I’ll have more to say on the Epstein files, and in greater depth, tomorrow. But if I could impart one idea today, it is this: They‘re cooking the files’ release.

Well, duh. We’ve always known that this is their M.O. Whenever there is something really bad, whether it’s the Mueller Report or the latest economic numbers, Trump’s lackeys will manipulate the facts, omit key information, and shape a narrative more favorable to him or distracts from it entirely.

Yesterday, the Justice Department released only part of the Epstein files it was lawfully required to release. And it illegally censored some of the most important parts of them, while withholding others without providing justifications for the redactions, as also required by law. That will wind up before a federal judge not long from now, I’d wager.

And in a cynical and transparent attempt to obstruct the truth, the DOJ removed 16 document links from its website even after initially releasing them. Again, it provided no explanation whatsoever for the withdrawal of certain documents.

But the MeidasTouch team was on it. It turns out, to no one’s surprise, some of these withdrawn documents contain images of Trump.

The DoJ is also attempting to put other officials and celebrities into the spotlight, hoping that we’ll talk about them instead of Trump. For example, it released an image of former President Bill Clinton with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, supposedly from “the Epstein files.” But this was a publicly available picture from a fundraiser, similar to one found on Getty Images. And there is nothing nefarious about it because the children in the photo are Ross’s and Jackson’s own children.

Again, the folks at MeidasTouch were on it.

The attempt to manipulate and cover up the Epstein files will backfire. Specifically, I believe it will create a “Streisand Effect” that only draws more attention to what they are trying to hide.

There are already plans to file articles of impeachment against Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with threats to charge her with obstruction of justice, given the clear and unequivocal requirements of the new law, which she and others such as Todd Blanche and Kash Patel appear to have willfully violated. (Dan Bongino resigned from the FBI just days before the statutory deadline for releasing the files.)

There is a clear, logical conclusion to draw from Trump’s months-long efforts to prevent passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, coupled with the apparent White House cover-up now underway: Whatever is in those files is worse than the blowback they knew they would receive from their attempts to obstruct its disclosure.

We will get to that truth. In the meantime, we aren’t falling for the misdirections and manipulations. “Look over here!” isn’t going to work, any more than “It’s a Democratic hoax” did.

Trump and his cronies are out of tricks, and the nation is out of patience.