Podcast host Shawn Ryan on the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files: "They've botched it so fucking bad from the very beginning" | Media Matters for America

From the October 27, 2025, edition of Vigilance Elite's The Shawn Ryan Show

SHAWN RYAN (HOST): I think they have botched this so bad that unless it aligns with the wildest conspiracy theory out there, nobody's going to fucking believe it.

JON DELANEY (GUEST): Exactly.

RYAN: Why haven't you just released it? Just release it. Just fucking release it. Like, what was the last thing? The DOJ's not gonna listen to Maxwell at all, or they're not, they're not even going to like -- I've heard all kinds of things, you know, but --

DELANEY: I think, I think -- Look, we've been, our government's been lying to us for decades, man, about everything. And it's like the boy that cried wolf. You lie once, lie twice, lie three times, eventually you start not believing somebody. And they've done this to themselves. We DMed about this recently. You had a comment on my page. You said that, you know, this is, this is decades of the government lying. I think what's happened with this whole Epstein thing -- I think there are parts of it that are true. I don't, I don't doubt that he trafficked women, and there are people involved -- not even women, girls, teenagers. Disgusting shit. But, I often wonder, has the theories that are out there, have some of them been cooked up by maybe a foreign government that wants to sow more distrust?

RYAN: It's definitely possible.

DELANEY: And the government, and then the question is, is this -- we're all expecting all these big names to be in it. And what if that's not what if -- what if our expectations are here, and what's actually there is here? And if they release it now, are you going to believe it?

RYAN: No, I'm not. I don't know anybody that would believe it.

DELANEY: Right. They totally fucked it up.

RYAN: They've botched it so fucking bad from the very beginning when the influencers went to the White House holding up the binders like it's some type of a trophy. Like, 'Look at me, I'm in with the administration.' Well, buddy, the administration just discredited your entire fucking career.

DELANEY: Yeah.

RYAN: Good job. And, and, you know, but not only that. Then it was, then it was, you know, the comments, 'Are we still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?' Yes we are still talking about Jeffrey Epstein cause you ran half your fucking campaign off getting these files released. Of course we're still talking about Jeffrey Epstein. You know, then, you know, fast forward then there was the footage, they released the footage, but, oh, there's a blip. And it's like, dude, are you fucking serious? Are you shitting me? You're going to release footage with a -- with it's missing fucking time. Like, get the fuck out of here with that shit.