“The president’s been saying this is a hoax,” Massie said, referring to several claims Trump has made in reaction to repeated calls for full disclosure of the files. “He’s been saying that for months. Well, he’s just now decided to investigate a hoax, if it’s a hoax. And I have another concern about these investigations that he’s announced. If they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can’t be released.

“So, this might be a big smokescreen, these investigations, to open a bunch of them, as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files,” he added.

The summary didn’t quite get to how it’s a smokescreen: Investigating Epstein’s ties to Dems might seem like just a distraction from Trump’s connections to him, but investigations also create an excuse for DOJ to block the release of files.