When Axios reported earlier this week that a memo produced by President Donald Trump's Justice Department and FBI concluded that there is "no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a 'client list' or was murdered," the MAGA movement went into full meltdown.
For years, MAGA activists have been convinced that the Epstein files contained the key to finally taking down the "deep state" and that Trump was the only politician in America with the courage to release them; a belief that was eagerly fueled by members of Trump's own administration.
Now Trump and those same administration officials are being accused of covering up the truth about Epstein and his death, which is prompting some Trump cultists to twist themselves in knots defending the administration.
For instance, QAnon conspiracy theorist Liz Crokin, who has built an entire career on promising that Trump was working diligently to expose Epstein's secrets, was forced to scramble to explain why Trump himself angrily shut down questions about the Epstein investigation during a cabinet meeting earlier this week.
"This is brilliant," Crokin claimed during an appearance on "The Hannah Faulkner Show" on Tuesday, insisting that it was all a ruse by the president to trick the media into covering the Epstein issue.
"I kind of feel like we seeing a little classic President Trump Kabuki theater 5-D chess here," Crokin declared.
MAGA pastor and unabashed Trump cultist Shane Vaughn took a different approach, telling those who believe that Trump and his administration are engaged in a cover up to "let it go" in a video he posted on Facebook.
"You trust [Trump], right?" Vaughn asked. "You trust Pam Bondi, you trust Dan Bongino, you trust Kash Patel. Let. It. Go! Get over it. Move on."
"Evil is evil. It's always there," Vaughn counseled. "Trust God. Trust Trump. Trust our Justice Department. We've got great people up there now."
Todd Coconato, another right-wing pastor and Trump cultist, posted his own video on social media in which he passionately insisted that there must be "more to the story" because there is simply no way that Trump and his administration would "gaslight the whole MAGA movement" like this.
"I don't think that [Trump] wants his legacy to be that he allowed one of the biggest stories in our generation to just go away," Coconato insisted. "Either the man is a complete liar, which I just can't imagine that being the case. Dan Bongino, Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, we'll go down the list; would every one of them sell their soul? People say for money, they do it for money, they do it for power, they were just lying. All of them? All of them were doing that? So you're telling me that not one of them has a conscience? Not one of them would say, 'Hey you know what? I can't be involved in this, so I'm going to step down from this position' so they save their reputation and their integrity? You're telling me that none of this group—Karoline Leavitt, who is literally a strong believer—you're telling me that all these people, all of them are willing to sell their soul for power and none of them are going to step down? They're just going to be in lockstep with President Trump to just gaslight the whole MAGA movement?"
"I would say pause and pray and believe that there's more to the story, like I do," Coconato added. "I do think there's more to the story. I think we're going to hear more, I think we're going to see more, but I think it might take some time and I think everybody needs to have some patience."
"Don't just turn on this administration," Coconato begged. "Even if they did gaslight us on this, this is still far better than it would have ever been with a Kamala Harris administration."
