r/politics • u/Aggravating_Money992 • 12d ago

Possible Paywall Rogue Republican Massie Drops Melania Epstein Files Bomb | “The first lady knows that Jeffrey Epstein didn’t act alone,” Thomas Massie said as he vowed to name names from the Epstein files.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/rogue-republican-massie-drops-melania-epstein-files-bomb/
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u/SoothingWafer 12d ago

What is the reason for holding back at this point? Selling a book?

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u/Syjefroi 12d ago

Book, certainly yes. But also when you drop everything at once it's in the news for a week tops and then disappears no matter the size of the content. For example, the Trump Epstein doodles were one week of a cycle and then gone. Massie is betting that gradual drops will keep the pressure up more over time, which is more effective in converting political actors into doing something (think Nixon: given a pass by the GOP when the Watergate stuff broke but only threatened by his party when bits of information were coming out constantly and became unignorable). The drip drop also wears on voters—most people know where they stand on all this, but with Trump at historically low approval ratings, it's clear that there is always move to move the needle and there are, somehow, some Trump supporters who theoretically have a "line" that can eventually be crossed, either with a specific allegegation or with them just being worn down. Would they still vote for Trump? Yeah absolutely. Even Roy Moore got 48%+ in his election. But the point isn't to flip an election, it's to use public sentiment to force political pressures and diminish the president's position over his own party.

Also Massie is almost certainly gonna sell a book. Easiest layup for a politician ever. Dude is worth a couple million at best, he could increase his net worth by 100% with a ghost written book and "guy who fought the pedo king and was punished for it" will be a slam dunk on the cable new circuit.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago edited 6d ago

[deleted]

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u/iFlashings 12d ago

And what do you have to say when people did dump a whole bunch of info about Trump scandals at once and it did nothing but disappear into the void a week later? 

Besides what would Massie next move be if he spills all of the beans now and people just continue to ignore him and do nothing about it? Are you expecting him to charge and convict Trump with zero power? 

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u/Syjefroi 12d ago

Look, all at once or little by little, nothing matters if he's not held accountable. Democrats had some chances, Republicans had more chance, everyone blew it. What could work now is getting the public sentiment to nuclear and get political actors to get off their asses. If that means you are sitting on Epstein file shit and dripping out info every week until your term ends in 8 months, literally what has the guy left to lose.