A new, major disclosure in the slow but inexorable emergence of evidence against Jeffrey Epstein has arguably prompted the madman in the Oval Office to bomb Iran–without bothering to request the required authorization from Congress.
As Heather Cox Richardson, among others, has reported, it turns out that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had been running a parallel investigation of Epstein and several other people, not for the sex trafficking that is the subject of the Epstein files, but for drug trafficking, prostitution, and money laundering.
That investigation began under the Obama administration in 2010, and it was still underway in 2015. It came to light because a heavily redacted document that was found in the files came from the director of the DEA’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). That document referenced DEA reporting that “the above individuals are involved in illegitimate wire transfers which are tied to illicit drug and/or prostitution activities occurring in the U.S. Virgin Islands and New York City.”
Senator Ron Wyden has described OCDETF as “a premier task force set up to identify, disrupt and dismantle major organized crime and drug trafficking operations.” According to reports, OCDETF targeted dangerous drug cartels, the Russian mafia and violent gangs moving fentanyl and weapons.
The Trump administration abruptly dismantled OCDETF last year, and required the agency to shut down all operations by September of 2025.
Wyden has been focusing on the finances that facilitated Epstein’s organization–following the money. When he found that JPMorgan Chase had “neglected” to report some $4 billion dollars in suspicious financial transactions that were linked to Epstein, he sought additional records from the Treasury Department.
Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, refused to produce them.
Wyden has now introduced the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act. (The Epstein Files Transparency Act didn’t cover Treasury records.) He is quoted as saying that “following the money is the key to identifying Epstein’s clients as well as the henchmen and banks that enabled his sex trafficking network. It’s past time for Bessent to quit running interference for pedophiles and give us the Epstein files he’s sitting on.”
As Heather Cox Richardson has reported, Wyden has written to the administrator of the DEA, noting that “[t]he fact that Epstein was under investigation by the DOJ’s OCDETF task force suggests that there was ample evidence indicating that Epstein was engaged in heavy drug trafficking and prostitution as part of cross-border criminal conspiracy. This is incredibly disturbing and raises serious questions as to how this investigation by the DEA was handled.”
Epstein and his fourteen co-conspirators were never charged with drug trafficking or financial crimes. It now appears that the DEA and DOJ during Trump’s first administration simply terminated the investigation. Wyden has pointed out that the heavy redactions in the recently uncovered document go “far beyond anything authorized by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.” For that matter, the document wasn’t classified, so there was “no reason to withhold an unredacted version of this document from the U.S. Congress.”
Wyden has asked the DEA to produce a number of documents by March 13, 2026, including an unredacted copy of the memo in the files, evidence about what had originally triggered the investigation, why no one was charged, and why the names of the fourteen co-conspirators were redacted.
The very next day after these revelations became public, Trump bombed Iran. The New York Times reported that “The United States, joined by Israel, launched an attack on major cities in Iran, as President Trump called on Iranians to overthrow the government.”
Permit me to point out that Trump ran on promises to keep America out of wars, that one of his most embarrassing self-owns has been his shameless campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize, and that one of his purported reasons for demanding “regime change” in Iran–the regime’s crackdown on dissenters–is, shall we say, inconsistent with his own deployment of ICE thugs in America’s cities.
It’s a real-life re-enactment of a 1997 American political satire–“Wag the Dog,” a black comedy starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, in which a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer fabricate a war in Albania to distract voters from a presidential sex scandal. In a real-world example of life imitating art, the film President was caught making advances on an underage girl inside the Oval Office; recent disclosures strongly suggest that–in addition to shutting down investigations of Epstein, and persistently lying about the extent and duration of his “friendship” with Epstein and their connections to Russia –Trump once raped a thirteen-year-old girl.
How many Americans and others will be killed in this real life effort to wag the dog?
Who is going to bomb the White House to foment a regime change here for a repressive criminal enterprise that spans the executive branch, half of Congress and SCOTUS? What nation sees the United States as an existential threat to world peace and the welfare of humanity? Who will rescue us from our pathetic minority of idiots who buy into this corruption?
Hey! Lindsey Graham just said that Trump as met his moment. That’s like saying a sewer rat as found a floating lump of something. Republicans. You nominated this monster TWICE. You helped con the dumbest of Americans to vote for him or insulted everyone else so they stayed home from voting. And now the criminal enterprise and the utter tawdriness of the presidency is at hand and showing the nation and the world what fools we are to continue to allow this god-awful nightmare to continue.
Trump’s threat to Iran’s promise of retaliation to use, “…a power never seen before…” is an undisguised dog whistle threatening nuclear retaliation…the only war weapon never seen used before.
HOW MANY AMERICANS HAVE BEEN KILLED IN HIS ILLEGAL WARS INTERNALLY AND NOW GLOBALLY???
Iran is threatening retaliation directly against Trump on our allies within their easy reach…with or without nuclear weapons disallowed by Trump. It appears the only people not under threat of retaliation are his closest appointees who are waging his internal war against America and Americans; not even his MAGA members are safe from his actions…or his wagging of the dog.
TRUMP APPEARS TO BE UNSTOPPABLE…PROVE ME WRONG!!!
As they say, if you follow the drugs, you only find another drug dealer, but if you follow the money, there is no telling what you will find.
What happened to the rule that members of the military did not have to follow unlawful orders? Isn’t making war on a country without the consent of Congress a violation of that rule? Or maybe our military is just a reflection of what our country has become… violent, mean, unlawful, and out of control.
Also, is it really possible for Trump and his supporters to believe that Iran’s own far right will not retaliate, seek their own retribution? Here? Against all of us?
Several years ago critics were saying that money laundering would bring the Republicans down. Then the story went away. Odd
Here’s what I don’t understand – what was Merrick Garland doing relative to the Epstein files? Even though Epstein was dead, surely there were still concerns and what a great opportunity to nail Trump as he ran for a second term. Like Colombo…I don’t understand. And now Republicans are pulling in the Clintons as a deflection hoping to find some way to get them to “lie” in their depositions. Remember when Trump put Clinton’s alleged paramours in the front row to intimidate Hillary? Another sleazy move. Trump keeps using the word exonerated -which is what MAGA hear. Redaction to avoid action on Epstein, but keep the action going to make it look like Trump is taking bold moves to get Republican candidates supported in the mid term. Dems are running uphill here and can’t just rely on the Epstein debacle. Time to remind voters of the economy at home and the lack of attention to things like infrastructure, building manufacturing, healthcare…keep it close to what people want. In the meantime, if there is retaliation by Iran within the U.S. Trump will rue the day he tried to topple the regime.
@Theresa Bowers – I’ve been wondering the same thing. Clearly the orders were illegal and I was disappointed that HCR didn’t address it in her post today. Let’s hope it’ll get the attention in the press that it deserves.
Just a reminder to a few posters, I think the last POTUS who got approval from Congress for a war was GWB, and he lied to Congress and the American people.
The POTUS doesn’t run the show – they just have the title and authority. The US media gave Trump props for “obliterating Iran’s nuclear program” last year in the 12-day tit-for-tat war game. I find it interesting that Khamaeni was killed on the first day of this war. Will our media explain that his succession plan was mapped out a very long time ago?
I followed a couple who did deep dives on the Banksters in the US and Wall Street movers and shakers. They were insiders and said that JPMorgan Chase was run by the mafia, and any CEO from any other company would be serving life in a maximum security prison for doing what Jamie Dimon has done. Many of the suspicious reports Wyden is seeking were never transmitted by JPMorgan. Les Staley (the private banker), who didn’t report Epstein’s suspicious activity to the authorities, was a pedophile and used the private corporate jet to fly little girls around the country for Epstein’s clients. What has happened to Les Staley?
I have to laugh at Bill Clinton’s recent testimony; like his wife, it is 100% performative. While Bill was governor of Arkansas, the DEA/CIA was flying planes stuffed with drugs and cash into Mena, Arkansas. It was part of the Iran/Contra affair under Reagan. When that “operation shut down,” Epstein bought the planes used for Les Wexner to transport his “branded clothing” out of Ohio. LOL
What’s really ironic is Scott Bessent in all this mess. Sure, he’s protecting Trump, but Scott was a George Soros stooge, the bogeyman of the right wing. In addition, the billionaire who was bailed out of his dying bond investments in Argentina last year was Scott’s coworker at the Soros hedge fund that tipped Scott off to a deal that made Bessent a billionaire. Money, money, money…
“Senator Ron Wyden has described OCDETF as “a premier task force set up to identify, disrupt and dismantle major organized crime and drug trafficking operations.” Well, good for Trump! I mean, really, who would want such a “premier” organization to exist?
The only infrastructure Trump cares about is the one keeping him afloat. Watch what happens to ordinary infrastructure if Iran strikes back here.
Reportedly, the U.S. and it ran were close to having an agreement about the nuclear issue, when Trump called the bombing.
TYPO: “…the U.S. and Iran were close….”
Yep, I told ya. And it’s going to get worse. When they had all of those preachers laying their hands on him, they became culpable in his sins. All of them!
Wag The Dog the movie (it has now become part of our American lexicon) is the perfect accompaniment to George Orwell’s 1984 to reflect on the current actions of this tawdry, inept and corrupt administration. America, and the world, now have to endure an illegal war initiated to distract us from trump’s overwhelming presence in the Epstein files – new evidence is almost a daily occurrence now – and other failures in the process of carrying out presidential duties. The mid terms can’t come fast enough, with, I hope, impeachment of the head of the reptile.
To borrow Vern’s apt description of our current Executive Branch, “a repressive criminal enterprise that spans the executive branch, half of Congress and SCOTUS” is being protected by the auspicious titular protection of the above. None of this current conditions can be found in our history; they are establishing a precedent to ensure Trump’s third presidential term by self-rule against all democracy, Rule of Law and Constitutional provisions and are sheltering in place by covering one another’s asses, all owned by their personal billionaires.
We are living in their nightmare of that American political satire as living the American dream is being blown away by the great orange windbag who has taken drastic steps globally this weekend with another undeclared war with unreported deadly results on our side. All of the dead cannot be on “their side” as Venezuela and Iran and their allies have fired back at their nearest targets. This is Trump’s worst Epstein File distraction…SO FAR.
Call it an illegal war, if you must, but just because an act is unconstitutional does NOT make it illegal. That’s the real problem as I see it. Congress needs to put on its big boy pants and reassert its authority. They are the only thing standing between us and the Executive Branch, but if they’re not willing to take back their powers, the best we can do is vote them out.
To finally end this current nightmare, we need a law that makes any breach of the oath of office or violation of the Constitution unlawful and to prescribe appropriate punishment. Perhaps automatic invocation of Amendment XXV would be easiest, since we don’t want to violate the Constitution.
The idea that all we have to do is kill a leader or two and all the other cockroaches will run under the sink thus ending a war is a fantasy. This is going to last a while and is the closest thing to WWIII we’ve ever seen. What’s worse is that all the allies we’ve counted on in the past are unlikely to support us thanks to Trump’s horrible foreign (and domestic) policy.
With some new distraction Every day,
Now need to worry about a new and different
NINE 11?
Trump waged this attack on Iran from Mar-A-Lago his dictator palace in Florida. To save himself from facing justice for his many crimes he’s willing to destroy the U.S. The middle east warring factions are experts in clandestine retaliation and with US 250th anniversary approaching we are guaranteed bloodshed on American soil.