An attempt by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to blow off a question about a check being held by convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein with Donald Trump’s mocked-up signature on it, left the door open to more questions about what transpired and their relationship.

That is the opinion of Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte, who suggested that Trump’s spokesperson deflected questions about the novelty check for a supposed payment for a “fully depreciated” woman with a deceptive answer.

According to Marcotte, the photo which was included in the Epstein birthday book that was turned over, deserves more scrutiny and Leavitt knew it based upon her answer in the White House briefing room.

Pressed on the photo, Marcotte suggested the Trump spokesperson used “a clever trick” when she answered, “It is not Donald Trump’s signature on that check. The president did not sign that check.”

“No one had accused Trump of signing the check. Leavitt, who isn’t as stupid as she pretends, knew full well what was going on,” she wrote before adding, “The joke’s premise was that both Epstein and Trump saw women not as human beings, but as objects to be used however men see fit. As the word ‘depreciation’ suggests, the metaphor here is that this woman was more like a car than a person; she had no rights that a man needed to respect.”

She then noted Leaviit was trying to “maneuver” around two points she has no desire to address: “The president’s public attitudes about women” and “the experiences of at least three women who felt victimized in the world inhabited by Trump’s close friend Epstein and those in his orbit.”

After pointing out that “All too often, men like this get away with these attitudes because they convince enough people that, while it may be gross, it’s ultimately just decadent, consensual behavior that harms no one else,” the Salon columnist offered up, “When Karoline Leavitt gets behind the podium in the Brady Briefing Room and excuses, lies or otherwise deflects inquiry into Trump’s association with Epstein, she’s contributing to a system that allows women and girls to be abused every day without consequence. It’s why her unblinking shamelessness is so unnerving.”

“On some level, no matter what she tells herself at night, she is participating in the cover-up of details related to a reported sex trafficking ring. How does she even begin to sleep?” she concluded.