The Jeffrey Epstein Saga is the Worst-Reported Story of All Time
Thanks to decades of misreporting, unproven conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein are the one thing uniting both camps of American politics
In expectation of a release of documents pertaining to the Jeffrey Epstein case, reporter Michael Tracey and I are putting out first entries in a series, dealing with prevailing myths and misunderstandings about this case. Michael has been almost alone (along with Jay Beecher) in even asking questions about the case, a role he’s familiar with after Russiagate. We’re glad to have his article, “The Five Craziest Things About the Epstein Case, Vol. 1,” also printed in Racket today.
The Justice Department was expected to release “several hundred thousand” documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case today, in an effort to meet the deadline of a new law mandating disclosure. So far they’ve put out something, but the website is glitchy, and there’s little to be gleaned. Still, it will kick off the latest mass-truffle hunt by media on both the left and the right, who’ll surely find a life or six to torch in the records. This is our duty, as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez earlier this week reminded us by tweet:
Reminder that the Epstein Files are supposed to be released on Friday and every political development that you see between now until then should be viewed with that in mind.
Ocasio-Cortez was tweeting in advance of a Wednesday speech by President Donald Trump, which was widely expected to feature a major announcement. Tucker Carlson, who’s been thundering about a “civil war” on the right caused by Israel-backed establishment Republicans pushing “neocon foreign policy” on unsuspecting populists, told Andrew Napolitano earlier this week that “members of Congress were briefed yesterday that a war is coming and that it’ll be announced in the address to the nation tonight.” A lot of people believed him, and the AOC announcement served as a warning to stay focused on the right conspiracy story.
The Epstein saga is the worst-reported story of all time. The world’s leading news organizations on a regular basis print easily debunked untruths. Crucial details, like a federal case built on a recovered memory, the chief accuser being an epic fabulist, or nearly a billion dollars in civil claims won by “survivors” who themselves may be “professional recruiters” (as one victim put it to me), are left out of coverage. Almost all of the drama is concentrated in the expectation of revelations around things that still theoretically could be true, like underage hijinks with a Clinton or Trump, or an arrangement with the Mossad, but the absence of evidence of these things is rarely reported.
Inconvenient facts excised, reporters have used remaining details to build the mother of conspiracy tales, a keyhole through which the world may see All The Secrets, except the evidence doesn’t support the marquee. On closer examination, most elements of popular belief about Epstein collapse, leaving a manic, breathlessly wrong legend that’s on track to be remembered as a combination of Salem and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. What’s really there:
