'It's Not a Crime to Party With Mr. Epstein': The Empty New Defense from Trump's DOJ

When Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s former personal defense attorney and now Deputy Attorney General, said on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle that “it’s not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein,” he was technically correct—and revealing just how empty that defense is.

Criminal law sets the minimum threshold for prosecution; it does not set the standard for leadership, competence, or judgment—least of all for the presidency of the United States. When a senior Justice Department official retreats to the narrowest possible legal framing to defend social association with a convicted child sex offender, he is not answering the question being asked. He is avoiding it.

The question is not whether it was illegal to attend a party. The question is what it says about judgment when powerful adults continue to associate with a man whose abuse of minors was widely known and publicly documented by the mid-2000s. Saying “it’s not a crime” is not a defense of competence. It is a concession that no higher standard is being asserted.

Blanche’s response relies on a category error. Yes, social association is not, by itself, a crime. It never has been. It is not a crime to email a criminal. It is not a crime to attend a dinner where a criminal is present. The law is deliberately narrow, because it must be. Guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and association alone cannot satisfy that standard.

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