It is both.

This is the “new normal” in America. There is no trust in the release of the investigation that goes back decades.  The first legal case for the rape of a 14-year-old against Epstein occurred in 2005, but federal prosecutors say the abuse may have begun in 2002.  It’s almost certain the victims will never see any perpetrators go to trial.  This is the state of the American justice system.

The Failures of Holder, Garland, and Bondi

This failure of the legal system is systemic.  Local Palm Beach, Florida, police, FBI, federal and state prosecutors, and Justice Departments spanning five presidential administrations: George Bush (2001 to 2009), Barack Obama (2009-2017), Joe Biden (2021-2025), Donald Trump (2017-2021), and (2025 to current), have all passed on this case.  Documents were only released after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed on July 15, 2025, two decades after the first rape against Epstein was reported.

Apparently, the legal system did not consider this case a major crime.   In her testimony before the Congressional committee, Attorney General Pam Bondi raised a valid point regarding former Attorney General Merrick Garland and why he did not prosecute the Epstein case. But she forgot to mention former AG Eric Holder.

The answer is that Garland was paralyzed to take action.  As he demonstrated in the Robert Mueller and Jack Smith investigations, Garland consistently appeared to require more evidence, more time, more consultations, and more legal research.  He needed more of anything if it would delay his decision.

It took a year to digest the results of the Jack Smith investigations into Trump’s collusion in the Georgia election, and his connections to Russia and the insurrection. Garland had the report, but remained inert.  Garland became an unwitting Trump accomplice.  He showed the same inability to make a decision in the Epstein pedophile case.

Similarly, as evidence of the abuse mounted, the ineffectual Merrick Garland and the corrupt Attorney General Pam Bondi (who visited the Epstein mansion in Palm Beach as Florida’s Attorney General) never prosecuted anyone.

Another AG missing from the discussion is Eric Holder, who served as AG under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2015.  Holder was a corporate lawyer at Covington & Burling, specializing in representing investment firms in defense matters, and rejoined the firm after leaving the Obama administration. He was succeeded by Loretta Lynch as AG in April 2015.

As a white-collar defense lawyer, Holder had no interest in prosecuting white-collar criminals who might have been involved in the Epstein-Trump scandal. A Bloomberg opinion piece from October 2013 said, “There is no telling what great things U.S. prosecutors might have accomplished had Holder and his team been this determined and creative all along, before the biggest fraud cases of the financial crisis turned cold.”  The same article also asked why the Obama Justice Department under Holder did not prosecute big banks before 2012, at the time of the Great Recession and the infamous Wall Street bank bailout that occurred during Obama’s first term?

On the child sex front, Holder also began an initiative in August 2010 against internet child pornography. Holder noted the increase in child pornography, the number of
images shared online, and violence against child victims. “Tragically, the only place we’ve seen a decrease is in the age of victims,” Holder said, but he never took action against Epstein.

Holder also enforced the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) in September 2009, which seeks to standardize registration and notification requirements nationwide and to provide greater offender accountability and increased sanctions for noncompliance by sex offenders. By that time, Epstein also had a sex offense conviction.

Holder was also accused in 2011 by Sen. John Kyl of violating the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA), which gave crime victims the right during the investigative process. The CVRA gives crime victims the right to consult with prosecutors about how the case is being handled before being filed in court.”  Kyle said Holder’s Justice Department did not notify Epstein’s victims (some as young as 14) about a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with Jeffrey Epstein. Subsequent legal actions by the Justice Department under Holder denied the victims a civil remedy for not being informed.

In an early case that lays the foundation for the Epstein rape charges in Florida (08-80736-CIV-MARRAXX), the Justice Department contended that “Because the government did not communicate more clearly and directly with the victims, the resolution in this case has led some to conclude that the government chose for improper reasons not to prosecute Epstein, a conclusion that remains unsubstantiated. The
government places high value in its work to support victims of crime, and its
communications with victims must reflect that value. The government regrets
that the manner in which it communicated the resolution of the Epstein case to
the victims fell short.”

Waiting 25 Years for Justice

It appears all four Democratic and Republican administrations, and their AGs, were inert and, by omission, sought to protect powerful men who could always be counted upon as future clients or donors to their campaigns or businesses.

This explains why victims have waited decades for justice. But this is futile; justice will never come from this legal system.

Victims Will Get Justice From Europe

The only hope for victims will come from Europe.  England, Norway, and France have opened investigations into Trump and Epstein faster than the US has.  Those governments have ethical and political will, and their elected officials are accountable. They are also countries that are not run by corporations.  Their parliamentary political systems are not as corrupt as the US, nor are they global pillagers.

Even if a list of abusers exists, the victims also should never expect the federal government to release the men’s names.  This means the victims will have to release those names themselves. They should not expect assistance from any state or federal government.  It will never happen.  Release the names yourselves or remain traumatized by the names of your violators forever.

The American system is run by and for the wealthy.  The role of the government in a monopoly capitalist state is to protect the wealthy.  Tax breaks, plea deals, special treatment in contracts, unaccountability, and benefiting from insider information without penalty are the new normal.  The victims will never surmount this power disparity.  If they want justice in the US, they will be waiting forever.