“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy.  He’s a lot of fun to be with.   It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” — Donald Trump

Does character matter? It seemed to, when Republicans railed against Bill Clinton for his association with Jeffrey Epstein. Character matters, we were told, ad infinitum. What did Trump mean when he said ‘beautiful women… on the younger side?

Why did Trump have enough interest in the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant to purchase the business? Maybe to help those “on the younger side” with scholarships? By his own admission, he liked to roam through the dressing rooms. His descriptions of those activities don’t really sound benevolent.

Why was Alexander Acosta named to his cabinet? Is this yet another example of the “very best people”? Acosta was the federal prosecutor who engineered the sweetheart deal for Epstein, in which Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to the much reduced charge, rather than as charged to sex trafficking of under-aged girls. Acosta appears to have violated the Crime Victim’s Rights Act by illegally hiding the plea agreement from the victims and their families.

Epstein served only a year for the crime he pleaded to, while no prison, and jail release for twelve hours to go to his office. The Acosta plea arrangement was called the deal of the century. Now he’s on Trump’s cabinet.

Bill Clinton was friendly with Epstein, too. Maybe many other pols too. Perhaps there were some areas of bi-partisan mutual interest. Terrific guy, fun to be around.

Trump, while failing to mention the dozens of adolescent teenaged girl victims of Epstein and his pals, said he “feels badly for Alexander Acosta.”

So far there’s no definitive proof that Trump did anything beyond admiring the “lifestyle” of Jeffrey Epstein. They look like great pals in some of those photos of them together; not even Kellyanne Conway can deny that. It’s not a crime to be friends with someone that misbehaves, even criminally. But it doesn’t smell good.