Is Your Favorite Influencer Compromised? #BinderGate EXPOSED
How the White House Used Influencers to Gaslight the American People About "The Epstein Files"
I was melting into my black velvet couch on a quiet February morning in Los Angeles when I got an unexpected text from my former boss. It was a photo of her holding a white binder labeled The Epstein Files: Phase 1.
Beneath an oversized Department of Justice emblem, the cover read:
“The Most Transparent Administration In History
The 45th and 47th President of the United States
Donald J. Trump”
—all in a black, italicized serif font. The phrase “DECLASSIFIED” was stamped diagonally across the page, the last few letters bleeding into the DOJ seal. It was printed on plain white paper, slightly smaller than the binder itself, giving the whole thing the look of a last-minute Kinko’s print job—definitely not what you’d expect from a document claiming to hold the secrets of America’s most protected elite.
My first thought:
Why is the “I” in “In” capitalized?
Does the White House need a copy editor? And a graphic designer?
The presentation was sloppy. The messaging was silly. And the promise—comically farfetched. There was no way these Office Depot binders were the mystical trapper keepers that would finally expose Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators, identities that have been shielded from the public for years.
Earlier that February morning, as rumors swirled that we might finally be “getting the list,” I couldn’t help myself. I rained on the parade with a moody carousel post complete with a Vampire Weekend piano cover.
“The moment we’ve all been waiting for: The Epstein List. I’d wager the reality will be far less exciting than the version we’ve scripted in our minds.
There will be no grand unraveling, no parade of the the guilty. Instead, a carefully measured disclosure, use enough to quell curiosity but never enough to dismantle the machine that enabled it.
And even if the client list is 100% real, unreacted & untouched— if it isn’t the spectacle we crave, will we even believe it? The truth rarely arrives with the force we expect. But imagination? That never fails us.”
I knew we weren’t getting the list.
I kept my skepticism to myself. I didn’t want to rain on my former boss’s moment. This was big for her—an exclusive invite to the Oval Office, one of just 15 influencers chosen by Pam Bondi to receive what was billed as never-before-seen (allegedly) declassified (allegedly) material.
It’s not every day someone hands you a white binder and tells you it might change history. I couldn’t fault her for saying yes. I’d be curious, too.
Some of the other lucky recipients included Liz Wheeler, Rogan O’Handley (DC_Draino), Jack Posobiec, Chad Prather, Chaya Raichik (LibsofTikTok), and Mike Cernovich. The room had influence.
A Getty photographer captured the moment—an image now etched into the absurdity of #BinderGate. A group of influencers stood outside the White House, proudly waving their binders in the air like VIP swag bags from Turning Point USA. Front and center was right-wing commentator Rogan “DC Draino” O’Handley, hoisting his binder like a prize he’d just won at a silent auction at Mar-a-Lago.
“Why are these influencers flaunting these binders around like it’s a new car and not a document containing disturbing information about a disturbing sex trafficking ring?” Online critics started asking questions after seeing the bizarre photo-op.
“Why is Pam Bondi using influencers to gatekeep sensitive information that should already be made available to the public?” others wondered, calling this event a “tacky, tone deaf PR stunt.”
The influencers drowned out the noise.
My former boss started posting aesthetic pictures and videos of the binder on her Instagram story. D.C. Draino started posting lengthy statements praising the administration’s transparency.
“Today I met with President Trump, VP JD Vance, AG Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel in the Oval Office,” D.C. Draino wrote.
“They handed me a binder copy of the Epstein Files. This is the most transparent administration in American history. The best part? This is just the start. AG Bondi confirmed there are thousands more Epstein File documents being secretly held in the SDNY and they will be delivered to the DOJ in DC by February 28. People will be going to jail for what they've done,” D.C. Draino said that day in February, sounding confident that Epstein’s co-conspirators would finally be held accountable.
Unfortunately, his confidence didn’t land.
Releasing the so-called Epstein files through handpicked influencers and flimsy Office Depot binders felt less like transparency and more like gatekeeping dressed up as access.
Predictably, all hell broke loose on X.
#BinderGate was born (a Pisces).
Deep Dive Below:
* Elon Conspiracies Included
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