Bill Scher: “I was skeptical that the Jeffrey Epstein files would implicate President Donald Trump in illegal sexual abuse of a minor. It’s not that one cannot imagine Trump being untoward; on the contrary, a jury found him to be liable for sexual abuse. But Trump committing sex crimes against underage girls seemed dubious.”

“Yet inconclusive but tantalizing evidence exists in a 21-slide presentation, apparently created last summer by two joint Federal Bureau of Investigation-New York Police Department task forces, summarizing four ‘Jeffrey Epstein Investigations.’”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told House lawmakers she had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s or Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes, the AP reports.

Said Clinton: “I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein.”

“For nearly a month, the Justice Department failed to take down more than a dozen images in the Epstein files that should have been redacted, including pictures of a young girl kissing Jeffrey Epstein on the cheek and personal data on passports and drivers’ licenses,” CNN reports.

“The analysis also found more than 100 explicit photos showing what appear to be naked teenagers on a beach.”

World Economic Forum Chief Executive Officer Borge Brende is stepping down from his position after it emerged he had ties with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Bloomberg reports.

“Former Harvard President Larry Summers will resign from his academic and faculty appointments at Harvard at the end of the academic year, relinquishing his University Professorship — Harvard’s highest faculty distinction — and remaining on leave until that time,” the Harvard Crimson reports.

“The resignation marks an extraordinary unraveling for Summers, long one of the most influential figures in American economics. His career spanned prize-winning research, service as United States Treasury Secretary, and the presidency of Harvard.”

“Summers’ standing began to collapse after a cache of emails disclosed in November revealed details of a long-standing personal relationship between Summers and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.”

In a town hall on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder acknowledged that he had two affairs with Russian women that Epstein later discovered, but that they didn’t involve Epstein’s victims, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Justice Department has withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor,” an NPR investigation finds.

“It also removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Jeffrey Epstein also mention Trump.”

Former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-NE) resigned from the board of a clean energy company after emails showing an association with Jeffrey Epstein were made public earlier this month, the Lincoln Journal Star reports.

Kerrey said others on the board “were panicked by the fact that I attended a meeting” with the disgraced financier 13 years ago.

He added: “I do recognize the sensitivity of this issue, but I do not like working with people who panic easily. So I tendered my resignation.”

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found 69 percent of respondents saying they believe the Epstein files “show that powerful people in the U.S. are rarely held accountable for their actions.”

“Revelations about ties to Jeffrey Epstein have toppled leaders of corporate America, Hollywood and academia as the Justice Department has released millions of documents and images from the disgraced financier’s files in recent months. But the Trump administration has steadfastly repelled such fallout, dismissing any associations that top officials had with the sex offender as trivial,” the New York Times reports.

“The White House’s fortress mentality was mobilized last week after Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, acknowledged that he traveled to Mr. Epstein’s private island and had another encounter with him years after Mr. Lutnick claimed to have cut ties with him.”

“Remember when we learned that our wealthiest and most powerful people were connected to a guy who ran a literal child sex trafficking ring? And then that guy died mysteriously in a jail? And now we just don’t talk about it.”

— JD Vance, on September 4, 2021.

Steve Bannon insists that he was making a documentary to expose Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes — which was never released — and was emailing with him solely in that capacity, the New York Times reports.

Playbook: “But you can check out the comments under any WarRoom post on X to find plenty of MAGA fans who aren’t convinced.”

Hillary Clinton has accused President Donald Trump’s administration of a “cover-up” over its handling of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the BBC reports.

Said Clinton: “Get the files out. They are slow-walking it.”

Clinton added that she and Bill “have nothing to hide.”

“The latest round of the Epstein files has effectively ended the careers of some of the world’s most powerful figures, from captains of industry to prominent attorneys,” Axios reports.

“The revelations aren’t stopping, with new names — and new recriminations — coming to light every day.”

Washington Post: The Epstein files have brought a wave of resignations and investigations.

CNBC: The high-profile people burned by past dealings with a predator.

Wall Street Journal: “The disclosures threaten to tarnish the image of the British monarchy. Charles has been heckled over Epstein at recent public events, an almost unheard of act in the U.K. Buckingham Palace said in a statement that the king has ‘profound concern’ about allegations against his brother and said the palace would cooperate with any police investigation.”

New York Times: “Off and on for months, Mr. Bannon, a leader in the MAGA movement and a former top aide to President Trump, had been advising Mr. Epstein on how to handle resurrected allegations that he was a serial pedophile. Mr. Bannon recommended which lawyers to hire — his own — when to lie low and when he should jump on an opening to push his narrative. He scheduled what the two men called ‘media training.'”