Ankush Khardori is a senior writer for POLITICO Magazine and a former federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice. His column, Rules of Law, offers an unvarnished look at national legal affairs and the political dimensions of the law at a moment when the two are inextricably linked.

Donald Trump’s efforts to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein are crumbling, as new reporting offers compelling evidence of a birthday book containing messages to the sex offender. The president maintains that a letter he was reported to have written to Epstein for his 50th birthday is “fake,

The Department of Justice met with Ghislaine Maxwell for the second time today. Also, new reporting from the New York Times reveals President Trump is in a list of contributors in Jeffrey Epstein's "birthday book.