we deserve the truth.
Trump didn’t create this scandal. But he campaigned on fixing it. He promised full disclosure. His Attorney General, Pam Bondi, said the Epstein files were “on her desk.”
Now? Bondi just closed the case.
There’s nothing to see here.
Trump doubled down, calling Epstein “somebody that nobody cares about.”
But a lot of Americans do care. Especially parents of daughters. Especially people who don’t like being lied to.
Trump promised disclosure. What we got was, “Let’s … not waste time and energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”
That’s betrayal — not just to MAGA voters, but to anyone who believes in law, truth and accountability.
Maybe there’s nothing there.
Maybe Epstein really did hang himself.
Maybe Maxwell’s innocent, too.
Maybe we overreacted. Maybe it’s just another McMartin Preschool kind of mess.
Or — maybe the system was hijacked. “Move along, nothing here to see, folks.”
Whatever the case — cover-up or conspiracy, truth or fake news — Americans deserve to see the evidence. Protect the victims. Expose the predators. Whoever they are.
Just give us the truth.
Is that really too much to ask from a country that calls itself exceptional?
Or have we already become Putin’s Russia — where oligarchs and dear leaders decide who walks free, while justice is told to shut up and move on?
Gary Horton’s “Full Speed to Port!” has appeared in The Signal since 2006. The opinions expressed in his column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Signal or its editorial board.
