Washington has long been known for its summer scandals—from Watergate, the oil leak in the Gulf that stumped President Obama to last year’s abrupt reshuffling of the presidential race amidst charges of a coverup. This year, the cause of many heatwaves and meltdowns is the ongoing battle over the “Epstein files,” now entering its second month and showing no signs of slowing as Cabinet officials (not to mention Trump’s backers in Congress and across the MAGA landscape) seek a way out of a conspiracy that fueled the president’s rise—and now threatens to take him down.

Currently, Attorney General Pam Bondi is in a particularly precarious position, as the official most directly in the line of fire over the Epstein debacle. The MAGA base doesn’t want to turn on Trump, but they want someone to pay for the switcheroo they’ve been served and, having previously promised the release of those files that apparently may no longer exist, Bondi is the likely fall guy.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is also........

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