The Trump administration promised to release the Epstein Files. Instead, they’ve been stonewalling, holding back documents, and adding redactions that the law explicitly prohibits—and now we know at least 50 pages of material related to Donald Trump himself have been withheld or removed.
Stephen Colbert laid it all out on Wednesday’s “Late Show,” calling it potentially “the worst scandal in presidential history.”
“One thing Trump did not mention in his two-hour, hockey-humping, immigrant-grumbling jambaroo was anything about the Epstein files,” Colbert said, referring to the president’s record-breaking State of the Union address.
The host pointed to a New York Times report detailing how the Justice Department withheld “key materials,” including FBI memos from interviews with a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by both Trump and Epstein when she was a minor.
According to the Times, an index shows the FBI conducted four interviews with the accuser and wrote a summary for each. Only one made it into the released files—and it’s the one detailing her allegations against Epstein, not Trump.
The other three? Missing.
“Trump denies any wrongdoing,” Colbert noted. “But it’s weird that these files specifically are missing because the law prohibits redacting anything on the basis of embarrassment or reputational harm.”
Congress literally passed a law forcing the release of these files after the administration dragged its feet. The DOJ has already been caught holding back documents and adding what critics call unnecessary redactions. Now this.
“Holy unholy. This would be the worst scandal in presidential history,” Colbert said. “That the files are missing should be the biggest story in the world.”
But he acknowledged the grim reality of news fatigue under Trump: “We’re all so exhausted and worn down by this turd in a tie that when a bombshell like this comes along, we go, ‘Oh, that’s terrible. I wonder if that baby monkey made friends yet.'”
Democrats have started asking questions. During a recent hearing, senators pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi on whether Trump is under active investigation related to Epstein. She didn’t give a straight answer.
The administration that ran on releasing the Epstein files is now actively suppressing the parts that mention the president.