A former federal prosecutor has rounded on President Donald Trump for calling a journalist “piggy,” and has invoked the spirit of a fierce Muppet to demand the release of the case files on the investigation into former financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Why It Matters
Trump’s comment to a female journalist from the Bloomberg news agency came amid national spotlight on the abuse of girls at the hands of Epstein and his rich and powerful associates.
What To Know
Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, has faced criticism for the way he treated Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent, when she asked him on Air Force One on November 14 why he would not release the Epstein files if there was nothing incriminating in them.
“Quiet,” he said, jabbing a finger at the journalist. “Quiet, piggy.”
Former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Joyce Vance said in a post on her Substack Civil Discourse that the president’s response to a legitimate question was “particularly galling.”
“It tells you all you need to know about this president’s attitude toward women. Of course, that hasn’t been in doubt,” she said.
Trump has said he would sign a bill passed by both the House and the Senate on Tuesday to require the Justice Department to publicly release its files on Epstein. But questions remain about what might be released, given the possibility that a new Justice Department investigation might mean some material has to be held back, and to what extent what is released is redacted.
“Enough demeaning of women. Signing the Epstein Files bill when it hits his desk, which Trump has promised to do, won’t be enough. The files have to be released, no excuses,” Vance said.
Trump has said his friendship with Epstein ended in the early 2000s, but the release of new documents in recent days, and the prospect of more to come, has brought fresh scrutiny of the relationship. Epstein died by suicide in a New York federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking.
Vance said the possibility of a new Justice Department investigation, after Trump had called for a closer look into suspected links between Democrats and Epstein, was a “dodge.”
“Trump is safe in the knowledge that he could take the publicly popular position on release of the files, watch it pass the House and Senate…and count on his lawyers at the Justice Department, with their newly refreshed investigation open, to decline to release files, or at least parts of them he wants withheld,” she said.
Referring to Trump’s remarks to Lucey, Vance wrote: “We shouldn’t forget that the president of the United States uttered those words in this moment. At a time when women were fighting for justice, the man who cut himself out of the investigation into wrongdoing had that to say about a woman who was simply trying to do her job.”
“Perhaps women should claim the glamorous, sassy Muppet Miss Piggy, a known diva with a fierce karate chop, as their own symbol. Call a woman a piggy, and see how that goes for you, Mr. President,” she wrote.
What People Are Saying
Joyce Vance, former federal prosecutor and now legal analyst, wrote in a Substack newsletter: “It’s time to emulate the great Miss Piggy, who has never stayed quiet in the face of those who don’t respect her.”
What Happens Next
The Epstein Files Transparency Act is heading to Trump’s desk for his signature and the president has said he would sign the bill, but it remains to be seen what is actually released and to what extent material might be redacted.
Read the full article here
