Democrats want you to know that President Donald Trump definitely might be protecting a cabal of child abusers. Or so the party’s recent messaging suggests.

For years, extremely online conservatives have been agitating for the release of the “Epstein Files” — a hypothetical trove of confidential documents that reveal the powerful co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and accused sex trafficker who died in prison in 2019. When Fox News asked Trump last year whether he would release these files upon winning reelection, the Republican said, “I guess I would.”

Upon taking office, the Trump administration hyped the imminent disclosure of these documents. Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested in February that a list of famous people who had abused Epstein’s trafficked girls was “sitting on my desk right now to review.” Around the same time, Bondi and Trump’s FBI released what it billed as the “first phase of declassified Epstein files.” But these proved to be binders comprised largely of already public information.

Then, earlier this month, the Justice Department declared that Epstein did not actually maintain a “client list,” that he had died by suicide (contrary to the popular theory that he’d been murdered to prevent the exposure of his clients), and that no further files on his case would be made public. This incensed much of the online right. And Democrats have decided to echo its outrage.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (R-AZ) has accused Trump of “hiding the Epstein list.” The Democratic National Committee launched an X account that posted, “Has Trump released the Epstein files? No,” on a daily basis, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has declared that Americans “deserve to know the truth.” House Democrats tried to force a vote compelling the release of all Epstein-related documents on Tuesday.

This story was first featured in The Rebuild.

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The party’s decision to dedicate so much energy to promoting this controversy might seem dubious. For one thing, Democrats’ ostensible outrage over the alleged suppression of the Epstein Files is obviously hypocritical. After all, he died six years ago. A Democratic administration was in power from January 2021 through January 20 of this year. If there are secret federal documents about this case that incriminate public figures, then Joe Biden had them at his disposal.

Thus, by affirming the notion that incriminating “Epstein Files” exist, Democrats risk perpetuating the idea that both parties are toxically corrupt — a form of cynicism that Trump has long exploited to excuse his shameless graft and malfeasance.

Separately, Democrats have already spent much of the past decade trying to tar Trump’s image by spotlighting his scandals. Yet the minority of Americans who are open to supporting Trump — but not dead set on doing so — haven’t evinced much concern for his character. Generally, messaging that emphasizes how Trump’s policies would materially hurt ordinary Americans has tested better than attacks on the demagogue’s shady dealings or authoritarianism. Whatever one may say about the White House’s handling of the Epstein case, it does not seem likely to increase Americans’ cost of living. By focusing on Epstein, Democrats are thus arguably defraying attention from Trump’s true vulnerabilities — such as the tariffs that are raising prices for consumers or

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