He—the president, their leader, the martyr who had endured scandals and prosecution and an assassin’s bullet on their behalf—had repeatedly told them it was time to move on, and that alone should suffice. Why, he groused, would the White House add fuel to the fire, would it play into the media’s narrative?

Democrats are echoing criticism from the right of how Donald Trump and his administration have handled case files related to Jeffrey Epstein — a change from Trump’s first term.