Is Trump Burying the Epstein Files to Hide the Crimes of...Wall Street?

"The first rule of any investigation is to follow the money," Rep. Thomas Massie told Status Coup when asked if Trump is trying to hide potential evidence that JPMorgan Chase enabled Epstein's crimes

As victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal underage sex trafficking ring bravely spoke out at a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie—and most journalists asked feeble horse race questions about possible retaliation by President Trump—Status Coup asked Massie about the big, corrupt elephant in the room (clip below).

The type of corrupt rhino that might be the real reason Trump, and his Republican sycophants in Congress, are so hell-bent on preventing the Epstein files from seeing the light of day.

JPMorgan Chase has held firm for years that the big bank was unaware of Epstein’s heinous crimes—and kept him as one of its most profitable clients—even after:

• He was arrested in 2006 on prostitution charges and pled guilty two years later

• The bank ignored internal warnings from bank employees to stop doing business with Epstein

• It red-flagged as much as $1 billion in suspicious transactions from Epstein over his 16 years as a client—but only notified the government after his supposed suicide in prison.

But could the release of the full Epstein files reveal JPMorgan knew more about Epstein—and some of its other wealthy clients potentially involved in his trafficking ring—but simply looked the other way?

“Absolutely, the first rule of any investigation is to follow the money," Rep. Thomas Massie answered Status Coup’s Jon Farina at the press conference in response to Farina asking if the full release of the Epstein files might reveal that JPMorgan potentially knew more about Epstein’s crimes—yet in order to keep his mega bucks rolling in, ignored his crimes.

Massie went further telling Status Coup:

“We gotta follow the bank records, and that is one thing the Oversight Committee is doing that I applaud; let’s hope that they get it out of there, they can’t just hold that information in their committee. Follow the money: which accounts did it come from, which accounts did it go to, and that’s the quickest way to figure out who was doing what.”

Of course, it’s important to know if any other high-profile politicians, financiers, celebrities, athletes, or other public figures were involved in sexually assaulting and trafficking minors—hence why the full Epstein files should be released to the public (and should have been under President Biden before Trump 2.0).

But as Massie suggests, and I have followed my entire journalism career, you should always follow the money first, second, and third. Using common sense, do you really think Trump and his spineless, frightened Republican leeches in Congress, would be fervently trying to keep the files from going public all to protect fairly replaceable big donors?

Do you think Trump, obsessed with attention, adoration, and being viewed as a strongman, would turn down the opportunity to be viewed as a hero for exposing an actual deep state apparatus—all to protect donors and other politicians he no longer has political use for given that he can’t run for president again?

***Of course, given Trump’s growing fascism, that pesky constitution doesn’t mean he won’t run again in 2028 or try to cancel the election***

Given my nearly decade of on-the-ground reporting around the country—often on corruption that is directly connected to Wall Street—I find it downright impossibly that a megalomaniac, textbook narcissist like Trump would work this hard to bury a sprawling criminals sex trafficking ring to simply help out a few donors and pals.

Especially given that loyalty with Trump is a one-way street; he has routinely thrown those loyal to him under a mega bus when it benefited him.

But, it definitely is plausible that Trump would care, A LOT, to keep hidden any potentially incriminating information about JPMorgan, given he has direct financial ties to the Wall Street behemoth (as does the entire Republican Party).

Here’s just one example: a San Francisco skyscraper that Trump co-owns with mega corporate realtor Vornado is available for sale…and guess who refinanced the building’s debt in 2021 through a $1.2 billion loan?

JPMorgan Chase.

At the time, JPMorgan’s move helped Trump’s struggling business—who had been shunned and rejected by other banks after Trump helped spark the attempted coup of the U.S. government on January 6th.

Then there’s Trump’s rekindling of his political romance with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon—who said he is “so sad” that the Wall Street bank had any relationship with Epstein.

I'm guessing his $39 million compensation last year—and get-out-of-jail-free-card for his role in the fraud that helped tank the global economy in 2008—helps alleviate his sadness.

The two met several times over the last few months in the White House as Trump apparently sought Dimon’s advise on the economy (translated: how to accelerate stealing from the poor to build taller castles for themselves).

And, of course, Trump is already planning for his post-presidency—if he agrees to leave office after his second term—and selfishly doesn’t want to get on Wall Street’s bad side if and when he needs help from big banks again…

Either for further business loans or a mountain of cash to defend against future criminal cases against him.

And, for those who’ve followed my reporting for awhile, never forget: government officials poisoned Flint, Michigan and, as my book “We the Poisoned: Exposing the Flint Water Crisis Cover Up and the Poisoning of 100,000 Americans” meticulously exposed, those same government officials—from both political parties—helped to cover it up and sweep it under the rug.

***In large part to protect the involvement of Wall Street mega banks, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, in orchestrating a privatization scheme that poisoned Flint residents***

So…if the federal, state, city, and county government worked together to protect JPMorgan—who was sued on behalf of 2,600 Flint kids—from accountability for poisoning Americans, you think they wouldn’t stop at its potential role in enabling a sex trafficking ring of underage girls?

FOLLOW….THE…MONEY.

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