Wow please fact check your posts

[snowybirdie]

I'm seeing so many false postings today regarding the Epstein files. I trusted several, and reposted elsewhere. Now I have egg on my face because several were totally false. I.e.the suicide message to Larry Nasar. DUers are so reliable, what's happened today?

[Blues Heron]

1. Why would you doubt that letter? Birds of a feather flock together- like Epstein reaching out to nasser

Fellow Jailbirds and all

[snowybirdie]

16. NBC fact Checked

And stated it was false this afternoon

[Blues Heron]

17. Hardly the gold standard there lol

[malaise]

2. Why did the DOJ release the fake Nassar letter

Last edited Tue Dec 23, 2025, 07:17 PM - Edit history (1)

That is the question

[Scrivener7]

3. This is their plan. The heavily redacted batch didn't fly. So then they released that second batch.

When they released it, it was accompanied by a statement that many of the statements included within it were proven false.

So they released this letter, waited for people to read it and believe it, then proved it false. And there does seem to be evidence to prove it is not from Epstein:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/12/23/major-epstein-files-release-doj-says-letter-to-larry-nassar-mentioning-trump-is-fake/

If this happens a few times, people will stop believing anything in the files is true.

[ananda]

4. Oh, that's really Machiavellian...

Sheesh

[Scrivener7]

6. It's how they tried to hide Abu Ghraib. It toppled Dan Rather then, but ultimately didn't work.

Hopefully it won't work this time.

[yellow dahlia]

8. Exactly.

Smoke and mirrors. Muddy waters. Muck and mire lit by a gaslight.

Pretty soon no one will know what to believe.

[Scrivener7]

15. Again, see the Forbes article. It lists the elements in the letter that show it to be false.

And again, stop insulting everyone. Have some civility.

[Mr.WeRP]

18. Yeah I read it and the "analysis" is laughable

It is based on DoJ leadership opinion and nothing else.

[Scrivener7]

19. Have a lovely holiday.

[demmiblue]

28. ...

[Scrivener7]

31. Oh, NOW I get this! It wasn't me, I swear.

[demmiblue]

35. Lol! I stand corrected... he has no more.

[yellow dahlia]

5. They are trying to create confusion, so that nothing can be credible.

I immediately questioned the Nasser notecard. In it Epstein supposedly hinted he was taking the short ride home, aka suicide. I can't convince myself he committed suicide.

[yourout]

7. That set of my spidy sense as well.

[2naSalit]

9. Red Herring?

[Kaleva]

10. It's in the files

[canetoad]

32. Because it purports to be

A suicide note from Epstein. I think trump is worrying about being accused of murdering him.

[Midnight Writer]

36. "Flood the zone with bullshit" - Steve Bannon This way, no one will be sure what is true and what is not true.

I have read that they are "releasing" materials that were not in the Epstein files and have nothing to do with him, just to muddy the waters.

Truth is the first target of a despotic regime.

That is why everything is "fake news", why scientists, doctors and military professionals are being attacked and sidelined, why the lies gush from the White House like a firehose of bullshit.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. OK, at what time are you saying that DUers were the problem, rather than the media who reported it?

You say it's DUers that should have been "fact checking". Do you think that ought to be aimed at the media who have the actual abilities to fact check, rather than DUers who were just reposting what the media had?

If you feel you had "egg on your face", then by your standard, you should have been fact checking too.

[Mr.WeRP]

12. I find it odd that you are dismissing released evidence by the DoJ

Without putting any references of fact that it is false. Talk about misinformation!

Put up or shut up if you can’t prove it is false.

[Scrivener7]

14. Here's a Forbes article listing the elements in the letter that indicate it is false.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/12/23/major-epstein-files-release-doj-says-letter-to-larry-nassar-mentioning-trump-is-fake/

Also, Julie K. Brown has said the handwriting isn't Epstein's. As the person who first broke the story for the Miami Herald after years of research, she'd probably know.

It is also important to note that, along with the second batch of files they released, the DOJ sent an accompanying letter stating that much in that batch was false information.

Do we believe them? Do we not? I don't know.

But the Epstein to Nassar letter does seem to be fake.

Also, can you have this conversation without insulting everyone? Thanks.

[Mr.WeRP]

20. Yeah I read that and it is based solely on statements by DoJ leadership

No professional forensic analysis

[questionseverything]

23. I have read the forbes article a couple of times now

They say the handwriting doesn’t match but they don’t show samples, they say the addy is wrong but don’t show anything

I trust the FBI about as far as I can throw them, which means, not at all

He could of written the nascar letter and someone else actually mailed it after his death

I’m not saying for sure either way but I trust nothing from the current administration

[Scrivener7]

25. I agree. We just can't know. And that's a big problem.

Though on this particular letter, I do tend to lean towards Julie K. Brown's assessment.

[Kaleva]

24. One can't prove a negative

It’s like asking “Prove that God doesn’t exist!”. Do you see the problem with that line of thinking?

[Blues Heron]

30. Of course you can prove a negative, if you have proof that is. Why would they choose to implicate trump

In a fake letter? Doesn’t exactly help him

[Wiz Imp]

21. Where's your proof that the Nassar letter was fake?

Last edited Tue Dec 23, 2025, 08:16 PM - Edit history (1)

All I've seen is that the FBI said that. The FBI has zero credibility. Regardless, it was released as part of the files. It's not a poster at DU's responsibility to verify that info posted on the DOJ website is true. As long as the info is sourced to the DOJ, then any beef should be with the DOJ, NOT DU posters.

[hlthe2b]

22. As more information comes out (like the reasons why the Epstein letter to Nasser mentioning Trump screams "fake"

but that wasn't available earlier in the day. Same with some of the other material released.

I agree with going back to one's post if something has come out since to invalidate it, but I think we all are going to have to be wary for a while as MSM (and others) hopefully fact-check some of it.

[Blue Full Moon]

26. Believe Bondi? It's in there not added.

The suicide note that they need to prove that he wasn't killed?

UPDATE: CNN confirms that "the envelope [holding the Epstein-Nassar Note] was sent from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City [where Epstein was being held] to Nassar"—*and* got vetted by federal officials.

Which explains the Virginia postmark (where the FBI is).

[demmiblue]

27. Heh, good luck with that! n/t

[Iggo]

29. Unclench, would ya?

This story was all over the place all morning.

And now you’re mad at people for not fact checking it? Why didn’t you fact check it before you passed it on?

[Raven123]

33. Is it possible/probable that the files contain all leads ?

In other words, the files are a repository for every bit of possible evidence discovered. So everything contained is not vetted and when bits and pieces are released, we don’t get the information about that process.

Basically the zone is being flooded.

[Scrivener7]

37. I think you're right.

[DoBW]

34. don't waffle, just dance

and FDT

[snowybirdie]

38. As reported tonight

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/23/politics/larry-nassar-epstein-files-letter

[Irish_Dem]

39. One of the way posts are fact checked is by posting information.

This allows others to vet the post for validity.

[Ms. Toad]

40. I haven't found Duers to be any more reliable than any other group of people on social media in fact checking -

And we/they are often reluctant to correct posts which are nonsense even when it is pointed out repeatedly by many members of DU.

[usonian]

41. We are not journalists, and have no way to solidly fact-check.

But we can edit posts post-facto, which another forum I use does not enable you to do.

Given the speculation and personal opinion here, I can think of worse than trusting a bit much. Because we can later "splain the goof.

The Creative Speculation forum was retired.

Where else can one go?

[Patton French]

42. There's a lot more going on here than meets the eye.

Who benefits?

[allegorical oracle]

43. Has anyone checked with Nassar? He might shed some light, and he's still alive,

is 62 years old, and serving his sentence at a prison in Lewisburg, PA. Have to say that the creator of that Epstein letter, now judged to be fake, knew him. So, who would fake such a letter and why?