Like everyone else, I've been following with interest the drama of the Epstein files for the past 9 months or so.

It's obvious that there's something in those files that Trump doesn't want released.  But what is it?

It's tempting to assume the worst, and yet, I tend to think that if Trump was implicated as directly participating in the sex-traffic ring, we would know by now.  The files might be withheld, redacted or destroyed, but there would also have to be human eye-witnesses to these activities, right?  The victims or the other participants would have been able to name Trump, and I find it hard to believe they wouldn't have come forward and named Trump already, if he was truly directly involved.

So, like most people, I believed that the Epstein files must hold embarrassing, but not incriminating, information about Trump.  At least that's what I thought 9 months ago.

Since then, it's been astonishing to see what a huge fight Trump has put up to keep those Epstein files from getting released.  In fact, many people have even speculated that one reason the Republican leadership was so intransigent about not making a deal on the government shutdown is because they wanted to delay congress reconvening and demanding the release of the Epstein files.

And now that the files have been released, they've redacted so much of it--in blatant violation of the law.

So, there's got to be something really bad in there, right?  I mean at this point, how could you think otherwise?  

My prediction: I doubt the Epstein files will show Trump was a direct participant in the sex-trafficking right, but I'm guessing it will show he knew about it all along, and did nothing to stop it.