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One of the things that we're learning as well is that the Trump regime is blaming the Epstein files on why their Department of Justice is not prepared in in numerous other federal criminal cases, including the Maduro case, or including a case involving a major sex trafficking charge of these Florida real estate brothers that are set to are supposed to go to trial soon. And the DOJ in New York, Southern District of New York is one of the main hubs where the Epstein files are supposed to be being reviewed at. They claim there's 200 lawyers who are now reviewing it. The DOJ goes to the federal judge overseeing the Maduro case and the federal judge overseeing this sex trafficking trial that's about to take place. And the DOJ saying, we're not prepared. All of our lawyers are working on reviewing the Epstein files. So, Judge, we can't handle these trials at the doj. And the federal judge is like, you're the federal prosecutorial office, you're the sdny. You don't have the resources to be able to handle other cases because everyone's working on the Epstein files and the review. Well, what happened to the thousand FBI agents who were purportedly reviewing the Epstein files back in late February and March? I mean, do we all remember back in February when there was the DOJ posted? Phase one is done. Attorney General Pam Bondi releases first phase of declassified Epstein files February 27, 2025. Today, Attorney General Bondi, in conjunction with the FBI, declassified and publicly released files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his sexual exploitation of over 250 underage girls. That was dated February 27, 2005. This is what Bondi said then. The DOJ is following through on Trump's commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Epstein and his co conspirators. The first fate of files released today sheds light on Epstein's extensive network and begins to provide the public with long overdue accountability. Then Cash Patel said the FBI is entering a new era, one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice. Hat tip, by the way, to Bloomberg, their great reporter, Jason Leopold. Remember, he did public records requests, FOIA requests, Freedom of Information Acts requests, where he identified that there were 1934 FBI agents and other lawyers who were working on the review from March to May of 2025, maybe even June. 1,000 people were working on the Epstein files from that period. March, April, May, June. So what, four or five months? What were they doing? What were those individuals doing then for those months? Remember, they built tens of thousands of overtime hours that the taxpayers, you know, had to for. So what were they doing now that. That now they claim the DOJ is unprepared for all of these cases. A few data points I want to bring out we reported over the weekend. And Midas Touch was the first to get this scoop that the DOJ is now fighting Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna's efforts to appoint an independent monitor. Remember how Massey and Khanna requested that Judge Engelmeier, the federal judge in the Ghislaine Maxwell criminal case, appoint an independent monitor or special master in order to ensure there was an independent process for releasing the Epstein files? Because Massie and Khanna argue that the DOJ cannot be trusted at all. Well, on Friday night, late filing last Friday, the DOJ said Massey and Khanna do not have standing to even make this request, even though they weren't saying they're parties. They're saying they're amici. They filed an amicus brief. They're making a recommendation to the court. Okay. Then they. And then the DOJ argued that the Epstein Transparency act provides no private cause of action so that no court at all can enforce the Epstein Transparency act, that no courts have any right at all. So you're saying that the Epstein Transparency act does not allow transparency. That's what the Trump regime argued to Judge Engelmeier on Friday. Massie and Khanna are going to be responding on Tuesday is the deadline for their response. And we'll keep you posted on what they say. But that's the Trump's argument. No court can enforce the Epstein Transparency act because Congress. This is what the DOJ argues. Congress did not evince any intent to allow an enforcement mechanism. Just think about. That's what the DOJ is arguing. So they did that. But now here's what we're learning as well as the Trump regime has gone silent. This is being reported from the New York Times. The day after Nicolas Maduro, the ousted Venezuelan president, was arraigned in federal court, the prosecutors handling his case faced a daunting task. Their challenge had nothing to do with narco terrorism charges. It said that their work had been diverted to apparently the Epstein file document review. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a letter that nearly two thirds of the 200 lawyers in that office, the Southern District of New York, were spending all or most of their workday reviewing the Epstein files. Then what were they doing February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November? What were they doing all of those months when they were. Were they not working on those months? It goes on to talk about how at least five prosecutors are assigned to the case. And at the arraignment, the judge set the next hearing for March 17, presumably leaving the lawyer sometime to work on the Epstein documents. But the diversion of resources seems to be affecting other cases. This week, on the eve of a high profile sex trafficking trial involving two celebrity real estate brokers and their brothers, a defense lawyer complained that the government had not yet finished reviewing seized evidence for materials that had to be termed turned over to the defendants. They have half of the U.S. attorney's office on the Epstein files, the lawyer, Tenney Garrigo said. We have a trial starting next week, your honor. The judge, Valerie Caproni, suggested that perhaps a few people could be sprung from their Epstein obligations to fulfill the government's responsibilities in this sex trafficking case. That seems reasonable, the judge added, given the fact that these people are on trial and Epstein is dead. So not only is the DOJ covering up a child sex trafficking ring, but in an active sex trafficking allegations case, the DOJ saying they're not prepared to handle the prosecution involving allegations of sex trafficking because they claim they're involved in a document review for a sex trafficking case where they are covering up the Epstein files. Do you see what's going on here? And it goes on to talk about how apparently there are no resources that the DOJ says they don't. And this again is on top of the fact that there have been 3,000 people who have quit working at the Department of Justice in the past year or so, by far more than any, by far more than any administration. So I want to remind everybody this as well though, because I think this is an important thing that goes overlooked. Pull up, pull up this fact sheet right here that the DOJ put back up back on December 21st. And to me, this fact sheet is so telling because the DOJ is throwing all of the federal courts under the bus. And the DOJ is like, we would have been able to produce all of these Epstein fans files if you pesky courts didn't slow us down. It's all your fault. Courts and we would have been able to do everything but for you. Here, pull it open right here. Fact sheet, the Epstein files released. This is December 21st. Thanks to court seals being lifted as a result of Trump enacting the Epstein Transparency act, the Department of justice is releasing thousands of pages of photos and other material related to Jeffrey Epstein. This goes on to say something like, prior to Trump's enactment of the Epstein Transparency act, various judges declined the Trump Department of Justice's request to Unseal Epstein related material. The enactment of the new law gave the judges a legal predicate they found sufficient for granting the Trump administration standing requests before the courts to unseal the files. The Department of Justice has hundreds of thousands of pages of material to release, including material that must comply with the court orders. These court orders can slow the Department of Justice's ability to review and redact material, but will not prevent the release of this material. The Department of Justice has more than 200 lawyers working around the clock reviewing each individual file to release. Well, then why aren't you doing what's called rolling dot? First off, do you see how they blame the judges? It's not the judge's fault. It's the Trump regime's fault. Why would it be the judge? The judges under seal orders have nothing to do with this. So if I were a judge in the Southern District of New York, I'd be pissed. The Trump regime is blaming you for their own crimes. That's a big deal right there. And then also, if you had 200 lawyers working around the clock, a few million documents to review, that may sound like a lot, but it's actually not a lot. I mean, when I was practicing, I would handle document reviews of 5, 10, 15 million, you know, maybe more pages. I'd work with teams of five to six associates. We'd go through all the documents. It would take 60 days, 75 days, but we'd get it done. 60 to 75 days, that's it. That's all it would take. Every day you work 15 hour days, you can go through, you know, individually, a few thousand documents a day. Then you would have, you know, five people doing it. So just do the math. Maybe you review 10, 15,000 documents a day, 100,000 documents a week, two weeks, three weeks, you know, I mean, it adds up. But, you know, If I had 200 lawyers working with me on something on a document review, this would be done in a moment, in a second. And then you can do what's called a rolling production. Every 10,000, upload. Every 10,000 upload. Every 10,000 upload the documents. Easy. It's simple to do that. You don't have to wait until you get a million, then do a document up. Just do a rolling production. Why is that so difficult? Anyway, let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. And that's what's going on. We'll keep you posted. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our substack@midasplus.com youm'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski ad free episodes of our podcast and more exclusive content Only available@midasplus.com.
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This episode dives into the recent developments surrounding Donald Trump’s response (or lack thereof) to the Jeffrey Epstein files, the resulting chaos at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the impact on high-profile criminal cases, including those involving sex trafficking and Venezuela’s ousted president, Nicolás Maduro. The Meiselas brothers dissect the Trump administration's attempts to shift blame, DOJ resource allocation, and the broader implications for transparency and accountability in government.
Trump’s Recent Tactics:
Ben Meiselas highlights Trump’s attempts to “go radio silent” in the hopes that public attention will move away from the Epstein files.
Family Photo Ops and Outlandish Social Posts:
The hosts call out Trump family members posting golf course photos and Trump himself making bizarre international suggestions (e.g., “invading Canada”), painting these as calculated distractions.
Case Delays Attributed to Epstein File Review:
The DOJ claims that so many lawyers (up to 200 in the Southern District of New York alone) are occupied reviewing Epstein files that they cannot properly handle other major criminal cases—including Maduro’s and a celebrity-linked sex trafficking trial.
Skepticism About DOJ Claims:
The brothers criticize the DOJ's narrative, noting that thousands of DOJ staff had previously been reported as working on the files much earlier.
The DOJ pushed back, claiming they have no standing to request this and that the Epstein Transparency Act has “no private cause of action.”
“So you’re saying that the Epstein Transparency Act does not allow transparency. That’s what the Trump regime argued to Judge Engelmayer on Friday.” (09:34, Ben)
Deadline for Massey and Khanna's response: Tuesday after the episode.
Finger-Pointing at Federal Judges:
The DOJ, in an official fact sheet, attributes delays to court sealing orders and frames judges as the bottleneck for releasing documents.
Resource Arguments Not Adding Up:
Ben, drawing from his legal experience, dismantles the DOJ’s claim it’s impossible to review such a volume of files—even with 200 attorneys dedicated to the task. He compares it to standard legal review practices and points out more efficient document production methods, such as rolling productions.
On Public Memory and Distraction:
“We are not forgetting. Let’s be crystal clear now.”
– Ben Meiselas (05:10)
On DOJ Excuses:
“You're the federal prosecutorial office, you're the SDNY. … You don't have the resources to be able to handle other cases because everyone's working on the Epstein files and the review?”
– Ben Meiselas (07:10)
On the DOJ’s Arguments in Court:
“So you're saying that the Epstein Transparency Act does not allow transparency. That's what the Trump regime argued to Judge Engelmayer on Friday.”
– Ben Meiselas (09:34)
Calling Out the DOJ’s Fact Sheet:
“If I were a judge in the Southern District of New York, I’d be pissed. The Trump regime is blaming you for their own crimes.”
– Ben Meiselas (12:10)
Legal Practice vs. DOJ Claims:
“If I had 200 lawyers working with me on something on a document review, this would be done in a moment, in a second.”
– Ben Meiselas (13:05)
The discussion is fast-paced and sharp, laced with the trademark Meiselas brother mix of legal acumen, candid skepticism of Trump-world arguments, and a strong pro-democracy, pro-transparency stance. The delivery is direct, sometimes biting, and always informed by a blend of legal expertise and progressive values.
For listeners and non-listeners alike, this episode serves as a deep-dive into the Trump regime’s handling of the Epstein files, the DOJ’s questionable resource management, and the ongoing struggle for genuine government accountability and transparency.