‘The View’ Hosts Have a Theory About Why Trump Won’t Release Epstein Files

The View‘s cohosts reacted to the bombshell release of a new set of emails from Jeffrey Epstein that indicate Donald Trump “knew about the girls” being trafficked by the convicted sex predator.

Sunny Hostin, for one, thought the text of the emails was actually favorable to Trump and wondered why, then, he was so publicly reticent to release the rest of the files about Epstein.

“One of the emails that I have in front of me, from Jeffrey Epstein to Michael Wolff, says, ‘Victim, Mar a Lago,’ then it’s blacked out,” she said. “It says, ‘Trump said he asked me to resign. I was never a member, ever. Of course, he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislane [Maxwell] to stop.’ So he knew about the girls, allegedly, and asked Ghislane to stop. That is actually something that is helpful to him, that he asked her to stop whatever was going on, whether it be sex trafficking or…”

Ana Navarro, however, interrupted to theorize that what Trump was asking Epstein to stop was “poaching girls who were working in Mar a Lago.”

Still, Hostin persisted. “Arguably, this could be helpful to him… Why continue to deny it? That’s the problem that I’m having here.”

Sara Haines then offered her take on the matter, saying, “Well, Sunny, I have a feeling it’s not [a case of], ‘The coverup’s worse than the crime.’ I think the crimes that were committed — and I know you’re not referring to Jeffrey Epstein — but I think the people that will come out have committed the most egregious crimes that you could see in our lifetime, because it was against young, innocent victims, their lives forever changed, and there’s been no justice for them. The more they slow-bleed this evidence out, the more I become more rabid that there are things they’re hiding… I don’t think it looks good for Donald Trump. I understand what you’re saying. I think that the people they’re hiding are not names we might recognize. Who are they hiding? Billionaires. There are billionaires behind this, and billionaires behind every celebrity, powerful face, there are people, not celebrities, but politicians… When you look at powerful people, they’re all covered by money… The people that they will uncover are billionaires that have paid their way to continue victimizing sex abuse and rape survivors. That is what I’m waiting to see.”

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Navarro agreed with Haines, adding, “This entire thing, from beginning to end, has been so incredibly disgusting, and for years, decades, Jeffrey Epstein got away with trafficking, raping, abusing young women, he and his circle of friends, because people looked the other way, because, I guess they thought it was OK to do this to young girls.” She went on to point to the “sweetheart deal” Epstein first got in Florida before the Miami Herald‘s Julie K. Brown wrote a major expose about his crimes. “That’s how he ended up in jail again. That’s how Alex Acosta, the guy who was Trump’s labor secretary the first term, had to resign. And that’s why we are where we are.”

She then said that it was up to the public to continue pressuring for the release of the files, and it will help that the incoming House member from Arizona, who’d promised to vote in favor of releasing the files, will soon be sworn in after the shutdown ends. “It doesn’t mean the Senate will, but it means the House will now pass it, and this should put much more pressure on the Senate. Bottom line is this: Release the damn files and release them now. Release everything.”

Hostin then pressed Alyssa Farah Griffin, the Republican voice of the panel, on why some members of her party don’t want to release the files and who they’re protecting.

“That, to me, is the question,” she agreed. And while she argued that Wolff, who was the other party involved in the emails, wasn’t trustworthy in her experience, she also conceded he didn’t need to be here. “These are documents that were released by the estate, not published in a book by Michael Wolff for profit. And I think the reason that this man, who has been going after Donald Trump for years, wouldn’t have released them himself is because he looks really, really bad. He’s essentially advising and collaborating with the most well-known pedophile and sex trafficker of modern history. So he does not want his name tied to this. So I find them extremely interesting.”

She then went on to point to the text of the emails, noting that the redacted victim in them is likely Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide but maintained in her memoir that Trump wasn’t involved in the abuses of her. “So that leads me to the point: What do you have to hide, Republicans? If this does not implicate Donald Trump, why wouldn’t you say, ‘Release everything?'”

Haines then brought out another element of her theory to note, “Four major banks have been sued by Epstein’s victims, and one settled for what feels a little guilty, $290 million, for not handling how Epstein did his finances. These banks didn’t follow their own rules, and four have been sued, and two have paid out. So they were not guilty, but they settled. But I think the point here is there’s more going on, and it all comes down to money and power. Money, money, and power.”

“I assure you there’s donors on there,” Navarro added.

“Donald Trump wouldn’t be elected without billionaires,” Haines agreed.

Whoopi Goldberg went on to point out Wolff’s own reaction to the release of his emails with Epstein, saying, “So it’s crazy, but Michael Wolff told ABC News he couldn’t remember the specific emails or the context, but that he was in an in-depth conversation with Epstein at the time about his relationship with You Know Who [Trump]. He said he was pushing Epstein, at the time, to go public with what he knew about You Know Who.”

The View, Weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.

If you or someone you know is the victim of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or text INFO to 233733. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.