Sherlock Holmes fans will instantly recognize the expression, “the dog that didn’t bark,” coming from the story, “The Adventure of Silver Blaze.” Holmes realized the stable dog’s silence proves the culprit was someone the dog knew — leading to the solution of the case.
In a recently released e-mail provided to the House of Representatives, Jeffrey Epstein referred to Donald Trump as “the dog that hasn’t barked” because Trump’s name had not surfaced publicly in connection with Epstein’s trafficking network, despite Epstein claiming that Trump had spent hours with one of his victims. In April 2011, Epstein wrote to Maxwell:
“I want you to realize that the dog that hasn’t barked is Trump. [Victim] spent hours at my house with him, he has never once been mentioned.”
Maxwell replied:
“I have been thinking about that.”
The victim’s name was redacted in the released documents, but was later revealed to be Virginia Guiffre, who committed suicide. Her family described her as a lifelong survivor of sexual abuse and trafficking who had dedicated her life to advocacy. She had described being trafficked to Prince Andrew and others. Giuffre said she had never been sexually abused by Donald Trump and did not believe he was involved in Epstein’s crimes.
Laratee VanNieuwenhuyze
Several Republicans, including White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, argue that the failure of Democrats to release Guiffre’s name meant they didn’t want her denials of Trump’s involvement in sex crimes to be part of the story.
“The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump," said Karoline Leavitt. "The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions.”
The Epstein e-mails didn’t specifically claim Trump committed any crime but did say Trump spent “several hours” with Guiffre at Epstein’s New York penthouse apartment. Since the White House chooses to speculate that Guiffre’s past statements are evidence of Trump’s innocence, I would point to past statements from other women exonerating Trump after receiving significant payments from the real estate magnate. While Steve Bannon suggests the number of women that Trump paid off to remain silent is high, we certainly know about Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Bannon claimed that Trump’s lawyers had “taken care of” or paid off many women — possibly around 100 — during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Donald Trump has alternately claimed to have kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago private club because he was a “pedophile and a creep.” He’s also claimed to have “no knowledge” of Epstein’s activities. Epstein breaks the tie by saying Trump knew about the girls. Trump himself claimed Epstein, “likes beautiful women on the younger side.” Trump meant that as a positive attribute at the time.
The phrase “the dog that didn’t bark” has entered everyday language as a metaphor for evidence revealed by what doesn’t happen. The dog seems to be barking now as more evidence about Trump’s involvement with Epstein is coming out every day. I’m hoping for Epstein’s co-conspirators to face justice soon. Even if one happens to be the President of the United States.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.