Epstein-Related News - November 2025 (with updates)

 

The Epstein Files: So Far

  

__________ 

“Justice is the end of government.” 

James Madison

__________ 

      

AS A FORMER HISTORY TEACHER, I can promise readers who have an interest in the story of Jeffrey Epstein, that I ascribe to the words of Mr. Madison. Justice is what we desire. Truth is the only path we can follow if we hope to arrive at that end. As for me, I was trained as an historian to look at all sides of debates and arguments, and to get my facts lined up straight. 

Epstein and Trump.

I should also point out that I am a fan of Sophocles, the ancient Greek, who suggested that we should all live by this rule: 

“The wise are doubtful.” 

 

So, let’s begin with the biggest names that we know have appeared in the Epstein story, listing them in alphabetical order:

 

Bill Clinton

Donald Trump

 

 

Starting with that pair of gentlemen, I can say that, so far, I have no idea which people who will be mentioned herein are positively guilty of crimes related to their involvement with Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. In fact, history shows that even judges and juries make catastrophic mistakes where guilt and innocence are involved. 

(See for example, the Scottsboro Boys, in the 1930s.) 

(Also: The “Central Park Five,” starting in 1989.) 

 

For purposes of our story, however, it will be wise to consider a saying from Reverend George Herbert. He offered his warning around the same time the Puritans began arriving in Massachusetts and, among other questionable legal practices, began sending witches to court and hanging them when found guilty. 

As the Reverend Herbert said:

 

“He that lies with the dogs, riseth with fleas.” 

WE BEGIN WITH DOUBT in relating this story but move quickly to disgust. The fleas in this tale are abundant, biting at any sense of justice, impossible to ignore. It is the dogs, however, who we want to identify most. 

We know that Mr. Clinton’s name has come up in connection with Mr. Epstein, in various ways, including in emails recently released by the Epstein estate. (That release came under a subpoena.) Is Bill complicit? 

To be determined. 

What about Mr. Trump? His name has come up (so far) the most, something like 1,600 times in emails, alone. 

No proof yet of any crimes. 

(Epstein eventually came to hate Trump – as emails show – which could be a positive mark in Donald’s defense.) 

What about Alan Deshowitz? I will mention him often in pages to come, in part because he was Epstein’s lawyer. I also mention him because I’ve had time to read up on his possible involvement in the abuse of young women. Yet, I cannot forget the wisdom of Sophocles. I know that I (like you, if you are reading this), am a captive of my sources. I must guard religiously against a tendency to accept only facts that please me, that confirm my pre-existing biases. 

 

I believe, however, that this statement will hold up as infallibly true: NO ONE WHO HAS PARTICIPATED IN THE CRIMES OF, AND/OR COVERED UP FOR, EPSTEIN SHOULD FEEL SAFE. 

Finally, I would remind everyone that names of individuals who will be absolved of any crimes and/or sins will be introduced in stories about Epstein and Maxwell and their nefarious allies. 

(Do not leap to conclusions, like lemmings scanning social media feeds.) 

(You’re not going to get to the truth gaping at memes.)

 

* 

HAVING SAID THIS, I will start a list of all the people I think should be asked to give depositions in an investigation into the sex-trafficking ring run by Epstein and Maxwell. I am, of course, assuming our fine lawmakers in Congress will call for a massive effort to reveal the truth in 2026. 

So far, we have: 

99. BILL CLINTON

99. ALAN DERSHOWITZ

99. GHISLAINE MAXWELL

99. DONALD J. TRUMP

 

 

* 

We need heroes and the free press to tell their stories. 

SUBJECT TO REVISION, I can say for now, that there are at least a few heroes in the story: 

Virginia Giuffre: No victim did more than this young woman to bring truth to light, starting her fight for justice in 2009. 

The fact that the battle continues to this day shows how high the walls can be, separating victims from justice, if perpetrators have sufficient money to pay for expensive bricks, mortar and wages for skilled legal labor. 

Giuffre committed suicide this past April, but not before she gave other survivors courage to speak out. 

(The fear, of course, is not extinguished.)

___

 

Other survivors – “Minor Victim 1,” et al.: These women, many of them teens when they were abused, did speak out, some almost as soon as they were abused. Most knew they were challenging powerful people. 

And they still had the courage to try.

___

 

Police Chief Michael Reiter, Palm Beach, Florida: When state attorneys agreed to cut Jeffrey Epstein “the deal of a lifetime,” he refused to let it pass and in 2007, demanded a federal investigation.

___

 

Rep. Thomas Massie. Until recently, the only time I had mentioned the congressman in my blog was to make fun of the Kentucky lawmaker for his Christmas family photos. One year, he posed his family in festive sweaters, all members armed with military-grade automatic weapons.

He has been a pillar of the effort to force the Epstein Files’ release. He has bolstered my faith in humanity. 

(I’m a fan of humanity, myself.)

"Merry Christmas," from the Massie Family

___

 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Yeah! I know! Heretofore, I have regularly mocked the silly woman. Credit is now due. She refused to buckle under attacks from President Trump, after demanding the Files be released. If she hadn’t wilted under immense pressure we might be heading nowhere in our search for truth – which is where we have been headed for many long years. 

(She now plans to resign from Congress.)

___

 

The free press: This is a perfect example of why we need journalists of all shapes and sizes, even the ones with whom we disagree. 

It is the free press that breaks open stories like this, that exposes people in power who have no desire to be exposed and ample money to shield themselves behind giant stacks of hundred-dollar bills. 

Huge thanks to Julie K. Brown. She’s the reporter for the Miami Herald who blew the lid off the sewer in 2018, penning hard-hitting stories that put Epstein’s crimes back before the public eye. 

 

* 

BEFORE WE dive into this story, I should be clear. I do not like Donald Trump. And the more I read up on the Epstein Files, the more I don’t like the current President of the United States. 

And I already don’t like him a lot. 

That in no way means he has committed any Epstein-related crimes; and so far, I don’t see any proof that he has. 

I can say, however, that I believe his handling of the Files since retaking office has been a masterclass in bumbling incompetence. 

(Take that opinion for what it’s worth.) 

 

“You ‘knew about the girls.’” 

If YOU WEREN’T watching the news on November 14, you missed it when Donald lost his poop on Air Force One. A female reporter – Catherine Lucey for Bloomberg News – had the audacity to ask the president about the Files. She’s off camera, but we can hear her ask, “Mr. President, what did Jeffrey Epstein mean in his emails when he said you ‘knew about the girls?’” 

It’s a fair question and there could have been a good answer if Donald handled it right. But no. 

“I know nothing about that,” he replied. 

That’s fine. But then he tried to deflect. The Democrats, he says, were the ones hanging with Jeffrey. Not him. If there was anything in the Files, he claims, “They would’ve announced that a long time ago.” 

He starts in on Clinton and Larry Summers, Clinton’s former Secretary of Treasury, and says reporters should be talking to them. Then another reporter, also female, tries to ask a question. 

Lucey keeps trying to get the president to follow up on his previous answer. 

This is where Donald blows it and shows again that (in my opinion) he’s not a nice human being. “Quiet! Quiet, piggy,” he admonishes her, and jabs a finger in her direction to emphasize the insult. 

As I see it, Trump is the Pussy-Grabber-in-Chief, and I don’t make that up. He bragged about grabbing women and laughed about how he could get away with it, because he was a celebrity and they just let him do it. Still, he’s a guy who may be totally innocent, as far as Jeffrey Epstein goes. 

He’s also a guy whose behavior over the years makes you wonder. 

As for Mr. Clinton. Are you kidding? Remember poor Monica Lewinsky, whose life was ruined? 

Also: Paula Jones?

 

*

__________ 

“There are two passions which have a powerful influence on the affairs of men.  These are ambition and avarice; the love of power and the love of money.”

__________ 

 

I BELIEVE that a timeline explaining how the Epstein Files came to be, and how they came (soon) to be released, will best help us form a clear picture. 

First, we have the money. And sexiness. Sex always sells: 

1982: Les Wexner has by this time spent two decades building up a chain of clothing retailers, including The Limited. Now he purchases a group of San Francisco lingerie shops, Victoria’s Secret, for $1 million.

___ 

1984: Victoria’s Secret tops $500 million in annual sales for the first time.

___ 

1986: Wexner and Epstein are introduced. Les soon hires Jeffrey to be his financial adviser. Both prosper. Epstein helps Wexner, normally awkward in social settings, learn to be more comfortable around women. 

(No crime in that.)

___

 

1987-forward: Jack O’Donnell was president of the Atlantic City Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino for many years. As he recently explained to a reporter, Donald “frequently” brought his best friend Jeffrey to the New Jersey resort to celebrate special events. “In his mind,” O’Donnell said of Trump, starting in 1987, and for at least the next four years, Epstein “was his best friend.” 

In the “wee hours” one Sunday morning, he recalled, the two men showed up at the casino with three young women. State officials were soon waiting to talk to O’Donnell and warned that they knew at least one of the women was too young to be on the gambling floor, a 19-year-old tennis star. 

O’Donnell had to warn his boss against making a mistake which could have led to serious fines, since 21 was the legal age for gambling. Then he added, “To get on a helicopter with a friend and three other people and fly down to Atlantic City, I mean, you can connect those dots. They were pretty good buddies.” 

O’Donnell remembers telling Trump in a phone call that turning up with Epstein and the young women was “not gonna look good.” 

“I did tell him in that conversation, ‘I don’t think you should be hanging out with this guy, just so you know, and you certainly shouldn’t be doing that in Atlantic City.’” 

But Trump liked the guy.

___ 

 

1989: When Epstein was arrested a second time, in 2019, this time on federal charges, news organizations went looking for stories – as news organizations should. Barbara Pilling, once a model for Elite (see below), talked to reporters about a summer event organized by the agency. Trump, she says, asked her out for dinner. He did inquire old she was. “I said 17 and he said, ‘That’s just great – you’re not too old, not too young.’”

___

 

July 1991: Wexner grants Epstein “power of attorney.” The younger man now has “full power and authority to do and perform every act necessary” to aid Wexner’s businesses and make financial decisions. Epstein later gains ownership of a New York mansion, a jet plane, and a luxury estate in Ohio, previously owned by Mr. Wexner. 

In any future investigation to be carried out by Congress, Mr. Wexner is the next person to add to a list of those who should be called to testify: 

99. LES WEXNER. 

(When I check in November 2025, Wexner is worth $8.6 billion.) 

(Big money is a big part of this story.)

___ 

 

Old men and aspiring teen models. 

September 1991: With interest in the Epstein case exploding in 2020, the Guardian, a British newspaper, turns up the story of a party held on a large New York City yacht, three decades before. In light of what we now know about Jeffrey, this party sounds creepy.

 

Downstairs, a party was in flow. Scores of teenage girls in evening dresses and miniskirts, some as young as 14 [emphasis added] danced under disco lights. It could have been a high school prom, were it not for the crowd of older men surrounding them.

 

As the evening wore on, some of the men – many old enough to be the girls’ fathers, or even grandfathers – joined them on the dancefloor, pressing themselves against the girls. One balding man in a suit wrapped his arms around two young models, leering into a film camera that was documenting the evening: “Can you get some beautiful women around me, please?” 

 

Donald was attending, along with the 58 young girls, who were competing to win the Elite Model Management’s “Look of the Year” contest. First prize was $150,000 and a life-changing contract. 

Kate Dillon, 17, came in third in the 1991 contest, during which Mr. Trump served as a judge. She remembers many of the girls as having come from poor backgrounds, and says they were desperate. 

“It was very clear that there were opportunities to go out and party with Donald,” she says. The contestants were led to believe “that if you were nice to certain people, good things will happen to you, and I think that’s why girls were going out.”

___ 

 

A very private party. 

Date uncertain - 1992: George Houraney, a Florida businessman, agrees to fly in 28 young women for a “calendar girl” party at Mar-a-Lago. As he explained later to reporters from The New York Times, he was surprised to learn that there were only two other men present. Epstein was one. Trump was the other. 

With interest in the Epstein Files exploding again in July 2025, Forbes puts together a timeline of events linking Donald and Jeffrey. 

Again, reporters focused on the party in 1992:

 

At a “calendar girl” party at Mar-a-Lago where Trump invited just two other guests, Florida businessman George Houraney and Epstein, Houraney’s girlfriend at the time, Jill Harth, said Trump forcibly kissed and fondled her, restrained her from leaving a bedroom and alleged Trump crawled into bed with another 22-year-old woman at the party in a 1997 lawsuit[.] Trump settled the lawsuit with Harth (he has denied her allegations), The New York Times reported.

___

 

September 1992: The Guardian reports on a second party on a New York yacht. Donald and the founder of Elite Modeling, John Casablancas, are there.

 

One of the girls on the boat was Shawna Lee, then a 14-year-old from a small town outside Toronto. She recalls how the contestants were encouraged to parade downstairs, one by one, and dance for Trump, Casablancas and others. Lee, an introverted teenager who loved to draw but hated school, was in New York for the first time. “A woman at the agency was pushing me,” she recalls. “I said to her, ‘I don’t see why me going down the stairs and dancing in front of those two has anything to do with me becoming a model. And she said, ‘No, you look great, take off your blazer and go and do it.’ So I walked down the stairs. I didn’t dance – I blew a kiss at them, spun around and walked away.” …

 

Another contestant, who was 15 at the time, also remembers being asked to walk for Trump, Casablancas and other men on the boat in September 1992. She says an organiser told her that if she refused, she would be excluded from the competition. “I knew in my gut it wasn’t right,” she recalls. “This wasn’t being judged or part of the competition – it was for their entertainment.” 

 

The Guardian continues:

 

Three decades on, a very different picture of the competition is beginning to emerge.  Over the last six months, the Guardian has spoken to several dozen former Look of the Year contestants [emphasis added herein, unless otherwise noted], as well as industry insiders, and obtained 12 hours of previously unseen, behind-the-scenes footage. The stories we have heard suggest that Casablancas, and some of the men in his orbit, used the contest to engage in sexual relationships with vulnerable young models. Some of these allegations amount to sexual harassment, abuse or exploitation of teenage girls; others are more accurately described as rape. 

 

In newly revealed footage from this era, Donald can be seen schmoozing with Casablancas, whom he describes as “my friend John.” As the Guardian reports, “Trump now disputes being friends with Casablancas.” 

The president’s representatives told the Guardian that he denies it “in the strongest possible terms.” Trump, “hardly knew him, spent very little time with him, and knew very little about him.” 

The Guardian notes that the average age of the aspiring models in the 1992 contest was fifteen. During a photoshoot, a photographer can be heard instructing one of the teens to show more cleavage by pulling her bra lower. 

“More,” he tells her. “More. More.” 

(Melania Trump, then Melania Knauss, was a contestant in the Look of the Year contest in 1992, but finished second in the Slovenia heat, and just missed a chance to take a trip to New York at that time.) 

 

If you’d like to read about multiple young women accusing multiple older men involved with the contests, in multiple ways, read the Guardian story. That would include David Weil, the head of an investment firm, found guilty of embezzling $1.2 million in models’ earnings. Later, he pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a 15-year-old contestant in the 1992 Look of the Year event. 

Weil was sentenced to weekends in jail and placed on probation.

 

“He should have been sentenced for the rest of his miserable life,” said Amy Bongay, head of the Models Guild, who called sexual exploitation of teenage models a pressing industry problem.

The victim, in her sentencing statement, had written, “Mr. Weil is a liar, a cheat, a morally indecent man, whose punishment could never be extensive enough to fit the many crimes he has committed.” 

 

Casablancas ran into legal problems himself, after he was accused of sexually abusing a contestant who was fifteen. (He lucked out after the civil suit was dismissed, in 2003, having been filed in the wrong state.) 

But we know he admitted to a sexual relationship with Stephanie Seymour, a contestant in the Look of the Year contest in 1982, when she was fourteen or fifteen. 

He was forty and that affair ended his second marriage. 

His third bride was 17. 

The Guardian continues:

 

Some former contestants recall [Donald] being there as they got dressed for events. “Every time we changed, it was like Trump would find a reason to come backstage,” [Stacy] Wilkes says. A Canadian contestant from 1992 recalls similar incidents. “He’d come by and say, ‘Hey girls, are we ready?’” she says. “I remember thinking, what have I got myself into?”

 

Trump denies, “in the strongest possible terms”, behaving inappropriately with any Look of the Year contestants. His representatives say he was not aware of any predatory environment at the time.

 

 

And we have this:

 

Others, however, observed a disturbing side to the contest. Ohad Oman, a young reporter for a magazine in Tel Aviv, was sent to cover it in 1991 and 1992. He attended a number of the after-parties, and remembers seeing girls drinking alcohol. He recalls one particularly debauched party, telling the Guardian: “I saw girls sitting on guys’ laps, and I remember one guy putting his hand down a girl’s top. I remember thinking they were younger than me, and I was 17 going on 18.”

 

Again, assuming Congress is going to want to dig deep to find out who might have broken the law, regarding abuse of young women, it might be good to subpoena: 

99. DAVID WEIL

99. STACEY WILKES

99. STEPHANIE SEYMOUR

99. OHAD OMAN

Seymour went on to be one of the first supermodels.

___

 

We can also add this:

 

It also appears that Epstein had a Casablancas connection during the 1990s. According to a lawsuit filed in the US three months ago, in 1990 Casablancas sent a teenage model for her first “casting call” at a residential address on New York’s Upper East Side, to meet a “photographer” who, it turned out, was Epstein. The lawsuit states that Epstein ordered the 15-year-old girl to undress before taking photographs of her, pushing her against a wall and sexually assaulting her. 

 

Lawmakers in Washington D.C. should make an all-out effort to find and invite for testimony: 

99. THE 15-YEAR-OLD

99. JOHN CASABLANCAS (DECEASED)

___ 

 

October 19, 1993: Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump, and Trump’s young children, Eric, and Ivanka, age 12, show up in a picture taken at the opening of the Harley Davidson Café in New York. The future child molester gives his card to a fashion photographer. “Jeffrey Epstein, Financial Advisor,” it reads.

___ 

December 20, 1993: Epstein is a guest at the wedding of Donald to Marla Maples. Other guests included O.J. Simpson and Rosie O’Donnell! Breathless reporters described it as the “wedding of the year.”

___ 

 

An alleged violent rape. 

1994: A 13-year-old girl is allegedly raped by both Epstein and Trump; but this crime – if any – is not reported. The victim will say years later that the two men threatened her and her family if she talked. They reminded her that she would be challenging very powerful people. This allegation will not be made until 2016, during Mr. Trump’s first run for the presidency. The young woman says that she was lured to Epstein’s mansion by “promises of money and a modeling career.” She claims Trump initiated sexual contact with her at three parties. At a fourth, he took her to a bedroom, tied her to a bed, “then proceeded to forcibly rape her.” 

Two witnesses said they could corroborate parts of the accuser’s story. The case was dropped before it proceeded to trial. 

(Was Trump a rapist? Or was he a target of a false accusation?) 

 

We add three names to our list of individuals who should be asked to provide testimony or give depositions in some future bipartisan investigation: 

99. ANONYMOUS ACCUSER

99. CORROBORATING WITNESS 1

99. CORROBORATING WITNESS 2

___ 

 

August 1995: Annual sales for Victoria’s Secret surpass $1 billion. The brand launches its first annual fashion show. The show is so popular that by 1999, it is being broadcast live on television. Victoria’s Secret “Angels,” some of the top models in the world, help Wexner’s company dominate the lingerie business. 

Epstein tells many of his victims that he is a recruiter for the brand and can help them launch careers in modeling. 

Epstein ran in circles with many beautiful women.

(A model from later years. No connection with Jeffrey.)

___ 

 

Date uncertain - 1996: Alan Dershowitz, the celebrity lawyer, meets Epstein for the first time. The lawyer says they became friends because they both liked to discuss complex questions.

___

 Summer 1996: Epstein and Wexner each have homes in a private estate in New Albany, Ohio. After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, the Cincinnati Enquirer describes the fate of one of Epstein’s many victims.

 

It was at the Wexner’s Ohio home where Maria Farmer, of Paducah, Kentucky, accused Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell of sexually assaulting her during the summer of 1996, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

 

Farmer first met Epstein and Maxwell in 1995 at an art show when she was in her mid-20s. Epstein told Farmer that if she sold him a painting at half price, he would help her with her career. Farmer later took a job with Epstein, helping him to acquire art. 

 

Epstein later arranged for Farmer to work on a special art project at Wexner’s Ohio mansion during the summer of 1996. She stayed at the property with her two younger brothers. 

 

One day, Epstein and Maxwell visited Wexner’s mansion, asked Farmer to come into a bedroom and sexually assaulted her, according to the affidavit. 

 

“I fled from the room and called the sheriff’s office but did not get any response,” Farmer wrote in the affidavit. “The Wexner’s security staff refused to let me leave the property.”

 

Farmer alleges she was held against her will for 12 hours until she was ultimately allowed to leave with her father, who drove up from Kentucky to help her. When Farmer returned to New York City, she reported the assault to local police and the FBI but no charges were filed. 

 

After that summer, Farmer says Epstein and Maxwell threatened her and cut off her access to art clients. “Maxwell and Epstein worked in concert to make sure that my career and my life was ruined,” she wrote. 

 

Around the same time, Farmer claims, Epstein and Maxwell molested her 15-year-old sister Annie at their ranch in New Mexico. 

Adding to our list of people Congress should call as witnesses in a future investigation of the crimes of all individuals who might have participated in some way in the heinous crimes of the sex-trafficking Mr. Epstein: 

9. MARIA FARMER

10. BROTHER 1 (CORROBORATION)

11. BROTHER 2 (CORROBORATION)

12. HER FATHER (CORROBORATION)

13. THE SECURITY GUARDS

14. ANNIE FARMER

15. ANY STAFF WHO WORKED AT THE NEW MEXICO RANCH

___ 

 

April 9, 1997: Donald and Jeffrey are photographed together at a Victoria’s Secret event held at club Duvet in New York City. Jeffrey appears to be smirking.

___ 

April 28, 1997: The two pals can be seen again, at a second Victoria’s Secret party, flanking the Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve (cropped in a screen shot, below). And, yes, Jeffrey is smirking.

 

Screenshot of Trump, Seynhaeve and Epstein.

___ 

 

May 1997: In an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times, Alan Dershowitz, argues against statutory-rape laws:

 

“There must be criminal sanctions against sex with very young children, but it is doubtful whether such sanctions should apply to teenagers above the age of puberty, since voluntary sex is so common in their age group.” He suggested that fifteen was a reasonable age of consent, no matter how old the partner was. 

(In retrospect, this stance seems ominous; but suspicion is not proof.)

___ 

 

October 1997: It may not be much, but The New York Times later uncovers a signed copy of Donald’s book, The Art of the Comeback, published that year. It features the inscription, “Oct ’97 To Jeff – You are the greatest.”

___ 

1997: As reported, two decades later, by The Independent, a British newspaper, Trump was accused of molestation, this time by an adult.

 

Jill Harth, 34, alleged in a federal lawsuit that Mr trump violated her “physical and mental integrity” by touching her intimately without her consent, according to The Guardian.

 

Ms Harth later voluntarily withdraw the lawsuit when a parallel case brought against Mr Trump by her husband, who had gone into business with him, was settled.

 

When The Guardian text[ed] her to ask whether she still stood by the allegations, she reportedly replied: “Yes.”

 

To be deposed by congressional investigators: 

99. JILL HARTH.

___

 

February 3, 1999: CNN unearths video of Jeffrey and Donald, years later, enjoying themselves at another party for Victoria’s Secret. 

The future First Lady is there, as well.

___ 

 

February 20, 2000: The Palm Beach Post publishes a brief item about a gala held at Mar-a-Lago. The randy gang is all there! Donald. Jeffrey. Ghislaine. And Prince Andrew.

___ 

 

June 2000 (or thereabouts): Virginia Giuffre claims she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell, when she was not yet seventeen. 

She is then abused for years.

___

 

Trained as a “sex slave.” 

2001: In a deposition given years later, and not unsealed until January 2024, Johanna Sjoberg explains how she first met Ghislaine Maxwell. Sjoberg was sitting on a bench on the campus of Palm Beach Atlantic College, when the older woman approached. She said she was looking for a billboard where she could post a notice – and said her boss was looking to hire “butlers” for his mansion – but not the real kind, who were “too stuffy.” 

He wanted girls.

 

Sjoberg’s deposition describes a job that shifted steadily, from answering the phone to massaging Jeffrey Epstein while naked and hearing him talk with Hollywood celebrities.

 

At least so he claimed. “He said: ‘Oh that was Leonardo [DiCaprio]’. Or: ‘That was Cate Blanchett’, or ‘Bruce Willis’. That kind of thing,” Sjoberg said. Once he appeared to be on the phone to a celebrity hairstylist in Hawaii and asked: “Can we find some girls for him?”

 

He told her he knew Bill Clinton. “He said one time that Clinton likes them young, referring to girls,” she said.

 

 

Like so many others, Sjoberg claims she was entrapped in Epstein’s web after being promised a legitimate job, then forced to give Jeffrey massages and “punished if he failed to orgasm.” According to another British paper, victims came to call Epstein’s mansion the “House of Horrors.” 

Ms. Sjoberg testified that Maxwell’s main job was to provide Jeffrey with young girls, at least three a day. 

According to one report, his New York property “was filled with bizarre and pornographic decor – including prosthetic breasts set into the wall of his bathroom so that one could fondle them while bathing.” 

Sjoberg said one evening, she and Maxwell went up to a closet, where Ghislaine pulled out a puppet, labeled “Prince Andrew,” and that was how she learned who one guest downstairs was.

 

“[Maxwell] brought it down and presented it to him; and that was a great joke … And they decided to take a picture with it, in which Virginia and Andrew sat on a couch. They put the puppet on Virginia’s lap, and I sat on Andrew’s lap, and they put the puppet’s hand on Virginia’s breast, and Andrew put his hand on my breast, and they took a photo.” 

 

On a different occasion, Johanna said, Ghislaine complained to her about how hard it was to please Jeffrey, because he demanded blow jobs every day. 

And not just one. 

One must ask: How could so many crimes occur, with so many famous people hanging around? 

How did no one famous – who was innocent – not complain? 

Johanna, herself, wondered.

 

It did not pass unnoticed by some of Epstein’s house guests, she suggested. One evening, when the magician David Copperfield came for dinner, Sjoberg recalled finding a teenage girl in the house who looked to her as if she was in high school. She said she hoped “for my own sanity” that this girl was merely the daughter of one of Epstein’s friends.

 

Copperfield did some magic tricks at the dinner table, she said. Asked if he ever mentioned “Jeffrey’s involvement with young girls with you”, she replied: “He questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls.” Copperfield has denied any wrongdoing and said he regrets his association with Epstein. 

 

Yet on another occasion, on Epstein’s private island, with several of the girls gathered round, Ghislaine could refer to them as “her children” and call herself their “mother hen.” 

When a large trove of documents, including Sjoberg’s deposition, was finally released, interest was so great that internet sites reporting on the contents crashed. In a rare moment of happiness, Virginia Giuffre, then living in Australia, posted on social media, “WE BROKE THE WEBSITE.” 

She had been trying to focus attention on the coming release, gleefully asking “Who’s on the naughty list.” 

In a deposition of her own, Giuffre left little doubt about what had been going on in Epstein’s mansion – on his private island – and elsewhere. “Ghislaine Maxwell brought me into the sex trafficking industry,” she said. “She is the one who abused me on a regular basis. The one that procured me, told me what to do, trained me as a sex slave.” 

(Prince Andrew will later claim he has no memory of meeting Giuffre.) 

Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre.

___

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Sjoberg remembers seeing Michael Jackson at Epstein’s house. And here we may have a telling clue. Those with large bank accounts, often shielded by power and fame, can get away with crimes no decent human being would want to commit. Jackson would be one example. Roger Ailes, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, and Harvey Weinstein would seem to be others.

___

 2001: Carolyn Adraiano would be a good example of the kinds of victims Epstein managed to lure.

 

Andriano [later] told the Daily Mail that she had a troubled past and chaotic life when she first visited Epstein in 2001 at age 14. Her mother was an alcoholic and addicted to drugs and Andriano had been sexually abused by her grandmother’s partner when she was 4. Many of Epstein's victims had been sexually abused previously and their families struggled financially. Andriano said she went to Epstein's mansion about 100 times, three or four times a week over the next four years. Lawyers said her testimony was pivotal in convicting Maxwell.

 

“I’m not ashamed at being a victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” she told the Daily Mail. “For other girls that have been victimized, I want them to know that it is OK to come out and tell somebody – even if you don’t want to be identified – and the sooner the better. I want people to know these terrible things have happened to me and that I am a survivor.”

 

Adding to the list of witnesses for the House and Senate can call for testimony, we have: 

99. JOHANNA SJOBERG

99. CAROLYN ANDRIANO

99. DAVID COPPERFIELD

___ 

 

2001: Larry Summers, president of Harvard, is alleged to have visited Little St. James Island, Epstein’s private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is there that so much of the abuse of young women and even younger girls occurs. 

Bill Clinton is also alleged to have been flown there, and to have flown on Epstein’s planes multiple times. 

Epstein gifts Wexner and his wife Abigail a $339,000 family painting. The work is later subject of a lawsuit, regarding payment to the artist. Mr. Wexner has also been a longtime donor to Republican causes, but by this point has left the party out of disgust over the rise of Donald Trump. 

As the Cincinnati Enquirer noted, the Wexners were unhappy with the painting, 

 

upset about Abigail’s expression and the children’s ages and sizes – and refused to pay.

 

The artist, Nelson Shanks, sued over payment [in] 2002. An attorney for the Wexners and Epstein called the painting “impersonal, inaccurate and disturbing.” The case was settled and dismissed in 2003.  

 

To be called as a witness in front of a congressional investigation: 

99. LARRY SUMMERS 

 

“Many of them are on the younger side.” 

October 28, 2002: In the fall of 2002, Epstein is known mostly as a successful financier. His investment firm handles hundreds of millions of dollars for clients. Many millions, in the way of fees, end up in Epstein’s bank accounts. 

There are, however, whiffs of trouble. At some point, locals in the U.S. Virgin Islands nickname his plane the “Lolita Express” after noticing how often the financier flies young women (some very young) back and forth between his private island and New York, where he has his mansion. 

I’m not sure when that name began to stick – and when reporters picked it up – but if you’ve ever read the novel Lolita (the novel is highly acclaimed for the style of writing, but I couldn’t finish it, because I found it repulsive), that nickname alone should make you NOT want to board a flight. 

(The narrator in Lolita is abusing Lolita, a 12-year-old girl.) 

 

We don’t know whether Mr. Trump had heard the nickname at this point or not, but in an article for New York magazine, featuring Epstein, he tells a reporter, “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.” 

(I like beautiful women, myself – such as my wife – but not teenagers!) 

 

2001-2003: In May 2016, we see the free press in action again. Fox News reports that during this period, former president Bill Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane at least 26 times. 

One paragraph in the story immediately stands out. An advocate for victims of sex-trafficking speaks up:

 

“Bill Clinton … associated with a man like Jeffrey Epstein, who everyone in New York, certainly within his inner circles, knew was a pedophile,” said Conchita Sarnoff, of the Washington, D.C. based non-profit Alliance to Rescue Victims of Trafficking, and author of a book on the Epstein case called TrafficKing. “Why would a former president associate with a man like that?” 

 

It’s a good question; but I notice, right away, when I read the story, many years later. Why did no one at Fox ask the next good question? Why would Donald – at the time the story was published, now running against Bill’s wife – why would he have hung around with a man like that? 

If everyone in New York, “certainly within his inner circles,” knew Epstein “was a pedophile,” wouldn’t Donald know too? 

I noticed that reporters for Fox had filed several Freedom of Information Act requests. That act, passed in the post-Watergate era, requires government to provide relevant documents to reporters unless requested documents are classified or part of an ongoing investigation. 

We need the free press. So, stop shouting, “Fake news, fake news,” every time you don’t like what reporters have to say. (I knew that Jeffrey Epstein owned an entire island, Little St. James, but in this story, I learned that it was 72 acres.) 

In Palm Beach, itself, around this same time, as revealed later in court documents,

 

police investigators found a “clear indication that Epstein’s staff [emphasis added] was frequently working to schedule multiple young girls between the ages of 12 and 16 years old literally every day, often two or three times per day.”

 

One victim, in sworn deposition testimony, said Epstein began sexually assaulting her when she was 13 years old and molested her on more than 50 occasions over the next three years.  

 

Then we had another Trump sighting:

 

Other politicians, celebrities and businessmen, including presidential candidate Donald Trump, have been accused of fraternizing with Epstein. Trump lawyer Alan Garten told FoxNews.com in a statement Trump and Epstein are not pals.

 

“There was no relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump,” he said. “They were not friends and they did not socialize together.” 

 

To be added to our list of potential witnesses in a hypothetical investigation by Congress – which we should all hope to see in 2026: 

99. ALL MEMBERS OF EPSTEIN’S FLORIDA STAFF – EVEN THE GARDENER

99. LARRY VISOSKI – EPSTEIN’S PILOT

___ 

 

“Do you allow that child to enter or not?” 

2004: Danielle Bensky will later say she was “recruited” out of the dance world and that Epstein kept her controlled by leveraging her “mother’s brain tumor scans.” Should she refuse to do his bidding, he would “withhold care for her.” In that way, Bensky continued, “He trapped me in a year-long cycle of abuse.” 

When she finally speaks publicly, alongside a band of other victims, in the summer of 2025, she tells anyone listening, that she is one of “a thousand.” These others beside her were once very young, and their dreams were shattered “at the hands of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.” 

Now, Bensky said, these women, surrounding her were “survivor sisters.” Together, they formed a “beautiful mosaic of energy and passion and love and life.” 

“We are a representation of women across America,” she continued. “We come from different backgrounds. We have different religions. We are different races, different creeds, different ethnicities. We have different political affiliations. Some of us don’t want to be political at all. And yet we stand here together for this cause. We’re united in the call for transparency, complete transparency, to find justice. Justice for our younger selves.” 

She and the others also wanted justice “for those who are no longer with us, like the beautiful, brave Virginia Giuffre.” 

What must seem to these victims like something awful that happened a hundred years ago, we know they suffered at the hands of two sophisticated monsters. They suffered also at the hands of the predatory friends of Epstein and Maxwell who happily took part in their sexual abuse. 

Danielle was vulnerable when she was approached, as so many were. Now, she says, “I wish I could go back and give my former self a hug and say, ‘This matters and it’s going to change,’ and mean it.” 

On a day, two decades removed from her suffering, she called on all of us to imagine a child we love –  “your daughter … your niece … a friend’s kid … you at a former age” – and think about their smell, their laugh, their energy. Now I want you to picture a pair of giant looming wooden doors and an overbearing marble landing,” she continued. “Those are the doors to Jeffrey Epstein’s house. 

Do you allow that child to enter or not?”

___ 

 

“It was a lot for her to do.” 

Date uncertain: Kate, 17, is recruited in London and paid to give Epstein sexualized massages whenever he’s in England. Eventually she travels to Epstein’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, where she recalls finding in her room “a schoolgirl outfit … a short, pleated skirt, white socks, white panties and a shirt”. Maxwell tells her: “I thought it would be fun for you to take Jeffrey his tea in this outfit.” 

When Kate finally testified about the abuse she suffered, and saw others suffer, she mentioned a time when Ghislaine talked to her about “how demanding Jeffrey was” and asked her if she “knew anybody who could come and give Jeffrey a blow job because it was a lot for her to do.” 

(Anything the rich creep – or the rich creeps’ creepy friends want.)

___ 

 

March 2005: Police in Palm Beach, Florida begin an investigation. A 14-year-old reports that she has been molested at Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion. Connie Bruck explains what happened in an article written for The New Yorker in 2019.

 

The girl told detectives that she had gone to Epstein’s mansion to give him a massage, after a friend told her that he would pay. He ordered her to take off her clothes, and she said she stripped to her underwear and massaged him as he masturbated and used a vibrator on her, over her underpants. She cried as she described the incident. 

(She was apparently paid $300.) 

 

According to Juan Alessi, who managed Epstein’s mansion until 2002, the longer this pattern continued the “younger and younger” the girls hanging around became. As Bruck wrote, for The New Yorker, Epstein developed a preference for girls who were “nymphishly thin, with no tattoos.” 

(Alessi is not suspected of any crimes.) 

 

Bruck continued,

 

In New York, according to the Miami Herald, Epstein worked with a modelling agency owned by a friend to procure underage girls from abroad, providing them with housing and paying their visa fees. He had parties where girls were lent out during the evening. Some girls lived in apartments that he owned in a building on East Sixty-sixth Street [New York City]. Others moved between his properties: the house in Palm Beach, a ranch in New Mexico, the mansion on the Upper East Side, and his private island. The girls weren’t allowed to smoke, and their weight was monitored carefully. They were always on call. 

 

Giuffre, who would become the bravest of all the Epstein accusers, would later describe being “recruited” by Maxwell. Giuffre was working as a “towel girl” in the Mar-a-Lago spa. She tells a reporter Ghislaine had a wonderful English accent. She encouraged the teen – since Virginia was interested in becoming a masseuse – to come and meet her boss. She said Jeffrey was looking to hire someone to travel with him and provide massages. Giuffre fell into the trap, lured by promises of good pay and a chance to travel. She was soon forced to engage in sex with Jeffrey. Later, he trafficked her to others. 

“Ghislaine would say, ‘We want you to please these men in whatever way they want [emphasis added], I don’t care how gross or kinky it is.’” Virginia told Bruck. 

At one point, Giuffre says, Epstein assured her, “I own the police department – I have friends that owe me favors.” Palm Beach detectives who took on the investigation would later say they were tracked themselves while working to solve the case. Unknown persons rummaged in their trash. 

(I assume that unknown agents, hired by Epstein, were hoping to discover who the detectives were talking to. It would then be easy to silence potential witnesses by plying them with cash or making threats.) 

(Epstein and his lawyers denied involvement.) 

 

Adding potential witnesses for a congressional investigation in 2026: 

99. DANIELLE BENSKY

99. KATE

99. THE ORIGINAL 14-YEAR-OLD VICTIM

99. JUAN ALESSI

99. ALL STAFF MEMBERS AT EPSTEIN’S NEW YORK MANSION

___

 March 2006: Stephen Hawking visits Epstein’s island, “in the company of a group of renowned physicists, cosmologists and theorists.”

 

The party included three Nobel laureates, experts on gravity, dark matter and string theory. In 2015, after photographs emerged of Hawking on the island, Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University, explained that Epstein had funded the conference and also paid to modify a submarine so that Hawking could take a tour of the sea bed. Krauss denied that anything untoward had happened during the trip.

 

Still, Congress might want to talk about what they saw: 

99. STEPHEN HAWKING (DECEASED)

99. LAWRENCE KRAUSS 

(To be named in the Epstein Files does not prove guilt.)

___ 

 

“He would kill me and find my family and take them out.” 

June 2006 (or thereabouts): Sarah Ransome, 22, moves to New York City. At a nightclub one evening, she is approached by a beautiful young woman and recruited to work for Epstein. In short order, she finds herself ensnared in his sex-trafficking ring. The lure that hooked her was the promise that the rich financier would use his influence to get her into the Fashion Institute, an elite design school. He also says he will pay her way. 

She soon finds herself on a plane, full of other young women, headed for Little St. James Island, where, unbeknownst to her, so many wretched crimes had already been committed. During an interview with NPR, in 2021, she was asked when she first realized she might be in danger. 

Ransome replied:

 

There was never any mention at all during meeting my recruiter and Jeffrey of anything untoward. The only reason I went to the island – and this is what I need to make really clear – is because it was a girls’ weekend. It was a girls’ few days – holiday away. The first time I – you know – was the plane ride over there, when Jeffrey and another girl had, you know, erotic sex in front of me and when all the other girls who had invited me on this girls’ weekend pretended to be asleep. And that’s where I started, like, getting really concerned.

 

… I mean, this is like a lamb being led to the slaughter. The second I got on the island – bearing in mind my passport’s being taken away, and my phone’s now being taken away as soon as I got there – it was a very peculiar sensation when I arrived because the whole energy changed. … And now Jeffrey's asking for me to massage him. And everyone seems OK with this.

 

… After Jeffrey raped me, that was it. He threatened if I ever went to the authorities, told my parents, told any friends, he would kill me and find my family and take them out. And I had nowhere to go. I was stuck on an island – no passport, no phone, couldn’t phone anyone – so yeah. 

 

At one point, having been “tortured,” mentally and physically, by Ghislaine Maxwell, and having been deprived of food, she planned to swim away from the island, either to escape or drown. 

She also said she never saw Epstein do a single day’s work on the island, because he was molesting girls “all day.” 

Later, she will describe Maxwell as an “aristocratic pimp,” and insist that Epstein propped up his “inflated ego” by “dominating the weak.” 

Maxwell and Epstein, relaxing on his plane.

___ 

 

A predator rich enough to stall and defeat justice. 

July 19, 2006: Epstein is indicted – but on a single charge of soliciting prostitution. State Attorney Barry Krischer is later accused of cutting Epstein a sweet deal. The defendant is not required to register as a sex offender. Jeffrey will later compare his crime (singular) to “a person who steals a bagel.” 

If this deal goes through Epstein will be hit with a fine – but will not be required to spend any time in jail.

___ 

 

Same timeframe: The Palm Beach Herald filed a Freedom of Information request in 2019 and gained access to grand jury records in 2024. What reporters discovered was that prosecutors undermined their own case. They called on only two witnesses, one a 14-year-old, to go up against Epstein. 

The tenor of the questioning can be captured in this sampling. 

One juror asked the girl: “Do you have any idea, deep down inside of you, that you – what you’re doing is wrong?” 

Victim: “Yeah. I did.” 

Juror: “Have you set the goals to not do it anymore?” 

Victim: “Yes.” 

Juror: “And you’re well aware that – what you’re doing to your own reputation?” 

Victim: “Yes. I do.” 

Assistant State Attorney Lanna Belohlavek: “You’re aware that you committed a crime?” 

Victim: “Now I am.” 

That is, the prosecutors treated the first two girls who ever challenged Epstein as if they were prostitutes. 

The other accuser, a 17-year-old, admitted she was paid to bring in other girls, and did so, after she was told, “the younger, the better.” The recruiter was paid $200 every time she brought in another girl, and they were paid the same, but would have to provide massages topless or naked. 

She brought in six. Epstein molested them all, and many others – and the two witnesses were treated like they were the problem. 

(The transcript is currently available online – and the blogger will finish reading it as soon as possible.) 

Quick sampling: “asst lady asked wit [witness] to undress” “Jeffrey asked to use vibrator on wit’s vagina” “Jeffrey masturbated” “Jeffrey gave her $300.” (p. 10) 

“how old was wit told Jeffrey she was 17” “Jeffrey penetrated her vagina w/penis” “how much was wit paid” “Jeffrey gave her digital camera” (p.17) 

“And she heard the rumor that she was a prostitute, and that's what started the fight?” [the fight at school led to the 14-year-old telling her stepmother about her encounter with Jeffrey Epstein] (p.24) 

“Um, it was asked in the ride over that if she – she would [be] asked her age, to say that she was 18” (p. 27) 

“How old are you, [REDACTED]?” Answer: “16.” (p. 29) “Well, this happened when I was 14, so.” (p. 30) 

(Are you shitting me?)

 

Dear Members of Congress, 

Please subpoena this woman: 

99. LANNA BELOHLAVEK, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY

 

Sincerely,

The Blogger

___ 

 

2006-2007: Michael Reiter, the chief of police in Palm Beach, refuses to let the matter rest. He calls for a federal investigation, and federal prosecutors spend fourteen months building a case. They identify at least 34 victims. The indictment they prepare lists 60 counts against the predator. Conviction would have meant Epstein would be looking at the equivalent of a life sentence. 

Alan Dershowitz and a team of lawyers push for a plea deal. As a report filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) later explains:

 

At a July 31, 2007 meeting with Epstein’s attorneys, the USAO offered to end its investigation if Epstein pled guilty to state charges, agreed to serve a minimum of two years’ incarceration, registered as a sexual offender, and agreed to a mechanism through which victims could obtain monetary damages. 

 

Many of the victims were young. Some were hooked on drugs and might have been easy to undercut if the case went to trial. 

Epstein accepts a deal.

 

In exchange, the USAO agreed to end its investigation of Epstein and to forgo federal prosecution in the Southern District of Florida of him, four named co-conspirators, and “any potential co-conspirators [emphasis added unless otherwise noted].” Victims were not informed of, or consulted about, a potential state resolution or the NPA [non-prosecution agreement] prior to its signing. 

(The U.S. attorney handling matters is R. Alexander Acosta.) 

(We will meet him again.) 

 

For the next nine months, federal investigators note, Epstein “deployed his extensive team of prominent attorneys [emphasis added] to try to change the terms that his team had negotiated and he had approved.”

___ 

 

June 30, 2008: Epstein pleads guilty to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. 

As NPR explains later,

 

He is sentenced to 18 months in jail. Under a secret arrangement, the U.S. attorney’s office agrees not to prosecute Epstein for federal crimes. Epstein serves most of his sentence in a work-release program that allows him to leave jail during the day to go to his office, then return at night. 

 

The Justice Department contacts Epstein’s victims afterwards. They are informed that they may sue for damages. 

Virginia Giuffre does so, listing herself in court documents as “Jane Doe 102.” She and many other victims are eventually awarded financial settlements.

___

 

October 2008: Almost as soon as he was incarcerated, “Epstein applied for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s work release program, and the Sheriff approved his application.” Instead of confinement in a minimum-security county jail, the convicted sex offender “began spending 12 hours a day purportedly working at the ‘Florida Science Foundation,’ an entity Epstein had recently incorporated that was co-located at the West Palm Beach office of one of Epstein’s attorneys.” 

A lawyer for several of Epstein’s victims will later insist that the pedophile continued to molest young women at his Foundation office! 

(WTF!!!!) 

 

Although the NPA specified a term of incarceration of 18 months, Epstein received “gain time,” or time off for good behavior. He served less than 13 months of incarceration – most of time only sleeping in his cell. 

Time to add to a growing list of people Congress will want to call for testimony in an investigation – assuming lawmakers have the balls: 

99. THE RECRUITER OF SARAH RANSOME (PAID BY EPSTEIN)

99. FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY BARRY KRISCHER

99. PALM BEACH POLICE CHIEF MICHAEL REITER

99. PALM BEACH COUNTY SHERIFF, IN 2008, RIC L. BRADSHAW

99. JANE DOES #1-101, ETC.

99. ALL OTHER EMPLOYEES OF THE FLORIDA SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

(The blogger suspects there were none.)

___

 

 July 22, 2009: Epstein is “released from custody to a one-year term of home detention as a condition of community control.” He registers as a sex offender with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. 

At the same time, Epstein’s accusers commence their long fight to bring his horrific crimes to light. Giuffre claims that starting at age seventeen, she was trafficked to “royalty, politicians, academicians, businessmen and other rich and powerful men, including Britain’s Prince Andrew.” 

Epstein pays Giuffre $500,000 in damages. The agreement is sealed by the courts and remains so until 2022. 

(The victims gain minimal traction in their quest for justice.)

___ 

 

Summer 2010: By this time, Epstein has paid civil judgments to multiple victims. For reasons unknown, in the face of demands by victims’ lawyers for information, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida balks:

 

The USAO opposed efforts to unseal various records, as did Epstein, who was permitted to intervene in the litigation with respect to certain issues. Nevertheless, the court ultimately ordered that substantial records relating to the USAO’s resolution of the Epstein case be made public.

___ 

 

A plenitude of creeps. 

2010: A damning video of Epstein testifying later resurfaces. Prosecutors can be heard posing a series of questions:

 

Q: Have you ever had a personal relationship with Donald Trump?

A: What do you mean by “personal relationship,” sir?

 

Q: Have you socialized with him?

A: Yes, sir.

 

Q: Yes?

A: Yes, sir.

 

Q: Have you ever socialized with Donald Trump in the presence of females under the age of 18?

 

A: Though I’d like to answer that question, at least today I’m going to have to assert my Fifth, Sixth, and 14th Amendment rights, sir.

___ 

 

June 2010: Maxwell faces a court order to sit for a deposition in a lawsuit filed by Epstein against Bradley Edwards, a lawyer representing several accusers. The day before she is to be deposed, Maxwell flies to the United Kingdom to be with her “deathly ill mother.” She says she has no idea when she will return. 

The deposition is canceled. 

(Maxwell proves to be a master at dodging court orders.)

___ 

 

July 31, 2010: At some point, Maxwell returns to the U.S. On this date, she manages to attend Chelsea Clinton’s wedding, on this date. 

Maxwell is scene, right side of aisle, at center.

___ 

 

“He couldn’t have been nicer.” 

December 2010: Efforts to rehabilitate Epstein’s reputation begin. In a talk with a reporter years later, Woody Allen admits that he and his wife attended a dinner at Jeffrey’s New York mansion. 

“There were about twenty people there, and we knew a lot of them from showbusiness. I don’t want to say who,” Allen explains. Other attendees would include journalist Katie Couric, her fellow TV figures Charlie Rose, George Stephanopoulos, and the comedian Chelsea Handler. 

As The Times of London reports in September 2025, Allen, by that time 89, recalled as best he could:

 

“We didn’t know Jeffrey at all then, but we see all these people there and they all embraced him, so we figured, ‘OK, he’s a substantial character,’” Allen says in his familiar Brooklyn accent (“care-ACK-tuh”).

 

But surely he knew Epstein was a convicted sex offender?

 

“He told us he’d been in jail and that he had been – I can’t remember the word – but that he’d been falsely put in jail in some way.”

 

Extorted? “Right, extorted,” he says. Allen’s voice and memory are fading but his conversational energy is undiminished. “He told us he was trying to make up for it now by being philanthropic and giving money to cutting-edge scientists and universities. He couldn’t have been nicer.”

 

Judging from the sheer number of people who attended Epstein’s dinners, Allen was not the only person to believe this story. So, over the next few years, he and Soon-Yi became regular guests at Epstein’s house for dinner.

 

“We would go and there was always a table of illustrious people, college professors, scientists, Nobel laureates – accomplished people who were fun to listen to. On one occasion he had an evening of comedians and another time it was an evening of magicians. David Blaine was there and he was swallowing live goldfish and then regurgitating them. We never, ever, saw Jeffrey with underage girls. He always had a girlfriend but never an underage girlfriend.”

 

Ghislaine Maxwell?

 

“No, not her.” 

 

Lewis Black, a comedian this blogger likes, appears to have attended one of the same parties as Mr. and Mrs. Allen. 

Unlike Mr. Allen, Mr. Black “did notice women walking around the house, but thought nothing of it.”

 

He went on: “There were young girls flitting about, but I didn’t know. I didn’t figure out anything. I had no idea about how old or how young they were.”

 

At the meal, Epstein mentioned that he just had the Israeli defense minster [sic] over for dinner the night prior, according to the Man of the Year actor.

 

Black also remarked how Epstein's home “was big and didn’t have a lot of furniture. But it was bare.” 

 

Black says he was invited to come along, by comedian Bobby Slayton, who told him Epstein was a fan of their work and had “stupidly expensive, but really great” wine. 

Dick Cavett also attended. 

Weeks later, Slayton and Black were invited again. Black was already leery. “Bobby said, ‘You want to go?’ I said, ‘I ain’t going to that house again...absolutely not. I don’t care how good the wine is,’” Black explained. “I said something is f----- up in there and I don’t know what it is.” 

(Many people knew and associated with Epstein; most were not criminals.) 

(Remember Sophocles.)

___ 

 

2011: In an interview, Virginia Giuffre says she once met former-President Bill Clinton on Epstein’s island in the Caribbean. She said Maxwell, newly qualified as a helicopter pilot, had flown Clinton to Little St. James. Jeffery, Ghislaine and Mr. Clinton had dinner together. Virginia may have eaten with them – the wording of the story on this matter is unclear. 

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: It’s hard to keep track of all the maneuvering in courts over the years. At one point, Giuffre’s lawyers considered subpoenaing Bill Clinton, because they believed he could help their case. 

Maxwell’s lawyers felt they could prove Clinton had never flown to Epstein’s island with Ghislaine.

___ 

 

January 31, 2011: Bill Gates meets with Epstein for the first time. Gates says they discussed philanthropic work. According to The New York Times, Gates visited “Mr. Epstein’s palatial Manhattan townhouse,” at least three times, and once stayed “late into the night, according to interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the relationship, as well as documents” reviewed by reporters. 

Employees of Gates’s foundation visited Epstein’s home on multiple occasions. The Times adds:

 

And Mr. Epstein spoke with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and JPMorgan Chase about a proposed multibillion-dollar charitable fund – an arrangement that had the potential to generate enormous fees for Mr. Epstein.

 

“His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me,” Mr. Gates emailed colleagues in 2011, after his first get-together with Mr. Epstein.

 

Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, said he “was referring only to the unique décor of the Epstein residence – and Epstein’s habit of spontaneously bringing acquaintances in to meet Mr. Gates.”

 

“It was in no way meant to convey a sense of interest or approval,” she said. 

 

The fact that Gates sent employees to talk with Epstein – rather than go himself – seemed to indicate that he had not been visiting the mansion for criminal purposes. In fact, the Times noted that, “Mr. Gates and the $51 billion Gates Foundation have championed the well-being of young girls.” 

Then the Times mentioned a connection between two of Gates’s employees and Epstein, that, looking back with hindsight, made this blogger nervous.

 

Two members of Mr. Gates’s inner circle – Boris Nikolic and Melanie Walker – were close to Mr. Epstein and at times functioned as intermediaries between the two men.

 

Ms. Walker met Mr. Epstein in 1992, six months after graduating from the University of Texas. Mr. Epstein, who was an adviser to Mr. Wexner, the owner of Victoria’s Secret, told Ms. Walker that he could land her an audition for a modeling job there [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted] according to Ms. Walker. She later traveled to New York and stayed in a Manhattan apartment building that Mr. Epstein owned. After she graduated from medical school, she said, Mr. Epstein hired her as a science adviser in 1998. 

 

This sounded much like the playbook Epstein had used to lure other young women – though not usually medical school graduates. 

Walker went to work for Gates in 2006 – right around the time Epstein’s legal problems first exploded. Working for Gates, she met Nikolic, Bill’s close friend, a former Harvard Medical School fellow. 

“Ms. Walker, who had remained in close touch with Mr. Epstein,” the Times reports, “introduced him to Mr. Nikolic, and the men became friendly.” 

Then, we had this. At that first meeting between Gates and Epstein, the two

 

were joined by Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin, a former Miss Sweden whom Mr. Epstein had once dated, and her 15-year-old daughter. (Dr. Andersson-Dubin’s husband, the hedge fund billionaire Glenn Dubin, was a friend and business associate of Mr. Epstein’s. The Dubins declined to comment.) 

 

Epstein was pleased with how the meeting, lasting several hours, went, later emailing a friend to say, “Bill’s great!” 

Bill emailed colleagues the next day, “A very attractive Swedish woman and her daughter dropped by and I ended up staying there quite late.” 

(Virginia Giuffre will later say she was trafficked to Mr. Dubin.)

___ 

 

April 2, 2011: Epstein comments on the current state of their legal risks, in an email to Ghislaine Maxwell. “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump,” he tells her. He adds that an unnamed victim “spent hours at my house with him ,, [sic] he has never once been mentioned.” 

“I have been thinking about that,” Maxwell replied.

___ 

 

May 3, 2011: Epstein and Gates meet again at Epstein’s mansion. He’s wearing blue-and-gold slippers when he greets the billionaire. Also present for the meeting are James E. Staley, at the time a senior JPMorgan executive, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, and Mr. Nikolic. 

As the Times notes, “Mr. Epstein was an important JPMorgan customer, holding millions of dollars in accounts at the bank and referring a procession of wealthy individuals to become clients of the company.” 

Jeffrey was pitching a plan to set up a new charitable foundation – offering to bring in all kinds of donors – and asking for himself a mere 0.3 percent commission. That is: If $10 billion were to be raised, he would fatten his accounts by $30 million. 

Epstein suggested that he could help unleash hundreds of billions of dollars for global health-related work. 

(Summers has been accused by at least one of Epstein’s victims.)

___ 

 

Late 2011: Gates sends a team to Epstein’s mansion, to discuss fundraising. According to the Times, Jeffrey, “told his guests that if they searched his name on the internet they might conclude he was a bad person but that what he had done – soliciting prostitution from an underage girl – was no worse than “stealing a bagel,” two people said. 

At that point, you might have thought the Gates Team would have run out the front door screaming. 

(But no.)

___ 

 

Early 2012: A second team from the Gates Foundation visits Epstein. This time he promises that he has access to “trillions of dollars of his clients’ money” that he can place in the new charitable foundation. Members of the Gates team leave that meeting with questions about Epstein’s credibility.

___ 

March 2013: Gates flies on Epstein’s plane to Florida, for a visit. Gates has his own $40 million plane.

___ 

October 2014: Mr. Gates donates $2 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. University officials describe it as a gift “directed” by Mr. Epstein. By the end of the year, however, the relationship between the two men has cooled. Jeffrey complains to an acquaintance that Bill is no longer speaking. 

It is important to note that Mr. Gates has not been accused by any of Epstein’s victims. But if the Epstein Files are ever released, God only knows how many big names are going to stand accused. 

Time, then, to add to our list of individuals Congress would be wise to subpoena in the investigation that should be coming next year. I mean, we all know we can count of Congress to get matters right: 

99. GLENN DUBIN

99. DR. EVAN ANDERSSON-DUBIN

99. MELANIE WALKER

99. BORIS NIKOLIC

99. JAMES T. STALEY

99. MONEY HANDLERS AT JPMORGAN CHASE

99. EMPLOYEES OF THE GATES FOUNDATION THAT MET WITH EPSTEIN

___ 

 

December 2014: Giuffre sets up a foundation, Victims Refuse Silence, to help survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking.  

She names four of her abusers: Epstein, Maxwell, Dershowitz, and Jean-Luc Brunel, a Paris modeling agent. 

(Brunel later commits suicide.) 

 

Dershowitz denies her accusations but does admit to having had a massage at Epstein’s New York mansion. He claims it came at the hands of a “fifty-year-old Russian woman named Olga,” adding, “I kept my underwear on.” 

In efforts to defend his reputation, he begins referring to Giuffre as a “serial liar” and a “prostitute.” 

(Nothing this blogger has read makes him believe Epstein had any fifty-year-old hags named “Olga” hanging around to provide massages.) 

Clearly, a great witness in the investigation which should be coming in 2026 – if she exists – would be: 

99. OLGA, THE MASSAGE HAG

___

 

September 2015: Giuffre’s claims become public. Maxwell says Giuffre is spreading “obvious lies.” 

Giuffre sues for defamation.

___ 

 

Ample leads in any investigation. 

Date uncertain - 2015: When news broke that Epstein was under arrest again, I started searching for details regarding his history. There was a bit of good news from the start. In 2019, the serial abuser was denied bail and jailed until trial. Alicia Arden, an actress, came forward to add testimony to the case against the molester. “His weapons were his hands,” she said, describing her rape when she 27, and had aspirations of becoming a Victoria’s Secret model. 

(I originally stated that she was raped as a teen.) 

(I am pleased to say that when I check old posts, errors of fact are very rare.) 

 

In any case, I had never heard the story of Gawker before, a blog that grew into a media giant. It was Gawker that helped break the story of an alleged 1994 rape, with a 13-year-old victim (at the time of the alleged crime) saying her attackers were Epstein and Donald Trump. 

Below, the post continues as I wrote it, six years ago. You can see that there are dozens of people who might be called to testify regarding the crimes of Epstein, Maxwell, their staffers, and complicit friends. 

The contents of this book can still be found online – but mostly redacted. My memory is that Gawker published it as it was; I could be wrong. This is how I wrote my post. 

 

A little black book, stolen by a house manager.

 

Her case [referring to the alleged 13-year-old victim above] was withdrawn from the courts in 2016; but if new accusers surface her claims may gain validity.

 

We can’t yet know. But the “rogue’s gallery” of men, as one Miami Herald reporter describes them, who may be tainted or tarnished or in legal jeopardy could prove stunning in the end. According to Gawker, a defunct website, the names of many powerful men and women appeared in a “little black book” belonging to Epstein. That book was stolen by his house manager. A copy was provided to Gawker in 2015. President Clinton’s name does not appear; but Doug Band’s name does, above the line, “Office of William Clinton.” A long list of contacts follows. Not everyone whose name is listed is an accomplice or victim. Dr. Eli Wiesel, the noted writer and Holocaust survivor, and his wife are listed.

 

So is Ivana Trump.

 

So is Ivanka.

 

Epstein was rich and handsome and ran in rarified circles. Naomi Campbell, the super model, has an entry. So does Mick Jagger. The Duke and Duchess of York are listed separately, following their divorce. Ethel Kennedy, Sen. Ted Kennedy and Ted Kennedy Jr., David Koch, “Miss Manners” and Charlie Rose appear, most likely harmlessly, in these pages.

 

(Okay, Charlie Rose might be a bad sign.)

 

Alfredo Rodriguez, the house manager who swiped the book, hoping to sell it for $50,000, added marginal notes. There were arrows pointing to specific contacts he believed would be important in any investigation. He circled dozens of entries, in a book that runs to 92 pages, people he believed were accomplices, addresses and organizations where crimes were committed, people he thought were “material witnesses,” and names of victims. Again, Clinton is not named; but Clinton often flew with Epstein on one of his private jets, which reporters later labeled “The Lolita Express.” Donald Trump’s name is circled for reasons unknown. Rock star Courtney Love’s name is circled, as is the name of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

 

Rodriguez served eighteen months in jail for obstruction of justice, after taking the book rather than providing it to investigators. That was longer than the time Epstein, himself, spent behind bars.

 

So, what do we know for sure? Epstein was super wealthy. His Manhattan townhouse is estimated to be worth $77 million. He owned six homes, an apartment in Paris, and a private island in the Caribbean where he went to relax – and allegedly molest girls.

 

Authorities now suspect he preyed upon underage victims not just in Florida and New York, but in Ohio, California, New Mexico, Paris, and the United Kingdom. The name of Les Wexner, the billionaire owner of Victoria’s Secret and other well-known clothing brands, is marked in Epstein’s stolen book. Former New Mexico Governor Bruce King and former New Mexico governor and presidential hopeful Bill Richardson’s names are circled. The entry for Peter Soros, nephew of billionaire George Soros, is marked. So, the rich and powerful may have had reason to hope the story of Epstein’s crimes would receive a prompt burial in 2008.

 

Again, the address book hints at how the alleged sex-trafficking ring worked. One address for New York City is marked “apt. for models.” The name of Flavio Briatore, an Italian businessman who served two prison terms for fraud in the 80s, is circled. So is the name of Alan Dershowitz, the prominent lawyer. Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of the victims in the Florida case, said in court filings that Epstein ordered her to have sex with Dershowitz on multiple occasions.

 

Mr. Dershowitz denies the charge.

 

According to the Daily Beast,

 

she was 15 and working a summer job at Mar-a-Lago in 1998 when British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly recruited her as a masseuse for Epstein. Giuffre said Epstein kept her as a “sex slave” until 2002 and that she was forced to have sex with his friends, including Prince Andrew and Dershowitz. (Both men have adamantly denied the allegations.)

 

In September 2015, Giuffre filed a defamation suit against Maxwell after she called Giuffre’s claims, “obvious lies” and, according to the complaint, “undertook a concerted and malicious campaign to discredit Giuffre and to so damage her reputation that Giuffre’s factual reporting of what had happened to her would not be credited.” The case was settled in May 2017, records show.

 

No one associated with Epstein is entirely safe and no one has so far been proven guilty. The address book has a separate entry for “65TH STREET,” in New York City, with the names Joseph and Florina Rueda and Sarah Kellen (Epstein’s appointments secretary) circled. Under “FINANCE” Colonial Bank and PB National are circled. Under “FRANCE,” we have, “Paris – Massage.”  Under “ISLAND, Massage –” the entry for Michelle Campos is marked with the notation, “fired S’cty.” Dershowitz’s name is circled. So is the name of Cindy Buklarewicz Lopez, who ran a modeling agency, an arrow pointing to her parents’ contact info. Les Wexner’s home in London, his home in Aspen and his home in New Albany, Ohio are all circled. “Massage – UK” is circled. Under “MEDICAL,” the name of Dr. Bruce Moskowitz is circled. An entry under “CLEANERS” and another under “RUGS” are circled. “New Mexico – Massage” is circled. Finally, on page 92, the last entry for “Mr Chow, New York” is not circled.

 

Mr. Chow should be in the clear.

 

The Daily Beast appears to be confused, regarding Giuffre’s age and date of recruitment by Maxwell. Other sources have her working at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, and being recruited shortly before she turned seventeen, on August 9 of that year.

 

In any case, here we have a host of potential witnesses, to name just a few, in any wide-ranging bipartisan investigation that could occur in 2026:

 

99. DOUG BAND

99. CHARLIE ROSE

99. THE DUCHESS OF YORK, “FERGIE”

99. PETER SOROS

99. FLAVIO BRIATORE

99. COURTNEY LOVE

99. EHUD BARAK, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER

99. BRUCE KING, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO

99. BILL RICHARDSON, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO

99. MICHELLE CAMPOS

99. CINDY BUKLAREWICZ LOPEZ

99. JOSEPH REUDA

99. FLORINA REUDA

99. DR. BRUCE MOSKOWITZ

99. SARAH KELLEN (KELLEN WAS IMMUNIZED UNDER THE PLEA DEAL EPSTEIN SIGNED IN 2008)

 

ALSO IMMUNIZED IN THAT DEAL: 

99. NADIA MARCINKOVA

99. ADRIANA ROSS

99. LESLEY GROFF 

 

These last four would carry immunity into testimony before Congress but could not plead the Fifth Amendment. 

If they lied, however, they could be charged with perjury. As a new crime, they would not have immunity for that. 

 

“Every cell phone, every yacht line.” 

If you ever wonder why a free press is critical in keeping check on the powerful, consider Leland Nally, a reporter for the left-leaning magazine Mother Jones. After Gawker published the contents of Epstein’s little book, Nally set himself the task of calling every person listed. He would publish his findings in 2020. 

The enterprising reporter offered this observation, and more like it:

 

Seeing at close range the mundanity of Epstein and his fellow elites – how simple and childish they could be – was a sickening experience of its own. The worst call by far was with a woman who told me she’d been groped by Epstein, an incident she said she didn’t report at the time out of fear of retribution from Epstein. 

 

At one point, Nally received a call from an unknown number. On the other end, an individual claimed to be an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with a report of “fraudulent phone calls” coming from Nally’s number. Nally explained his purpose and the supposed agent hung up and never called back. With that, Nally said, he understood. “Every cell phone, every yacht line, every private office number – they were all real [emphasis in the original] and every one of them was about to get a call from me.” 

Nally’s phone conversation with Stuart Pivar, 90, a lifelong friend of Epstein, is worth a read in and of itself. Pivar talked for an hour, over-sharing, then accusing the reporter of tricking him into continuing. 

Among the nuggets from their conversation:

 

On me and my life choices: “You’re so full of shit, it’s terrible. You should not be writing about this. You’re not qualified.”

 

On himself and his life choices: “Why did I talk to you! I’m a dead fish, and you’re going to ruin me. Luckily, I don’t know anybody who reads Mother Jones anymore. I can’t believe it still existed.” 

 

Pivar also explained how, when he was fourteen, he was in love with a thirteen-year-old girl … and sex was alluring and natural … and, well … society had created a bunch of rules to hinder the workings of instinct … and, so, sex with teens … but with older adults involved … not so bad? 

That sounded gross. 

 

“Ghislaine was a shark.” 

Nally did the digging, providing the kind of leads Bondi and Patel and President Trump could follow now, assuming justice was their true and only goal. 

In fact, Nally says, Maxwell, daughter of a prominent British business tycoon, and a well-known socialite even before she met Jeffrey Epstein, had had a hand in creating the contacts book herself.

 

There are several “massage” lists – lists for California, Paris, New Mexico, and Florida [locations where many of the assaults took place], containing dozens of female first names with numbers beside each. Next to some of these names are little parenthetical notes like “GM really likes.” I spoke to one woman, a bodyworker, who has a note next to her name in the book that reads, “GM hasn’t tried yet.” “Oh!” she shouted. “That’s so fucking creepy!”

 

“Ghislaine was a shark,” Julie [a victim Nally talked to on multiple calls] told me, “Anything you read about her that’s positive isn’t true. She’s a scary woman. … The picture that Virginia [Giuffre, one of the first accusers] drew of Ghislaine? I completely believe what she wrote.” Julie told me Maxwell was Epstein’s ticket into proper high society.” Jeffrey had money, Ghislaine had status,” Julie said. 

 

Suzy Schuster, now an Emmy-winning sportscaster, also talked with Nally at length. When she was 22, she met Epstein and Maxwell. At the time she was working for Andrew Neil, one of Rupert Murdoch’s top lieutenants at Fox News. Schuster added that there was “a great deal of overlap” between the social circles of Epstein and Neil. 

The blogger was reminded how much sexual abuse was occurring at Fox News during this same period. 

See, for example, Roger Ailes. 

And Bill O’Reilly. 

 

If lawmakers truly wish to get to the bottom of the Epstein Files, you can see why Julie would be important to interview. Virginia, too. Except that Virginia committed suicide in April 2025. Congress should subpoena: 

99. ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ

99. JULIE, EPSTEIN VICTIM

99. STUART PIVAR

99. SUZY SCHUSTER

99. ANDREW NEIL

 

Mr. Pivar, 95, is still alive, and was in the news again in March 2025, when his ownership of a painting – possibly an original van Gogh – made headlines. Pivar has battled over the provenance of artworks before. In one case, he sued his former lawyer for $200 million, for tricking him into giving up a valuable bronze sculpture. 

(These are very rich people in Epstein’s orbit – and he in theirs – and they have power.) 

(And lawyers, lots of lawyers.)

BLOGGER’S NOTE: When I search online, I find that Mr. Rodriguez died from mesothelioma, at age 60, in December 2014. 

Naturally, there are conspiracy theories regarding the “untimely deaths” of several persons mentioned in the book.

___ 

 

Sex tapes of former-President Bill Clinton? 

May 3, 2016: In a deposition related to a battle pitting Dershowitz against two of her  lawyers, Giuffre says she was trafficked to Dershowitz as a teen and forced to have sex with him at least six times. “Professor Dershowitz was around a lot and there was always young girls around a lot,” she claims. The celebrity defense lawyer “was so comfortable with the sex that was going on that on one occasion he observed me in sexual activity with Epstein.” 

As the Business Insider later explains, Giuffre details “being encouraged by Epstein to engage in oral sex with Dershowitz while in a limousine, to have intercourse in a plane while traveling with another young woman who was trafficked by the financier, and at Epstein’s home in his bedroom.” 

She also testified that she had seen the lawyer engaging in sex with a girl who was “blonde” and “young,” and whom she suspected was underage. 

 

Separately, Sarah Ransome alleges she was trafficked to Dershowitz. Around this same time, Ransome claims Epstein had sex tapes of former-President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Sir Richard Branson. 

No tapes have ever been discovered; but bits and pieces of potential evidence trickle out. A British newspaper reports that “a resurfaced photo of the former Labour minister Peter Mandelson” shows him with Epstein on his private island. In another email, Ransome claims that Donald Trump “had sexual relations with [her friend] at Jeffrey’s NY mansion on regular occasions.” At one point, prior to the 2016 election, she claims in an email that she will “make sure that neither that evil bitch Hillary or that paedophile Trump gets elected.” 

(She says later that she made the claim to garner attention for the victims.) 

 

The Times of London adds this, regarding Maxwell’s own testimony, in response to what Giuffre was saying:

 

Maxwell was also asked if she sent Giuffre to see Glenn Dubin, the hedge fund billionaire, at his condominium in a resort called The Breakers in Florida, instructing her to give him a massage and have sex with him. “I have never instructed Virginia to have sex with anybody ever,” she replied. Dubin has denied any such contact with Giuffre.

 

Giuffre claimed in her deposition that Maxwell had instructed her to have sex with the owner of a large hotel chain. “I believe it was around the same time that [the model] Naomi Campbell had a birthday party,” she said. “I was instructed by Ghislaine to go and give him an erotic massage … The word massage is what they would use. That’s their code word.” 

 

That would be Thomas Pritzker, the billionaire Hyatt Hotels heir. “I believe I was with Tom once,” Giuffre said. 

A spokesman for Pritzker, 73, said: “This is the same false and isolated allegation that was published and vehemently denied more than four years ago. Mr. Pritzker continues to vehemently deny it.” 

Adding to our list of potential witnesses, should Congress decide to investigate – which Congress should: 

99. THE YOUNG BLONDE GIRL

99.PETER MANDELSON

99. THOMAS PRITZKER

99. NAOMI CAMPBELL

99. ANY OTHER VICTIM WHO WAS ASSAULTED IN NEW YORK, WHO WILL COME FORWARD

 

None of these people are necessarily guilty; but it would be good to hear what light they might shed on any crimes they might have seen occur. 

Naomi Campbell.

___ 

 

“The faces Jeffrey used to pull when he used to masturbate.” 

February 17, 2017: Sarah Ransome gives a deposition in support of Giuffre’s defamation suit against Maxwell. 

By this point, she has five lawyers to protect her. Highlights from her testimony, which fills 469 pages (under questioning from Maxwell’s lawyers) include: 

When asked, she refuses to give her parents’ current address, saying that she fears they may be harmed. She says she believes she is being watched. 

Maxwell has her own team of lawyers present for the deposition, and appears, herself, via telecommunication. (p. 17). 

At one point, Sarah is asked for her cell phone number, but says she no longer has her phone. “I got rid of it. Because I fear for my life, because of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.” (p. 28) 

Many pages later, she is asked by one of Maxwell’s lawyers if one young girl – who Ransome has testified she believes was very young – ever told her anything about herself. Sarah replies simply, “Yeah, you know, I think she came from a tough background.” (p. 303) 

(That would be true of almost all the victims, Ransome included.) 

 

She was born in South Africa, but moved to Scotland at 14, where she graduated from high school. Her parents were divorced. She did a bit of modeling in Scotland, then in London and New York. On page 68, we learn that Ransome lived in New York for only seven or eight months. Two pages later she tells Maxwell’s lawyers that she has moved 47 times and can’t remember the layout of an apartment she had in New York City, only that it was “massive” and had a “pale blue décor.” 

“It was Jeffrey’s,” she says, “I didn’t pay a single thing  [emphasis added].” 

At one point, she’s asked if she can name any of the other girls that lived in the building. “I can’t remember. There were so many. There were so many girls, a constant influx of girls,” she replies. She says she came to New York City, because “I’ve always been interested in the fashion industry, designing, clothes designing. And New York was – well, this is the place to be for it.” (pp. 77-79). 

She also admits that she worked for an agency that paid her to spend time with gentlemen at dinner – that she made $1,500 for one dinner, and did have sex with clients, “once or twice, but it was on my own accord.” (p. 88) 

The girl who recruited her for Jeffrey was, “Very friendly, very beautiful girl, very – we clicked immediately.” That girl, Ransome admits, “hit” on her, and they later had “consensual sex.” 

Where? “In the owner’s office.” 

Was the owner present? “Yes, the owner was present.” 

As the deposition continues, Sarah is put through a ringer. She admits she did cocaine in 2006. She admits she was on prescriptions. “Jeffrey’s psychiatrist prescribed me lithium, Ritalin, and there was a bipolar description drug that was also prescribed to me by Jeffrey Epstein’s psychiatrist. I can’t remember the exact name of that bipolar drug. But I was started off with lithium and Ritalin. (p. 97) 

The psychiatrist was a woman. 

Eventually, Epstein paid for her to fly home to South Africa to see her family. Ransome had no intention of coming back. 

She has trouble describing other potential witnesses or remembering their names. As she explains, “You know, there was a constant flow of women, girls.” (p. 108) “Jeffrey was always surrounded by new girls. I couldn’t keep up with the names, to be honest. That's why I can't remember any of them.” (p. 109) 

Asked about any conversations she could remember having with any of the girls, she replies, “We spoke very frequently about the faces Jeffrey used to pull when he used to masturbate over the girls, which was quite funny. We spoke about Ghislaine quite a lot and what a monster she was. She’s really not a nice person, so – yeah, I mean, we spoke about them a lot, actually.” 

“And the way he spits on his hand when he masturbates. It’s really gross. It’s quite funny.” (pp. 110-111) 

Regarding the girl who recruited her – who Ransome later learned was paid: “So, yeah, she told me about this guy who was really wealthy, a philanthropist, you know, really enjoyed – you know, he really cares about people and he really wants to help them, and he was a really good, decent guy.” 

Sarah admits she was struggling financially “because my modeling career hadn’t really taken off as I had hoped, so I was – yeah, she wanted to help.” (p. 114) 

She first met Epstein when she was invited to the cinema – and there were ten other girls with him. “I bought popcorn and sweets and juice, and I had an awesome time watching the movie with a bunch of new people.” 

 

The abuse begins – trapped on an island. 

The third time she met Epstein it was on a flight, headed for Little St. James Island: “So it was pretty a last-minute thing. [Redacted] phoned me up and said that Jeffrey Epstein would very much like to have me go to his island. It was going to be so much fun, it was going to be a girls’ week, there were lots of other girls going, we were going to have so much fun, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.” (p. 120) 

“Jeffrey then went – Jeffrey went to his – was in his bed on the plane, having open sex with [redacted] for everyone to see, on display.” (p. 123) 

“And I remember her [the girl who was having sex] specifically with the Louis Vuitton handbag that she had, a black one.” (p. 124) 

(Sarah later gets a red one of her own.) 

 

There was a bed at the back of the plane “which there’s no door, so you can quite easily have sex and show the whole plane. Which is how it’s designed, I’m guessing. Because there’s no privacy around the bed.” (p. 127) 

There was “a lovely middle-age couple” on the island, from Zimbabwe, Ransome recalls, “like staff.” (p. 130) 

She had sex with Epstein on her first trip: “So the entire basics were explained to me, there’s this wealthy dude, this philanthropist, loves women, loves getting massages. And this was a nice way to make extra cash, which is great. I got to the island – oh, I was made to massage Jeffrey on the plane. Sorry. That’s where I gave my first massage to Jeffrey. So my first massage started with him on the plane, with his feet and his hands. And on that trip I was – I had to give him other massages, like legs, arms, feet, hands, head, shoulders. And it wasn’t straight away, but they got more sexual.” (pp. 130-131) 

He had a speedboat to take everyone over to Little St. James. He also had a helicopter to bring people in. Ms. Menniger, a lawyer for Maxwell, asks if the pilot was “cute.” Ransome’s lawyer objects. 

The second day on the island, “They come up to me and say, please go to Jeffrey’s bedroom and massage Jeffrey. He is waiting for you.” (p. 143) 

“So I went into Jeffrey Epstein’s bedroom. His bedroom is ice-cold; it’s always ice-cold. He likes his bedrooms very well air conditioned. There was a massage table laid out in his bedroom. He asked me to undress and that he wanted to give me a massage, and he asked me to lay on the table. He then started touching my body. I was – I was – it didn’t start off as a sexual massage; it was just – you know, it was just doing a normal massage, and then he started to touch me, he touched my vaginal region and he touched me all over. … I did have an orgasm. He used a specific vibrator on me, which it was quite hard not to.” 

Can you describe it? 

“Yeah, it’s quite big. It’s not an actual vibrator. It’s really good; you should get one if you don’t.” (pp. 146-147) 

(I think the deponent is being sarcastic; the deposition is transcribed.) 

 

It’s not really made for sex, she explains, then says, “I told him to stop when he – because he pressed the vibrator head on my clitoris and it was incredibly painful. It hurt me. That’s a very sensitive area, and the strength of the specific device he used is – it’s not really meant for that.” 

Mr. Guirguis, one of her lawyers interjects: “Can we stop for a moment? The witnesses crying.” (p. 149) 

After that, Sarah says, “all other massages were sexual” with Jeffrey. 

Asked how many times she went to the island, she’s not sure. Less than ten? “Several,” she admits. 

She describes the island: “Yeah, there were multiple buildings. You had the main house. You had certain accommodation areas where the girls sit. There were various buildings around the island where he used to have all – him and his other guests, like beds and beds, like little shelter things where him and his guests used to have sex with the girls, like beds set up for instant sexual entertainment. So – all over the island, all over the island. So if you go on one of his quad bikes and do a tour of his island, which I’m sure you guys have done, you will see multiple buildings around the island.” (pp. 143-144) 

“We were called on [for sex], like, a rotation visit for Jeffrey throughout the day and evening.” (p. 153) 

“We weren’t actually allowed to bring any electronic devices with us.” (p. 155) 

 

Ransome meets Ghislaine Maxwell. 

She meets Maxwell on a second trip to the island. “She’s incredibly intimidating. … She’s a very dangerous character and has connections.” (p. 157) When Maxwell goes into hiding, after Epstein’s 2019 arrest, she has ex-British special service providing security. You can understand why so many girls would feel trapped. 

Ransome continues: 

“I met a lot of girls who we all had the same opinion of Ghislaine; we were all frightened of her.” (p. 158) 

“I liked her dog, though, her Yorkshire Terrier. Her dog was nice.” (p. 159) 

“I remember speaking to her quite a lot about my FIT application [to the Fashion Institute]. I remember speaking to the Ghislaine about my psychiatrist, about my weight. My weight was a big issue. And, in fact, everything was an issue with Ghislaine.” (p. 164) 

“I came to New York, my intention was to meet many people, make new friends, make a new life for myself.” (p. 166) 

She was asked who else was on the island when she first met Maxwell? Could she describe anyone? 

Ransome responds: “They were all beautiful people. I just remember being surrounded by beautiful young people. They were always girls. There were always girls. You know, girls didn’t even have time to kind of remember girls’ names because there was always people leaving the island, popping in, flying in. So there was a constant flux of people coming in, popping in visiting Jeffrey and Ghislaine.” (pp. 166-167) 

Asked for details, she adds, “Just that they were extremely beautiful. I’ve never seen girls like this.”  They were “the elite.” (p. 168) 

She explains why she can’t remember many names: “I didn’t really – I hung out with my crew: [Redacted] they were – they were my friends. I thought they were my friends. So I didn’t really cozy up to any of the other girls. It’s like high school, you know, you’re not friends with everybody.” (pp. 169-170) 

 

Trafficked in New York. 

In New York City, she would be told to go to Epstein’s office, so he could see how she was doing on her college application. That was the second time she met Maxwell. “I had to write an essay,” she says. 

On one occasion, Alan Dershowitz was there. (p. 174) 

The girls, she said, all had to check in at Jeffrey’s office. “I was just told to be there; I had to be there.” (p. 178) 

“I was just applying – doing an application form. And they were trying to get me in. They – yeah, I can’t remember the exact – I think Ghislaine also knew people there, so they were basically trying to get me into FIT.” (p. 180) 

She’s asked to describe Alan: “He – old age; white, pasty skin; not very attractive. Wears glasses. Bit of an ugly man, really.” (p. 187)

Dershowitz, right, seen with President Trump.

 

She says she first had sex with Dershowitz in a bathroom at Epstein’s New York apartment. (p. 188) 

Then she had sex with the lawyer at Epstein’s New York mansion. She was taken upstairs by another girl – that girl’s name is redacted in the transcript. “So [redacted] started undressing me in the room. She started undressing me by the bed. We got on the bed. I kind of knew what was going on from that. The girls were often forced to have sex with each other for Jeffrey’s pleasure, so it was just another occasion, I guess. Jeffrey then walked in the room. He started masturbating under his clothes. He put his hand in his trousers. A few minutes later Alan walked in the room. He started undressing, he got on the bed with [redacted] and myself, and we basically had a three-way sexual interaction.” She adds, “it wasn’t a pleasant experience.” 

“I gave him oral sex, masturbated him. He did the same with [redacted]. He performed the same on me.” (p. 194) 

She was asked by Maxwell’s lawyers if Dershowitz had any scars. “I wasn't ravishing Alan’s body,” Ransome replies. “I was trying to close my eyes and just get it done so I could go home and watch TV, really.” (p. 195) 

Why would she let all of this happen? Epstein took care of expenses, she says, giving her money for, “Accommodation, travel, taxis, food, my prescription that I had to pay for, for the prescription that – prescription drugs.” (p. 204) 

 

Weight becomes an issue. 

Half of page 204, all of 205 and 206, are redacted. Lithium made her gain weight rapidly. Maxwell talked to her. “She bullied me massively about my weight.” “I was told that I would lose Jeffrey’s financing if I didn’t lose weight, and I would not – they would not help me get into FIT.” (p. 208) 

After a heated argument with Epstein and Maxwell on the island: “I recall it got so heated that I ran off and tried to swim off the island. I wanted to get as far away from Jeffrey and Ghislaine as possible.” The island is rocky and the edges are steep and she didn’t know how to get away.

(p. 210) “No. It was quite a long drop off the – it was like a cliff-type – I wasn’t able to jump or get in the water.” (p. 223) 

“It was basically an ultimatum that I either lose weight – or that’s it.”  She was warned: “They wouldn’t help me to get into FIT, and that my time with Jeffrey would be – would end.” “I think a few curse words were shared.” (pp. 211-212) 

(“Fuck,” I mutter, reading about this abuse.) 

 

You weren’t allowed to smoke anywhere on the island or to even let Epstein know that you smoked. She wasn’t fat, she says, “64, 65 kilograms at that time,” or at most 143 pounds. “I was one of the girls that Jeffrey had sexual encounters with regularly. He liked his girls thin.” (p. 214) 

“Jeffrey kept us on a little string with his massage payments.” He would pay the girls $200 or $300, every time. Otherwise, he took care of all their bills. (pp. 214-215) 

When she finally went home to see her father and stepmother in South Africa, she was on orders to find Epstein a personal assistant – she had to be 18, thin, beautiful, smart. Ransome cuts weight to 56 kilograms, or 123 pounds. She remains in contact with Epstein and Maxwell. Maxwell’s lawyers want to know why. “And he was going to – he promised that he would pay for my education,” she explains. “And I was staying in his apartment and he was funding my life, so of course I would want him to contact me.” (p. 232) 

He told you he’d pay for your education? “Multiple, multiple times.” (p. 235) 

As you might expect, she had “a huge row” with her father and stepmother while in South Africa. Ghislaine called, and tried to reassure them, telling them “that my education would be paid for and – basically that. You know, they [she and Jeffrey] spent a lot of time and effort reassuring my family they weren’t abusing me, which they were, and that they weren’t going to traffic me, which they were.” (p. 240) 

Once she came forward, she says she told her father and stepmother they had to accept her for what she was. They could not and she hadn’t spoken to them in a year, when she gave the deposition. 

She had spoken to her mother, who lived in London, the week before. 

When she returned to New York she moved in with her boyfriend and told him about Epstein. “I told him that I was very frightened. He was incredibly concerned about my weight loss and about the weight goal that Jeffrey and Ghislaine set for me, which was 52 kilograms (115 pounds). He was scared for me, actually.” “I begged him if I could live with him, and he agreed.” (p. 246) 

She’s asked how Epstein abused her – but the details are grim, and she says she was abused both physically and mentally. “A, physical abuse always leads to mental abuse. It’s a fact. So you can’t physically abuse someone and they can’t be mentally, because they will – without a doubt, I’m sure myself and all the other girls have suffered some form of posttraumatic stress.” (p. 252) 

Why were you frightened? 

On one occasion, she was supposed to stand on a street corner and be picked up for a meeting. She decided to walk away. Jeffrey and his driver found her. “The fact that he had found me and wasn’t supposed to know where I was. So I was incredibly intimidated that he drove up beside me and knew where I was.” (p. 258) 

 

“And I’m sure you can agree, as a mom.” 

The deposition degenerates into an argument over when passports were used, and whether Ransome traveled in summer or fall, which does get confusing, since South Africa’s seasons are reversed. 

(My disgust, as a mere reader, continues to rise.) 

 

Ransome continues: “You know, all the girls kind of reported to Ghislaine. Ghislaine was like the mama bear, if you know what I mean. She called the shots; we had to listen to Ghislaine. And Ghislaine was Jeffrey’s right-hand woman, so, you know, whatever Jeffrey wanted went through Ghislaine then filtered through.” (pp. 288-289) 

“But every single person 100 per cent, 200 percent reported to Ghislaine.  100 per cent.” (p. 290) 

At one point, having been asked repeatedly to provide details that she cannot remember after a decade, Ransome responds, “I can’t remember the exact time, date or where I was standing, on which pavement or crack.” 

Maxwell’s lawyers are trying to get Ransome to paint a picture that will allow Maxwell to escape in court. She is asked how much time she spent with the woman, who she said she talked to about Ghislaine, when they talked. It makes sense, if you’re a lawyer, to press a key witness. 

(If you’re a decent human being, reading the transcript, you want to scream.) 

 

How much time? Ransome finally answers: “Enough time. I mean, how long is a piece of string? I was here for a certain amount of time, and in that time, the majority of the time I spent with Jeffrey Epstein being involved with this pedophilia – I mean, how much time have you spent with him? I don’t know. It wasn’t a lot of time, because I couldn’t stand the woman and she was a bully and no one liked her, so no one really went out of their way to spend time with her.” (p. 297) 

Finally, when asked how she knew some of the victims were teenagers, she turns it on her questioner, a female attorney, saying, “I don’t know how old [redacted] is, but she looked young. And I’m sure you can agree, as a mom, in the photos, that she looks pretty young for an old man to be bonking. So she looks really young. She looks younger than me.” 

And with that, even as a blogger, I’ve had my fill. On p. 303, I decide to stop reading for a while, and clear my head. 

 

Bill Clinton and Donald Trump go on national TV together. 

Time to add to a list of potential witnesses, whom Congress should interview or even try to find. 

In fact, let’s say that we do want to learn the complete truth. I suggest that Bill Clinton and Donald Trump go on national TV together, in a bipartisan spirit, and a quest for justice, and announce: “We stand together, in asking any and all individuals who can give relevant testimony, related to crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and any and all participants in their sex-trafficking ring, to come forward. We give you our word, that the U.S. government will protect you. 

“And you will have the thanks of a grateful nation.” 

Victims from other countries could be offered free plane fare and free accommodations while they testified. 

I also think a few billionaires, who say they now regret ever having associated with Epstein, could come forward and offer rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any participants in this sex-trafficking ring. 

Potential witnesses to add to any congressional docket: 

99. THE VERY YOUNG GIRL – SEEN BY RANSOME

99. THE GIRL WITH THE BLACK LOUIS VUITTON PURSE

99. THE “MIDDLE-AGE” ZIMBABWE COUPLE – THE MAN

99. THE LADY

99. RANSOME’S LAST BOYFRIEND IN NEW YORK (CORROBORATION)

99. THE (REDACTED) WITNESS – AS RELATED TO MR. DERSHOWITZ

99. EPSTEIN’S DRIVER

___

 

Around this same time: Peggy Siegal, a well-known entertainment publicist, and a media giant, set to work, to help ease Epstein back into elite society. One trick was to host private gatherings at his East Side mansion in New York. This is where many famous names will fill the Epstein Files – and only a few will have been participants in crimes. 

With more evidence coming, especially after the legal dam begins crumbling in 2024, and details leak out, we hear more.

 

But the recent tranche of emails reveals that Siegal and Epstein may have had a closer relationship than many previously believed. In at least one newly revealed email, Epstein wrote to Siegal “with an ask: Could she reach out to media mogul Arianna Huffington to enlist her help in clearing his name?” said Politico. Epstein also asked Siegal if Huffington, the cofounder of HuffPost, could send reporters to investigate one of his most notable accusers, Virginia Giuffre. Siegal “offered to send the message to Huffington on her own behalf if Epstein fixed the grammar,” but both Siegal and Huffington have said nothing ever came of the request. 

 

Another witness for Congress: 

99. PEGGY SIEGAL

___

 

March 2017: Having been nominated by President Trump, to be Secretary of Labor, Mr. R. Alexander Acosta is questioned only briefly about his handling of the Epstein case.

___ 

April 17, 2017: The Senate confirms Acosta’s appointment as Labor Secretary, by a vote of 60-38, with all Republicans voting in favor, joined by eight Democrats, and 38 Democrats against.

___ 

May 2017: Giuffre’s defamation suit against Ghislaine Maxwell is scheduled for trial. Maxwell agrees to settle. It is reported, but not definitively known, that she agrees to a multi-million-dollar payout. Court documents are sealed – including a lengthy statement made by Ransome, or “Jane Doe 43.” 

(That statement is highlighted above.)

___

 

August 2017: If we wanted, we could listen to a tape of Jeffrey, talking about Donald Trump. “I was his best friend for ten years,” he says. 

The first time the future president slept with Melania, the future First Lady of the United States, “was on my plane,” Epstein claims. As the Daily Beast explained, in a November 2024 article about the tape,

 

Epstein painted a complicated portrait of Trump. He called him “charming,” and “always fun,” capable of extraordinary salesmanship, and suggested he was personally in favor of Trump’s policies on “the transgender stuff.” But he alleged Trump was a serial cheat in his marriages and loved to “f--- the wives of his best friends.”

 

He also claimed that while Trump has friends, he was at heart a friendless man incapable of kindness. 

 

When that story broke, the tape was in the possession of Michael Wolff, who had been researching material for his book, Fire and Fury, in 2017. Wolff added this monster detail, if true: He said Epstein had shown off photos of Trump with topless young women sitting in his lap. 

(A spokesperson for Mr. Trump described the tapes as “false smears.”) 

 

*

__________ 

“Justice is not only blind, it limps.” 

Will and Ariel Durant

__________ 

 

November 2018: The Miami Herald blows open the Epstein case – in the press, at least – in a stunning series of articles. It’s a sickening story of how justice caught up with Epstein and then let him escape.

___

 

November 30, 2018: Two people close to President Trump tell reporters that Acosta is now out of the running to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Revelations in the Herald, they admit, in a stunning understatement, were “not helpful,” considering his hopes of Senate confirmation. 

(Who even vetted him for that position?) 

___

 

December 2018: Epstein agrees to pay a settlement to Sarah Ransome.

___ 

December 4, 2018: Epstein agrees to a last-minute settlement with Bradley Edwards, who has been representing several victims. As NPR explains, “The settlement puts an end to a case that had been anticipated to bring court testimony [emphasis added] from Epstein’s victims for the first time.”

___ 

 

A Pam Bondi sighting. 

End of 2018: Florida’s attorney general, on the day in November 2018, that the Herald blew open the Epstein case was … Pam Bondi – yes, that lady. She was elected in 2011 and reelected in 2015. 

On that grim day, there were thought to be hundreds of victims, many abused in Florida. Those who had abused most of the victims had never been held accountable. Their testimony had never been requested or heard. 

Could Bondi have opened a new investigation, called for a new grand jury, heard from more victims? 

Yes, she could. 

It would have been unusual, but she could have. Someone in power in Florida – anyone – should have pushed her to do so. Or Bondi and her top advisors could have figured it out themselves. 

(The fact no one did, until it was too late, speaks volumes.)

___ 

 

First known case of blackmail. 

Date uncertain - 2019: At some point in 2019, Melinda French Gates begins discussions with divorce lawyers. Issues include husband Bill’s infidelity, including affairs with co-workers, and connections with Jeffrey Epstein. 

Trust in her husband, she admitted in an interview with “CBS Mornings” three years later, had been broken. 

Speaking to Gayle King, in 2022, Melinda told the host that she had met Epstein just once – that she was curious who he was – and that one meeting had been enough. “I regretted it the second I walked in the door. He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. My heart breaks for these women.” 

“Any of the questions remaining about what Bill’s relationship there was, those are for Bill to answer,” she tells King. “But I made it very clear how I felt about him. I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him.”

 

Mr. Gates will later admit to having attended several dinners with Epstein, starting in 2011, but that’s it, he says. When the Epstein Files end up front and center in the news, in 2025, he sits down with a Wall Street Journal reporter and admits, “In retrospect, I was foolish to spend any time with him.”

 

“I think I was quite stupid. I thought it would help me with global health philanthropy. In fact, it failed to do that. It was just a huge mistake.”

 

It was, indeed. As the Journal explains, in the opening lines to a story on the Gates-Epstein connection:

 

Jeffrey Epstein discovered that Bill Gates had an affair with a Russian bridge player and later appeared to use his knowledge to threaten one of the world’s richest men, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

The Microsoft co-founder met the woman around 2010, when she was in her 20s. Epstein met her in 2013 and later paid for her to attend software coding school. In 2017, Epstein emailed Gates and asked to be reimbursed for the cost of the course, according to the people familiar with the matter.

 

 

According to the New York Post, what Epstein really wanted, was for Gates “to join his multibillion-dollar charitable fund with JPMorgan Chase,” which the richest man in the world had refused to do.

 

Epstein was laying down a less-than-subtle reminder: “Hey, I know Mila Antonova, that bridge player, too.”

 

 

The Fourth Estate.

 

Here, I must give another plug for the free press. The Fourth Estate serves, when functioning correctly, as a check on the misuse of power, in all its forms. The Wall Street Journal has the resources and skilled reporters to dig into such stories. This blogger sits at his computer and Googles for information; and most of the hacks on social media sites do nothing more – and usually less – but like to scream about what they “uncover.” What they do – what I do – is mostly called “typing.”

 

Or, in my case, “typing for no pay.”

 

(At least I have enough self-respect not to scream to get attention.)

 

 

We don’t learn much by listening to screamers. What we need is for the free press to do the hard work, the shoveling of large piles of dirt, searching for diamonds of truth. In the end, the Journal’s reputation, The New York Time’s reputation, Fox News’s reputation is only as good as the accuracy of their work.

 

I throw out a lot of opinions, myself, and I mock Donald Trump mercilessly, because it’s so easy and so much fun. But I never peddle bullshit to get more traffic on my blog. My first interest is truth.

 

My only interest is truth.

 

So, the “lamestream media” does the complicated work, and I follow trails of crumbs. The Journal wisely keeps dopes like me from reading their articles for free. I get stopped after two paragraphs and I’m too cheap to pay to read the rest. I switch to the New York Post, a tabloid newspaper, but generally solid with facts. It turns out, Bill Gates met Antonova “around 2010, when she was in her 20s.”

 

I do what I do. I Google. Next, I land on a story from Fox News. The Fox reporters are good with facts, too – but the people who run Fox only want you to know the facts that bolster a narrative. Their hosts, like Hannity and Carlson and Jesse Watters are all screamers, barking for attention. Or, in Carlson’s case, he barked, until he lied too much; and now he barks on his own podcast.

 

Fox points out that Antonova and Gates met during a bridge tournament, in 2009. In July 2010, Antonova posted a video in which she talked about the benefits of playing bridge. She can be heard saying she had been telling friends for years that she was going to meet Gates someday, and at the tournament she had. “Last year, I played against him at the same table at the National Bridge Tournament in Washington, D.C. I didn’t beat him, but I tried to kick him with my leg.”

 

Ah! A little Russian footsie! An affair began around that time, with Bill, in his 50s, bonking a girl in her 20s, which is at least legal for once, in a sordid story like this about Jeffrey Epstein. Then I noticed a date provided by the Post. Epstein is said to have met Antonova in 2013 and later “paid for her to attend software coding school.”

 

(That’s one of his go-to gimmicks to trap women – to pay for their schooling.)

 

 

Now I am suspicious – even though I don’t usually dabble in suspicion. I like my facts in neat ranks – like members of a precision Marine drill team. Yet, I wonder. What if Epstein knew Antonova when she was younger? Like illegal-to-have-sex-with younger? What if, at the time Bill admitted he was having dinners with Jeffrey, he first crossed paths with the Russian bridge player?

 

In a story where Trump’s name comes up more than rarely – and now we have Russians? Well, you know how that goes. 

In the coming congressional investigation, which should fill the news next year, lawmakers would obviously be interested in interviewing: 

99. BILL GATES

99. MILA ANTONOVA

99. ANY EPSTEIN VICTIMS WHO MIGHT HAVE SEEN BILL GATES HANGING AROUND

___ 

  

As many as 102 middle school and high school girls. 

February 24, 2019: Epstein first appears in my blog, at the start of Mr. Trump’s third year in office.

 

As I wrote at that time:

 

Did someone just say, “immorality?” Today we learn that a federal judge has accused current Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta of violating the rights of sexual abuse victims. The case involves a non-prosecution agreement worked out in 2008 with Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Let the Miami Herald tell you who he is: 

 

Palm Beach multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, 54, was accused of assembling a large, cult-like network of underage girls – with the help of young female recruiters – to coerce into having sex acts behind the walls of his opulent waterfront mansion as often as three times a day, the Town of Palm Beach police found.

 

 

If you don’t think this story has enough to interest conspiracy theorists of all political persuasions, consider this:

 

The eccentric hedge fund manager, whose friends included former President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, was also suspected of trafficking minor girls, often from overseas, for sex parties at his other homes in Manhattan, New Mexico and the Caribbean, FBI and court records show.

___

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: The more you read about Epstein, the more repulsive you realize his conduct was.   

At one point, I reported that Acosta met with Epstein privately for breakfast and a deal was struck. I was partly in error. On October 12, 2007, Acosta met with Epstein’s lawyer, Jay Lefkowitz, for a 7 a.m. breakfast meeting. It was then that the final touches were put on a sweet deal for Jeffrey. 

(My apologies for the mistake. We need facts, and only facts to grasp this case.) 

 

Mr. Acosta would later excuse this meeting, saying that the final deal had been agreed to on September 24, more than two weeks before he sat down with a plate of bacon and eggs. But we know Mr. Lefkowitz sent him a letter afterwards and thanked him for his “commitment” not to contact the victims or their lawyers. 

Acosta and his team would later insist that they cut the deal because the girls were afraid to testify. Prosecutors feared Epstein’s powerhouse lawyers might be able to shred the girls’ testimony, and plant doubts in jurors’ minds. Adam Horowitz, who represented seven of the victims, would later register his disgust. It was Acosta’s team that had scared his clients, he said. “The prosecutors were saying, ‘These defense lawyers are going to go through your whole personal life, dig up your bad acts and your sex life. When they heard that from prosecutors, sure, they were intimidated,” he said. “They kept saying, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’” 

Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer for three of the victims agreed. He noted that two of clients had already provided depositions and were “willing and ready” to testify. But they never had a chance. 

 

Epstein would serve time in a minimum-security county jail. The non-prosecution agreement would shut down an F.B.I. investigation looking for additional victims – at the same time, shielding powerful individuals who had participated in his crimes. The agreement was kept secret from the victims, some as young as 13. That meant that none of them and none of their lawyers would show up in court and derail the deal. 

In a second article, the Herald offered up the horrific details of the molestation of as many as 102 middle school and high school girls.

 

The girls arrived, sometimes by taxi, for trysts at all hours of the day and night. Few were told much more than that they would be paid to give an old man a massage – and that he might ask them to strip down to their underwear or get naked. But what began as a massage often led to masturbation, oral sex, intercourse and other sex acts, police and court records show. The alleged abuse dates back to 2001 and went on for years. 

 

Yet, as the Herald notes, Acosta was once on a list of possible replacements for Attorney General Jeff Sessions.  

Asked, at the time, about the matter, President Trump [then in his first term] shrugged and offered Acosta his support. “I really don’t know too much about it [emphasis added],” he told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. “I know he’s done a great job as labor secretary, and that Epstein’s crimes] seems like a long time ago.” 

Unless you were the victim, of course. 

 

So it was, that I wrote six years ago. Now I should reiterate: The agreement that Acosta crafted immunized all of Epstein’s co-conspirators – members of his staff that helped make his crimes possible. 

And any “potential co-conspirators.” 

(WTF!!!)

___ 

 

April 16, 2019: Maria Farmer files an affidavit in federal court, alleging that she and her sister Annie had been assaulted by both Epstein and Maxwell, at separate locations, in 1996. Her statement is in support of a defamation suit filed by Giuffre against Alan Dershowitz.

___ 

 

All defendants must have good counsel. 

May 2019: During a visit to “The View,” Dershowitz talks about the Epstein case. I may be lifting this quote out of context, but I worry if it might not represent his personal standard for telling the truth. “There’s no federal crime that says that it’s illegal to lie to the media,” he remarks. 

He goes on to say that his past role in defending Epstein makes him sad. Bruck’s story in The New Yorker highlights his attempt to insulate himself from blame:

 

“It’s a case that was very, very difficult, and very, very painful for me, because I saw real victims out there. I’m a very strong supporter of the MeToo movement.” But, he said, an attorney is obligated to defend the rights of the accused: “I think of myself like a doctor or a priest. If they wheel Jeffrey Epstein into the emergency ward, the doctor is going to take care of him.” (Dershowitz put it differently to me, in one of a series of conversations this spring and summer: “Every honest criminal lawyer will tell you that he defends the guilty and the innocent.”) 

 

That is true, of course. All defendants must have good counsel, or a system of justice cannot properly function. 

Abby Huntsmen, one of the hosts, puts him on the spot, reminding him that Virginia Giuffre has said she was trafficked to all kinds of men, including him. Dershowitz calls Epstein a “brilliant” man, an engaging conversationalist. He tells Abby and the other hosts that, “His wife once asked whether the friendship would endure if Epstein suddenly filed for bankruptcy.” 

“I would be as interested in him as a friend if we had hamburgers on the boardwalk in Coney Island and talked about his ideas,” Alan assured his wife. 

 

In October 2005, Epstein realized he was under investigation and called Dershowitz to seek help. 

Alan agreed to take him on as a client.

 

He has since said that Epstein’s case is the only one, out of more than two hundred and fifty in his career, that he regrets taking. Dershowitz told me that he was misled about the severity of the allegations. He said that Epstein had told him that “there were only half a dozen accusers who were under the age” and that “they slipped through the cracks – they presented fake I.D.” He added, “When I later learned the extent of this, I was shocked.” 

(Sophocles again?) 

 

I could see that perhaps being true; and even though I’m about to say something less than flattering, I know Dershowitz could be innocent of any wrongdoing. It could be he has never abused a single female, underage, overage, or just right. 

I was repulsed when I caught a glimpse of Dershowitz on Jon Stewart’s Comedy Central show, once the lid finally blew off the latest coverup. In a brief clip, from a NewsNation broadcast with host Chris Cuomo (it’s at the 19:34 mark on the Stewart clip) the lawyer’s face looms large, momentarily, and he insists that he defended Epstein because he believed Epstein’s crime was no big deal. 

He wants Cuomo’s audience to know that Epstein’s only crime was “having sex for money with a 17-year and 10-month-old person. That’s not pedophile.” 

Only, I already know something Cuomo’s viewers don’t. I know Dershowitz was in on talks, back in 2008, centered not on Epstein’s “crime,” no singular offense, but on a long trail of heinous abuses, involving dozens of girls, some as young as thirteen. The molester may have pleaded guilty to one count, and a finding on another – but he deserved to go to prison for the rest of his life, had he been forced to stand trial. 

Dershowitz is a high-priced attorney. So, I come away (perhaps in error) thinking the man has the ability of a practiced liar. 

 (I also wonder why Cuomo doesn’t call Dershowitz out on his claim.)

___ 

 

June 2019: With Epstein stories filling the news, and his possible connections with Donald Trump sparking comment, I took time to list all the women who had previously accused Donald of sexual improprieties. That list numbered 29 women. Most had confided in friends or relatives about what had happened at the time and had people who could help back up their accusations. 

This still does not prove Trump molested young girls or took advantage of girls who were being trafficked. 

(On the other hand, it doesn’t make you think he wouldn’t if he could.)

___ 

 

July 7, 2019: In my blog, I added to the Epstein saga, writing:

 

In recent years, the Miami Herald has done brilliant investigative work on this story. Remember that next time you hear the president or anyone else attacking the free press. The lawyer for the 16-year-old girl who state prosecutors say was “the victim attached to the mysterious plea deal given to multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein says neither he nor his client were informed that it was her case that ended Epstein’s prosecution.” As the Herald notes, the victim, now 31, “wasn’t among Epstein’s youngest victims, but she was among those who were more brutally sexually assaulted, repeatedly, by both Epstein and others, according to records.”

 

At Epstein’s sentencing, the judge asked Assistant State Attorney Lanna Belohlavek whether there was more than one victim. “There’s several,” Belohlavek replied.

 

“Are all the victims in both these cases in agreement with the terms of this deal?” [Judge] Pucillo asked. “Yes,” Belohlavek said.

 

But emails and letters show that Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Villafaña wanted state prosecutors to tell the judge as little as possible, telling Epstein’s lawyers “I would prefer not to highlight for the judge [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted],” how many victims were involved – which at the time was almost three dozen girls, ages 13 to 17.

 

 

How did the sex-trafficking ring operate? Again, the Herald uncovered the story:

 

[Robert] Josefsberg’s client, labeled Jane Doe 1 for this story, told police what happened to her in a sworn statement in 2005, obtained by the Herald. In it, she said that sometime in 2004, when she was 16, she was approached by another girl, Jane Doe 2, who attended Royal Palm Beach High School in West Palm Beach.

 

Jane Doe 2 asked the girl whether she wanted to make some money by giving massages to a man named Jeffrey Epstein, who lived in a mansion on Palm Beach island. Jane Doe 1 had heard that a lot of girls at the high school were making money doing these massages, and she agreed to go, the report said.

 

She was taken there by Jane Doe 2 and introduced to Epstein and his scheduling secretary, Sarah Kellen. (Kellen also was given immunity.) Jane Doe No. 1’s description of what happened matched those of dozens of other girls: She was led up a back stairway to a master bedroom and bath where Epstein appeared in the room, clad only in a towel. She was instructed to strip down to her underwear and begin massaging his back.

 

Shortly thereafter, he flipped over, dropped his towel and began masturbating while fondling her with a vibrator. She and Jane Doe 2 were each paid $200.

 

Jane Doe 1 said she went to Epstein’s house about 15 times, and each time, the encounters became more sexual, and eventually led to full intercourse with Epstein and [Nadia] Marcinkova [an older, alleged “sex slave”], according to the statement that Jane Doe 1 told Palm Beach Detective Joe Recarey, who died last year. She also told Recarey that she brought two other girls to Epstein’s house, and was paid $200 for each girl.

 

She was among three dozen underage girls listed by the U.S. Attorney as victims of Epstein. Sixteen of those victims were represented by Josefsberg, who was designated to assist them in receiving civil restitution from Epstein as part of the plea agreement.

 

After Jane Doe 1 was interviewed by police, other witnesses, including two of Epstein’s butlers, confirmed that they had seen several of the girls, among them Jane Doe 2, coming and going from Epstein’s house at all hours of the day and night.

 

Police had corroborating evidence, including phone records and messages with the girls’ names, phone numbers and appointment times.

 

 

Who else might have assisted Epstein in his schemes? According to Washington Monthly, Ghislaine Maxwell, a 57-year-old British socialite and publishing heir, has been accused of working as Epstein’s madam. Jean-Luc Brunel, who was partners with Epstein in an international modeling company might also face legal jeopardy.

 

For her part, Maxwell, whose social circle included such friends as Bill and Hillary Clinton and members of the British Royal family, has been described as using recruiters positioned throughout the world to lure women by promising modeling assignments, educational opportunities and fashion careers. The pitch was a ruse to groom them into sex trafficking, it is alleged.

 

 

More accusers soon came forward with tales of massages and molestation in exchange for $200 or even $1,000 per visit. Some claimed that Epstein would force them to have intercourse with him or a young woman described as his Eastern European “sex slave.” Epstein’s assistant, Sarah Kellen, allegedly kept a Rolodex of underage girls to recruit for her employer.

 

Yet, for reasons mystifying to say the least, the Florida plea deal granted immunity to any alleged co-conspirators, “including but not limited to” recruiters Kellen, Adriana Ross, and Lesley Groff, and the alleged sex slave, Nadia Marcinkova.

 

A woman named Maria Farmer claimed this past April in a new affidavit that Epstein sexually assaulted her at Les Wexner’s mansion in Ohio in 1996, and that he molested her 15-year-old sister in New Mexico. She said that Dershowitz used to frequent Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion as girls in school uniforms paraded in for “modeling” calls. Dershowitz denies the claims.

 

As Washington Monthly notes carefully, Wexner and Epstein did not respond to requests for comment.

___ 

 

July 6, 2019: Having built a case, based on new evidence, the federal government charges Epstein with multiple felonies, including sex-trafficking. His victims include “dozens of minor girls.” Prosecutors also warn that evidence shows that during the investigation of his crimes in Florida, in 2005-2007, Epstein or his agents had violated the “privacy protection of child victims and child witnesses” and had forced a vehicle driven by one of the victim’s fathers off the road. 

Note, especially, the line that says investigators discovered “evidence consistent with victim recollections of the inside of the mansion, further strengthening evidence of the conduct charged in the Indictment.” 

 

If the girls could describe the look of the apartment, you know they could describe the looks of the perpetrators. 

The New Yorker explained what happened next:

 

Epstein landed his private jet at Teterboro Airport, in New Jersey, returning from a trip to France. When he emerged from the plane, law-enforcement agents were waiting. He was taken into federal custody – part of an effort, led by the Southern District of New York, to revive his prosecution, based on new charges. That day, investigators broke open the door of his mansion on East Seventy-first Street and searched the interior. In a safe, they discovered a trove of pictures of naked young women. There were also piles of cash and an expired passport that contained Epstein’s photograph alongside an assumed name, with the country of residency listed as Saudi Arabia.

___ 

 

July 2019: At some point, following Epstein’s arrest, Maxwell goes into hiding. She communicates with the courts only through lawyers – and even they have no idea where she might be.

___ 

 

Epstein and Trump? Epstein and Clinton? 

July 9, 2019: Two days later, a story broke, indicating that not only President Trump, but former-President Bill Clinton, might have been involved with Epstein in ways that would not be acceptable. 

And perhaps illegal. 

I noted at the time that Fox News had jumped all over the story regarding Mr. Clinton – but had ignored details pointing at Mr. Trump:

 

7/9/19: President Trump is by no means the only big name involved; but when the Jeffery Epstein scandal explodes, he’s right where you might expect in a story about sexual abuse of young women.

 

The fuse is lit on July 6, when F.B.I agents arrest registered “sex offender” and multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein at the Teterboro, N.J. airport on arrival from France. At that moment, other agents are using a crowbar to enter the front door of his 21,000 square foot Manhattan townhouse. In a locked safe they discover “a vast trove of lewd photos” of young looking women and girls.

 

Epstein, of course, had been busted before, for the same kind of crimes with which he’s charged once more: sex-trafficking scores of girls, some as young as 13 or 14.

 

First, let’s admit this sordid tale might have enough juice to interest upright individuals of every stripe, from flaming liberal to Neolithic conservative. It turns out Trump was once a friend of Epstein’s. So was Bill Clinton. As soon as Fox News hears that last detail, you know they’re going to gear up a hundred “fair and balanced” reports about the Epstein-Clinton connection.

 

Sean Hannity is quick to air a show on the topic the same day and it makes him so mad you almost expect to see spit flying from his lips.

 

Clinton! That pervert! 

 

Then: Another anomaly. Secretary Acosta and President Trump met with reporters to announce the Secretary was resigning. 

Trump offered only praise for Acosta.

 

I think he was a great Labor Secretary, not a good Labor Secretary. He's done a fantastic job. He's a friend of everybody in the administration. … I mean, he made a deal that people were happy with, and then, 12 years later, they’re not happy with it. You’ll have to figure all of that out.

 

But the fact is, he has been a fantastic Secretary of Labor. … this was him, not me, [choosing to resign] because I’m with him. He was a – he’s a tremendous talent. He’s a Hispanic man. He went to Harvard, a great student. And in so many ways, I just hate what he’s saying now, because we're going to miss him. 

 

Acosta explained, simply, that he didn’t want to be a distraction, going forward. He will be, in the end, one of the few cabinet members from Trump’s first term, never to be savaged by the president after they failed him in some way. 

(Often, that “failure” involved acting in accordance with the law.) 

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: In the Fall of 2023, then-former President Trump chose to attack Sen. Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, who had served as his Secretary of Transportation for almost the duration of his first term. The issue was her husband’s agreement to help pass Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure bill. 

Trump let out a yelp on Truth Social, wondered if Mitch hated him, and added, “He has a DEATH WISH. Must immediately seek help and advise [sic] from his China loving wife, Coco Chow.” 

It was hard not to notice that Donald had insulted the following individuals, including Chao – this time adding a racist twist. Vice President Mike Pence, for example, was targeted for hanging by the mob on a grim January day. At other points, Trump blasted the following individuals, whom he had chosen for important posts, calling them losers, liars and lightweights: All nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court, including the three he nominated for seats. He roasted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Attorney General Bill Barr, who replaced Sessions, and Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who took over for Barr. He blasted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who took over for Mattis, White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly, National Security Advisor John Bolton, and now, Secretary Chao. 

It would seem then to be a glaring oversight, looking back, to remember that when Alex Acosta was forced to fall on his own sword, Trump failed to saddle him with an insulting nickname. 

Something like Alex “A Pedophile’s Best Friend” Acosta.

___ 

 

July 10, 2019: On my blog, on this date, I added a post I felt resonated during a difficult time. 

 

Stripper caddies for charity?

 

TRUMP NATIONAL DORAL makes news when the club cancels a charity golf event in the wake of bad publicity. “The Shadow All Star Tournament” was originally organized by a strip club. The Trump Organization thought it was a good idea. Golfers were going to have a chance to bid on scantily-clad “dancers” to serve as caddies. 

 

When it comes to keeping young women safe, canceling a strippers’ golf tournament looks like a good move.

 

Locking up Jeffrey Epstein forever is a better idea. Jennifer Araoz, 32, comes forward to add fresh accusations. She says she was approached by a woman several times outside her high school, when she was fourteen. Epstein, she was told, could help launch her Broadway career.

 

As Time describes it:

 

Araoz said her first few encounters with Epstein and the woman at Epstein’s home were friendly – they talked, she was given wine and $300 after every visit. Eventually she began meeting with Epstein alone, and that’s when the sexual abuse began, she alleges.

 

 

At first, he paid her for stripping to her underwear and giving him massages. Soon after she turned fifteen, he held her down during a visit and raped her [emphasis added]. She never returned to his home again. 

Araoz in a school picture.

___

  

July 29, 2019: Alan Dershowitz is feeling the increased heat. For that reason, he goes out of his way to assure a reporter that he has had sex with only one woman, “my wife,” from the time he met Epstein in 1996, till the day the financier was arrested and tossed into jail for a second and hopefully final time. “And there’s not a scintilla of evidence to suggest otherwise,” he adds. 

So, there’s a little hint of a very large problem. Dershowitz is a prominent lawyer, fluent, facile in debate, able to deploy words like “scintilla” in defense and paid extremely well. None of that is criminal. But Giuffre is only 26 when she begins her long fight for justice. She’s not Ivy League-educated. She has no rich and powerful friends. For Epstein’s accusers this is never a fair fight. 

(Big money will protect almost everyone else.)

___ 

 

Hundreds of millions of dollars are involved. 

August 7, 2019: Les Wexner addresses questions regarding his ties to Epstein, in a letter to The New York Times. He claims to have cut ties with the financier in 2007, after discovering that he had misappropriated at least $46 million. 

“I am embarrassed that, like so many others, I was deceived by Mr. Epstein,” he writes. “I know now that my trust in him was grossly misplaced, and I deeply regret having ever crossed his path.”

___ 

 

August 8, 2019: Epstein draws up a will. His estate is valued at $577,672,654 and he makes his brother Mark his sole heir. Everything is placed in trust, which will make it harder for creditors or victims to go after his assets. 

Those include his mansion in New York, his five-bedroom place in Florida, his ranch in New Mexico, a place in Paris and his two islands in the Caribbean (dubbed ‘Pedophile Island’ and ‘Orgy Island’ by locals). 

He owns a Bentley, a Hummer, a Range Rover, a Mercedes-Benz, a Cadillac Escalade, and seven Chevrolet Suburban SUVs.

___ 

 

August 10, 2019: Epstein is found dead, hanged in his cell at a lockup in New York City. 

The body is hardly cold before President Trump retweets a post (he’s still on Twitter at the time, and Twitter is not yet X). The original post suggests that Epstein was killed by … Bill Clinton. 

“I want a full investigation,” Donald tells reporters, “and that’s what I absolutely am demanding. That’s what our attorney general – our great attorney general – is doing.” (His AG at the time is Bill Barr.) 

Reporters wonder, is the president really saying that a predecessor had something to do with a murder? 

I have no idea,” he replies, coyly. “So you have to ask: Did Bill Clinton go to the island? That’s the question. If you find that out, you’re going to know a lot.” 

(Giuffre did say she in a deposition that she saw Clinton on Little St. James Island.)

___ 

 

Same day (evening): Attorney General Barr wastes no time in pinpointing the cause of death: “I was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody.” 

Note: Epstein was in federal custody, and Donald ran the federal government at that time, not Bill Clinton.

Attorney General Barr, center.

___ 

 

August 11, 2019: New York Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson announces preliminary findings, after an autopsy performed on the now-deceased pedophile. Jeffrey Epstein, 66, has died by hanging, at his own hand.

___ 

August 12, 2019: At 5:01 p.m. on Sunday, the president retweets a clip of some random African American guy named Terrence K. Williams. Williams puts forward, loudly, but without evidence, the theory that Bill or Hillary Clinton, or both, or Chelsey and the grandkids, ordered Jeffrey Epstein bumped off. 

It is of grave importance, here, to understand that the President of the United States is retweeting drivel. 

Someone, perhaps Melania, apparently smacks Trump upside the head and takes away his iPhone. That makes for a quiet Sunday at Bedminster, and the president does not tweet again for seventeen hours.

___ 

 

August 14, 2019: Jennifer Araoz files a lawsuit naming the Epstein estate, Maxwell, and three unnamed members of his staff, seeking damages. She later amends her filing, adding the names of the three alleged enablers: Lesley Groff, Cimberly Espinosa, and the deceased Rosalyn Fontanilla. 

Congress, in any future investigation, should call Cimberly as a witness (Groff, we have already listed.) 

99. CIMBERLY ESPINOSA

___ 

 

August 16, 2019: New York medical examiners confirm their preliminary findings. Epstein died by suicide.

___ 

 

Hiding behind bags of money. 

August 28, 2019: Unfortunately, in matters like the story of Jeffrey Epstein, people latch onto facts that bolster their existing beliefs. Snopes, the fact checking website, for example, focuses on a picture of Chauntae Davies, an Epstein accuser, giving Bill Clinton a shoulder massage.

 

 

What does that picture prove, or not prove? If you cherish the truth, you can’t be lazy. You must do some reading. You must think. You can’t just react, like an infant scared by a loud sound. 

We do know, Davies was sexually assaulted by Epstein for four years before she managed to escape his control. 

In a tape aired by NBC, she can be seen talking about the “intense anger” she and other victims felt when watching Epstein’s elite lawyers defend their abuser. “You know, it’s hard to hear someone who caused you so much pain, being defended in any capacity,” she explained. Epstein had piled up hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of his career in finance, and by hiding behind bags of money, he was able to keep his endless crimes from view. Epstein, Davies said, “preyed upon young girls who had no voice, and he knew that.” She was young and vulnerable at the time they crossed paths, and he made her feel like she was “part of a family.” 

And then he began to strike. 

Maxwell, she added, played a critical role in luring her into the fold, or into Jeffrey’s clutches, and at that point in the interview Davies shook her head and asked, rhetorically, “As a woman, how do you do that?”

Chaunte Davies, 2019.

 

Davies and a second victim, Teresa Helm, can be seen in another interview in a story aired by ABC. Helm was flown to New York for a “job interview” and met Maxwell at her $5 million home. 

Only later did she hear about “Jeffrey,” and only then was she told would have to meet him, and Ghislaine “told me to give Jeffrey what he wants, because Jeffrey always gets what he wants.” 

Another victim for Congress to call: 

99. TERESA HELM 

 

The free press plays a critical role in a free society. 

December 10, 2025: Allow me to interject, as another year without justice for Epstein’s countless victims draws to a close. 

If justice is what we desire, we absolutely, positively, daily, weekly, monthly, annually, and for as long as we hope to remain a free country, need the free press. And this Epstein cesspool proves it. Look. Be honest. You probably can’t name your representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. I taught history for thirty-three years and must stop and think, myself. 

I definitely cannot name my Ohio representative in the General Assembly, and I would bet you’ve never heard of Larry Householder, either – one of the biggest all-time crooks in Ohio government. 

What I mean is this. We need the free press to dig up dirt that needs to be dug. I’m not going to do it myself – and neither are you. I’m only going to know about Householder’s crimes, if I read the papers or watch the news. 

(Goddam. Larry’s lawyers now believe there might be hope he’ll get a pardon.) 

Householder and his co-conspirators were going to stick 
Ohio taxpayers for more than a billion dollars.

Would Trump pardon him?

 

Look. Crookery is a bi-partisan business. So, I am just as delighted to mention former U.S. senator Bob Menendez – until recently a stalwart member of my Democratic team. Bob is staring down eleven years in jail – and the free press is where I learned about his crimes. For the fun of it, read about Bob, Bob’s wife (also sentenced to prison), and their gold bars and cash-stuffed boots. 

If you don’t get the importance of the free press – even if you don’t like what the free press has to say – blame your history teachers for failing to make the point clear. Unless you had me for history. 

Then it’s on you. 

(I gest.)

___ 

 

“A manner unbecoming?” 

November 2019: In hopes of whitewashing his links with Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew consents to a televised interview. He says he has “no recollection” of ever meeting Virginia Giuffre, who has accused him of raping her, when she was only seventeen. She says they first met in a London club, and that he was sweating profusely when they danced. The prince says he suffered from a medical condition for years, related to his service in the Falkland Islands War – and couldn’t sweat. 

Then he admits that he can sweat now. 

Asked if he regretted his interactions with the known pedophile, Prince Andrew replies, “Do I regret the fact that he has quite obviously conducted himself in a manner unbecoming? Yes.” 

His interviewer, a female reporter for the BBC, interjects, “Unbecoming? He was a sex-offender.” 

At another point the prince claims he could not have slept with the teenager in 2001 because on the very night in question, he had taken his daughter (also a teen) to Pizza Express. Not the best example. 

One British paper sums up the televised debacle with the headline, “No Sweat… and No Regret.” 

On Twitter, another observer wrote of Andrew’s decision to sit for an interview:

 

“I expected a train wreck.

 

“That was a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion level bad.” 

(Soon after, the prince announces he is leaving public life.) 

 

*

____________________ 

“I wish her well, frankly. I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach.” 

President Trump

____________________ 

 

Big profits - 2020: In this year, it will be estimated that 27 million individuals, worldwide, are victims of human trafficking, some sent into modern-day slavery. Eighty percent will be female (21.6 million). 

Of those 21.6 million, seventy percent will be trafficked for sex (15.12 million.) The average age of victims will be 12-14. 

In 2026, when Congress decides to investigate the Epstein case, we should expect lawmakers to call: 

99. SEVERAL PROMINENT EXPERTS ON TRAFFICKING

___ 

 

January 2020: “Jane Doe” files a lawsuit against Epstein’s estate, and Ghislaine Maxwell, and alleges that they recruited the then-13-year-old music student at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in the summer of 1994. The victim claims she was targeted because she was from a struggling family, without a father. 

Larry Visoski, who flew Epstein to the Interlochen Center in Michigan at least once (year unclear), remembers Itzhak Perlman being a passenger. 

Other passengers he recalls include Prince Andrew, Kevin Spacey, Sen. John Glenn, and Sen. George Mitchell. 

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: One way rich and powerful individuals shield themselves from legal trouble is to require employees to sign NDA’s, “Non-Disclosure Agreements,” making it hard for them to talk about anything they might see. 

Visoski had signed an NDA. 

People Congress can add to their list of witnesses to call: 

99. THE THEN-13-YEAR-OLD MUSIC STUDENT

99. ITZHAK PERLMAN

99. KEVIN SPACEY

99. SEN. JOHN GLENN

99. SEN. GEORGE MITCHELL

___ 

 

March 12, 2020: Maxwell files a suit against the Epstein estate, seeking compensation for her legal costs. She claims that as an employee, she was promised by Mr. Epstein that he would pay any legal costs. 

(She continues to claim her own innocence.)

___ 

 

June 21, 2020: With Epstein no more, he fades from view. On this date, I spent half of my post mocking Trump. The president was furious because he had just held a campaign rally in Tulsa, and there were plenty of empty seats. In hindsight, the following development seems interesting: 

 

Out of respect for “the brave young women.”

 

ANYTHING ELSE we should be focused on this Father’s Day? Yes, indeed. In the dark of night, so to speak, Attorney General Bill Barr announced Friday that the top federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York was “resigning.” That prosecutor, Geoffrey S. Berman, a Trump choice for the job, a donor to the Trump 2016 campaign, and a solid Republican, announced soon after that he was not resigning [emphasis added throughout]. Mr. Barr explained next that the president was planning to fill the empty seat, which wasn’t empty – so maybe the new guy would sit on Berman’s lap – with Jay Clayton, current chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Clayton, you will be happy to know, if you are a Trump fan, has never served as prosecutor.

 

Now, let’s see if we can guess why Barr and his boss might want Berman sent to the showers. First, Berman’s office has been investigating two pals of Rudy Giuliani, and Rudy himself. Second, the move to oust Berman comes days after allegations lodged by former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Bolton says in his new book, which Team Trump tried to ban and burn and have tossed into the deepest part of the Grand Canyon, that President Trump promised to do the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a favor. In 2018, Bolton writes, Trump told Erdogan he would interfere in an investigation into a Turkish company that may have violated trade sanctions against Iran.

 

Okay, guess which U.S. Attorney’s Office was investigating that Turkish company. Yes! The Southern District of New York.

 

Third, it was Berman’s office that brought the case against former Trump personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. You remember Cohen. Sent to jail for three years, based on several felony convictions. If you recall, a certain person was named as a “co-conspirator” involved in those felonies, identified only as “Individual 1.”

 

That was Trump.

 

Last, but not least, Berman’s office moved to bring sex-trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein, as reprehensible an individual as ever managed to avoid a lengthy term in prison, such as life + 499 years. Even after Epstein’s suicide in jail, while awaiting trial, Berman insisted that the case be pursued, out of respect for the “brave young women” who had testified against him during grand jury proceedings.

___ 

 

July 2, 2020: The wheels of justice move slowly, so long as defendants can afford high-priced legal counsel to flatten all four tires on the police vehicles. Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accomplice, is arrested by F.B.I agents in Bradford, New Hampshire. Maxwell’s indictment charges her with “helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse” more than a hundred girls. She is said to have been an enthusiastic participant in the abuse, as well. 

In my blog, I wrote:

 

Expect prosecutors to slap her with as many felonies as they can think of, in hopes Maxwell will sing about the rich and famous who took part in the debauchery at Epstein’s mansions, apartments and island homes round the world. England’s Prince Andrew has been accused of involvement. A victim has claimed that Alan Dershowitz, staunch defender of President Trump during his impeachment “trial,” took part in the debauchery. Even more depressing, Donald Trump is known to have hung out with Epstein.

 

Bill Clinton also hitched a ride to Africa on Epstein’s private plane, nicknamed by observers “The Lolita Express.”

___ 

 

July 7, 2020: The ghost of Jeffrey Epstein showed up again on my blog, after a brief discussion of unrelated events.

 

 

F.B.I. agent breaks down in tears.

 

NETFLIX has a miniseries out on Jeffrey Epstein, and it might make you ponder a few important questions. First, how did such a sleaze get away with molesting so many young girls?

 

If you think his behavior was terrible, the series makes clear it was worse than you imagine. This blogger already knew Epstein got a sweet deal from a federal prosecutor named Alexander Acosta (last seen serving in President Trump’s cabinet). He did not know that a female F.B.I. agent broke down in tears when an investigation she was helping run was suddenly shut down. Nor had the blogger ever heard of Epstein’s work with Steven Hoffenberg. In the documentary, Hoffenberg describes Epstein as a “criminal mastermind,” and says he helped Hoffenberg devise and run a massive Ponzi scheme. Hoffenberg eventually admitted bilking investors out of $475 million. He spent 18 years in jail and had to pay $463 million in restitution.

 

Epstein managed to skate.

 

(It made this blogger think again about George Floyd, who died because he tried to pass a counterfeit $20.)

 

Then this blogger picked up a newspaper and saw a story about Deutsche Bank. That bank has agreed to pay $150 million in penalties for green-lighting questionable money transfers, initiated by Epstein. According to spokesman Daniel Hunter, the bank is sorry it did a lousy job of keeping tabs on a man with a well-known criminal history.

 

“Our reputation is our most valuable asset, and we deeply regret our association with Epstein,” Hunter said Tuesday.

 

(He does not add, “Because we got caught.”)

 

More potential witnesses for the 2026 investigation:

 

99. THE F.B.I. AGENT WHO BROKE DOWN IN TEARS

99. EXECUTIVES AT DEUTSCHE BANK

99. STEVEN HOFFENBERG

___ 

 

July 21, 2020: A reporter asks President Trump if he has any thoughts on Maxwell’s arrest. She had been hiding out on a farm in New Hampshire (which she purchased secretly for $1 million in cash the previous spring) until the F.B.I. tracked her down and arrested her July 2. She had disguised the fact she was purchaser and hired ex-British military for protection, rarely leaving the property herself. 

Maxwell has tens of millions stashed in bank accounts around the globe, so she could afford protection. 

That assumes you don’t mind guarding a woman accused of molesting young girls and making it easier for Epstein and an ever-changing array of perverted high rollers to bed teenagers as young as 13. 

As I wrote at the time,

 

Now that Maxwell has been apprehended, even her high-priced legal team can’t spring her from jail. During a bail hearing, two alleged victims spoke out. One told the court that “without Ghislaine, Jeffrey could not have done what he did.” A second warned that Maxwell was herself “a sexual predator.” Maxwell’s lawyer offered to post a $5 million bond. He said his client wasn’t the “monster” portrayed in the news. And she was suffering, having gone 72 hours without a shower while in custody!

 

The judge was unmoved by her bathing problems, and, deeming her a serious flight risk, ordered her to be remanded to custody. Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison and a few thousand years in Hell (if there is a Hell).

 

When the reporter asks Trump about Maxwell, you could never have expected the answer he supplied. He didn’t mention the alleged victims, and there were reported to be scores. Many suffered sustained abuse.

 

“I wish her well, frankly,” Trump replied. “I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they [Epstein and Maxwell] lived in Palm Beach.”

 

“I wish her well,” he said again, and then moved to the next question.

___ 

 

August 3, 2020: In an interview with Jonathan Swan, of Axios, President Trump is asked again about Maxwell. Did he really mean to say he “wished her well,” Swan wondered. 

“Yeah, I wish her well,” Donald replied’ “I’d wish you well. I’d wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty.” 

Swan had to be surprised; but the president continued, “I do wish her well. I’m not looking for anything bad for her. I’m not looking bad for anybody. Her boyfriend died. He died in jail.” 

(Correct, Mr. President. He was in jail because he was a pedophile.) 

(Maxwell is accused of abetting his crimes and committing her own.) 

(Who wishes well to pedophiles?)

___ 

 

“A wealthy man with powerful and politically connected friends.” 

November 2020: A review of the handling of the Epstein federal case finds only that R. Alexander Acosta was guilty of “poor judgment.” Other problems with the handling of the plea deal boiled down to questions of legal interpretation. In some instances, important matters fell through the cracks. There was no effort, the report finds, to trick the victims and or keep them and their attorneys in the dark. 

But the central question raised by the reporting in the Miami Hearld remains:

 

Through its reporting, which included interviews of eight victims and information from publicly available documents, the newspaper painted a portrait of federal and state prosecutors who had ignored serious criminal conduct by a wealthy man with powerful and politically connected friends by granting him a “deal of a lifetime” that allowed him both to escape significant punishment for his past conduct and to continue his abuse of minors.

___ 

 

 December 18, 2020: By this time Mr. Trump had been stifled in his bid for a second term. Retired Gen. Michael T. Flynn was suggesting that Trump gas up the tanks and order troops to enter blue states where he had piled up fewer votes than Joseph R. Biden, and in that fashion change election results.

 

At that point, one of Trump’s allies was trying to tarnish the reputation of Chief Justice Roberts, I then assumed in hopes of providing cover if the president decided to start ignoring the orders of the highest court.

 

Once again, I quote myself:

 

 

“Entitled to an explanation.”

 

In the make-believe world of Lame Duck Don and his unwavering, generally ill-informed fans, another loyalist, Georgia attorney Lin Wood, is hinting that Chief Justice John Roberts and others on the Supreme Court are part of a Deep State fix.

 

Not only that, but Wood claims to have proof of evildoing behind the scenes – which at some future date he will reveal to the horror of all. Since someone named “John Roberts” once flew on a plane with Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sexual predator, Wood insists that the American people are “entitled” to an explanation.” Can Chief Justice Roberts prove that wasn’t him on that flight?

 

This blogger will send Mr. Wood the following letter, which he will share with readers of this blog first:

 

Dear Mr. Wood,

 

Don’t be such a dolt. “John,” and “Roberts” are common first and last names. When I google, “John Roberts Ohio,” I get a John Roberts who owns several spas around the state, a tenured professor at Ohio University, and two doctors who practice in Cincinnati.

 

I even find the number for one of the spas, if I want a pedicure to end the year on a high note.

 

When calling out right-wing idiots, Mr. Wood, I try to get my facts straight. (You should try it, yourself.) So, for fun, I check “John Roberts Akron,” curious to see if there are any individuals by that name in the city where I was born. Fifteen possibilities pop up. John E. Roberts is first. There’s John S., and John Ray, and John Thomas, and John C., and F., G., L., and several more.

 

So, Mr. Wood, you need to check them out and see if they ever rode on Epstein’s plane.

 

Also, you will need to call or write the 46 people named “John Roberts” who reside in Cleveland, the 39 in Dayton, and, frankly, the 869 people by that name who live in Florida, where Epstein used to hang out.

 

I would like to mention that the name on the passenger manifest might be fake, as in when Trump, during his pre-president days, used to go by pseudonyms such as “John Barron” or “John Miller.” Even the apparently fictitious secretary, Carolin Gallego, who once wrote about how all the beautiful women in America were clamoring to go out with Mr. Trump – might in fact have been Mr. Trump. Then you had “David Dennison,” of hush money fame, which the president later admitted was him.

 

In closing, since you passionately believe that the American people are entitled to an explanation, could you ask former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta a question for us?

 

Why, before he joined President Trump’s cabinet, did he grant Epstein a sweet deal when he was facing trial in 2008?

 

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to you. Or Happy Hannukah. Or whatever seasonal greeting works for you.

 

Sincerely,

John J. Viall

___ 

 

June 14, 2021: There is, I think, an excellent rule to follow when assessing human behavior. That rule, laid down in 1887, is well known. 

As I wrote at the time: 

 

__________ 

“Power tends to corrupt

and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” 

Sir John Dalberg-Acton

__________ 

 

Normally, Lord Acton’s formulation is thought to apply to matters of government, but he himself was also thinking about religion. And we can easily apply it to individuals in positions of great power, to corporations, labor unions, political parties and money power, to cite just a few.

 

As a good liberal, myself, I am an advocate of labor union protection – especially now that corporations are ascendent and we find CEOs wielding great power again. I say “again,” thinking of the Robber Barons, c. 1900. Or as President Theodore Roosevelt once labeled them, the “malefactors of great wealth.” But when Jimmy Hoffa ran the Teamsters Union, and acquired great power, he, too, was corrupted absolutely, and hasn’t been seen since July 30, 1975, when he disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

 

As for money power, I was sparked to consider this topic recently in response to stories about Bill Gates, a liberal himself, amid news of his divorce.

 

Gates was known to hang out with Jeffrey Epstein – who employed his money power in corrupt fashion – to protect himself from arrest, even as he sexually abused dozens of teenage girls. Did Gates participate in any of Epstein’s bacchanals? No one has alleged that he did; but men like Gates, and the conservative Sheldon Adelson (now deceased) clearly use their fortunes to shape U.S. politics in ways that none of us ordinary schmucks can, nor even a few hundred thousand of us. 

(Adelson has never been mentioned in connection with Epstein.)

___

 

Another blackmail plan? 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: At 9:55 a.m. on December 6, 2025, I typed out that line on Adelson, and then thought, “Well, I had better check.” 

I had never heard of Adelson, in any way being involved with the Prince of Pedophiles – but that just meant I had missed a thread in the Epstein tapestry. 

As The Week had explained years before:

 

Two lawyers pursuing influential men connected to the late millionaire financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a jail cell while awaiting federal trial, almost attempted to sway the most recent Israeli elections as part of their endeavors, The New York Times reports.

 

Lawyers David Boies and John Pottinger were approached by a man going by the name Patrick Kessler who claimed to have a vast archive of Epstein’s data stored on encrypted servers. The servers allegedly contained footage from hidden cameras that showed wealthy and powerful men, including constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Prince Andrew, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in compromising sexual situations, per The Times. Kessler’s claims would seemingly have boosted the theory that Epstein was blackmailing power people.

 

Boies and Pottinger thought they would be able to use the data to reach deals with the men and let that money flow into a charity focused on helping victims of sexual assault. One of their supposed plans was to share a compromising photo of someone Kessler purported to be Barak – who was challenging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli election – with Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino magnate in Las Vegas. Adelson founded one of Israel’s largest newspapers and is reportedly a big booster for Netanyahu. The trio thought by doing so they could prevent Barak, who called the accusation a “total lie with no basis in reality,” from making any progress with his bid.

 

Ultimately, the Times and the lawyers concluded that there was no way to validate any of the images or videos Kessler brought to the table, and he has been dismissed as a fraud by the lawyers. Similarly, Boies said the plan to share the Barak photo was never actually put into action. But the Times’ report shows the potential global reach of the Epstein scandal. 

 

We can also report that both Adelson and Epstein donated to Jewish causes and institutions, which is fine; and both used exotic tax schemes to avoid paying taxes, which is legal, but wrong. 

(Now we have tax chiselers, too.) 

(I hadn’t realized Epstein was Jewish.) 

(This will bring the anti-Semitic folks out of the closets, for sure.) 

 

Was there evidence that would have stood up in court? According to Giuffre, there would have been. Barak, she said, without naming him in her book, was the worst of all her abusers, as the New York Post noted after her memoir was published posthumously in 2025:

 

…Giuffre said she first met the “Prime Minister” on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands sometime in 2002, when she was just 18.

 

She was ordered to escort him to a cabana, but the man made it clear as soon as they were alone that “he wanted violence.”

 

“He repeatedly choked me until I lost consciousness and took pleasure in seeing me in fear for my life. Horrifically, the Prime Minister laughed when he hurt me and got more aroused when I begged him to stop. I emerged from the cabana bleeding from my mouth, vagina, and anus. For days, it hurt to breathe and to swallow,” Giuffre wrote. 

 

The Post continues:

 

Giuffre recalled begging Epstein to step in after the unnamed politician forced her to beg for her life – but the pedophile coldly told her it was simply part of her job.

 

“After the attack, I couldn’t stay a fool. Having been treated so brutally and then seeing Epstein’s callous reaction to how terrorized I felt, I had to accept that Epstein meted out praise merely as a manipulation to keep me subservient,” Giuffre wrote ...

 

“Epstein cared only about Epstein.” 

 

And yet one more sick twist to this sick story. Giuffre writes that Epstein and Maxwell came to her that same summer with a request. They pleaded with her to carry their child – “a proposal, the Post, says, “that came with mansions, wealth and around-the-clock nannies, but would require her to sign away any legal rights.” 

Virginia decided to flee soon after, but says the “greedy, cruel look on the Prime Minister’s face as he watched me beg for my life” haunted her the rest of her life. 

 

Adding once again to our list of individuals that a congressional investigation should call for testimony, we now have: 

99. PAUL KESSLER (IF A MAN BY THAT NAME EXISTS)

99. DAVID BOIES

99. JOHN POTTINGER

99. EHUD BARAK

99. SHELDON ADELSON (SORRY, HE’S DECEASED)

99. ISRAELI SECRET SERVICE AGENTS 

(Okay, the Israeli’s are going to kill the blogger.)

___ 

 

A whole ecosystem. 

July 20, 2021: Julie K. Brown, reporter for the Miami Herald, does an interview on NPR, amid renewed interest in the Epstein case. As author of the articles published in 2018, that reopened the whole story, she calls what occurred “a horrendous miscarriage of justice.” 

She explains that when she first got interested in doing a story about sex-trafficking in Florida, and started Googling, Epstein’s name always came up. What was missing, she realized, were the voices of his victims. 

She was able to identify 80 survivors. 

Now she was talking about Jeffrey and Ghislaine, and a book she wrote, titled Perversion of Justice. “He didn’t do this alone,” she says of Epstein. “He had a whole ecosystem that he created that allowed this to happen.”

 

He had enough money to get the finest prostitutes that he wanted, but he didn’t want that. He wanted scared, young girls. That was all part of his fantasy. So it just grew from that. And unfortunately, there were probably hundreds of girls that were victimized by him. ...

 

It was two to three times a day. It was like a revolving door. And the more girls that he had, the more girls he wanted to recruit, because he also wanted new girls all the time. He wanted fresh, young girls all the time. So was it just enough for him to have like three that he took advantage of all the time; he wanted a continuing parade of young girls. 

 

Brown continued:

 

He essentially groomed them to believe that he was going to pull them out of the misery of their lives. Many of them had very difficult [lives]. Some of them were in foster homes. Their parents were on drugs. There were all kinds of circumstances that they came from. But the thread was that they really didn't have a strong family life at home. And he knew that. He studied them. He asked them questions about their life. So he found out exactly what their Achilles' heel or their vulnerabilities were. And he would say to them, “You want to study this? You want to be a model? I'm going to help you be a model.” And then they look on the walls of his home, and he has pictures with Bill Clinton and all kinds of famous, powerful people. And they really believe that he was going to help them. ... They came to depend on him. They didn’t have family life at home, a strong anchor in their own lives – and he became an anchor for them. 

 

Even Florida law was against the victims, Brown explained, and the prosecutors were worse than no help. Epstein’s lawyers,

 

[argued] that this was consensual, that they were prostitutes. And at the time that this case happened, quite frankly, there was still law on the books in Florida [that said that] child prostitution was illegal – not on the part of the pimps, but [for] the girls that were involved or the boys that were involved. ... Part of the thing that the prosecutors used to excuse the fact that they weren't going after the case was they would tell the girls, “You do understand that what you did was illegal.” And in a way, [the prosecutors] sabotaged their own case because they made the victims feel like they could get in trouble. ...

 

[Victims] said that ... they were very scared because at the same time this was happening, where the FBI was making them feel like they perhaps had broken the law, you have Epstein and his investigators and his lawyers on the other side digging into their lives and following their parents. ... It isn’t the kind of thing that would make a victim want to cooperate with authorities. And that all played into to what exactly what Epstein wanted. 

 

Even Brown believes the circumstances of Epstein’s death in prison are suspicious. Two guards supposedly fell asleep around the time he hung himself. She might believe one. But both? 

(Well, the blogger is after facts. So, for now, we will pass over that issue.) 

 

Then she adds:

 

We don’t even really know the scope of [Epstein’s] connections. ... We know that he pretty much had a lot of information that could implicate people – not only possibly on sex trafficking aspects, but, you know, he essentially was a money manager who helped some of our richest people in the world hide their money. So he also knew how people got their money and where they had it hiding. And there was certainly a lot of people that had a motive to kill him. I tend to think that it’s possible he might have just had somebody help him. It might have been an assisted suicide, for example. So I think the bottom line is this is still not really determined. I think it needs to be investigated more thoroughly. 

(Okay, suddenly, I’m a little suspicious.) 

 

More potential witnesses for Congress to call. And let’s get this congressional investigation rolling! 

99. GUARD #1

99. GUARD #2

99. POTENTIALLY, ALL OF THE VICTIMS WITH WHOM JULIE K. BROWN HAS CONTACTS

___ 

 

August 2021: Virginia Giuffre files a civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew, accusing him of rape.

___ 

September 4, 2021: J.D. Vance tweets: “Remember when we learned that our wealthiest and most powerful people were connected to a guy who ran a literal child sex trafficking ring? And then that guy died mysteriously in a jail. And now we just don’t talk about it?” 

(Vance wanted to talk about it four years ago; now, not so much.)

___ 

 

October 2021: Lawyers for Prince Andrew attack Virginia Giuffre, who has filed a civil suit against him for damages. “Giuffre has initiated this baseless lawsuit against Prince Andrew to achieve another payday at his expense and at the expense of those closest to him,” they insist. “Most people could only dream of obtaining the sums of money that Giuffre has secured for herself over the years.”

___

 

December 17, 2021: With interest in the Epstein Files spreading like an STD during Donald Trump’s second term in office, I stumbled upon another old story from the Daily Beast. In that article, it was alleged that Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin, a former Miss Sweden, and former Epstein girlfriend, had been involved in orgies with teen girls. She denied it – perhaps truthfully – but did add, somewhat suspiciously, that she suffered from a health issue that made it difficult for her to remember. She was fifty at the time. 

Dr. Andersson-Dubin even vouched for Epstein, and said that her children felt safe around him, that they loved him, and called him “Uncle F.” 

(It would be a juvenile joke to say it stood for “Uncle Fuck.”) 

 

As reporters for the Daily Beast explained,

 

a tranche of unsealed court records revealed the couple’s butler had testified about a disturbing conversation he had with a 15-year-old Swedish girl in the Dubins’ home.

The former house manager, Rinaldo Rizzo, said that in 2005, he found the teenager distraught and in tears in the Dubins’ kitchen. The girl, who said she was 15, told him she was Epstein’s personal assistant and had just returned from a trip to his private isle in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she was pressured to have sex.

 

“She proceeded to tell my wife and I… ‘I was on the island and there was Ghislaine, and there was Sarah,’ and she said, ‘They asked me for sex. I said no,’” Rizzo testified.

 

The girl claimed that Epstein employee Sarah Kellen took her passport and that Maxwell threatened her not to tell anyone what happened.  

99. THE SWEDISH GIRL

99. RINALDO RIZZO

99. MRS. RIZZO

___ 

 

This was one of my old blog posts:

 

Know who never flew on Epstein’s plane?

 

December 21, 2021: Interesting new evidence surfaced in the Ghislaine Maxwell, sex-trafficking trial today. Flight logs showed that then-Citizen Donald J. Trump flew four times on Epstein’s plane in 1993, hitched a ride in 1994, and again in 1995. 

 

Throw in a trip in 1997, which was already known, and you wonder what Don was doing aboard an aircraft dubbed the “Lolita Express.”

 

Know who never flew on Epstein’s plane? Joe Biden. 

 

Or Barack Obama.

 

___

 

 

December 30, 2021: Four of Epstein’s victims testify at Maxwell’s monthlong trial. To indicate the level of fear victims dealt with over the long, grim years, at least one testifies under the pseudonym “Jane Doe.” 

Larry Vivoski, Epstein’s pilot for years also testifies. 

As CNN reports,

 

Minor Victim-1, identified in court with the pseudonym “Jane,” testified after Visoski that she met Maxwell and Epstein as a 14-year-old, and described in graphic detail incidents of sexual abuse by Epstein that Maxwell would at times join in on, both in Palm Beach, Florida, and Manhattan, when she was 14, 15 and 16 years old. 

 

Vivoski says he remembers “Jane,” because she had “piercing powder blue eyes,” and looked like a “mature woman.” 

Epstein, he remembers, brought her into the cockpit so she could meet the pilot. At the trial, her birth certificate was shown to prove her claims of abuse when she was a minor. 

The victims all explained that they had reached settlements with the Epstein estate, previously, with one receiving $5 million, before legal fees. 

A jury finds Maxwell guilty. 

Adding to the list of individuals who should be subpoenaed to testify publicly before Congress in the New Year: 

99. THE “PIERCING POWDER BLUE EYES” GIRL

99. MINOR VICTIM 1 

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Clearly, Maxwell is central to any new investigation; and if we want to get to the truth we’re going to have to hear her testify publicly. No more closed meetings with former Trump defense lawyers, now working at the Department of Justice. Congress can grant her immunity – related to any additional charges – denying her the privilege of pleading the Fifth. 

President Trump must also pledge that he will not commute her sentence or pardon her as the White House door bangs him in the ass at 11:59:59 a.m., on January 20, 2029. And if he breaks his word, all members of Congress must have pledged to impeach and convict him by unanimous consent. 

Wait! 

President Trump must also promise not to pardon anyone found guilty of crimes related to any new investigations of the Epstein sex-trafficking ring.

___ 

 

January 12, 2022: Prince Andrew’s lawyers ask a judge to throw out Giuffre’s lawsuit. They argue that the plaintiff is precluded from suing the prince because she has already won a settlement against Epstein, whom Giuffre says arranged for Andrew to sexually abuse her when she was a minor. 

Judge says: “No.”

___ 

 

February 7, 2022: Great news for the Republican Governors Association. Les Wexner has donated $250,000 to their campaign fund. In 2018, he made a similar donation. These days, Wexner is famous mostly for having been Jeffrey Epstein’s pal.

___ 

February 14, 2022: Prince Andrew reaches a settlement agreement with Giuffre. He does not admit guilt but is believed to have paid between $10 million and $16 million to his accuser’s anti-sex-trafficking charity. 

(Damn, it’s Valentine’s Day. Gross.)

___ 

 

June 28, 2022: Maxwell is sentenced to twenty years in prison. That should keep her in jail until she’s too old to molest anyone.

___ 

 

Free press failure.

 

August 13, 2022: On Fox News, Brian Kilmeade tries to tarnish the image of the judge who granted the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago, in the Classified Documents Case against former-President Trump. Viewers are shown a photo of Judge Bruce Reinhart “having his feet massaged by convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, and holding Oreo cookies and beer on a plane.”

 

Viewers are to led to believe it was notorious sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein’s plane, the “Lolita Express.”

 

That photo turns out to have been doctored, and Kilmeade is forced to apologize for what you’d have to say was honest-to-gosh “fake news.”

 

(We need the free press to hold the powerful to account.)

 

(We also need members of the Fourth Estate not to be boneheads.)

___ 

 

May 26, 2023: There always seems to be another shoe to drop in the Epstein Files case, and this time we get four shoes, all filled with Russian feet. As the Daily Mail, a British tabloid reports:

 

Two young women stride along a New York street, barely breaking step to flash smiles at the camera. One of them is slightly out of focus, but her face – and the face of her friend – is unmistakable. Chillingly so.

 

The strawberry blonde on the right is Russian bridge player Mila Antonova, the woman alleged this week to have been the former lover of billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates – as well as an associate and financial beneficiary of the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

What makes this photograph sensational, however, is the presence of the flame-haired woman on the left. She is none other than notorious Moscow spy Anna Chapman.

 

 

 

You can read the rest of the article if you want, but to summarize: If Gate’s Russian former-babe (this seems like a singularly bad picture of Antonova) knew the Russian former-spy babe, it was going to raise “serious questions” for Bill and his former-babe. After all, she was still living in California at the time. Chapman, the Daily Mail noted, was the “daughter of a former KGB officer.”

 

Just the week before, a spokeswoman for Gates admitted that “paedophile Epstein,” had, in her words “tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship” to threaten the megabucks magnate into doing his bidding.

 

Epstein, says the Mail, “wanted Gates to be an ‘anchor donor’ in a multi-billion dollar global charitable fund he planned to set up, to camouflage his sordid private life, and increase his influence.” 

Once again, let’s assume Congress will want to investigate the story of Jeffrey Epstein and his sex-trafficking ring. Add Anna Chapman, if you can get your hands on her, to the list of people who need to sit for an interview. 

99. ANNA CHAPMAN

BLOGGER’S NOTE: When I checked on Anna, I discover that by January 3, 2017, she was back in Russia, living her best life. She had been caught spying, as part of a ten-person team, and deported from this country in 2010. In return the Russians freed four jailed dissidents then in jail. Those four were granted refuge in the West, although one of them, Sergei Skripal, was later poisoned by Russian secret agents.

Skripal was living in Salisbury, England in March 2018, when Russian spies sprayed the doorknob to his home with Novichok, a deadly nerve agent. Both he and his daughter Julia spent weeks in the hospital, in critical condition, and a police officer ended up in intensive care, but all three survived. 

A fourth victim, Dawn Sturgess, was not so lucky. Her partner found a bottle of what he took to be perfume in a litter bin, gave it to her to try, and she sprayed what was really scented Novichok on both wrists.  British intelligence agencies later said that her condition was “unsurvivable from a very early stage.” 

Meanwhile, Chapman was modeling, and selling dresses, and posting her opinions on foreign affairs online. She had expressed doubts that Donald J. Trump could win the 2016 election but predicted that if he did “there will be no room for people like [Hillary] Clinton, who has blood on their hands.” 

Putin has continued, ever since, to order critics and political opponents murdered, and Donald J. Trump has never condemned him. By comparison, British authorities summed up the thinking behind the assassination attempt. It was “expected to stand as a public demonstration of Russian power” and “amounted to a public statement, both for international and domestic consumption, that Russia will act decisively in what it regards are its own interests.” 

(Ms. Sturgess left three children behind.) 

 

Chapman - the Russian spy.

___ 

 

June 2023: During President Biden’s four years in office, right-wing critics focused intently on the repulsive Epstein saga. 

“Listen,” Dan Bongino insisted during one of his shows, “that Jeffrey Epstein story [about his suicide] is a big deal, please do not let that story go. Keep your eye on this.” He pushed hard on the idea that sinister forces were trying to hide the secrets to be uncorked in the Epstein Files. 

(He appears not to have realized who was president when Epstein died.)

___ 

 

Date uncertain – 2023: Kash Patel shows up on Benny Johnson’s podcast to demand that the Biden administration release all the Files. 

The F.B.I., he says, is the problem:

 

“They’re sitting on it. … That seems like an evil thing to do [emphasis added], regardless of who may be embarrassed in the release of that list.”

 

“Why is the FBI protecting the greatest pederast, the largest-scale pederast in human history?” Johnson asked.

 

“Simple, because of who’s on that list,” Patel replied.

 

“Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are,” Patel tells Johnson in another clip, referring to the F.B.I. 

(Patel is now head of the F.B.I. He can’t find his pants.)

___ 

 

December 2023: Patel appears on Glen Beck’s podcast to talk about the Epstein cover up again. 

 “Who has Jeffrey Epstein’s…” Beck started. 

“Black book?” Patel asked – and answered. “The FBI.” 

“But who?” Beck prodded. 

“That’s under direct control of the director of the FBI,” Patel quickly responded. 

(December 2025: Patel must have it now. He’s head of the F.B.I.)

___

 

“They have no legal basis to do so.” 

January 3, 2024: Pam Bondi appears on Fox News. Speaking of Epstein’s client list, which all right-wing influencers insist exists, she tells Sean Hannity, “It should have come out a long time ago.” 

Pam is pissed. She wants viewers to know that Alan Deshowitz, by that time believed by some to have been a participant in sex crimes, “is one of the best lawyers in this country,” and his family has been “dragged through hell on this.” 

Meanwhile, what is Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, doing! She’s so mad, she spouts: These “documents were so slow to come out…” she complains, “Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison for twenty years, where she belongs,” “human-trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar business…” Yes. Pam is pissed! 

Then she adds, “And if people in that report are still fighting to keep their names private, Sean, they have no legal basis to do so, unless they’re a child, a victim, or a cooperating defendant.” 

Hannity then poses exactly the kind of rhetorical question you would expect at such a time from such a master of bombast. “What about Bill Clinton? We know he’s a liar,” Sean says. With that, the Fox host has done his job – to make viewers believe Democrats are all secret pedophiles, or apologists for the same. 

Bondi is primed and ready to jump that question, noting that Clinton flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane multiple times, while contrasting that with Trump, who she insists “hasn’t had contact with him in “years.” 

(Pam is pissed!!!) 

 

The blogger is not a dolt, however, and is aware that both Clinton and Trump cut ties with Epstein around the same time. 

Hannity, of course, has no interest in pointing out this gap in Bondi’s thinking, because his ratings depend on feeding viewers what they don’t realize they want to be fed. 

___ 

 

January 10, 2024: A 2016 deposition is released. In that filing Virginia Giuffre claimed she was trafficked to Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz insists that the documents show, if taken in together, “I’m a complete victim of a total frame up.”

___ 

July 2024: Rachel Campos-Duffy, a correspondent for Fox News, puts a simple question to the former president, now running again. “Would you declassify the Epstein files?” she asks Mr. Trump. 

“Yeah, yeah, I would,” he replies. 

The Trump War Room, the social media arm of his third presidential campaign, trumpets the joyful news: “President Trump says he will DECLASSIFY the 9/11 Files, JFK Files, and Epstein Files.” 

(MAGA World can hardly wait!)

___ 

 

October 2024: Appearing on Theo Von’s podcast, J.D. Vance is clear. “We need to release the [Epstein client] list.”

___ 

November 5, 2024: Trump wins a second term as president. The Epstein Files are as good as freed!

___ 

2024: An estimate for the year puts the profit from worldwide human trafficking at $236 billion. In a list of 181 nations, if we include sex-trafficking as an entry, the illicit profits would be greater than the annual GDP of 127 nations, one spot below Greece, one ahead of Qatar, two ahead of Hungary. 

 

*

__________ 

“It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sorted but it’s boring.” 

President Donald J. Trump

__________ 

 

February 20, 2025: With Donald back in the Oval Office, Attorney General Bondi assures Fox News that the Epstein investigation is going great. She says that she has the client list “sitting on my desk right now.” 

You can almost see it if you squint.

___ 

 

“Lifting the Veil.” 

February 27, 2025:  Thank God, MAGA fans – this is what you voted for! The Department of Justice announces that a massive investigation into the horrific actions of Jeffrey Epstein will now commence. 

Attorney General Bondi and F.B.I. Director Kash Patel are so excited that in official statements they put every word in bold. 

First, Bondi:

 

This Department of Justice is following through on President Trump’s commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators. The first phase of files released today sheds light on Epstein’s extensive network and begins to provide the public with long overdue accountability.   

 

Then Patel:

 

The FBI is entering a new era – one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice. There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned – and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them. And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be. The oath we take is to the Constitution, and under my leadership, that promise will be upheld without compromise. 

 

Finally! The veil would be lifted – rather, snatched away – and evil pedophiles would be revealed. The MAGA faithful already knew who had been naughty and who had not been nice, either. 

The fun was about to begin!

___ 

 

February 28, 2025: A gaggle of right-wing influencers are invited to the White House, where all are handed fat binders, apparently full of Epstein Files. The recipients are so excited they pose for a group photo, holding binders high, like Lakota warriors showing off the scalps of General Custer and his men. 

Those binders are labeled: 

The Epstein Files: Phase 1 

The Most Transparent Administration in History.

___ 

 

March 2025: Nothing to report. No Epstein Files.

___ 

April 2025: Nothing to report. No Epstein Files.

___ 

May 2025: The kind of people who believe in the wisdom of the mysterious “Q,” as in QAnon, decide there must be some reason why the heroes of Team Trump 2.0 say there’s no good reason to release the Epstein Files. 

“Some people say Epstein is in protective custody, which is why Dan and Kash [have] to say that right now. That makes sense to me,” one loyal MAGA suggests. (As I have often remarked, the people who believe every word that comes out of Donald’s mouth tend to believe all shades of nonsense.)

___

 

June 2025: Epstein who?

___ 

June 1, 2025: In times like these, we should remind ourselves that conspiracy theories are easy to spread and often impossible to disprove. If you want to damage an enemy, and you have a flexible relationship with the truth, conspiracies can do excellent service in your cause. That cause: Baffling the yahoos. So, this past June, President Trump shared a post by another Truth Social user, claiming that Joe Biden clones and robots had been running America for four years.

___

 

June 5, 2025: Next, Elon Musk suggested on X, that Donald Trump himself might have been replaced by a body double. 

(If anyone had motive – it was Melania.) 

 

But Musk was just warming up. Next, he called for Trump to be impeached, insisting his name appears in secret government files related to disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

The blogger’s advice? 

Don’t fall for all the ridiculous crap – especially the kind of ridiculous crap that you want to believe from the start. 

___ 

 

June 11, 2025: Newsmax is proud to announce that it will be adding new members to the right-wing channel’s Board of Directors. 

Such as: R. Alexander Acosta. 

For real?

___ 

 

No list of clients! 

July 7, 2025: Attorney General Bondi stuns MAGA World when she announces that there is no list of clients for Jeffrey Epstein. 

And she says Epstein committed suicide – a shocking conclusion – which was first reported in August 2019. 

The denouement was so embarrassing that when the Justice Department and the F.B.I. released a two-page memo announcing the end of the investigation, it was not signed by any big-name official. 

Not Bondi. 

Not Patel. 

Whoever got stuck writing the memo simply said, “One of our highest priorities is combatting child exploitation and bringing justice to victims. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.” 

One can only look back sadly, now, to that February long ago – well last February – when the Department of Justice and F.B.I. revealed that they had “300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence” related to the Epstein case, including thousands of pictures of child sexual assault victims. 

(So much hope, dashed.)

___ 

 

“Somebody that nobody cares about.” 

July 14, 2025: The MAGA faithful can hardly believe the news. All those stories about Democratic pedophiles – and Epstein – and Bill Clinton – and Pizzagate – and Hillary. Now, nothing. Attorney General Bondi has gone to the dark side, perhaps joined the coverup.  President Trump tries to quell the uproar. On Truth Social he defends Bondi and tells his supporters “not [to] waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.” 

Donald continues. “What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening.”

___ 

 

July 15, 2025: The president is asked about any plans he might have for releasing the Files. “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epsein case would be of interest to anybody,” he says. “It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sorted but it’s boring.” He compares the Files to the Steele Dossier, which he said was “all fake.” 

  

“I think really only pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going,” he says. 

With the promised investigation seemingly shelved forever, reporters wondered if AG Bondi had ever told the president that his name appeared in the Epstein Files. Oh, no, Donald said. He had always been a very good boy. “No, no. She’s given us just a very quick briefing, and in terms of the credibility in the things they have seen,” Trump replied. “These files were made up by Comey, Obama, they were made up by the Biden – we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, with all of the different things we’ve had to go through.” 

Citing multiple sources, The Wall Street Journal reports that Bondi did tell the president in May that his name did appear in the files. 

(We need the free press, knuckleheads.) 

YES, YOU, KNUCKLEHEADS!

___

 

 Same day: Sadly, this next item will sound like a joke, except that it involves Lauren Boebert, the representative in Congress least likely to be mistaken for a member of MENSA. With calls for a special investigation into the Epstein Files growing, she suggested that it might be good to appoint former-Congressman Matt Gaetz to lead the probe. Yeah. The guy accused of hiring underage girls for prostitution. 

And if you have forgotten, Gaetz was Donald’s first choice to serve as attorney general during his second term – which the blogger would argue is immensely telling. Even the most cowardly GOP senators balked at making an alleged sex trafficker head of the Department of Justice, which most Americans would agree is an easy position to take. 

Gaetz was accused of sex trafficking a 17-year-old, and multiple other women, which apparently didn’t trouble Mr. Trump.

Gaetz for attorney general? Holy shit.

___ 

 

July 16, 2025: The president blames Democrats for fueling the uproar over the Epstein Files. “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” he says, “and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘b*******,’ hook, line, and sinker.” 

When his “PAST supporters” continue to demand an investigation, Trump turns on them with a vengeance. He labels them “stupid” and “foolish.” 

“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work,” he complains, “don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!” 

(Petulant.)

___ 

 

Dig until you hit rock bottom truth. 

July 17, 2025: The next day, the Wall Street Journal does a report on a leatherbound book of birthday wishes compiled in 2003, by Ghislaine Maxwell, for Epstein’s fiftieth. Included was a typed letter inside the outline of a naked woman, and signed where the pubic hair would be, with Donald’s signature. 

The letter talks about the bond the two share, ending with this sweet wish, “May every day be another wonderful secret.” 

 

 

The president erupted and announced that he was going to sue the WSJ and Rupert Murdoch and Lex Luthor, and said he never, ever, whatsoever, would draw a picture and send it to anyone. 

“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women ... It’s not my language. It’s not my words,” he announced. 

Later, on Truth Social, he posted, for clarification: “I don’t draw pictures.” 

Various practitioners of the First Amendment started digging up witnesses who said, “Well, Donald drew a picture for my charity,” or “Here’s a picture Mr. Trump drew, and later sold at auction.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean Donald banged little girls, while hanging around with the guy who absolutely did. It does make you wonder why he’d lie about never making any drawings. Or do we have to assume he’s starting to show signs of dementia or some other form of mental decline?

A number of Trump-signed pictures quickly show up.

___ 

 

Same day: In related news, we also learn that Bill Clinton and Leon Black sent Epstein birthday wishes. Clinton is believed to have penned this message: “It’s reassuring, isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.” 

In 2023, Mr. Black, a billionaire financier, paid a settlement of $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to put to rest a lawsuit related to a three-year investigation into Epstein’s ignoble actions there. 

Black paid the settlement in cash – which the blogger mentions just for the pure hell of it. These fat cat characters have lots of money; money = power; power = getting out of legal jams.

___ 

 

July 18, 2025: With Donald feeling increasing heat, the Department of Justice finally asks a judge to unseal select transcripts from the Epstein Files. 

The judge rejects the request. 

There is a legitimate reason to keep court records sealed. Names of innocent people will appear, placing them under undue suspicion. This is why Biden officials did not release most documents. 

Trump might not deserve blame today, save for the fact that he and his allies spent the Biden years demanding release of all Epstein-related materials. 

(Hypocrisy is grating.)

___ 

 

“He thought Ms. Farmer was 16 years old.” 

July 20, 2025: The pesky free press files a new story about Maria Farmer, one of Epstein’s first accusers. She says she went to the police and then the F.B.I., in 1996 and 2006. She told authorities that she was “alarmed by what she saw as Mr. Epstein’s pattern of pursuing girls and young women while building friendships with prominent people, including Mr. Trump and President Bill Clinton.” 

Ms. Farmer did not accuse either man of any illegal activities but did describe an incident from 1995, that she found troubling. At the time, she was preparing to go to work for Mr. Epstein.

 

She said she told the authorities that late one night, Mr. Epstein unexpectedly called her to his offices in a luxury building in Manhattan, and she arrived in running shorts.

 

Mr. Trump then arrived, wearing a business suit, and started to hover over her, she said she told the authorities.

 

Ms. Farmer said she recalled feeling scared as Mr. Trump stared at her bare legs. Then Mr. Epstein entered the room, and she recalled him saying to Mr. Trump: “No, no. She’s not here for you.”

 

The two men left the room, and Ms. Farmer said she could hear Mr. Trump commenting that he thought Ms. Farmer was 16 years old.

___ 

 

July 22, 2025: In related news, if you are into conspiracy theories, Roy Black, famed defense attorney for Jeffrey Epstein (cue the ominous music), croaked on July 21. In the Candyland of Candace Owens, and Alex Jones, and the crazy right-wing conspiracy mongers, the death of Mr. Black would as much as prove that he had been bumped off to keep him from revealing the truth about… 

Hillary Clinton! Barack Obama! And Joe Biden’s robot double! 

In fact, according to the Miami Herald, “within minutes” of the news of Black’s death, the conspiracy nuts were already out to play. 

The blogger will simply state that Mr. Black was 80 years old at his demise and his time had come.

___ 

 

July 23, 2025: We know that President Trump has claimed he never visited Jeffrey Epstein at his office. 

Epstein’s brother, Mark, told CNN this week, “That’s just another blatant lie. Because he was there. People that worked for Jeffrey in his office, they could testify [emphasis added] that they saw Trump in Jeffrey’s office on numerous occasions. So for him to say he wasn’t there, all I can say is that’s just another lie.” 

 

Meanwhile, Democrats on a subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversite and Government Reform Committee Chair: Rep. James Comer, a Republican), and that subcommittee (Chair: Rep. Clay Higgins, also a Republican), force a vote on a subpoena to the Department of Justice. They demand access to the Epstein Files. Three Republicans join five Democrats and vote in favor, and the motion passes 8-2. (I will try to find the names later; but Republicans have a majority on all House committees and subcommittees, by virtue of their House majority. That would mean, I believe, that at least five members of the GOP took the cowardly way out and simply voted “present.” 

Or maybe: “The representative has amnesia.” 

A reporter for WBALTV11, a Baltimore station explains to viewers, that outside the subcommittee room, during a break before the vote, Rep. Summer Lee, a Democrat, is speaking. “If the Republican Party, if our colleagues on this committee don’t join us in this vote,” Rep. Lee warns, “then what they’re essentially doing is joining President Donald Trump in complicity.” 

Channel 11 continues with its story:

 

“This goes to a fundamental sense of, ‘Is our government co-opted by rich and powerful people [emphasis added] that isn’t looking out for ordinary Americans? Or can we have a government that looks out for ordinary Americans?’” said Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who has put forward a bipartisan bill meant to force release of the files.

 

Republican leaders accuse Democrats of caring about the issue purely for political gain. 

 

The Oversite Committee decides it’s time to issue a subpoena for Ghislaine Maxwell to testify. Thomas Massie, a Republican member of Congress, tells reporters, “It’s not enough. It’s not nearly enough.” 

That Committee has 26 Republican members, including the Chairman, and Democrats have 22 members. 

Nothing is coming out if Republicans don’t want it to come out – but the other GOP votes in favor of a subpoena come from Rep Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, I believe. (I’m still checking to be sure.) 

Mace claims to be a victim of sexual abuse herself. Fifteen of the 48 members on Oversite are women, only five of them Republican. 

(I thought you might want to know.) 

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: In passing, I cannot resist mentioning that Ayanna Pressley, born in Cincinnati, where I have spent the last 53 years of my life, is a Democratic member. When she and three other members of Congress, all women of color, criticized Donald during his first term he exploded. 

And that meant … rage-tweeting:

 

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run.

 

Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough.

 

(It’s almost as if Donald doesn’t get geography.) 

(Sure enough, there’s Cincinnati. Part of the U.S.A.)

___ 

 

July 22, 2025: To avoid a vote on release of the Epstein Files, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson sends lawmakers home early for the summer. 

(See you again, never?)

___ 

 

July 24, 2025: Speaker Johnson assures reporters there is no need for a vote on the Files. The Trump administration, he says, is “already doing everything within their power to release them.” 

At that point, with all 213 Democrats in favor, and four Republicans willing to join them, those in favor of forcing a vote to release the Epstein Files are one short of the required 218-vote majority.

 

 

* 

__________ 

“The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.” 

Ghislaine Maxwell on Trump.

__________ 

 

Same day: Meanwhile, Maxwell agrees to sit for a private conversation with DOJ official Todd Blanche – who by some “coincidence” was previously Donald J. Trump’s criminal defense lawyer. 

I can report that on page three, Mr. Blanche is at pains to explain to Ms. Maxwell that the “proffer agreement” they have worked out does not mean she can expect a pardon, or a reduction in sentence. 

In fact, he says, “The most important part of this agreement is that this isn't a cooperation agreement, meaning that by you meeting with us today, we’re really just meeting, I’m not promising to do anything.” 

Her deposition is presented in writing, so you can’t be sure what kind of reactions are occurring, but if Blanche was winking, it would have been no shock. Maxwell’s prison sentence isn’t going to end until 2042. So, she has to be hoping for a pardon – or relief of some kind.

Trump and Maxwell in better days.

 

Well, what a surprise. She tells Blanche exactly what he might have hoped to hear if he had written out her answers for her and told her to just read. 

She says she never saw Donald Trump getting a “massage,” which was the code word for having a sexual encounter with one of the girls. “I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting,” she said. “I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.” 

What about recent revelations? For example, did Donald write that raunchy letter, for Jeffrey’s fiftieth birthday? 

She could not recall. “It’s been so long,” she says, perhaps shaking her head sadly.  “I want to tell you, but I don’t remember.” 

From what Maxwell says, you wonder if she ran in Epstein’s orbit. And if she did, was she wearing a wastebasket over her head? Not only did she not see Trump engage in any inappropriate behavior, “I never, ever saw any man doing something inappropriate with a woman of any age. I never saw inappropriate habits,” she insisted. For all Ghislaine could tell, Jeffrey was running a convent. 

Did Epstein pay her up to $30 million for her services? She denied it. 

Did she sexually abuse any of the girls? She denied that, too. 

She did admit she was on plane trips with Bill Clinton but denied he ever visited Epstein’s island lair. “He never. Absolutely never went,” she said. “And I can be sure of that because there’s no way he would’ve gone – I don’t believe there’s any way that he would’ve gone to the island, had I not been there. Because I don’t believe he had an independent friendship [emphasis added, unless otherwise noted] if you will, with Epstein,” she said. 

“I didn’t see President Clinton being interested in Epstein. He was just a rich guy with a plane,” she said. 

Finally, she acknowledged that Epstein and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did go on a “dinosaur bone hunting” trip to the Dakotas. But she never saw Kennedy engaged in any illegal sexual activities either. 

(The “dinosaur bone” jokes write themselves.) 

 

Did Jeffrey start abusing younger and younger women? Well, Ghislaine admitted he seems to have. But, hey, what could she do? “I don’t think he did hide it. … And I think that the people around him, I think, myself included obviously, normalized his behavior on a number of fronts. I own my side of that fence that I was there and that I saw his behavior with women and didn’t challenge him or do something.” 

(The blogger still needs to read all her deposition; he will update this post later.) 

(Prosecutors have long classified Ghislaine as a “serial liar.”)

___ 

 

July 24, 2025: The New York Times turns up a photo of the singer James Brown, flanked on the left by Epstein, on the right by Trump. It is not clear when the picture was taken. 

99. JAMES BROWN

Reporters also note that birthday letters to Jeffrey came from: 

99. ALAN C. GREENBERG, HEAD OF BEAR STEARNS

99. MURRAY GELL-MANN, PHYSICIST

99. HENRY ROSOVSKY, HARVARD ECONOMIST – his is contribution was a piece of art depicting women’s breasts and labeled “specially commissioned by Henry Rosovsky.” 

99. LES WEXNER – he sent a note that read, “I wanted to get you what you want … so here it is.”  It was followed by a drawing of breasts. 

99. LEON BLACK contributed a poem attributed which refers to “Blond, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically.” 

99. ALAN DERSHOWITZ – he mocked up a story about an “obscure politician” flying to Africa with Jeffrey – Bill Clinton. 

___ 

 

July 25, 2025: As for any overarching investigation into the Epstein Files,  we are reminded by Trump defenders that Bill Clinton also flew on Epstein’s plane, seventeen times, all those flights in 2002 or 2003, after he left office. 

It doesn’t help, however, when Donald tells reporters, during a separate meeting, that he never visited Epstein’s Caribbean island, where many of the worst crimes occurred, but Bill did! Bill did! 

Then he adds, “I never had the privilege.” 

(That is one strange way to use the word “privilege.”) 

 

Trump also claims Clinton visited Epstein’s island twenty-eight times, a number he probably made up, in hopes of bamboozling his fans, who often seem relieved to be tricked into not having to do any difficult thinking.

___ 

 

Same day: Mark Epstein sits for an interview with a reporter named Matt Chorley. He tells the journalist he does not believe his brother Jeffrey committed suicide. Jeffrey had “dirt” he says, and that was why Mark thought he was killed.

 

Absolutely. I believe so, yes. Jeffrey mentioned he had dirt on people. He didn’t tell me what he knew. But he led me to believe that he had dirt on people. In the 2016 election, we were talking about the election and Jeffrey told me that if he said what he knew about the candidates, they would have to cancel the election. That’s a quote; that’s exactly what he told me. He said, “If I said what I knew about the candidates, they’d have to cancel the election.” He didn’t tell me what he knew. But that’s what he said. 

 

So, the plot thickens, as they say, and sorting out the innocent and guilty would be a process complex. 

We do know that in a recent poll, 69% of Americans said they believed the federal government was concealing information related to the Epstein Files. Only 6% disagreed. The rest weren’t sure.

___ 

 

The P-word again! 

July 28, 2025: Reporters ask the president if he has considered a pardon for Maxwell. The immediate response should be, “Are you fucking kidding? No way in Hell, which is where she’s headed.” 

Not even close. 

Donald replies, “Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon, but I – nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news about that, that aspect of it, but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.” 

(But is he thinking about it – and does he want Maxwell to know he is?)

___ 

 

July 28, 2025 (again): Vice President Vance chips in with a few thoughts of his own, related to the Files. 

“First of all,” he tells reporters, “the president has been very clear. We’re not shielding anything,” he says. “The president has directed the attorney general to release all credible information and, frankly, to go and find additional credible information related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. He’s been incredibly transparent about that stuff, but some of that stuff takes time.”

___

 

July 29, 2025: Reporters asked the president what it was that caused him to finally end his friendship with Mr. Epstein. And Donald did not reply, “I realized he was abusing those young girls. No way would I put up with that. I made sure to call the cops to provide a few tips.” 

He told reporters that he was mad – that Epstein “stole” one of his spa workers at Mar-a-Lago. See. Donald was the victim! Donald went on to explain that the spa at Mar-a-Lago was the most beautiful in the world. And he told Jeffrey not to steal any more workers. And Jeffrey did it again. 

So, he told Jeffrey to get lost. And one of the “stolen” workers was Guiffre, not yet seventeen, who went on to be sex-trafficked to Prince Andrew, and said later that she was passed around to powerful and wealthy clients “like a platter of meat.” And then she testified against Epstein; but he never suffered much for his hideous crimes, and Virginia committed suicide in April 2025, age 41, leaving three children behind. 

But Donald? Donald kicked Epstein out of his private club because it was hard to keep good employees. 

Virginia’s family said in a note, at her death, that she had always been “a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors. In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.” 

“She wasn’t ‘stolen’; she was preyed upon at his property, at President Trump’s property,” Sky Roberts, one of Virginia’s brothers, told CNN, last week. 

Yet, we also know that when a reporter for ABC asked the president about Epstein and Maxwell recently, and what he knew about Giuffre being “stolen,” Trump didn’t attack the criminals. He attacked the people who report the news. ABC, he fumed was “fake news,” and “one of the worst.” 

“I would figure that was ABC, fake news, that would ask that question,” he complained. “But no, I don’t know really why. But I said if he’s taken anybody from Mar-a-Lago, he’s hiring or whatever he is doing. I didn’t like it, and we threw him out.” 

In any case, the blogger knows how to do simple math. Giuffre turned seventeen on August 9, 2000. In an article in New York, on October 28, 2002, Donald described Epstein as “a terrific guy,” adding, “He’s a lot of fun to be with.”

___ 

 

Not a pardon – but a sweet deal. 

August 1, 2025: We learn today that Ghislaine Maxwell has done something right, or said what Todd Blanche wanted to hear, which makes me worry. Before you could say, “What kind of man calls a pedophile a ‘terrific guy,’” Ghislaine was being moved to what the New York Post calls a “cushy” minimum-security prison in Bryan, Texas, sometimes referred to as “Club Fed.” 

As the Post explained, “The notorious madam – who is serving 20 years for helping Epstein groom and abuse underage girls – is now in a prison for nonviolent inmates who are allowed to roam the grounds with “limited or no perimeter fencing,” according to the [Bureau of Prison’s] website. 

There’s even space for jogging, if any of the white-collar criminals who are usually housed there would like to get in shape.

___ 

 

Same day: President Trump sits for an interview with Newsmax host Rob Finnerty, who asks if he would he consider a pardon for Ghislaine? He does not say no. “I’m allowed to do it,” he replies. “But nobody’s asked me to do it.” 

“I know nothing about it. I don’t know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it,” Donald continues. “I have the right to give pardons. I’ve given pardons to people before, but nobody’s even asked me to do it.” 

So, let’s hypothesize. Suppose Maxwell agreed to rat out Mr. Clinton, and other enemies of Trump, but cover up any of his own crimes? As Donald has admitted, to get the month off to a bizarre start, “I have the right to give pardons.” And that is a right we know he has repeatedly abused. 

For example, pardoning every single rioter who attacked police on January 6, 2021, no matter how badly they injured officers that day. 

In the same interview, the president said he hadn’t ruled out a pardon for former Rep. George Santos, one of the most prolific liars and crooks to have won a seat in Congress in many a year. As if it mattered, Trump noted that Santos was “100 percent for Trump” and “his vote was solid.” 

He also expressed sympathy for Sean “Diddy” Combs, recently convicted on prostitution-related charges, but found innocent on sex-trafficking crimes – which sounds a lot like how Epstein avoided serious punishment. Poor Diddy! The president described him as “half innocent.” 

Well, would he pardon Diddy? The president admitted that his decision would likely come down to feelings. His, of course. 

Yes, he and Combs had once been friendly. But then, he told Finnerty, the rapper became “hostile.” 

“But when you knew someone and you were fine and then you run for office and he made some terrible statements, so I don’t know, it’s more difficult,” the president explained. “It makes it more – I’m being honest – it makes it more difficult to do.” 

(He’s being honest alright. You will never get a pardon if Donald doesn’t like you.) 

(You well might, if he does.) 

 

If that sounds questionable – and if you have any understanding of ethics, it should – also remember. When the Department of Justice had to send someone to interview Maxwell in prison, they could have picked anybody to go. But they picked Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for the job. 

In a previous life, Blanche helped defend Mr. Trump in his business fraud trial – the one that ended in 34 felony convictions. 

We should also mention that Mr. Blanche defended Igor Fruman, a pal of Rudy Giuliani’s, Rudy being a pal of Don’s, after Fruman was charged with campaign finance violations. That is, Fruman had solicited money from a foreign national. He eventually pleaded guilty and went to prison. 

And if you are thinking Blanche sounds like he might not be the best lawyer since Matlock, you are not wrong. But he did get Paul Manafort, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, out of an indictment for violating state mortgage laws. 

Yay! An innocent man saved! 

Or not. 

Blanche simply convinced the courts that Manafort, who had been convicted and jailed on federal charges, would have been facing double jeopardy if tried again in a state court. 

___

 

Same day: Citing multiple sources, Mediate, a left-wing news operation, claims that a team of F.B.I. agents, responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, conducted a final review of documents related to the Epstein case and uprooted all mention of Trump’s name.

Mediate, also reports that agents who were tasked with redacting the name of Mr. Trump also redacted the names of other “prominent public figures,” which is not what most Americans want.

___ 

 

Fuckity-fuck-fuck! 

August 2, 2025: What the fuck! We know that Ghislaine Maxwell was accused of raping multiple young women herself. We know Epstein and Maxwell, and their pals may have raped as many as a thousand victims. 

And now Donald Trump is going to cut her a deal? 

FUCK!

 

Pardon my language. (I speak English, as my first language, profanity as my second.) But: HOLY MOTHER-FUCKING SHIT! 

The creepiest fucks in MAGA Land are already setting themselves to work, intent on giving the President of the United States cover to maneuver, if he decides he needs to create a fucking massive cover up. 

At no time have any of the witnesses who have spoken over the years said, “You know, Jeffrey was a monster, but Ghislaine was just an innocent bystander. Don’t put her raping ass in prison!” 

But fucking Greg Kelly, a host, on fucking Newsmax, is already carving out a public space for Donald J. to start lying on overdrive. “People are horrified when I say there’s a possibility that this individual just might be innocent,” Kelly says of Maxwell. “But think about it. Who told us about her? The most reviled institutions in America: the media and the Biden Justice Department.” 

Fuck! And double fuck!! Kelly is too stupid to remember, or simply hopes you won’t check the dates yourself, but Ghislaine was arrested on July 2, 2020, by agents of Donald J. Trump’s Justice Department. 

And real reporters, Greg, you useless fuck, would check the basic facts before stirring up the MAGA folk. 

Kelly wasn’t done yet. That fuckhead tried to turn the fucking narrative around, by making Donald’s “best wishes” statements about mother-fucking Maxwell, sound mother-fucking wise. 

Fuck, fuck, quintuple fuck! 

Trump, Kelly says, “could have easily gotten away with saying what the media wanted to hear. But he didn’t, and I find that remarkably human, and it’s telling, and it signals to me that there’s something else going on here, and it’s an injustice.” 

I’m sorry, Greg, you fucking douchebag. Have you been talking too much with Alex Acosta, now on the Newsmax board of directors? The same asshole who cut Epstein – that bastard – a sweet deal that kept him out of prison for another decade, so that he could keep fucking teenage girls? 

 

Kelly’s not the only fucking toady trying to create a safe space in which Donald J. Trump can hide. “Maxwell is in prison because of some charges,” F.B.I. Director, fucking Kash Patel, now says, “but that doesn’t mean she or President Trump were part of some secret ring.”

Patel really wanted to release the tapes when Biden was president.

 

And his assistant fuckstick, Dan Bongino, has backed the fuck up about a hundred miles now. Fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck! He’s not calling for a massive investigation anymore. Fuck that, right, Dan? 

“People need to understand,” he’s now insisting, “this entire thing has been manipulated to smear Trump … Maxwell’s conviction doesn’t prove a massive conspiracy.” 

Other tap-dancing motherfuckers include Trump’s fucking Deputy Assistant Sebastian Gorka, who’s described “this whole Epstein mythology [as] a disinformation campaign” and the allegations against Maxwell as “murky at best.” 

And Kari F. Lake (the “F” stands for fucker) claims that “even Maxwell’s trial didn’t actually prove what the left says it did.” 

FUCK! 

YOU ROTTEN FUCKERS! 

___ 

 

September 1, 2025: It had to happen; but this is going to be the month that conspiracy thinking catches up to that purveyor of complete nonsense, Donald J. Trump. The guy who said he could and would prove Obama was born in Narnia. The guy who says the 2020 election was stolen. 

Suddenly, the QAnon crowd is turning. First, they want to know who killed Jeffrey Epstein. Second, who helped Epstein and his main procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, abuse all those hundreds of young women and girls? 

(Okay, to be fair, this blogger wants to know that last answer, too.) 

 

But wait! There’s more. With concerns rising, regarding the president’s health, the kooks are out to play. Trump, they claim, is DEAD. Or: He’s sick and has only months to live. And he’s being played by a BODY DOUBLE. 

Also being played by a DOUBLE? 

Melania.

___ 

 

September 2, 2025: Members of the House of Representatives return from their extended vacation. The Department of Justice releases 33,000 pages of Epstein Files, and several related videos. 

(Yay, Attorney General Bondi!) 

 

“This kind of trauma never leaves.” 

Meanwhile, eight of Epstein’s victims testify during a closed-door committee session in Congress. Two of the women had never told their stories before. Rep. James Comer, the powerful committee chair, admits that he and his colleagues learned a few “additional names.” Even Speaker Johnson admits there were “tears in the room.” 

“There was outrage,” he adds, when asked about the mood inside that closed room. “It was both – I would describe it as heartbreaking and infuriating. That justice has been delayed so long.” 

Appearing at a press conference afterwards, the women describe a “disturbing world” where they were lured into a web of crimes with cash payouts, promises of jobs as masseuses, and sometimes promises of careers in modeling. 

Lisa Phillips, one of the women, explains that the group will compile its own “Epstein List.” “We will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world,” she promises. “It will be done by survivors, and for survivors.” 

“The truth is, Epstein had a free pass. He bragged about his powerful friends including our current president Donald Trump,” said Chaunte Davis, one of Jeffrey’s victims. “It was his biggest brag actually. And while what I endured will haunt me forever, I live every day with PTSD. I live as a mother trying to raise my child while distrusting a world that has betrayed me. This kind of trauma never leaves.” 

“My first trip to the Palm Beach residence, I drove there from the airport with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey and Ghislaine were always very boastful about their friends, their famous or powerful friends and his biggest brag forever was that he was ‘very good friends’ with Donald Trump,” she continued. “He had an 8x10 picture of him on his desk with the two of them. Like, they were very close.” 

Davis was also aboard the plane that carried Epstein, former-President Bill Clinton, and others to Africa. 

She realized then, just how powerless she and the other girls were. 

The BBC was one of several news organizations that provide highlights from the press conference.

 

Marina Lacerda, speaking publicly for the first time, said she worked for Epstein from the age of 14 until she was 17, when the disgraced financier determined she was “too old”.

 

“I was one of dozens of girls that I personally know who were forced into Jeffrey's mansion ... in New York City when we were just kids,” she said.

 

“A friend of mine in the neighbourhood told me that I could make $300 to give another guy a massage,” Lacerda said, while becoming visibly emotional. “It went from a dream job to the worst nightmare.”

 

 

The women – once naïve girls – all spoke:

 

“I had never been more scared in my life than I was that first time that he hurt me,” Jena-Lisa Jones recounted. She said she first met Epstein when she was 14 years old.

 

“I know that I was just a little kid but sometimes I still feel that it was my fault this happened,” she added through tears.

 

“It’s time for us to see behind the curtain. Why was Jeffrey Epstein so protected? Who is still being protected? And who protected them all, so the world can understand how Jeffrey was able to abuse so many of us for so long,” said Courtney Wild… 

 

Liza Stein said she spoke to lawmakers because she wanted to “humanize survivors” and was tired of being ignored. 

“The days of sweeping this under the rug are over. We the survivors say ‘no more,’” Anouska De Georgiou said. “I’m no longer weak, I am no longer powerless and I’m no longer alone. And with your vote, neither will the next generation,” she said, addressing members lawmakers in both parties, and the American people. “President Trump, you have so much influence and power in this situation. Please use that influence and power to help us, because we need it now, and this country needs it now.” 

“To be clear, the only motive for opposing this bill would be to conceal wrongdoing,” De Georgiou insisted. “You have a choice. Stand with the truth or with the lies that have protected predators for decades.” 

“Mr. President, Donald J. Trump, I am a registered Republican – not that that matters, because this is not political – however, I cordially invite you to the Capitol to meet me in person so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings,” Haley Robson added. 

“This is real trauma,” she said when asked by an ABC reporter. Nothing about Epstein’s crimes was a hoax. 

(Rape is not a hoax.) 

 

Rep. Thomas Massie also speaks: “I hope my colleagues are watching this press conference. I want them to think, what if this was your sister? What if this was your daughter?” It’s a critical question, one that demands a clear and complete answer. 

“Today we stand with survivors, we stand against big money, we stand to protect America’s children. That is really what this is about,” Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat leading the fight for justice, said on Wednesday. 

Bradley Edwards, a lawyer who has represented hundreds of Epstein’s victims, had this to add. “While we have seen the documents, you haven’t,” he tells anyone watching, “and when you see the documents, you’re going to be appalled.” 

Once again, we would suggest that a congressional investigation be launched, with the following witnesses to be called: 

99. LISA PHILLIPS

99. MARINA LACERDA

99. JENA-LISA JONES

99. COURTNEY WILD

99. LIZA STEIN

99. CHAUNTAE DAVIES

99. ANOUSKA DE GEORGIOU

99. HALEY ROBSON

99. BRADLEY EDWARDS

___ 

 

September 4, 2025: Some blind dates go well, some go bad, as this blogger remembers from high school, when he had the social skills of a pumpkin. Joseph Schnitt’s blind date will go down as one of the worst. 

Poor Joe, who works for Trump’s Department of Justice, was tricked by his date into talking about the Epstein files – which Donald, Joe’s boss now insists are a “Democratic hoax.” Joe wanted to let his date know that the president had nothing to fear if the files were released because he was an innocent man… 

I’m joking! 

Joe told his lady friend (who secretly recorded his brag) that the folks at DOJ would “redact every Republican or conservative person in those files, leave all the liberal, Democratic people in those files, and have a very slanted version of it come out.” 

He also assured the young woman that Ghislaine Maxwell had been moved to a cushy new jail because “they’re offering her something to keep her mouth shut.” 

He then added this juicy detail: “Second-in-command [Dan Bongino] at the FBI has been causing problems, because he’s like, ‘No, these [Epstein Files] have to be released… Bondi wants whatever Trump wants. Internally there’s a lot of conflict.” 

RELEASE EVERYTHING, YOU SCUMBAGS!

___

  

September 17, 2025: Testifying before Congress, F.B.I. Director Patel says the agency has released everything credible that they are legally permitted to share. He adds that court orders stand in the way of releasing more. 

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) responds, “You are hiding the Epstein files, Mr. Patel. You are part of the cover-up.” 

You can watch all four hours, fifty-six minutes, and forty seconds of Patel’s testimony at the link below if you have a burning desire.

(I admit it; I’m not going to, either. But at least skim parts to see what you think.)

___ 

 

September 23, 2025: Trump tells reporters that the continued demand for release of more Epstein Files “is a Democrat hoax that never ends.” Referring to the files released the night before, he insists, “Really, I think it’s enough.” 

After cross-checking, Democrats claim 97% of the material had been released to the public before. 

(Boo, AG Bondi!)

___ 

 

Trump again refuses to rule out a pardon. 

October 1, 2025: The government shuts down in a dispute over funding. The off-Broadway show remains shuttered for 43 days. Those who don’t want to see the Epstein Files get a pleasant reprieve. 

Meanwhile, Trump has a great time, insulting the four Republicans who are ready to join the 213 Democrats (with one more Democrat on the way, following a special election) and demand a vote on releasing the Files.

___ 

 

October 7, 2025: The president was asked today by the “fake news” people if he had any plans to grant clemency to, or pardon Ghislaine Maxwell. It’s a fair question, and one many Americans (including all of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims) would like to hear answered. Donald decided to play dumb. 

Kaitlin Collins of CNN, wanted to know his answer, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to reject a petition from Maxwell’s lawyers to reverse her twenty-year sentence for aiding and abetting Epstein’s horrific crimes. 

Now Collins began: “Her only chance for getting out of prison is a pardon from you. Is that something…” 

Trump interrupted to ask who was being discussed. 

“Ghislaine Maxwell,” Collins said. 

“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long,” Donald claimed. “I can say this: that I’d have to take a look at it. I’d have to take a look.” 

“Did they reject that?” he asked. 

“She wanted to appeal her conviction and they said they were not going to hear her,” Collins explained. 

“I see, well, I’ll take a look at it. I will speak to the DOJ. I wouldn’t consider it or not consider it, I don’t know anything about it,” Trump replied.

___ 

 

November 6, 2025: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of The Four Horsepersons of the Epstein Apocalypse, tells Trump she plans to vote to release the Files. Donald tells her, “Don’t do it.” 

Greene: “I’m gonna.” 

You just know the president isn’t going to take this well. He labels the congresswoman a “traitor” and “a disgrace to our GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY.” Not yet satisfied with the insults, he calls her a “lightweight,” and says she has turned into the “RINO that we all know she always was.” 

Insulting people is hard work, and Trump throws in a “wacky,” and then trundles off to his bedroom for a nap. 

(Greene is swamped by death threats over the next few days.)

___ 

 

November 12, 2025: After 43 days, the shutdown fizzles to an end. Speaker of the House Johnson swears in new member Rep. Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona. She won a special election to fill the seat held by her father, who died unexpectedly. With that the votes in the House of Representatives stand: Republicans 220, Democrats 214.  

With four Republicans ready to vote to release the Files, Johnson has no hope of stopping the runaway bulldozer. 

Unless … 

Trump invites Rep. Lauren Boebert to the White House where she meets with top aides in the Situation Room, the most secure meeting room in this country. It’s where Obama went to give the order to blow up Osama bin Laden. The topics for the day are apparently recipes and gardening tips. Also: The Epstein Files. 

Donald’s people tell Boebert their boss wants her to vote “no” on the release. 

“No,” she replies. I’m voting “yes.” 

Pressure tactics also fail to sway Congresswoman Mace. Partly because at one juncture she decides not to answer her phone.

___ 

November 13, 2025: Whistleblowers at the Texas prison where Maxwell is now being held claim the prisoner is receiving special treatment. That includes meals “customized” for her pleasure and delivered to her cell, after-hours meetings with visitors, and extra time in the recreation area. She even gets unlimited toilet paper – apparently a big deal in prison. One worker claims Maxwell is filling out a “commutation application,” and that Warden Tanisha Hall has been acting as her “personal secretary” in reviewing and helping her edit the documents. 

A second whistleblower says he is “sick of having to be Maxwell’s bitch.” 

(A commutation from Mr. Trump would get Ghislaine out of jail.) 

 

As a result of these whistleblower complaints (pick one):

 

A)   Maxwell is ordered to serve five days in solitary.

B)    Maxwell loses visitors’ privileges for a month.

C)   Maxwell is required to work in the prison kitchen until the day after Christmas.

D)   The whistleblowers are fired. 

(Of course. The answer is “D.”)

___

November 14, 2025: Trump takes defeat in the matter of the Epstein Files about as well as you’d expect. On Truth Social, where Donald goes to scream like a toddler, he roasts Republican Congressman Thomas Massie. 

  

We should probably point out, that Massie was married to his first wife, Rhonda, for thirty-one years. There are no accusations against the congressman of groping models, sleeping with porn stars, etc. His wife has been dead for sixteen months when he weds for the second time. 

Of course, there had to be conspiracy theories – even though the first Mrs. Massie died of an auto-immune disorder. 

(Oh, no, said the nuts on social media: She was killed by a COVID shot.)

___  

 

“You can declassify…Even by thinking about it.” 

November 17, 2025: In a segment on the Epstein Files, aired on Comedy Central, Jon Stewart paints a picture both damning and hilarious. 

In one recently-revealed email exchange we learn that Epstein was in communication with Steve Bannon – at the time, in early 2018, on the outs with Trump – whose rise to the presidency Bannon had helped engineer. In what I assume is a comic remark, we learn that Mark Epstein emails his brother, in reference to Bannon. “Ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.” 

“Bubba” is, in some circles, a nickname for Bill Clinton. When reporters get their hands on this exchange, Brother Mark is forced to release a statement, noting that the reference to “Bubba” is not a reference to the former president. 

In a masterful takedown of President Trump, Stewart tells the audience he will quote a “legal scholar,” who turns out to be President Trump. In a clip from 2022, when Donald was facing an investigation into his handling of classified documents after he left office, Trump tells a reporter, “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, it’s declassified. Even by thinking about it.” 

 (Telepathic declassification.)

 

 

Stewart also notes, that in one email from July 16, 2010, Daniel Siad tells Epstein, 

Hey Jeff,

A great friend of mine rented a Huge House in Ibiza so invited a lot of girls all Russian models great scout named Tigrane He use to scout for Trump but he deosnt work for him any more he coming with 12 girls […] would like to meet you 

 

From Jean-Luc Brunel, January 1, 2013, we had an email marked “High” in importance, sent to Jeffrey: “I will send you a picture of this Burmese girl. Very pretty […] I will bring her to the US.” 

(I thought Democrats were the ones sneaking all the immigrants across the border.) 

 

Stewart’s comparison of conservatives’ reactions to Pizzagate – a conspiracy in which the QAnon crowd believed as if it were religious truth revealed on Mount Sinai – is comical. They decided that the word “pizza” used in Democratic emails was code for child pornography. John Podesta, Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, mentioned “pasta” 78 times, as InfoWars noted, and Alex Jones helped spread the theory that “cheese” and “pasta” were code for “little boy” and “sex.” 

Thank God, not anchovies! This blogger has asked for anchovies on his pizza at least a thousand times! 

Stewart even adds a quick clip of Bannon, saying that a lot of what QAnon says “turns out to be true.” 

We also learn that Jeffrey Epstein once received a gift from Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. As Stewart explains, a number of big new names have appeared in Epstein’s emails. So, let us add yet again to the list of individuals Congress needs to subpoena at the calendar flips to 2026. 

99. NOAM CHOMSKY, LIBERAL PHILOSOPHER

99. DEEPAK CHOPRA, ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE GURU

99. SOON-YI PREVIN, WOODY ALLEN’S WIFE

99. KEN STARR, AUTHOR OF CLINTON IMPEACHMENT REPORT

99. PETER THEIL, BILLIONAIRE TRUMP BACKER

99. MICHAEL WOLFF, AUTHOR

___ 

 

“Did the Democrats hoax themselves?” 

November 18, 2025: With a flood of news, related to the Epstein Files, and all Epstein-related revelations, we are reminded again. In January 2019, Epstein emailed a writer named Michael Wolff, regarding Donald Trump, saying, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.”  The context of that statement is unclear; but it does make you want to know more. 

Naturally, when the White House reporter for ABC asked Trump what that “he knew” line meant, he exploded. I can’t remember ever seeing a president lose his shit so publicly, and his threat to have ABC’s broadcasting license pulled should be a red flag to any American whose skull is not full of pudding. 

If you revere the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment, with all its critical protections, and the rule of the law, you should have been in shock today. 

  

Where to start, in discussing this clip? First, it was a valid question. Why didn’t Trump just go ahead and release the Epstein Files before? At one point, he had said the names of innocent people might be harmed. Now, here he was, all but saying Reid Hoffman was guilty of abusing young girls. 

If he was going to say now that he was going to start investigating Democrats, why had he previously said the Files were a Democratic hoax? My dear MAGA friends: Can you explain? Did the Democrats hoax themselves? 

And why is the reporter suddenly a “terrible person,” just because she asked a question Donald didn’t like? Jeffrey Epstein is a terrible person. A person who grabbed a woman’s pussy without permission – that’s a terrible person. 

 

 (In the Epstein emails, the president’s name comes up hundreds of times.) 

 

We can also remember what Trump said before. He kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago because Jeffrey was stealing good employees and Donald told him to stop. Now he says he kicked him out because he knew Jeffrey was a “sick pervert.” 

When Donald kept saying he kicked Jeffrey out because he stole employees – and that included the unfortunate Virginia Giuffre – we had a right to wonder. Was Donald so clueless that he never knew what Epstein and Maxwell were doing with the girls once they had them under his control? 

In a book review of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, Nobody’s Girl, we learn new details regarding her abuse. There was:

 

Sex with Marvin Minsky, an M.I.T. scientist 56 years her senior, his face “shriveled like one of those folk-art dolls whose heads are dried-up apples”; orgies staffed by the model scout Jean-Luc Brunel, who – like Epstein – died by suicide in prison; choking, beating and bloodying from a former prime minister, whom she refused to name because “I fear that this man will seek to hurt me if I say his name here.” 

 

Suppose that you wanted to get to the bottom of this ghastly tale of human exploitation. Would it not be wise to “follow the money?” As early as 2019, soon after Epstein committed suicide, JP Morgan Chase notified the government – that is the Trump administration – about suspicious money transfers. 

Individuals and institution that may have been involved in illegal activities would include all of the below, and no doubt more. 

JP Morgan itself paid $75 million to the Virgin Islands, where Epstein carried out so many crimes. The bank has also paid out $290 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the hundreds of victims. 

In the coming year, Congress must ask them all to sit for testimony, about what they knew, and when they knew it. 

99. MARVIN MINSKY

99. MRS. BLACK (WE ALREADY HAVE LEON LISTED; PLUS, HE’S DEAD)

99. A BLACK FAMILY PARTNERSHIP

99. TRUSTS CONTROLLED BY LES WEXNER

99. WIRE TRANSFERS TO RUSSIAN BANKS, WITH HINTS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

 

(None of these individuals or entities have been accused; we only want to know what they can help us to know.) 

 

Hundreds of GOP lawmakers beat an epic retreat. 

With giant mountains of dirt being revealed under all kinds of rich rugs, members of Congress gather for a vote. 

Should the Epstein Files be released? 

YAY     NAY

 

Almost nobody wants to be on the side of a vote that – if you were – most Americans would now suspect indicated you were out to protect pedophiles. Now it’s time. The House must vote. On the floor, Rep. Thomas Massie, one of four Republican rebels, who helped lead the fight to release, explains, “We have a chance today to make something happen, something that has not happened and should have happened decades ago, and that is to get justice for these victims and survivors and transparency for America.” 

So, ten months after Donald Trump took office again – having promised to release the Epstein Files if elected – the House of Representatives votes in favor of … releasing the Epstein Files! 

The final tally: 427 in favor, 1 opposed, five not voting. 

The lone holdout is Rep. Clay Higgins. 

The Senate agrees by “unanimous consent” in favor of releasing the Files but does not require a roll call vote. 

That is an epic retreat by almost 270 Republican lawmakers, in House and Senate, who had previously been voting to block release. 

(Because Donald told them.) 

 

In fact, we can give Rep. Higgins a bit of credit for standing by principles. It is common practice not to release court records when innocent people’s names might be revealed, bringing them under suspicion. 

For that reason, Higgins votes “no.” 

(This is also the reason the Biden administration did not release the files before.) 

(Or so it is said.)

___ 

 

How I See It. 

Look, I’m just a simple blogger. I have certain skills that help me say what I think needs to be said. My proficiency with the written word is somewhere north of “average.” I’m a historian by training and honest by inclination. My Dad would not have been proud of anything I ever did, unless I did it honestly. So, I try to adhere to facts. I admit, I do mock many of the people who support the president – Steven “Mr. Potato Head” Cheung, for example – in part because I understand the importance of the Bill of Rights more than them. I think that freedom of the press was absolutely designed for moments like this, when powerful people might be hiding behind their money, guarded by phalanxes of soulless lawyers, and allies in other powerful positions. 

Such as newsrooms, Mr. Kelly. 

So let me refrain, to end this monster post, from dropping further “f-bombs,” as I am prone to do. I don’t believe in conspiracy theories. I do not believe Biden was replaced by a body double. Or Trump, either. I am not saying there is proof Donald J. Trump colluded with Epstein and deflowered young girls. Nor do I know whether Bill Clinton joined in any of the horrible crimes that did occur. I am not saying any of the individuals mention in this long, long post are guilty. I am saying I suspect Les Wexner. I think John Casablancas knew more than he ever admitted. I think Prince Andrew should be plunked down before a grand jury, for sure. 

I am saying we need a massive investigation, and the more people like Kelly and Kari Lake run cover for Donald, the more suspicious I become. In fact, I’ll end with this. I understand the reason the Bill of Rights includes an admonition against “cruel and unusual punishment.” I taught history. I know about the witch-burning, and the rack-stretching, and the thumb-screwing. I know the Gestapo proved you can crack almost anyone, and make them talk, if you are willing to be brutal. 

I am not a violent person by nature, either. But if one of my daughters, or any of the other people I care about deeply, had been subjected to the sexual abuse that Epstein and Maxwell inflicted on so many young females, I would want to buy a gun and open fire. I probably wouldn’t. But if I had a clear shot, I can’t be sure I wouldn’t shoot them in their penis or vagina. 

And now, a moment of reflection may be in order. I know there are hundreds of cases, now proven by use of newer DNA evidence, that show innocent individuals have been sent to prison for decades, for murders – and especially rapes – which evidence later proves they did not commit. If we do manage to get the kind of investigation going that Epstein and Maxwell’s victims deserve, and the American people desire, we will have to be careful. We will have to work to see shades of differences and distinctions between words like “mentioned,” “accused,” and “guilty.” 

I do know that President Trump has a history of dishonesty, one that I believe makes it hard to trust the 47th President of the United States, just as it was almost impossible to trust the 45th.

The 42nd doesn’t have the best reputation for integrity, either. 

 

CONGRESS MUST INVESTIGATE.