Letter to the editor: Trump, in the Oval Office, with the Epstein files

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 10.22.26

That’s Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “Clue”-like answer to MAGA’s demise. 

On Sept. 24, Greene appeared at the massive, multi-day Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas. “TribFest” brings political, business and civic leaders together with prominent journalists to discuss today’s most pressing public policy and political issues. Greene blamed Trump’s efforts to keep the Jeffrey Epstein files under wraps for destroying MAGA. The Texas audience cheered loudly as Greene laid out her evidence. 

Greene said Republican leadership worked to block a resolution cosponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). “They had a massive hold on the resolution to release the Epstein files — that was because of Donald Trump, 100%. If you’re in the GOP conference, you knew it was coming directly from the top.” 

Greene is not the only prominent former Trump supporter to accuse him of covering up his ties to Epstein. Tucker Carlson says that when he told Trump, “I don’t understand why you would ever keep any of this stuff secret” he got “a bunch of different answers.” Carlson told Vanity Fair, “The order to cover it up came from Trump. I asked him why. And he gave me this long, very emotional explanation that this was all a plot against him.” 

After Greene voted to release the Epstein files, she got a more detailed response during an angry phone call from Trump. “He said, ‘Marjorie, people you know will get hurt, my friends, people you know at Mar-a-Lago.’ ” “And he’s totally against releasing the Epstein files.” Greene asks, “What does the future look like for MAGA right now? I think Trump has lied so much to us and betrayed us so incredibly beyond any of my comprehension. I think MAGA is dead.” 

The New York Times’ review of what was released suggests an obvious motive for Trump’s obstruction. It found “5,300 files containing more than 38,000 references” to Trump, his friends and his family. 

Janine Sacramone 

Leland