President Donald Trump’s recent prayer rally on the National Mall laid bare the religious right’s own Epstein files, and may have jeopardized one of his allies in Congress, according to one political analyst.
Trump held an event called “Rededicate 250” at the National Mall on Sunday, which was billed as a celebration of the impact Jesus Christ has had on the U.S. The event was attended by MAGA fans and Trump administration officials like Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). It was sharply criticized by some political analysts for representing a blending of church and state.
Sidney Blumenthal, who co-hosts “The Court of History” podcast on the Legal AF Network, said during a new episode on Wednesday that the prayer rally also put some of Trump’s allies in danger by bringing to light a scandalous case that the Trump Department of Justice killed last year.
In November, the Trump DOJ closed its investigation of Paul Pressler, a disgraced minister from Texas who had been accused of pedophilia. Pressler was key in aligning the religious right behind traditional Republicans, beginning with former President George W. Bush, Blumenthal noted. Pressler also helped build Johnson’s career and had considered him to be the founding dean of a law school bearing Pressler’s name before the minister died in 2024, Blumenthal added.
Blumenthal suggested that Trump’s rally exposed the ties between members of the religious right and Pressler, which could come back to bite him as the midterms approach.
“This is the religious right’s Epstein files in the Pressler case,” Blumenthal said. “And many of those people who were covering it up were present at this rally on the mall.”
Blumenthal’s comments come at a time when the Trump administration is facing renewed scrutiny for its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
On Tuesday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), one of the Republicans who pushed the Trump administration to release the files, lost his primary election. Trump endorsed Massie’s challenger, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, which some analysts said was likely due to Massie’s support for the Epstein transparency bill.
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