this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2025
898 points (99.7% liked)

politics

24944 readers
2773 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

A resurfaced clip shows sex offender Jeffrey Epstein pleading the Fifth when he was asked during a deposition if he ever socialized with underage girls around Donald Trump.

The video clip, unearthed by left-leaning outlet MeidasTouch, shows Epstein responding to questions during a March 2010 deposition. The disgraced financier was questioned by an attorney of an alleged victim, Vice News previously reported.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Wazowski@lemmy.world 223 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world 112 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 40 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Bold of you to assume that diseased mushroom head of his still works, at his age and health.

[–] DeviantOvary@reddthat.com 46 points 1 day ago (1 children)

PIV is just one form of rape.

[–] Boddhisatva@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yep. This is a little bit of a tangent, but I like to bring this up whenever Trump being a rapist comes up in a thread.

Trump's mouthpieces always claim that he was not found to have raped E. Jean Carroll by the jury. But this is only because the legal definition of rape in New York requires PIV penetration. However the judge has clarified this saying:,

Judge Kaplan provided an unsparing analysis of the legal issues that informed the New York verdict. He wrote: “The only issue on which the jury did not find in Ms Carroll’s favour was whether she proved that Mr Trump ‘raped’ her within the narrow, technical meaning of that term in the New York penal law.

“The jury … was instructed that it could find that Mr Trump ‘raped’ Ms Carroll only if it found that he forcibly penetrated Ms Carroll’s vagina with his penis.

“It could not find that he ‘raped’ her if it determined that Mr Trump forcibly penetrated Ms Carroll’s private sexual parts with his fingers – which commonly is considered ‘rape’ in other contexts – because the New York penal law definition of rape is limited to penile penetration.”

“As the court explained in its recent decision denying Mr Trump’s motion for a new trial on damages and other relief [in the New York case] … based on all of the evidence at trial and the jury’s verdict as a whole, the jury’s finding that Mr Trump ‘sexually abused’ Ms Carroll implicitly determined that he forcibly penetrated her digitally – in other words, that Mr Trump in fact did ‘rape’ Ms Carroll as that term commonly is used and understood in contexts outside of the New York penal law.”

By any reasonable definition, as determined in a court of law by a jury of his peers, Trump is a rapist.

Edit for formatting.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] simplejack@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

I don’t know about present tense. He’s got a lot of blood thinner bruises on his hands these days. He’s probably require enough viagra to blind an elephant. He’s old as shit.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 36 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

I believe that he possibly also helped facilitate and/or finance Epstein's child rape and blackmail operation.

I don't have any evidence, but I feel it in my bones.

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

Many people are saying...

[–] shittydwarf@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 day ago

Definitely getting the "business partner vibe" from all this

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 7 points 1 day ago

a russian mob asset doing shady shit? noooo. that would be crazy. almost as crazy as a russain mob asset codenamed "krasnov" becoming the president

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Cocopanda@lemmy.world 95 points 1 day ago

Per Trumps own words. Who ever uses the Fifth is guilty.

[–] PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 65 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I, too, would not want to admit to being around Donald Trump.

[–] Laser@feddit.org 16 points 1 day ago

He does exactly that half a minute earlier though. Was basically asked "did you socialize with Donald Trump" which he confirms after clarification. He just plead the fifth after the question was amended with "with females under the age of 18" or whatever the wording was.

[–] three_trains_in_a_trenchcoat@piefed.social 56 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Dear God, I keep expecting this to run out of gas and it just won't quit!

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I’m really confused why this is all of the sudden a big deal. Everyone is rehashing things that we already know/knew.

[–] 7U5K3N@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Theory is that this is maga realizing they've been played. Trump ran on Epstein files and when they decided the files weren't real, maga realized he's been lying to them.

But who knows.

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

But t lied about a lot of things... It’s really interesting that this is the hill where maga becomes woke.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] criss_cross@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

It’s more playing it back for people that weren’t listening before

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

My current conspiracy theory is that Trump's owners have decided that he's become more of a liability than an asset, and are throwing him under the bus to replace him with someone more under their control.

My "evidence" is that this steady daily trickle of new evidence tying Trump to Epstein didn't just miraculously spawn into existence this week. It's been in people's filing cabinets and video/photo archives for years

I just find it really hard to believe none of this was "found" earlier. Instead it's being "found" now, but not all at once. It's being "found" at a rate that keeps the story at the top of the news cycle.

[–] unconsequential@slrpnk.net 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I think that’s very possible. They’re using him as a fall guy too. They want to transition power to someone who’s not so fickle and more loyal while avoiding elections. They have to constantly course correct him because he’s actually wildly incompetent and he goes off script. He’s easy to manipulate but that means he’s easy to manipulate by everyone.

Also, look at all the tech stuff he’s passing right now. It’s super concerning and is going to have long term impact on our ability to do anything beyond tech monopoly control. Everything is “EPSTEIN” meanwhile he’s signing crypto laws, ai deregulation and all kinds of scary dystopian tech bills.

If you don’t know who Curtis Yarvin and what the Dark Enlightenment is and who his acolytes are— it’d be a good place to start to understand what’s possibly happening here. Hint: JD Vance is a loyalist.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] JaymesRS@literature.cafe 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This is beginning to feel like the Swedish penis pump scene in Austin Powers

[–] infinitevalence@discuss.online 42 points 1 day ago (7 children)

I don't doubt that Trump did things like what he is accused of but taking the 5th is not an admission of guilt and we can't assume this is a smoking gun .

Taking the 5th is like playing an Uno reverse card. It's saying prove it I won't help even if I didn't do it.

[–] Novamdomum@fedia.io 62 points 1 day ago (6 children)

While technically true, it is indubitably terrible optics for Trump. Specially since he was answering questions freely and then seemed to abruptly swerve that specific question.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] jonne@infosec.pub 42 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Except there's a clip of Trump saying something along the lines of 'nobody pleads the fifth because they're innocent'.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

"If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?" - Taco

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] voxthefox@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 1 day ago

Live by the court of public opinion, die by it.

[–] AZX3RIC@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] midribbon_action@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is not true!!! unless in the very specific context of a criminal court proceeding. In every other context, refusal to answer a question can be used as evidence against you. For a government job application, divorce/civil proceedings, and any other conversation happening outside of a court, it is fair game to consider non answers as incriminating. In some cases you can even force a defendant to answer questions if they enjoy some kind of immunity, and hold them in contempt otherwise.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 39 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Sure love how the left started putting effort into these leaks after the election

[–] jabeez@lemmy.today 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How about the MSM? They're fucking bulldogs when they want to be, a bad debate sends them into weeks of non-stop reporting and questioning mental faculties, but somehow they just never give two shits about the dozens of scandals and so much worse from this POSOTUS. All of this could have, and should have, been dug up years ago, they just didn't bother to for some reason until now, assuming it is because ruling class wants him gone before he completely fucks the economy beyond recognition.

[–] bobbyhillnevergrowsup@midwest.social 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think having Musk using his resources to push the Trump Epstein connection is why we're seeing it all over.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 20 points 1 day ago

None of it would have mattered back then. It took the entire Administration to form a phalanx against any demands for release of the files, in a complete reversal of their explicit campaign promises. Many MAGAs based their allegiance on those promises.

Now it turns out that he was bluffing all along, and they are calling his hand, and everyone knows he doesn't have the cards.

There is no “left” in American politics, this is just the people who put him into power handling their liabilities. Trump is just an externality to them.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] nthavoc@lemmy.today 37 points 1 day ago (2 children)

How many more fucking RAGING CLUES do republicans need before they turn on him!?

Most never will. Cults love to cover up pedo shit.

[–] breecher@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago

There is no limit. They will never turn on him because of clues, they will only turn on him if they think they can win over him. As long as his pedophile voterbase uncritically supports him, he has the upper hand.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 22 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I think it's clear by now that this is too well organized for the democrats to be behind it. The call is coming from inside the house...

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

"If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?" -Taco

[–] riquisimo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The video on the page didn't load for me, even if I turned off ublock origin (is the video even there?)

So I found it elsewhere: https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1948178548998762586

EDIT: Link to xcancel instead, so you don’t have to login to see replies: https://xcancel.com/MeidasTouch/status/1948178548998762586

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Asswardbackaddict@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Translation: "Every single time I can think to tell about being with Trump in the vicinity of children, we fucked em."

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago (6 children)

It still blows my mind that 'rapist is rapist's is somehow this important. What do you expect will happen? Suddenly the king realizes it's bad to do this and becomes a good person?

Stop fucking falling for the billionaires' distractions

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Fifth, Sixth, and 14th Amendment rights

I've never before heard of anybody claiming any rights other than the 5th when answering a question.

The sixth amendment is:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

The "assistance of counsel" part seems to make sense when being questioned, if he didn't already have a lawyer present. But, the rest of that seems unrelated to answering a question.

Cop: "Were you with Trump at the child-raping party?"

Epstein: "I assert the right to a speedy trial!"

As for the 14th, that's the one currently in the news because Trump wants to strip citizenship:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

That's also a very weird one to plead. Talking about your citizenship in an interview like that seems irrelevant.

Cop: "Was it just Trump who was raping kids, or were you doing it too?"

Epstein: "I assert the right to due process!"

Cop: "Yes... this questioning is your due process. That's what's happening here."

I wonder why he didn't claim others. 4th seems more relevant than 14th, for example. 8th is also useful if they want to put you in jail. At least he didn't invoke the 27th

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›