Last week, the internet was set abuzz by a memo from the FBI and Department of Justice about the Jeffrey Epstein case. Epstein, of course, was found hanging in his cell in a New York jail in August 2019, after his arrest on charges of sex trafficking of underage girls. Ever since, speculation has run rampant that he was actually murdered; that he and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell were trafficking those girls to rich, famous and powerful men; that he may have been working for a domestic or foreign intelligence agency; and that all of this was covered up by the federal government.

The memo from the DOJ and FBI, however, came to precisely the opposite conclusion: “This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’ There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. … After a thorough investigation, FBI investigators concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide.”

An enormous number of Americans were deeply disturbed by this memo. After years of being told by prominent commentators and politicians that the so-called Epstein List would be revealed once President Donald Trump took office, that there would be a reckoning for these largely unnamed powerful men, that Americans would learn the entire truth about the piece of human debris who was Jeffrey Epstein; instead Americans were told that there was nothing in the vault after all.

Now, this leaves two choices.

First, there is the possibility that members of the Trump administration are in on it — that the conspiracy actually now includes Attorney General Pam Bondi, who vowed to disclose everything; FBI Director Kash Patel, who called for the release of the supposed Epstein list before entering office; FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who as a radio and podcast host was strongly skeptical of the conventional narrative surrounding Epstein; Vice President J.D. Vance, who told a podcast host just weeks ago that the Epstein list would require release; and Trump himself, who advocated that position.

Then there’s the second possibility: that members of the Trump administration honestly believed that they would be able to unmask a hideous ring of pedophilic activity — and then examined the evidence and found it didn’t justify their suspicions. Frankly, I find this possibility far more plausible than the first possibility: I don’t believe that Bondi, Patel, Bongino, Vance and Trump are so evil that they would cover for a full-scale pedophile ring. I could be wrong. But I generally like to have actual evidence of a cover-up of this magnitude before accusing people of covering up mass child rape.

But perhaps I’m wrong. That’s certainly possible. And if that happens, I’d change my opinion on the Epstein case and the people currently putting it to rest. Until then, I’d suggest that before slandering the entire Trump administration, many of his most ardent supporters examine that second possibility: that the Epstein allegations were oversold, and that good people have looked at the evidence and come to a conclusion based on that evidence.