Among all the gruesome details of allegations both old and new of rape and sexual abuse, there’s one four-word phrase in the new congressional report on Jeffrey Epstein that says a lot about why Donald Trump seems especially unhinged these days: “No statute of limitations.” Led by Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released their findings on the president’s long and close relationship with the deceased sex offender. The report, citing testimony from 11 women, “indicates that Trump abused, assaulted, and even raped numerous women alongside, and in coordination with, the most infamous sex trafficker in history.”
The media response to the allegations was muted, despite compelling new evidence about the extent of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, suggesting more powerful men were involved than have faced legal repercussions. Perhaps the report was overshadowed by the midterm elections. Or maybe there’s a sense this is “old news” and won’t move the needle. But if Raskin has his way, we’ll all look back to this release as the opening chapter in a season of accountability not just for Trump, but also for various administration figures and MAGA cronies who have enjoyed the legal shield of a Republican congressional majority.
Democrats are expected to win control of the House, and perhaps even the Senate, in the midterm elections. If they do, they’ll have access to a lot more power to investigate not just Trump and the White House, but also various Republican donors, right-wing business interests and other MAGA-aligned power players.
Democrats are expected to win control of the House, and perhaps even the Senate, in the midterm elections. If they do, Raskin and investigators will have a lot more power to investigate not just Trump and the White House, but also various Republican donors, right-wing business interests and other MAGA-aligned power players who have been taking full advantage of the atmosphere of corruption the president has created. The Epstein report is likely just the beginning. As the Washington Post noted on Monday, Democrats “are laying the groundwork for an array of inquiries into President Donald Trump, his family and his administration.” Various business and political leaders are meeting with their lawyers, worried about what Democrats could uncover with this new power.
“I haven’t seen this much investigative activity in anticipation of a change in control of a house of Congress ever,” Michael Bopp, who runs a congressional investigations division for the law firm Gibson Dunn, told the Post.
There are plenty of signs that it’s dawning on people around Trump that he will be out of office in two short years and that, as the latest Epstein report indicates, the statute of limitations has not run out on many possible crimes committed under the White House’s protection. A recent Zeteo profile of Stephen Miller showed that the White House deputy chief of staff is worried about going to prison if a Democrat wins the presidency in 2028. Congressional Democrats keep talking about impeaching Pete Hegseth, and the defense secretary is clearly anxious, reportedly making calls and begging Sen. Marsha Blackburn to appoint him to her Senate seat if, as expected, she wins the Tennessee governor’s race this week. Having a Senate seat would not only prevent impeachment; it could make prosecuting him for alleged war crimes much harder as well.
In October Elissa Slotkin of Michigan set off a massive panic on the right when she suggested that there should be a focus on “signature cases” against “people who enabled” Trump. The Michigan senator wanted a “deterrence message” for anyone considering working for Trump, letting them know that committing crimes or otherwise assisting in illegal or corrupt activity might result in “a ton of problems” for them that aren’t worth the risk of legal liability. Fox News and other outlets tried to spin this as Slotkin threatening the mass arrest of young staffers, but the hysteria belies their real worry: Democrats might be able to compile enough evidence that prison is a real threat for many of the people working for Trump.
Slotkin’s remarks clearly rattled the White House. Since then, Trump has repeatedly put out word that his underlings should not have to worry about obeying the law because mass pardons are on their way. A few days after Slotkin’s warning, sources inside the White House told the Washington Sun that administration lawyers are looking at “blanket pardons for all employees involved in particular policy areas, such as deportations, war or trade.”
Still, the White House is facing serious staffing issues. A September report from the Partnership for Public Service found that people Trump hires quickly leave. Not only have there been a record number of resignations, nearly half of the quitters worked less than a year for Trump.
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On Monday, Trump himself also told the New York Post that widespread pardons are on the table, not just for his staff, but for allies like Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk has good reason to be worried. His brief tenure running DOGE has raised a whole host of questions about what laws were broken by him or by staff carrying out his orders. He’s also under suspicion of messing with Ukraine’s Starlink access, crippling its defenses against the invading Russian military. This may explain why Musk spent nearly half a billion dollars — more than any single donor in history — trying to tilt the elections in the GOP’s favor.
Trump and his family members should also be sweating. Trump has often interpreted the Supreme Court’s grant of presidential immunity as all-encompassing, but as Raskin told the New Yorker, he doesn’t see it that way at all. He outlined how the president has made billions in office, roughly $1 million a hour, and that there’s a great deal to learn about where that money is coming from. The Supreme Court’s decision technically only covers crimes committed during the commission of official presidential duties. By definition, Trump’s external money-making enterprises aren’t that. His children are deeply involved in the family business as well. And as the Epstein report made sure to note, some of the crimes Trump and his associates have been accused of committing with his old friend Epstein carry no statute of limitations.
It’s tempting to wave all this off as inconsequential, because Trump and his cronies were able to escape severe ramifications the last time around. But to dismiss this talk would be a mistake, in no small part because Democrats need their feet held to the fire. The corruption this time around is far worse than it was in Trump’s first term, more flagrant as the air of lawlessness led to a level of carelessness that creates more prosecutable evidence. The next Democrat in office may not be like Joe Biden, who shied away from aggressive prosecution of Trump and his allies. Some of the politicians whose names are being bandied around — like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York or Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia — have been highly focused weeding out MAGA corruption.
Then there’s the matter of political will. Before now, it was hard to drum up sufficient political support for accountability because voters simply didn’t care enough about corruption. But as the New York Times reported last week, the issue is a rising source concern for voters. Democrats, for one thing, are doing a better job of linking Trump’s self-dealing to the economic problems of ordinary people. For another, the Epstein scandal has broken into national consciousness, and even Republicans are struggling to sufficiently explain why Trump, despite signing a bill to release all Justice Department files related to the case, is refusing to do so.
With these winds at their back, Democrats have a much better chance of being able to conduct thorough investigations — and pursue criminal consequences for those found to have broken the law.
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