What Trump’s DOJ memo on Epstein really says and why it’s dividing his base
President Donald Trump outraged many of his supporters after the Justice Department published an unsigned memo saying it would not release any more documents related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For years, Trump and some members of his administration fanned conspiracy theories about the content of the files.
But in a rapid reversal, some conservative influencers who criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the “Epstein files” are now telling fellow skeptics to move on.
Related Knowledge Center: Democracy and politics
News organizations are scrambling to find a coverage approach that adequately informs the American public about the country’s slide from democracy to authoritarian rule.
Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity
In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug.
Fact-checking and its detractors