While MAGA-aligned House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) closed down Congress a week early to reportedly prevent the House from voting on the H. Res. 531 bill calling for the release of the Epstein Files, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced results of its “Operation Grayskull.”
As seen below, FBI Director Kash Patel said, “I’m excited to announce the results of a global operation to take down four of the biggest child sexual abuse sites on the dark web, and to bring the criminals who operate them to justice.”
Patel reports that 19 subjects were arrested in the United States, and added: “Shockingly many of these perpetrators had no prior criminal record. They were people we knew, neighbors, colleagues, even family members. They were active in our communities and around our children.”
Operation Grayskull represents one of the most significant strikes ever made against child sexual abuse material websites on the dark web. Every arrest in these cases not only delivers justice—it sends a powerful message: you cannot hide behind anonymity to harm children.… pic.twitter.com/XKguOtnDqN
— FBI (@FBI) July 23, 2025
Many replied to Patel’s video on social media with snark and accusations of Patel running a “two-tiered system of justice” — a phrase MAGA used to denigrate the DOJ during the Biden administration, when it pursued criminal charges against Trump.
In the video, Patel says that complex operations like Grayskull “take years” to track perpetrators on the dark web, though the current FBI Director does not acknowledge that the convictions of the prime subjects happened during the Biden administration, as noted in the Operation Grayskull press release, to which he provided a link.
One cynic replied to Patel: “All of these arrests happened before Trump took office. What’s with the victory lap? Get to work. I thought you were going to take this seriously. The dates are listed in today’s press release.”
Patel’s “victory lap” about an operation that largely preceded his tenure — and which notably shows law enforcement targeting pedophiles — has been criticized as part of a concerted attempt to deflect attention away from the far more volatile and controversial pedophile case concerning Jeffrey Epstein, and Donald Trump’s former friendship with the late convicted sex offender.
[NOTE: Enraging both MAGA and many on the Left, the DOJ and FBI recently claimed there is no Epstein client list, after saying there was and that it was in the hands of the FBI.]
MAGA-aligned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who objected to the administration’s reversal on the Epstein files, said: “Crimes have been committed. If there’s no justice and no accountability, people are going to get sick of it. That’s where people largely are.”