BILLBOARD News Now

Another Watergate?

Since the days of Watergate, political crises have been compared to it.  The hard smart work by young reporters Woodward & Bernstein at the Washington Post ended the Presidency of Richard Nixon.  It only started with a break-in of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate office building.

The current salacious Epstein Files is more than a political crisis (much more!).  Nothing gets the attention of public like sex, money & power…the main ingredients of this crisis.  President Trump problem is how to contain, cover up and wipe it out of the news. Does he remember Nixon losing his power by being forced from office?

Trump’s problem began when The Wall Street Journal published the first story about Jeffrey Epstein in July.  It detailed a sexually suggestive birthday letter Donald Trump sent to Epstein in 2003.  Trump denied there was no such letter.

In the meantime, the survivors attorney was on MSNBC’s The Last Word, to support the survivors of Epstein…he mentioned the “birthday book” and said it was in the possession of Epstein estate.

Not unlike Woodward & Bernstein…Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Ca) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Ca) jumped on it helped by House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY).  Subpoenas were issued for the records in the Epstein estate.  The result is the now famous non-existent (?) Trump’s birthday message to his longtime friend Jeffrey Epstein has been published in newspapers across the country.

Where’s the money?  That’s what the House Oversight Committee and Senate Finance Committee of Congress are working to find out.  They are seeking Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) from the U. S. Treasury.  The Epstein file records reportedly contain details on over 4,700 wire transfers totaling more than $1 billion payments to individuals & businesses in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Could this direction of the Epstein story explain why Trump is asking for States to redistrict their congressional seats.  If Republicans lost control of Congress in 2026…this thing could go in many different directions. The political gossip mill is asking who and how important are the people Trump & Associates are protecting.

More important than all of this is remembering and protecting the young girl survivors of Jeffrey Epstein.

When this all gets sorted out… Watergate will look like a tea party.

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