During a casual meeting arranged through the dating app Hinge, a senior Justice Department official was secretly recorded in what is being called a “honeytrap,” boasting about a plan to help shield Republicans from impending backlash over Jeffrey Epstein’s client files.

But instead of engaging with the claims in the secretly recorded clip, many Donald Trump’s supporters dismissed it as “fake news” and turned their attention to mocking the staffer himself.

The DOJ has since gone into damage-control mode, scrambling to contain the fallout, with the episode highlighting how the fight over the unreleased files has become entangled in political theater.

At the center of the controversy is Joseph Schnitt, an acting deputy chief under Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was secretly recorded on tw

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