Trump fans forgive him everything. Why not Epstein?

Over the past squalid decade, many of us have let go of the hope that Donald Trump could do or say anything to shake the faith of his ardent base.

- Michelle Goldberg

They've been largely unfazed by boasts of sexual assault and porn star payoffs, an attempted coup and obscenely self-enriching crypto schemes. They cheered wildly at his promises to build a wall paid for by Mexico, then shrugged when it didn’t happen. The BBC reported on a 39-year-old Iranian immigrant whose devotion to Mr Trump endured even when she was put in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. “I will support him until the day I die,” she said from lockup. “He's making America great again.”

So it has been fascinating to watch a vocal part of Mr Trump's movement revolt over his administration's handling of files from the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the sex-trafficking financier who died in jail in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide. Running for president, Mr Trump promised to release the Epstein files, which some thought would contain evidence of murder. “Yet another good reason to vote for Trump,” Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on social media. “Americans deserve to know why Epstein didn’t kill himself.”

Some of the influencers who now staff Mr Trump's administration built their followings by spinning wild stories about the case, promising revelations that would lay their enemies low. Epstein’s client list “is going to rock the political world”, Dan Bongino, now deputy director of the FBI, said in September. Appearing on Fox News in February, Attorney-General Pam Bondi was asked whether her department would release “a list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients”. She responded, “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”