Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Ann Hart

To the Editor:

I think President Trump is an expert at distractions. We’ve seen the East Wing of the White House demolished, the historic rose garden tilled up and replaced by concrete, the unveiling of unpresidential plaques at the White House deriding past presidents, and finally the renaming of the Kennedy Center in Trump’s honor. Over the next three years we will probably see much of the proud city of Washington D.C. renamed and redone to honor Donald Trump.

But again, these distract from his real purpose, that of taking away rights, destroying lives, and ignoring laws. Trump has a tendency to deflect and distract when there’s something he doesn’t want out there. Don’t be distracted. The Justice Department has failed to release the Epstein files which Congress required it to do in the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Republicans willingly shut down the government for 43 days to avoid releasing those files. Speaker Johnson denied swearing in the new Arizona representative for 50 days to delay the vote on Epstein. When that vote finally did happen it was nearly unanimous in supporting the victims and ordering the release of all files and documents having to do with the vile treatment of young women by wealthy powerful men.

And yet here we are, incomplete files, heavily redacted documents, removal of previously released items. What is it that President Donald J. Trump does not want us to know? The New York Times ran a story December 19 about the president’s relationship with Epstein. It stated, “Chasing women was a game of ego and dominance. Female bodies were currency.” Let that sink in.

Why are our Iowa senators and representatives silent? Why don’t they stand up for women who were victimized? Some of these victims were in fact children at the time of the alleged rapes and assaults. Where is Grassley, Ernst, and Hinson’s decency and outrage? It’s simple. They value loyalty to Trump above all. Don’t let them.

Ann Hart
Waukon