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.

The news Wednesday that Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump back in May that his name appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files isn’t that surprising, in context.

His towering buildings and cash attracted many figures within the city. Jeffrey Epstein eventually found his way to Trump too.