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When Donald Trump was given an opportunity on Friday to categorically rule out that he would pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in helping the president’s former pal Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls, he instead gave what might at first glance appear to be a puzzling answer.

“I’m allowed to do it, but it is something I have not thought about,” Trump told a reporter. 

The first part is true, the second almost certainly a lie.

In any case, what a crazy thing to say! 

After all, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for Trump to state in the strongest possible terms that Maxwell’s (and Epstein’s) crimes were abhorrent, and that there is no way that she can expect any sort of clemency from him. 

This is especially true because the Epstein matter has quickly become a political nightmare for Trump, who, for the first time, is facing a revolt from his base, which demands to get to the bottom of who else was involved in Epstein’s child sex trafficking operation. 

Of course, while his supporters want accountability and transparency in the case, the president doesn’t seem particularly interested in either.

Which is understandable in light of his friendship with Epstein, Trump clearly having been aware of his buddy’s appetite for young women, and Attorney General Pam Bondi — who once upon a time also seemed eager for transparency — informing the president that his name appears in the Epstein files.

And that is the crux of the matter: While Trump’s behavior, as well as his current and past statements on Maxwell (whom he wished well when she was arrested and charged with sex trafficking) and the disgraced financier, would be bizarre for someone who never was involved in or had knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, they make a lot of sense for someone who thinks he may be implicated in some way. 

Take today’s exchange. 

While it would be easy for someone to emphatically state that he would never pardon Maxwell who has nothing to fear from her testimony, someone who does would certainly have an interest in at least dangling the possibility of a pardon in front of her. 

That is especially true because Trump’s former defense attorney Todd Blanche, who now serves as deputy attorney general, has been speaking to Maxwell for the past couple of days. 

According to her attorneys and DOJ, those interviews are going just splendidly, which may just be another way of saying that Maxwell is thrilled to say whatever it takes to let her old acquaintance, who happens to be the only person who has the power to commute her sentence, off the hook. 

The main takeaway from this charade should be that everything that comes out of these interviews should be viewed with extreme suspicion, especially because Trump and his underlings at DOJ and in Congress have been blocking any other type of transparency. 

In that context, ruling out a pardon would have been foolish for the president… and Trump may be crazy, but he is no fool.

One of the main reasons why the country is in this mess is that the media continues to refuse to do its job, which is to objectively cover what is going on in the country (and the world). Once upon a time, “objectively” meant giving each “side” the opportunity to have its say, present facts, and allow audiences to make up their own minds.

However, that was back in the day when both parties acted in (relatively) good faith. Sadly, that is no longer the case (although mainstream news outlets seem to not have realized this yet).

Therefore, instead of mindlessly repeating what a bunch of known liars are saying to balance out a thing that actually happened, “objectively” must now mean “to state the obvious” and support those statements with context and evidence.

This is where the media is routinely failing… like it will in this case. 

Failing to mention any of the above is an abdication of duty for serious journalists. 

All of this is context that readers have to have to understand what is going on… and, too often, corporate news outlets (many of whom have been cowering before Trump) fail to provide it.

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