It would not bear scrutiny.What I want to know is why Trump didn't just have a fake Epstein list ready to drop as soon as the masses started grumbling, if not sooner. Isn't that exactly his style? We just saw him conjure up an AI deepfake video of Obama getting arrested, and it's not even clear why yet. Lying to people and ruining the lives of everyone he doesn't like are his two favorite things in the world, and a fake Epstein list consisting exclusively of Democrats, the disloyal, and a handful of sacrificial Republicans that the public has long been suspicious of would achieve both those things. Even a fake list that's exactly like the real one except Trump himself is conveniently absent from it would still do him a world of good. I would have expected him to start working on it during his first term. Or am I just too good at thinking like an evil wannabe dictator compared to the one who's actually trying to become one right now? I already knew I'm better at thinking like a good President...
I don't know who is on the list at all other than Trump, but a lot of the people on the list know a lot of the others on the list. They partied together. If Trump made a witch hunt out of it, the targeted people would start to talk. Trump doesn't hold all the cards. People on the list are a threat to him too. Probably the explanation for the position he is taking is that a general armistice is in his best interests.