§41 —
On the hoax
Democrat
427-1
Then the memo met the House. In November the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed 427 to 1, and he signed it into law 1. By late December the Justice Department had released about 3.5 million pages, with roughly 200,000 withheld or redacted 2. A hoax is a thing with nothing inside it. This one needed a statute to open and a redaction team to close.
The other hoax kept its own books. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranked 2025 the third-warmest year in a record that begins in 1850, and the ten warmest years in it have come since 2015 3. In the year the word was used most, four hundred twenty-seven members of one House agreed on one thing, and it was to open the file the word was guarding.
Sources
- The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the House 427–1 and was signed into law — JURIST, 19 November 2025 ↑
- About 3.5 million pages released, roughly 200,000 withheld or redacted — CNN, 27 December 2025 ↑
- 2025 the third-warmest year since 1850; the ten warmest years have occurred since 2015 — NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, January 2026 ↑
Republican
HOAX
The word has a record of its own, and the best receipt for it came from his own Justice Department. On July 7 of last year a joint Justice and FBI memo found no incriminating "client list" in the Epstein investigation and concluded that "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted" 1. Nine days later he wrote that "their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax" 2. The word travels: at the United Nations in September he called climate change "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world," and said the "carbon footprint is a hoax made up by people with evil intentions" 34.
The case for the word, stated fairly: when the government's own investigators say there is nothing more to release, a demand for more is a demand for a story, and "hoax" is the name for a story. That case rests on the memo. The other column is what happened to the memo.
Sources
- Justice Department and FBI memo: no incriminating "client list"; "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted" — PBS NewsHour, 7 July 2025 ↑
- "Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax" — Truth Social — Axios, 16 July 2025 ↑
- Climate change is "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world" — address to the UN General Assembly — The Hill, 23 September 2025 ↑
- "Carbon footprint is a hoax made up by people with evil intentions" — E&E News, 23 September 2025 ↑
“It's a small thing, it's probably nothing. The Justice Department's memo in July said there was no client list and nothing more needed releasing. Nine days later the files were a hoax. Then the House voted four hundred twenty-seven to one to release them, and he signed it. Then three and a half million pages came out, with about two hundred thousand withheld or redacted. Oh — one more thing, I almost forgot. A memo, a law, and three and a half million pages. Which of those do you need for a hoax?”— Lou
“In July it was the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax — capital H, his spelling. In November the House voted to release the files four hundred twenty-seven to one, and he signed it. By Christmas the Justice Department had put out three and a half million pages and held back about two hundred thousand more. You don't black out a hoax. You black out a file.”
“The president called the files a hoax and then released them to prove it, and withheld two hundred thousand pages to protect the hoax's integrity — it's a consistent position once you stop reading it in order.”