A protester holds a sign related to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12, 2025. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Alain Stephens is an investigative reporter covering gun violence, arms trafficking, and federal law enforcement.

It’s hard to imagine a worse moment for Donald Trump to be caught in the Epstein dragnet than at the tail end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, with food benefits rattled, “affordability” on everyone’s minds , and his own voters starting to wonder if the guy in the red tie is actually on their side.

On the same day Trump finally signed a bill to reopen the government after 43 days of chaos, a coalition of House Democrats and Republicans dropped a tranche of Jeffrey Epstein

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