The Epstein scandal is a democratic attempt at terrorizing Trumps image

Question

The push for the Epstein files to be released has been going on for a long time. The latest buzz for it has been driven by the mass majority of democrats, as they want president Trump to be under fire for as long as possible. To say that it is a democratic approach to terrorize Trumps image may hold some value, but there are deeper reasons as to why people want them released then what the surface may suggest. This case has no real political intent but rather people that are interested in what went down and what names we could see in the files. 

However this case being targeted at the Republican Party does have an ultimate effect the longer that it goes on. In the article by Politico titled "Latest Epstein files knock White House on its heels", right wing activist Laura Loomer believes that this scandal is going to consume his presidency and that the "Democrats were not going to allow for President Trump to have a successful term." Despite all of this, and even if Trump is involved in the scandal, impeachment is not a foregone conclusion, and more than likely he will stay as president barring any other wrongdoings. 

Answer 1

The source cited above is from a website called Politico, generally known to be reputable but also has a left center bias (slightly liberal) https://www.allsides.com/news-source/politico-media-bias. This means that the article may try to portray things that would be a little more liberal and as the president is very conservative there could be some bias. The claim in general is an opinion as there is no evidence that every single democrat is trying to terrorize Trump. It is true that the Epstein files could destroy Trump as he is known to be an associate of the sex offender Epstein, however that is not the claim at hand. https://theweek.com/politics/epstein-trump-files-documents-damaging. Epsteins case is also not tied to a single political party as it is just a matter of the U.S. vs. Epstein. Jefferey Epstein also interacted with politicians from both parties and Epsteins charges are based on Victims, evidence, etc. https://www.npr.org/2025/07/25/nx-s1-5478620/jeffrey-epstein-crimes-timeline-legal-case. Overall, this claim is a political statement as an opinion and there is no real evidence to say that the democrats created this attack. 

The Epstein scandal is a democratic attempt at terrorizing Trumps image

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The Epstein scandal is a democratic attempt at terrorizing Trumps image

Comments

Great fact check and good use of sources in your fact check.

Answer 2

From what I found, this claim is misleading. The claim that democrats want the files of the Epstein case to be released is true as they have voted to do so according to NyTimes and NPR as well as claimed by the original article on Politico. However, the claim that democrats have the goal of releasing the Epstein files in hopes to harm Donald Trump's public image cannot be verified by these sources. In fact, as an NPR article points out, it is bad public press to not want to release the information in the Epstein files. According to the article, Trump wants the House of Representative to vote on releasing the information about the case. However, in a New York Times article he called the information previously released a hoax. Overall, this topic seems to be continuously changing as new information surfaces.

Trump Named in Epstein Emails Released by Democrats and Republicans - The New York Times

Article about the recently released emails in the Epstein Case.

Trump shifts tone on Epstein files, calling on House GOP to vote for their release : NPR

Article discussing the ways that Trump has changed his view of the files being released.

Answer 3

The students initial claim was: “The Epstein scandal is a democratic attempt at terrorizing Trump's image.” This comes from new information where House Democrats released Jeffrey Epstein documents in which he claimed that Donald Trump “knew about the girls”. The Trump Administration calls it a distraction from the job that the Democrats have done during the government shutdown. Trump continues to deny any allegations regarding Epstein and claims they cut ties a long time ago. I’m unsure whether or not they intend to “terrorize” Trump’s image but it definitely doesn’t help. I believe the Democrats are actively trying to investigate a hot issue right now which leads large companies like Politico and the AP news to report on it.

Press Release: https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-oversight-committee-releases-jeffrey-epstein-email-correspondence-raising?

In this article, they release information regarding the fact that Epstein claimed Trump new about the girls which makes this issue way worse if true. 

AP News Article: https://apnews.com/article/epstein-emails-trump-house-democrats-db7df1042a73e610fb5deddf2f90bd3a?

Discusses an email from 2019 following the House Democrats document release.

ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-democrats-release-new-epstein-emails-referencing-trump/story?id=127435983&utm

Answers ties between Trump and Epstein and whether the two have had past relationships in efforts of Epstein's conflicts.

4. What potential biases or interests might each of your sources have? Politico has a political interest in highlighting evidence that could damage President Trump. The language in the article reveals this although they remain neutral in further information they share on their site. AP News is a neutral site but chose to share an article on this topic similar to Politico. Again, ABC news is also neutral but may favor more dramatic issues and frame them differently.

5. What evidence supports the claim you are fact-checking?

“This is another distraction campaign by the Democrats and the liberal media… Leavitt said during a Wednesday press briefing.” (Karoline Leavitt)

“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects… Trump wrote” (President, Donald Trump)

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/13/the-new-epstein-files-are-the-latest-blow-to-a-white-house-on-its-heels-00649341

6. What evidence undermines the claim you are fact-checking?

“Trump has denied wrongdoing in relation to the Epstein allegations, and no evidence has suggested that Trump took part in Epstein’s trafficking operation.” (Politico)

“…the broader electorate is concerned about more bread-and-butter issues like the cost of living.” (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/13/the-new-epstein-files-are-the-latest-blow-to-a-white-house-on-its-heels-00649341