Playbook: “There are real-world ramifications of this story exploding back onto the agenda. The White House did not want to spend yesterday talking about Epstein, does not want to spend today talking about Epstein — does not want to spend any more days talking about Epstein. It’s awkward, uncomfortable, distracting subject matter that Trump’s team would like to put to bed.”

“And that’s not going to happen, at least not yet.”

“I know how dirty Donald is.”

— Jeffrey Epstein, quoted in an email released by House Democrats.

“A series of exchanges between Jeffrey Epstein and Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury Secretary, suggest a far cozier and intimate relationship than was previously known,” the New York Times reports.

“Emails between the two were released Wednesday by House Republicans, along with more than 20,000 pages of documents. They show the two men bantering, sometimes multiple times a day.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump has no plans to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, the central figure in the Jeffrey Epstein case and convicted sex offender serving a 20-year prison sentence, Axios reports.

“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 Twitter in 2021.

Charlie Sykes: “Trump has boasted (not without reason) that he could shoot someone and not lose any votes. He attempted a coup and was re-elected; was convicted of felonies and was returned to power; was found liable for sexually abusing a woman and won a second term.”

“But there’s something about the Epstein Files that has spooked him. And we may be about to find out why.”

“Have them ask my houseman about Donald almost walking through the door leaving his nose print on the glass as young women were swimming in the pool and he was so focused he walked straight into the door.”

— Jeffrey Epstein, in an email released by House Democrats.

Slate: “The Democrats want the public thinking about Donald Trump’s ties to a sex trafficker. Will it work?”

Edward Luce: “As sex offenders go, Ghislaine Maxwell is in a category of one. Having been upgraded from a penitentiary to a prison camp — the equivalent of moving from a Travelodge to a Trump hotel — the late Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking co-conspirator seems to be getting what she wants. A commutation from Trump could follow.”

“What has Maxwell done to deserve this? The answer is a known unknown. Maxwell has said she never saw Trump ‘in any inappropriate setting.’ We also know that his administration is showering her with benefits. The unknown is why anyone would see this as acceptable.”

Nick Cohen: “Not one of the powerful American men who flattered Jeffrey Epstein has been punished by the U.S. authorities – which, considering that Donald Trump was prominent among them, is no great surprise.”

“But tonight, the Epstein scandal has humiliated Prince Andrew and forced the British monarchy to face up to the charges against him.”

“Under pressure from public opinion and I suspect the government, King Charles has just stripped him of all his royal titles. He is no longer ‘Prince Andrew’ but merely Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. In the unlikely event of bumping into him you can now call him ‘Mr Windsor.'”

“Weeks after Jeffrey Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 awaiting prosecution on sex-trafficking charges, JPMorgan Chase filed a report alerting the U.S. government to tens of millions of dollars of potentially suspicious transactions involving him and prominent Wall Street and business figures,” the New York Times reports.

“The so-called suspicious activity report that JPMorgan filed identified transactions with Leon Black, the co-founder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management; Glenn Dubin, a well-known hedge fund manager; the lawyer Alan Dershowitz; and trusts controlled by Leslie Wexner, the retail tycoon.”