During a Nov. 12 press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the release of emails by Jeffrey Epstein — the financier who was convicted in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution and then died of alleged but suspicious suicide in a New York jail while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking. Those emails indicate more fully the connections Donald Trump had to Epstein.
Leavitt said, “These emails prove absolutely nothing, other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong. And what President Trump has always said is that he was from Palm Beach and so was Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein was a member at Mar-a-Lago until President Trump kicked him out because Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile, and he was a creep.”
Brad Bull
Previously Trump indicated he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for poaching Trump’s employees. In the newly released emails, Epstein said he could not have been kicked out of Mar-a-Lago because he never was a member. Regardless, various accounts place Trump’s claimed expulsion of Epstein in 2007.
That date is significant in terms of Trump’s spokesperson’s claim that Epstein was kicked out for being a pedophile. Florida statute 39.201(c) mandates that “any person who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a child is the victim of childhood sexual abuse or the victim of a known or suspected juvenile sexual offender, as defined in this chapter, shall report such knowledge or suspicion to the department in the manner prescribed in subsection.” While the statute existed prior to 2003, it was amended to clarify mandatory reporting in 2003.
During her 2008 campaign, a Hillary Clinton ad asked who was best prepared to handle the 3 a.m. call over a situation that might threaten the safety of children. The ad actually attacked not Donald Trump but Barack Obama. Still, the question of handling the 3 a.m. call became part of our political nomenclature.
In light of Leavitt’s claim that Trump expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for being a pedophile, a new question arises: Did Donald Trump place the call to protect children? If Trump kicked Epstein out for being a pedophile, what steps did he take to report the abuse as mandated by human ethics in general and Florida law in particular?
Or, since Trump earlier offered an entirely different reason for expelling Epstein, did Leavitt misspeak in the heat of the questions? If she misspoke, what is the actual truth?
Those questions lead us to questions about those who elected Trump in the first place. Do MAGA-supporting evangelicals care about the contradictions in the Trump administration’s stories about his interactions with Epstein? Would they care if it became clear that Trump, in fact, “knew about the girls” — as Epstein said in one of his newly released emails? And finally, when and why did prosecuting pedophilia become a partisan issue?
We surely can agree that pedophilia needs to be investigated and prosecuted regardless of the alleged perpetrator’s relationships and viewpoints. The Unabomber’s brother turned him in. Charlie Kirk’s shooter was turned in by his parents. Likewise, if we suspect one of our closest family members of committing pedophilia, we are morally and legally obligated to make the call that will trigger an investigation. If this represents the expectation for family members, it also applies to party affiliation.
Brad Bull has served as a hospital chaplain, pastor, university professor and family therapist. He served five years on the Tennessee regulatory board for counselors.