The Daily Beast Podcast How the Epstein Files Backfired on Trump: Wolff
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Dec 24, 2025 
Michael Wolff, a seasoned journalist and author known for his incisive looks into politics and media, discusses the chaotic fallout from the release of the Epstein files and their unexpected impact on Donald Trump. He explains how the document dump obscures facts while raising crucial questions about Trump’s knowledge of Epstein. They delve into the dangers of sidelining institutions, evaluate the fitness of presidential candidates, and examine Trump’s strategy of branding as a means to maintain legacy and control in a chaotic media landscape.
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Release Without Context Breeds Confusion
- Flooding raw documents without indexes increases confusion instead of clarity.
- Michael Wolff says the Epstein file became a garbage can that magnified mystery, not solved it.
Epstein File Became An Undifferentiated Funnel
- The Epstein files contain everything mentioning Epstein, including likely fakes and irrelevant items.
- Wolff warns the dump turned into an undifferentiated funnel that muddies real leads.
Data Dumps Can Be A Political Smokescreen
- Releasing mountains of data can be used strategically to obscure damaging facts.
- Wolff suggests the DOJ/White House may have deliberately 'flooded the zone' to muddy visibility.