Will any of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates face justice?
The names of some 200 individuals connected to accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were publicly released this week, but nobody should expect justice to be served in this sensational case involving members of the global elite.
In the first tranche of documents released on Wednesday involving Epstein and his powerful, globetrotting friends, there were no bombshell revelations –no smoking guns, as it were – and such an anticlimactic trend will most likely continue. After all, we are talking about individuals – businessmen, politicians, celebrities, and even royalty – for whom the justice system has a curious way of never really working, at least in the way the public would like it to.
But first, for those still recovering from their New Year’s revelries, who was Jeffrey Epstein? A native of New York City, Epstein has been described as an “enigma” who traversed the social spectrum from college drop-out to a financial advisor to the rich and famous. The Associated Press described his dazzling success on Wall Street as “shrouded in mystery,” while others believe he was an agent for Mossad or the FBI, tasked with blackmailing his unsuspecting associates as they unwittingly compromised themselves with underage girls.
Whatever the case may be, Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell on August 10, 2019 of an apparent suicide, had a knack for finagling his way into affluent social circles in New York and Palm Beach. It was at these locations where the billionaire was accused of recruiting and sexually abusing underage girls at his residences in the early 2000s.
Epstein’s white-knight facade began to slip in 2005, as police in Florida opened an investigation over reports that he had sexually abused a 14-year-old girl. After a four-year trial, which saw the charges dramatically watered down, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges, which included one count of solicitation of prostitution and one count of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18. He was given a relative slap on the wrist with 18 months in prison under lax conditions, and released five months early.
Despite his newfound reputation as a predatory pedophile, many of Epstein’s friends did not abandon him at this point; in fact, public figures who should have known better, like Bill Gates, Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton, continued their friendship, traveling aboard the so-called ‘Lolita Express’ to Epstein’s private Caribbean getaway known as Little Saint James, and later as ‘Pedophile Isle.’
Internet sleuths and conspiracy theorists alike had a great time speculating on the various sordid criminal acts that may have happened on this 78-acre strip of paradise, which was made infamous by a blue-striped, boxlike 3,500-square-foot structure that was topped by a golden dome – the perfect place, it was alleged, to conduct rapes and other horrors. The unstoppable internet rumor mill even churned out claims of child sacrifices, though no evidence of that has been produced so far.
In the ultimate Christmas gift, Manhattan federal Judge Loretta Preska ordered the release of the sealed documents against Epstein and his associates in a previously settled defamation lawsuit that Virginia Giuffre, 40, brought against Epstein’s madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, back in 2015. Maxwell is now serving a 20-year prison sentence. Giuffre alleged that Epstein sex-trafficked her to Prince Andrew, and in a lawsuit against the royal she claimed the Duke of York had sex with her on three separate occasions. The prince publicly denied the accusations in perhaps the most cringeworthy interview of all time.
As mentioned, much of the information contained in the 900 pages of court files has either been already reported or comes across as no surprise. Nevertheless, the descriptions make an Epstein party resemble a visit to the Barnum & Bailey’s Circus while under the influence of strong drugs. Imagine discovering, for example, the likes of pop-star Michael Jackson, the Duke of York, US politician Al Gore (apparently his fear of climate change did not stop him from flying on Epstein’s private jet), and the magician David Copperfield all in the same room. It’s enough to make one’s head explode. And by way of crude details, we also learn that former US President Bill Clinton 'likes them young', physicist Stephen Hawking allegedly participated in an underage sex party, and Epstein, allegedly, forced minors to engage in sex with the Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, who vehemently denies the claims. Incidentally, since we have just entered a momentous election year in the US, it’s crucial to note that while former President Donald Trump’s name does appear in the documents, witnesses maintain he did nothing wrong.
While it’s important to remember that inclusion in the documents does not equate to guilt, it beggars the imagination to explain such wildly diverse individuals and their affiliation with Mr. Epstein. And while the public is invited to examine the salacious details of this degenerate party, there are other things –far more damaging to the perverts-that-be – that we will never know about. This involves the intelligence information that was reportedly vacuumed up by the FBI.
Two days after Epstein committed suicide on August 10, 2019, FBI agents seized computers during a raid of the late pedophile’s private island, according to drone footage obtained by NBC News. The footage shows that at least two computer desktops and an Apple computer were removed from Little St. James island as part of the FBI probe.
Many social media users have speculated that the information contained on the computers removed from Epstein’s residence were so-called ‘blackmail files’ that the deceased sex offender, together with whatever intelligence agency he may have been working for, used to control high-powered individuals in high places. In other words, a massive intelligence operation.
Around the time of the raid, then Attorney General William Barr vowed that the investigation into Epstein’s alleged misconduct would continue and the perpetrators would face justice.
“Any co-conspirators should not rest easy,” Barr said. “The victims deserve justice and they will get it.”
Today, more than four years after Jeffrey Epstein’s death, not a single individual involved with the late socialite and financier has spent a single day in jail, and that will most likely not change. The rich and powerful may occasionally suffer from blackmail, but they rarely suffer at the hands of a justice system, predicated as it is on money and influence.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
