Okay, just for the record, I don’t care what is revealed in these files. I’m in favor of their release no matter who turns out to implicated in crimes or misdeeds. I’ve said repeatedly I thought Trump should have released these materials before. My quarrel is with the assumption that there’s an intelligence blackmail scheme, especially an Israeli one, to expose. It’s obviously possible, but the evidence for this is nonexistent.
See Mike Benz. He dives deep into the Epstein matter. If I understand him correctly, he does not believe this is a blackmail operation, but rather Epstein was a fixer who brought the right people together to accomplish clandestine and illegal international transactions.
Why would you say something so provably wrong? People take him seriously because he knows his shit and has an autistic level of recall about statecraft minutiae.
Because Andrew has an agenda and he's a troll. Here's his Sept 28 writeup which he describes as:
"My longform breakdown of the story of the Dancing Israelis and the timeline of their whereabouts on 9/11 which proves their foreknowledge of the attack, as well as scrutiny of the FBI investigation of them which ended in a coverup.
"If you find the article to be a revealing forensic case, please share it. It is meant for both 9/11 conspiracy skeptics and 9/11 conspiracy addicts alike."
I should have known he was one of the people whose brain has been broken about Israel. Of course. End must be a fraud, because he makes very credible arguments about why this may not be ze evil JOOS controlling the world like a puppet. That maybe he was an unsavory cog in American backchannel statecraft and releasing the files might harm our standing with allies as they could reveal far more about sources and methods than is safe. I think it’s clear America will happily work against an ally if it serves our interests, as we should. But that doesn’t mean I want the ally knowing about it.
My guess is you have absolutely no idea what the dancing Israelis story is about and you think it’s a made up conspiracy instead of a story that was reported on widely at the time by mainstream media and which spawned police and FBI field office reports on the arrested Israelis and their activity.
If you actually read the article instead of being a presumptuous asshole you’d know that though, so you should probably read it to avoid future embarrassment if you ever speak about the topic.
Public records indicate Benz was appointed to the State Department on November 24, 2020, as "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy" in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. However, he left after just 2-3 weeks (or up to 7 weeks by some accounts), before the end of the Trump administration. Critics point out this position did not exist before his appointment and was discontinued afterward, suggesting it was an "in-name-only" role without real duties. He reportedly did not stay long enough to get an official profile picture or security clearance.
Benz has described himself as "the head of all things Cyber" at the State Department, implying deep involvement in cybersecurity and disinformation policy. However, sources claim his actual background was as an entry-level speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2019-2020, with no prior cyber experience. His abrupt transfer to State is alleged to stem from an "internal disciplinary investigation" at HUD, not merit-based promotion. He reportedly failed security clearance twice, preventing any real access to sensitive cyber work.
### Tweet Threads from @NameRedacted247 and Similar Users
@NameRedacted247 has produced detailed threads accusing Benz of fraud, focusing on his employment history as part of a broader "influence operation." These threads compile timelines, screenshots, and sources to argue Benz's State Department claims are exaggerated for grift. Here's a summary of key threads:
- Main Thread on Employment Fraud (Posted March 22, 2024): In this extensive thread, @NameRedacted247 outlines Benz's timeline, stating: "Mike Benz is lying about his employment history, falsely claiming to have worked for the State Department in a high-level cyber-related role. But he didn’t. There is a bigger story behind his abrupt transfer to an 'in name only' role for 7 weeks at State after being an entry-level speechwriter at HUD." The thread includes:
- Evidence of Benz's HUD role (2019-2020) as a low-level comms staffer.
- State Department hire date (November 24, 2020) via a FOIA-sourced document.
- Claims of no profile picture or lasting impact, suggesting a nominal appointment.
- Accusations that Benz misrepresents himself as a "diplomat" and "cyber head" to infiltrate censorship discussions.
- Links to archived "Frame Game" content (his alleged alt-right persona from 2016-2018), tying it to a pattern of deception.
- The thread warns promoters like Elon Musk and Michael Shellenberger to reconsider, noting Benz's lack of remorse in responses to exposés.
Don’t be mad at me because you are a sucker who fell for a fraud.
Interesting information about Benz. How unlikely is it that the USA would have cyber experts listed as something else in what look like unrelated departments? Or off the books completely? Separate Benz's credentials from the content he provides. From some of the presentations he's made he knows what he is talking about. And I'll answer my own question: After what's come out about the activities of the US security services during Russiagate I would say it's impossible for them to plant cyber people. But you never know.
Thank you for sharing my good work, I can tell you obviously know absolutely nothing about the dancing Israelis and probably think it’s a made up conspiracy instead of a fact that’s been proven by both police reports and FBI field office reports which were long ago released due to FOIA requests and which I extensively quote as the exclusive source of information in my article.
You probably should have read it before trashing it, but I’ll take the free advertising anyway.
Public records indicate Benz was appointed to the State Department on November 24, 2020, as "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy" in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. However, he left after just 2-3 weeks (or up to 7 weeks by some accounts), before the end of the Trump administration. Critics point out this position did not exist before his appointment and was discontinued afterward, suggesting it was an "in-name-only" role without real duties. He reportedly did not stay long enough to get an official profile picture or security clearance.
Benz has described himself as "the head of all things Cyber" at the State Department, implying deep involvement in cybersecurity and disinformation policy. However, sources claim his actual background was as an entry-level speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2019-2020, with no prior cyber experience. His abrupt transfer to State is alleged to stem from an "internal disciplinary investigation" at HUD, not merit-based promotion. He reportedly failed security clearance twice, preventing any real access to sensitive cyber work.
### Tweet Threads from @NameRedacted247 and Similar Users
@NameRedacted247 has produced detailed threads accusing Benz of fraud, focusing on his employment history as part of a broader "influence operation." These threads compile timelines, screenshots, and sources to argue Benz's State Department claims are exaggerated for grift. Here's a summary of key threads:
- Main Thread on Employment Fraud (Posted March 22, 2024): In this extensive thread, @NameRedacted247 outlines Benz's timeline, stating: "Mike Benz is lying about his employment history, falsely claiming to have worked for the State Department in a high-level cyber-related role. But he didn’t. There is a bigger story behind his abrupt transfer to an 'in name only' role for 7 weeks at State after being an entry-level speechwriter at HUD." The thread includes:
- Evidence of Benz's HUD role (2019-2020) as a low-level comms staffer.
- State Department hire date (November 24, 2020) via a FOIA-sourced document.
- Claims of no profile picture or lasting impact, suggesting a nominal appointment.
- Accusations that Benz misrepresents himself as a "diplomat" and "cyber head" to infiltrate censorship discussions.
- Links to archived "Frame Game" content (his alleged alt-right persona from 2016-2018), tying it to a pattern of deception.
- The thread warns promoters like Elon Musk and Michael Shellenberger to reconsider, noting Benz's lack of remorse in responses to exposés.
Where are you getting that information? He is currently the Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO). On the FFO website, his bio states that he "is a former State Department official with responsibilities in formulating and negotiating US foreign policy on international communications and information technology matters." So ya, he's lying in his bio on the FFO website & no one has called him out.
When I look him up I find that he worked, albeit briefly, at the U.S. Department of State during the Trump 1 administration serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Technology in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
He has appeared on numerous legit podcasts etc and you'd think maybe they vetted him??? I found no evidence that he is making a fraudulent claim as you state.
Public records indicate Benz was appointed to the State Department on November 24, 2020, as "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy" in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. However, he left after just 2-3 weeks (or up to 7 weeks by some accounts), before the end of the Trump administration. Critics point out this position did not exist before his appointment and was discontinued afterward, suggesting it was an "in-name-only" role without real duties. He reportedly did not stay long enough to get an official profile picture or security clearance.
Benz has described himself as "the head of all things Cyber" at the State Department, implying deep involvement in cybersecurity and disinformation policy. However, sources claim his actual background was as an entry-level speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2019-2020, with no prior cyber experience. His abrupt transfer to State is alleged to stem from an "internal disciplinary investigation" at HUD, not merit-based promotion. He reportedly failed security clearance twice, preventing any real access to sensitive cyber work.
### Tweet Threads from @NameRedacted247 and Similar Users
@NameRedacted247 has produced detailed threads accusing Benz of fraud, focusing on his employment history as part of a broader "influence operation." These threads compile timelines, screenshots, and sources to argue Benz's State Department claims are exaggerated for grift. Here's a summary of key threads:
- Main Thread on Employment Fraud (Posted March 22, 2024): In this extensive thread, @NameRedacted247 outlines Benz's timeline, stating: "Mike Benz is lying about his employment history, falsely claiming to have worked for the State Department in a high-level cyber-related role. But he didn’t. There is a bigger story behind his abrupt transfer to an 'in name only' role for 7 weeks at State after being an entry-level speechwriter at HUD." The thread includes:
- Evidence of Benz's HUD role (2019-2020) as a low-level comms staffer.
- State Department hire date (November 24, 2020) via a FOIA-sourced document.
- Claims of no profile picture or lasting impact, suggesting a nominal appointment.
- Accusations that Benz misrepresents himself as a "diplomat" and "cyber head" to infiltrate censorship discussions.
- Links to archived "Frame Game" content (his alleged alt-right persona from 2016-2018), tying it to a pattern of deception.
- The thread warns promoters like Elon Musk and Michael Shellenberger to reconsider, noting Benz's lack of remorse in responses to exposés.
Don’t be mad at me because you are a sucker who fell for a fraud.
Rarely do we see debate of such wit and perspicacity. Yet and still, here is Michael O’Donoghue’s "The Churchill Wit" from National Lampoon.
The Churchill Wit
Churchill was known to drain a glass or two and, after one particularly convivial evening, he chanced to encounter Miss Bessie Braddock, a Socialist member of the House of Commons, who, upon seeing his condition, said, "Winston, you're drunk." Mustering all his dignity, Churchill drew himself up to his full height, cocked an eyebrow and rejoined, "Shove it up your ass, you ugly cunt."
When the noted playwright George Bernard Shaw sent him two tickets to the opening night of his new play with a note that read: "Bring a friend, if you have one," Churchill, not to be outdone, promptly wired back: "You and your play can go fuck yourselves."
At an elegant dinner party, Lady Astor once leaned across the table to remark, "If you were my husband, Winston, I'd poison your coffee."
"And if you were my wife, I'd beat the shit out of you," came Churchill's unhesitating retort.
During the darkest days of World War II, when each night brought waves of Luftwaffe bombers raining death and destruction on a near-defenseless London, Prime Minster Churchill went on the air to address the British People. "I read in this morning's paper that Herr Hitler plans to wring England's neck like that of a chicken," he began, "and I was reminded of what the Irish poacher said as he stood on the gallows. It seems the poor fellow as approached by a well-meaning if somewhat overzealous priest who, in horrific detail, described the unfading torments of Hades which awaited him if he did not repent his misdeeds. The condemned man listened patiently to all that the priest had to say, and when he was done, grinned broadly and replied, 'Eat it raw, fuzz-nuts.'"
Shortly after Churchill had grown a moustache, he was accosted by a certain young lady whose political views were in direct opposition to his own. Fancying herself something of a wag, she exclaimed, "Mr. Churchill, I care for neither your politics nor your moustache."
Unabashed, the young statesman regarded her quietly for a moment, then wryly commented, "Suck my dick."
While serving as a subaltern in the Boer War, the young Churchill was asked by a superior officer to give his opinion of the Boers as soldiers.
"They're assholes, sir," he ventured, then paused briefly and added, with a whimsical smile, "They're assholes."
Sir Winston carried on a life-long feud with Labour party leader Aneurin Bevin and, on one occasion, while Mr. Bevin was delivering an unusually long speech to the House of Commons, Churchill slumped into his seat and appeared to doze off. When Bevan noticed this, he inquired in his loudest voice, "Must the right honorable gentleman fall asleep during my speech?" Receiving no reply, Mr. Bevan continued until, a few minutes later, the sound of snoring was distinctly audible to all present. This time Mr. Bevin slammed his hand on the rail and shouted, "Until now, the Conservative party had usually managed to conceal the fact that it was asleep." Without even opening his eyes, Churchill quipped, "Flake off, touch-hole" and unconcernedly resumed his nap.
Churchill was given to reading in the bathtub and, while staying at the White House, he became so engrossed in an account of the Battle of Fonteney that he forgot President Roosevelt was due to drop by to discuss the upcoming conference in Yalta. At the appointed hour, the president was wheeled into Churchill's quarters only to be informed that the prime minister had not finished bathing. Roosevelt was about to apologize for the intrusion and depart when Churchill, puffing his customary cigar, strode into the room stark naked and greeted the nonplussed world leader with a terse, "What are you staring at, homo?"
O’Donoghue’s National Lampoon bit made me giggle uncontrollably first time I read it. When you’re well versed in all the caustic wit and sherry-sipping Mandarin high jinks that shit is funny.
This site offers some of the real-life context for Churchill's wit. https://wlm3.com/tag/churchills-wit/ O’Donoghue’s SNL impression of Merv Griffin having six-inch steel spikes driven into his eyes showed real commitment.
Sorry; anyone who knows anything about Churchill knows that all those Lampoon "quotes" are just made-up bullshit. Just do an online search for any well-known Churchill utterance and you'll see what I mean.
And I am by no means any kind of fan of the guy: I think he was one of the more despicable characters in the political history of the 20th century. But he did have a killer wit, and no, that didn't involve saying dumbass things like "shove it up your ass".
Public records indicate Benz was appointed to the State Department on November 24, 2020, as "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy" in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. However, he left after just 2-3 weeks (or up to 7 weeks by some accounts), before the end of the Trump administration. Critics point out this position did not exist before his appointment and was discontinued afterward, suggesting it was an "in-name-only" role without real duties. He reportedly did not stay long enough to get an official profile picture or security clearance.
Benz has described himself as "the head of all things Cyber" at the State Department, implying deep involvement in cybersecurity and disinformation policy. However, sources claim his actual background was as an entry-level speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2019-2020, with no prior cyber experience. His abrupt transfer to State is alleged to stem from an "internal disciplinary investigation" at HUD, not merit-based promotion. He reportedly failed security clearance twice, preventing any real access to sensitive cyber work.
### Tweet Threads from @NameRedacted247 and Similar Users
@NameRedacted247 has produced detailed threads accusing Benz of fraud, focusing on his employment history as part of a broader "influence operation." These threads compile timelines, screenshots, and sources to argue Benz's State Department claims are exaggerated for grift. Here's a summary of key threads:
- Main Thread on Employment Fraud (Posted March 22, 2024): In this extensive thread, @NameRedacted247 outlines Benz's timeline, stating: "Mike Benz is lying about his employment history, falsely claiming to have worked for the State Department in a high-level cyber-related role. But he didn’t. There is a bigger story behind his abrupt transfer to an 'in name only' role for 7 weeks at State after being an entry-level speechwriter at HUD." The thread includes:
- Evidence of Benz's HUD role (2019-2020) as a low-level comms staffer.
- State Department hire date (November 24, 2020) via a FOIA-sourced document.
- Claims of no profile picture or lasting impact, suggesting a nominal appointment.
- Accusations that Benz misrepresents himself as a "diplomat" and "cyber head" to infiltrate censorship discussions.
- Links to archived "Frame Game" content (his alleged alt-right persona from 2016-2018), tying it to a pattern of deception.
- The thread warns promoters like Elon Musk and Michael Shellenberger to reconsider, noting Benz's lack of remorse in responses to exposés.
Don’t be mad at me because you are a sucker who fell for a fraud.
There’s no record to back up any of the claims he’s made about his extensive expertise or importance in his roll. He was transferred due likely to a punishment and then left within weeks. Despite this he runs around credulous the podcast circus calling himself an expert on the diplomatic, intelligence, and cyber domain.
I’d say that’s quite fraudulent personally but if you want to believe a guy who worked somewhere for three weeks, has no record of any significance in that time, and now claims to be a super informed expert, that’s certainly your choice to make.
If somebody says something is true and can prove it then great, and I don't have a problem with frauds making good points. My main contention is that he presents himself as something he isn't and then credulous podcasters like Carlson don't question it at all and present him as an expert.
I am quite sure I have heard Taibbi invoke his name several times as well.
But maybe it's a mixture of both? Sometimes a fixer, to be a fixer, may need to know something about the people he's helping and to influence them mixes in the sex stuff, as well as other mischiefs, to attain the goal. Really too much to speculate on until those involved start speaking out. One can get a lot out of answers of denial.
Everyone is fixated on the girls, many of whom are indeed victims, but the Epstein saga is way more than about sex. Focusing on the sex aspect will keep everyone's eye off the ball. It begins and ends with the sex. I doubt the public will ever learn the truth.
Comparing it to Russiagate doesn't make that point, though. Russiagate was a fully partisan smear campaign based on nothing. This is not that, with or without the Israel factor. We don't need evidence that Epstein was running ops for Israel to know that Israel possesses and uses significant influence over our politics and media. That's a fact with or without Epstein. It's right there in plain sight and Israeli officials proudly boast of it themselves. Even if he was just a rich guy who was really into underage girls and hobnobbing with intellectuals and elites, it's still a real story that he was pulling strings with politicians and influencing global affairs through his close connections with them. "But for all we know those connections weren't related to the underage girl diddling", okay, let's see. Whether they were or they weren't, the shit still happened and it still shows how power is actually gained and wielded in our system which you say yourself is important for people to discover. Calling it Russigate Part Two completely contradicts that.
Reading comprehension is important. Matt is not comparing the Epstein operation to Russiagate. He's comparing the press misleadings and machinations about Epstein to the press shenanigans of Russia Russiagate, which is spot on. C'mon man.
It’s a false equivalency in a way. Epstein is like Russiagate except Russiagate was total bullshit. The comparison is apt when you compare ‘Epstein files’ media speculation to John Brennan’s take on his Russiagate lies: “…but doesn’t it have the ring of truth?”
You can't get ten minutes into researching RussiaGate before it becomes blatantly obvious that the democratic and republican are equal partners in RussiaGate. They are walking down the boardwalk with each other hands in the other's jean short pockets.
Partisanship can't survive even lightly researching RussiaGate.
So did you not do any research on RussiaGate at all, or is this just a straight up gaslight?
Matt, it (intel blackmail schemes) will likely continue to be hidden, even if it's true. The reason, IMO, why Trump 'flipped' to now support file release and everyone but 1 voted 'yes' on the discharge petition is because only 'unclassified' files will be released. Once that carve out was established the Uniparty made a sigh of relief. Anything Trump's DOJ considers in the 'national interest' will get a general description only (its classified!), and no content. These are the 'files' that brave independent journalist should pull the strings on.
All that said, anyone who took $ political donations from Jeffrey post 2008 is going to be shamed. Most of them are now retired though or will be retiring soon.
And in that case, if they're still hiding stuff, the furor goes tenfold and MAGA dies a very painful death. Not a great option.
At that point, everyone knows, as now many suspect, that Trump's government has something major to hid - if not DJT himself, someone else very important.
Trump nor the DOJ never had “the files”. He requested with a FOIA the files the two courts had sealed. The reason (public demand) was insufficient, so the files sealed d by the courts are not part of the 20k tranche. It’s long been known that Trump threw Epstein out of Mara Lago due to his stopping by for gatherings and treating guests’ daughters in his typical way. 2004, 2007, 2009. In 2011 he sent an email telling him not to send his club dues anymore. Out. From what I understand, Epstein expressed envy towards Trump for his success, but also feared him for his ability to report what he knew about his unlawful activities. Most of this is Wolff’s email, except for Epstein being physically thrown out of Mara Lago, as any good Grandfather would have done.
Whatever Trump has to hide, so did Biden. That’s why after a decade of drumbeat to release first by QAnon and now today by mainstream D’s (and R’s) Congressional votes, whatever comes out the DOJ sausage tube is only that which is “unclassified” and doesn’t injure “national security”.
Democrats were supremely stupid to have pushed this while Trump controls the DOJ. Whatever is released Trump can now say he didn’t want to release it but was legally forced to. Which is now true.
How many more ‘Larry Summers’ (patient zero) might retreat from public life?
Epstein involvement in deep state activities (intel schemes involving UK, Israel) and/or Epstein $ donations to many Democrat politicians and other affiliations with high levels of the donkey party and its apparatchiks. Already leaked are Hakeem Jeffries trying to set up dinner & meet/greet between Epstein and Obama. Then a whole line of D supporters that have had cozy dinners with Epstein (like Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, Charlie Rose, Arianna Huffington, Michael Wolff and other ‘D helpers’
Yes you finally figured it out. We 15 million Jews (that's half the population of Mexico City) rule the world. We take all the power and money away from the rest of you. You all are just jealous (insert Fagen-esk figure here). You better cosy is to your Jew friends who might save you when we take over the world har har har
Take a breath Alison. Recall that this is the context that you were responding to: "Israelis run massive ops on US soil without the knowledge of ANY American government agency--CIA, FBI, etc."
Hmmmm....Might want to study up on logic, as well as reading skills.
The Mossad, and its sister organizations, and their non-governmental adjuncts, are the most efficient, ruthless, focused intelligence agency in history.
In addition to mastering covert and technical operations, they are masters of political influence operations, manipulating American (and other countries') politicians to create an atmosphere in which their operations are ignored or minimized.
The truth could be discussed openly as recently as 2014. See this Newsweek article:
"Israel Flagged as Top Spy Threat to U.S. in New Snowden/NSA Document"
"In a section of the document headed "Foreign Intelligence, Counterintelligence; Denial & Deception Activities: Countering Foreign Intelligence Threats," Israel was listed as a leading perpetrator of "espionage/intelligence collection operations and manipulation/influence operations…against U.S. government, military, science & technology and Intelligence Community" organs."
Funny how we're all here because we have rejected the MSM but you pull them out when you need them to back your opinion. Honestly as a Jew I am thrilled that we have the Mossad. If not for them Lebanon probably would have joined the massacre back in 2023. Jews have a very long history of persecution so pardon us if we're a wee bit paranoid. Or maybe everybody really does hate us
Not opinion, fact. Again, work on your reading comprehension. That's NOT the "MSM's" opinion, that's details made public by various non-mainstream sources from documents stolen from the government by Edward Snowden.
The linked article describes the leaked documents' contents--that Israel is the most dangerous hostile foreign counter-intelligence threat to the USA, and that they operate freely against American interests on our soil.
So, as originally stated: Israel runs massive intel ops in the USA without the knowledge of the CIA, FBI, or other American agencies. Actually, a better description is "WITH the knowledge of the American agencies, which ignore them."
For full details (and other intel details), see the Snowden Archive:
It's obvious Israel controls the world. That's why Islam controls 55+ countries and the Muslim population worldwide is ~2 billion. And it's why Christianity controls umpteen countries and its population totals ~2 billion people.
Meanwhile Jews can barely control a New Jersey sized country - a country they initially inhabited 3,000 years ago. And, get this! There are just under 16 million Jews in the world.
Yeah, they control it all. Or so says the modern Goebbels.
You mean AIPAC runs ops for Israel that the CIA doesn’t know about? Wow, maybe you could write a book or something. You know become as famous as le Carre. You know, fiction.
Absolutely nothing depends on the imaginary claim that the CIA didn't know. Say it happened, and say the CIA knew. Okay, what would have been different? If anything, if we grant that much, there's reason to think the CIA also got in on the act.
The Mossad and CIA are for all intents and purposes, one and the same. When will these governments ever learn that secret police are always a bad thing?
As you've already noted - the notion of criminality, as opposed to general sleaziness - is a terribly inconvenient nuance. There's no evidence of crime - if there is, the dereliction of the state's duty may be the final blow to the Dept of Justice as an institution, as this spans Obama to Trump 47. Not that I expect the partisan assholes to rise above themselves on that account.
If Epstein truly did have "friends" in high places, the names better not be redacted.
I still don't understand. He WAS jailed for sex trafficking. He WAS a pimp, by his own admission. What else he was is what the controversy is about. Like, who was complicity in his trafficking ring? We know what happened to Prince Andrew as a result of his performance, and it had nothing to do with anything but having sex with minors. That the minors were groomed and trafficked makes it all the more revolting. Epstein's political activities (spying etc.) I have no doubt were also promiscuous, judging from the evidence. But the sex crimes are just as heinous. At least to me.
Here's the AI response: Jeffrey Epstein was never convicted by a jury of the major federal sex trafficking charges brought against him because he died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial in August 2019. However, his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was found guilty by a jury on multiple counts of sex trafficking in December 2021. Jeffrey Epstein's Legal Outcomes 2008 State Plea Deal: Epstein previously pleaded guilty to lesser state charges in Florida for solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor. As part of a controversial plea deal with federal prosecutors, he avoided federal charges and served a 13-month sentence in a minimum-security facility with a work-release program. 2019 Federal Charges: In July 2019, federal agents arrested Epstein, and he was indicted on one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He pleaded not guilty to these charges and was awaiting trial when he died. Case Dismissed: Following his death, all criminal charges against him were dismissed. Ghislaine Maxwell's Conviction - in a separate trial that followed Epstein's death, his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell was tried and convicted for her role in the sex trafficking operation. Ditto, guilty only of arranging for women/girls to have sex with Epstein, nobody else. America breathlessly awaits more news! (TM)
I think that is the significance oc the release of the files - will they contain evidence of improper influence and/or protection pertaining to Epstein's prosecution, or maybe more accurately, nonprosecution?
Of course, it's a crime but as Matt so clearly stated many times, there is no, zero, zilch in the way of evidence that he trafficked to anyone but himself.
If that's the case, why has Larry Summers admitted his own Epstein-enabled sex crimes and has taken a leave of absence from public life as a consequence? I really don't know how much evidence you need. A smoking gun? If a murderer goes on trial and there's enough circumstantial evidence to convict, off he goes to the penitentiary. The jury makes the call. Same thing here. The American people (for once) are gonna make the call. We've seen enough (those of us who've been immersed in this, that is) to have no doubt whatsoever how Epstein operated, despite the fact that before this story broke most of us couldn't even imagine people like this exist. Which is one reason it took so long to break. There's a streak of Puritanism in Americans, still. But the scales have fallen from our eyes (us gals' eyes anyway). We are fully informed. We understand why so many men are in denial about it. Yes, including Matt, who had a front row seat to this sort of shit when he lived in Russia. . .and wrote about it with great relish. For him it was all just kid's stuff, a big lark. Victims? What victims? The girls were having the time of their lives too! Weren't they?
Please give me your source for Mr. Summers admitted to any "sex crimes" Bonnie. And you might add a citation as to where and when Matt said " the girls were having the times of their lives". That is a serious allegation, or might you be putting your own filter on what " men" must be thinking?
yeah, Patel said that exact same thing in testimony and I'm trying to figure out how he gets out of a perjury charge- NUMEROUS women swearing that Epstein/Maxwell trafficked them to numerous men. I think these guys believe that if they keep repeating their "zero, zilch evidence" line it it will somehow become true.
The more you dig into that testimony the more you find out that some of the victims became procurers for Epstein themselves. Giuffre for instance was accused by the parents of a girl in the UK of recruiting her into what essentially was prostitution. So far, that being the key point, there is no credible evidence of other people being involved
Please share your source for this testimony? Matt mentioned Giuffre in particular had recanted her testimony about Dershowitz for instance. After testifying she had been trafficked to him over a period of time on multiple occasions, in planes, hotel rooms etc, she then says oops I made a mistake? Again, her own lawyers said her book was a work of fiction. I think what we are all missing here, and what Matt is trying to point out is that the testimony that we do have has been tainted, either by the accuser herself or by the fact they were able to remain anonymous and then receive payments from the estate. I am certainly not saying that Epstein himself along with Maxwell did not abuse these girls, but the proof we have so far of him trafficking to "others" is questionable. The key word being " so far"
I was thinking the same thing re: the Israel connection after Walter got that text from Jonathon Greenblatt on Mondays ATW afterwords in which you both began denouncing that conspiracy.
Walter is such a fucking hack. You need to cut bait. So confused about his folksy "grew up in Iowa or Minnesota, but had a WWI wet nurse for 5 years living in DC... So confusing.
Also, has anyone said "so called representative" when referring to Plaskett, or have I just missed it. Right when she called you a so called journalist at that hearing that's all I can think of her as...
Can someone please focus on our own intelligence apparatus’ relationship with Epstein. Our spooks have been mighty cozy with Mossad for decades. As plausible as the Israeli connection appears, it’s inconceivable that the CIA is a junior partner, let alone controlled by Mossad.
I always figured it was a joint intelligence operation involving multiple agencies that probably included Israel and the CIA. I thought that probably explained why neither party wanted to release the details since they were all complicit, but hey what do I know.
Will be shocked if much is released. Anything dealing with foreign countries (Israel and others) will be redacted for "National Security".
I don't have a TV but my brother-in-law claims Epstein only had one real friend: Donald J Trump. It will be entertaining if all the people involved with Epstein are exposed and their involvements detailed, but that is unlikely to happen.
That's the most likely outcome and it's the natural path this thing will take, which is why it's frustrating to see Matt seeming to side with the "no big deal, who cares" narrative that will most likely push the facts under the rug for the next two decades or so at least.
The Israeli angle is a straw man Matt. I know few on the left who are advancing that theory— not that it can’t be true, that’s not most people’s main concern. Your MAGA sidekick is doing his own wild surmising, and you don’t seem too concerned about reining him in, do you? But let’s get real, Matt, here’s a newsflash, Russiagate had much more meat on its bones than the slim pickings you’ve been advancing to give cover to Trump for his vendetta-laced prosecutions. Those are collapsing as we speak. Occam’s razor —Trump stonewalled on Russia because we’ve known for years he’s been accepting dirty money from them, and as much as you try to deny it, Mueller was damning. And Trump, who has a history rife with sexual assault, is fighting tooth and nail on the Epstein files for a reason. Yes let’s wait for the evidence, it will all come out, now or ten years hence, and you will be revealed as a partisan actor.
It's rare to see a Russiagate truther in the wild in 2025. Having shown such piss poor judgement of fact vs fiction and still refusing to admit how wrong you were, I've formed a baseline set of beliefs on the Epstein case as the exact opposite of what you posted above. I suspect it will serve me well.
Matt and others did a good job of muddying the waters. Ask yourself if HRC would have been investigated if those in her campaign staff had either worked directly for a foreign hostile power (Manafort) or were GRU spies (Kilimnik) or went on frequent paid junkets to Russia (Flynn). That coupled with the fact that Trump had been receiving dirty money from Russian sources for years when no one else would lend him money, that this saved him from bankruptcy, and his ‘Russia are your listening?’ escapade would have meant not investigating would have been a dereliction of duty. Mueller was damning and the rest will come out eventually. Of course you won’t believe it, which is your perogative, but you must admit it is amusing to see Taibbi’s counter narrative collapse in court.
This is hilarious. You blather on about Trump being a Russian asset like the last ten years never happened. Then you hypothesize that in another ten years Matt’s bias will be proven. That’s possible, I suppose. But being full of beans now doesn’t give credibility to your attempts at fortune telling. Maybe you should rewrite this in quatrain form. Nostradamus was mostly full of crap, too.
I never said Trump was a Russian asset— you did. There are many gradations
in between, from useful idiot to collaborator. That’s the problem: Matt and others do battle with a caricature of Trump as a Manchurian candidate. There is enough evidence that Trump was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy on more than one occasion with shady Russian money, that Russia intervened on his behalf, and the fact that he requested and received help from a hostile foreign actor is part of the record. That’s not mentioning the extraordinary presence of Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn and Konstantin Kilimnik at the highest levels of his campaign (btw way, the ‘translator’ Kilimnik now lives in a $2million mansion in a closed GRU complex in Russia).
But the evidence of Trump’s collaboration was fabricated by the DNC and our intelligence agencies. We have a clear paper trail, even with redactions. They lied. You can either prove someone’s guilt or you can’t. Gradations are extra-legal. They might accommodate your Manchurian Candidate hyperbole and hydra of hypotheticals, but they won’t cut it in a court of law. And if all the things you say are true, why did the most well-financed investigative agency in the world have to resort to such evidence-free, cooked up nonsense? From what I’ve seen, Matt is doing battle to compile thousands of documents into a factual record of events. He’s pretty clear when he’d engaging in speculation.
Like much with Trump, from sexual assault to financial crimes, much of what he does is out in the open. The maximalist position advanced by Taibbi and parroted by his readers was that it was all a hoax. But just his ‘Russia are you listening!’ escapade was sufficient to have the CIA and FBI up his ass. Imagine for a moment HRC saying ‘Cuba are you listening!’ and 24 hours later GOP servers are hacked by the Cubans (and yes, it’s established that Russia hacked the DNC, we’ve since learned that Dutch intel witnessed it in real time.)
I remember the 'Cozy Bear' hack and alleged Dutch videos of the Russian hackers. Russia does routinely try to hack our political parties and cause havoc. The Dutch group also claimed the DNC hack occurred over a period during 2015-2016, which dick-punches your 24-hr timeline on the "Russia are you listening?" hypothesis. The Steele Dossier and attendant nonsense was a hoax. There's little argument there. These peripheral hacks you mentioned are concerning. But do they prove that Russian hackers worked at the direction of or with knowledge provided by the Trumpers? Several Dem administrations, notably the Clintons, had sketchy connections with Russian government entities, too. Maybe you're right and ten years from now we'll learn of Trump involvement. You still haven't explained why the DNC/intel groups would fabricate evidence when this clear knowledge of Trump/Russia collusion hacking stuff was there to be seen. Matt can only report the verified facts at hand.
It is, and they aren’t working alone. It’s the most likely case that he was an asset of many intelligence agencies all trying to play him for their cause and using him to sting/surveil/manipulate as they saw fit.
That he operated in the U.S. shows how the intelligence agencies tolerated him, and I’m sure they didn’t do that for free. But he’d be more useful to US intel if he was also working with other governments and intelligence agencies which they could leverage him on.
I’m certain that the evidence will remain nonexistent. Especially if Epstein actually did intel work or was engaged in blackmail, ironically. For what is the purpose of both activities? Control over information. There is just no way that these so-called files haven’t been “sanitized” long since. Real players cough the Clintons cough will do anything to protect themselves. Anything.
Broadly, I agree, and have long been a Taibbi superfan, but “nonexistent” is too strong. Maybe the evidence is too weak to be making confident assertion the Epstein is a Mossad operative manipulating US foreign policy?
There's one more way the Epstein story relates to Russiagate that I left out, which speaks to the reason the news has become so exhausting.
Trump-Russia was the story that mainstreamed conspiratorial thinking. Trump should have just been The President. Maybe a crappy president, maybe an embarrassing president, maybe an utter incompetent and a fool – but the country could have held together under that version of history. Instead we were deluged with messaging telling us Trump was a foreign agent and that all we needed to do was "find the evidence," as Maxine Waters put it. During the course of the reporting of that story Trump became something more than a mere man and foul-mouthed real estate developer. He became a demonic figure, the icon to an anti-religion. The Russia conspiracy was a liturgy, with actors reading the Mueller report like a gospel. It was insane and it re-wired the brains of half the country to imagine secret connections everywhere and become fluent in spook-speak. Each successive thing Trump did was not just bad, it was the Worst Thing Ever and Pure Evil, and we never came out of that.
It's in this environment that the Epstein story assumed so much importance. If this story broke 20 years ago the media focus would have started with the non-prosecution agreement and the money and fanned outward to wherever those things led. Now, because of a phenomenon I think started with Russiagate, we start with maximalist assumptions and work toward “the proof.” I see people outraged at the idea (even in theory) of not assuming the intelligence conspiracy and blackmail, e.g. “What else could it be?” or “What do you think Bill Clinton was doing on those flights?” or “How else did he get Les Wexner’s money, if not by blackmail?” We’re in a world where people have to make judgments based on their ideas about how the world really works behind the scenes, which is not how most people thought about politics even a decade ago, when they felt they could afford to not know. I think we’re being drowned in conspiracies, and not always seeing straight.
Reminds me of a sales class teacher who told me that people make the decision to buy for emotional reasons, then afterwards construct arguments to justify buying the thing they wanted.
"Get out there! You've got the prospects coming in. You think they came in here to get out of the rain? A guy don't walk on the lot lest he wants to buy. They're sitting out there waiting to give you their money. Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it?"
And it's so much easier to buy into political BS because you don't have pay or even walk onto the lot. Just be a good little follower.
There also seems to be an almost overwhelming temptation to come to a conclusion, to add it all up to something meaningful. When the evidence to do so is insufficient, most will fill in the blanks. The reluctance to do this is one reason I admire Matt. There are many reporters who don’t seem to know when their conclusions aren’t supported by the evidence at hand.
Taibbi (today), scolding people for being too conspiratorial about the Epstein shitshow and saying things like this: "'What else could it be?' or 'What do you think Bill Clinton was doing on those flights?'"
Also Taibbi (yesterday): "The list of high-ranking politicians from both parties who traveled with or took money from Epstein — Donald Trump and Bill Clinton included (what was the latter's 'humanitarian' visit to Siberia with him about?) — boggles the mind."
And, of course, the conspiratorial thinking is solely attributable to Russiagate, and not, say, the fact that there's literally a conspiracy cult, now global, devoted to the idea that Trump was sent by God to flush out pedophiles in high places; or the fact that, as Taibbi himself insinuates, Epstein's death was suspicious; or the fact that Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred to minimum security just days after meeting with Todd Blanche; or the fact that...
Russiagate re-wired some brains. No doubt about that.
"there's literally a conspiracy cult, now global, devoted to the idea that Trump was sent by God to flush out pedophiles in high places". your tinfoil hat is on waaay too tight.
AND FOR THE RECORD YOU BASTARD, THE EPSTEIN STORY DID BREAK 20 YEARS AGO. He got a sweetheart non-punishment for rape brokered by Trump’s first Secretary of Labor, and before most of these emails exposing the rot in our society were written.
Not only that, but Alex Acosta said he was told to back off the first Epstein prosecution because Epstein belonged to intelligence. All of this has been out for nearly twenty years and the corporate media chose not to look into it at all.
Yep. Epstein would still be pimping teens to Trump and his buddies had Julie Brown of the Miami Herald not investigated him. There isn’t concrete proof that Epstein was an actual agent for a foreign government but since he traveled in the circles that foreign governments like to know about, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that someone from those governments contacted him frequently.
Bullshit. The reason the Epstein story is so important is that it demonstrates that our ‘elites’ thought that a man who consumed high school sophomores and provided them to other 50-year-olds was a great guy and someone worth befriending. Epstein was always and obviously a gross pervert, but our society deems women to be objects and not people, so his abuses merited at best a wink.
Just to be clear, if Bill Clinton was a customer of Epstein’s, then Clinton belongs in prison for the rest of his life. Same for anyone else. Like #MeToo, the Epstein scandal reminds us of just how horrible women have it in this life. Matt Taibbi, who holds a deep, passionate, and permanent loathing of everything female, has a bias in favor of all other woman-haters and all men who abuse women.
...Epstein is the refined version of Russia!Russia!Russia! ... no matter what documents are released ... there will always be questions about what was purged ... what was held back for national security reasons (if any) ... I have always believed, information was the real coin of the realm ... the world's first profession ...
...blackmail carried on for over 20 years seems unlikely ... more like trusted discretion ... so it would seem Epstein represented access and influence ... connecting the *right* people with the *right* people ... intelligence operations? ... perhaps only in the sense of discretion because of the status of the people involved ... liked it better when follow the money was the first step ...
more like trusted discretion ... so it would seem Epstein represented access and influence ... connecting the *right* people with the *right* people. 🎯
In all kinds of ways, Jeffrey Epstein was Supplier To the Elite.
I wish it was just money - more dignified than underaged girls
Conspiracies are not rare or unlikely. Ask any prosecutor. Most major crimes, and many minor ones, require a conspiracy - and then there's all the perfectly legal conspiring we ask, say, Congress to do.
I appreciate your throw-away anecdote trashing Maxine Waters. It's honorable to remind us that One Of The Worst People Ever still holds public office at our expense.
Maybe there is so much conspiratorial thinking because so many have been proven to be true. Russiagate itself was a conspiracy to delegitimize and possibly remove a duly elected president. Covid. Censorship industrial complex. Biden's mental health. Epstein. And so on.
The public has lost faith in the ruling class and the corporate press.
Also, 20 years ago there was no social media so there was no need for instant opinions. Now we are expected to have opinions on everything immedicately, especially for things we know nothing about!
20 years ago journalists were under pressure to get the story but also to try and get the story right. Now, with polarization at fever pitch and the mandate to get it on X first, getting the story right is far less important than getting a story - any story - out. And be sure to frame it in a way that results in clicks and fits within our favored tribe's accepted tenets at the same time.
For years Democrats demanded Trump's tax returns and Trump duly refused them. Then, even though it's a felony for someone in government to leak them AND the NYT professes to have a policy against publishing illegally-obtained content, the returns were leaked and the NYT published them. Immediately, we were inundated with left-wing influencers promising to comb through the returns and publish findings regarding Trump's criminality.
Then nothing happened and the matter was completely forgotten.
See, it turns out there was nothing scandalous in Trump's tax returns, but Trump still refused to release them to the media spin machine that had already proven capable of manufacturing scandals out of thin air.
Now we have "Epstein files" that were in the government's possession for the full duration of the Biden Administration, yet were never published nor leaked, despite the DC-wide belief that Trump becoming POTUS again would be apocalyptic. What kind of idiot expects them to damn Trump now? What we've gotten instead is the "drip, drip, drip" strategy of the WSJ, periodically releasing another variant of "Epstein's birthday card" or "Hey, did you know Trump was mentioned in an email?" It's all nothingburgers released at regular intervals, intended to psychologically reinforce a belief in something that's not actually there, so that years from now every left-wing zealot will "remember" that there was a big scandal the same way they "remember" that Trump colluded with Russia.
Control 101. Politicians continue to use the Goebbels playbook. Accuse your enemies of that which you are doing. Say it loud, say it proud and if you say it enough, it really doesn't matter if it's true, it will stick to the point of destroying the other side.
I mean, we know Russia Gate was total BS, but people don't care. So, why not keep using the same playbook to neuter the president, and the administration, and members of congress until once again you get enough people to vote enough of the TYPE of politicians you need to then truly rule.
This is NOT about the population, this is about control. Always has been, and always will be. Control is greater than the entire Forbes list combined.
You mention the WSJ. I have a good friend who has been a subscriber to the WSJ since college (now in his 60's) and his loyalty and trust with them is such that if he reads it in their paper it is absolute, unquestionable fact. Walter mentioned on Monday's ATW how they (news media) are doing the exact same thing here as they did with Russiagate, because it was so wildly successful. It was, no question. People heard about it every day for months on end as if it was an unquestionable fact, and now that we know it was a lie..., well, no one really cares, or worse, it was so embedded in their brains that they will still argue that "well, there was still something there". It's called propaganda, and it's extremely effective at convincing people that lies are the truth and that the truth is a lie.
Not coincidentally domestic propaganda was made legal with the "modernization" of the Smith Mundt Act in 2012. The "Official Narratives" are given to State Media by the State Department (CIA) and all else is "Disinformation" -- the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016.
Whatever the "Epstein Files" are, they have been in the possession of the "Deep State" for years.
Is there any doubt that those who created "Russia Russia", the entire Covid hoax, and many other "Get Trump" deceptions, have also modified the "Epstein Files" to reveal Trump as the most despicable person ever?
At this point, what would they have to lose by simply making up another "Get Trump" hoax?
Yes, isn't it curious they never include any dates in these missiles. It's as if Larry Sumner was taking advice from Epstein about his mistress the same day Epstein sent Trump a card.
Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one. The only interesting thing about Epstein-gate is watching the journalist whores finding creative ways to write non-stories to get Trump.
I'll care about this when the elites, politicians, and media pushing this story begin to care about the much larger and already proven grooming gangs in the UK. Not all underaged sex trafficked girls are equal, I suppose.
Agree completely with Matt. The latest iteration of blah-blah-blah Trump must be destroyed. Yawn. Missing White Woman on steroids. Yes, young somethings as playthings of the rich is a drag, but the story's real appeal is imho frankly salacious. Blowing up the cartels is the best way to end sex-trafficking present and future.
Matt and Walter were right to point to Epstein as distraction and I'm ready to believe that Walter is right about the tar baby aspect of Trump 2.0 Talk a lot and carry a big stick.
The problem of course is that the hysteria gets legs because the once upon a time moderate liberal class that was sensible, cautious and well read is now a magnet for superlative headlines that speak to virtue rather than rational thinking.
Today's Karen class is a shell of what once was a very well informed party. Today the Karen's walk into fires because the MSNBC's told them to. Unfailingly, Unquestionably. Liberals are dead, not because they suck, or they are stupid, but because they became Progressives, and ceased to exist.
Let's just blow up a whole lotta people for a while that seem kinda shady. Yea, there will be some mistakes, but on balance, the shady people will quit doing shady things. A lot of people will be better off in the long run. Sorry about the collateral damage, that's just how it goes sometimes.
Let's just blow up a whole lotta people for a while that seem kinda shady. Yea, there will be some mistakes, but on balance, the shady people will quit doing shady things. A lot of people will be better off in the long run. Sorry about the collateral damage, that's just how it goes sometimes.
No one need believe Trump is especially moral to deduce, it is highly unlikely there is a Trump smoking gun in the files. Dems had these records for years. What are the chances there is a Trump silver bullet floating in them, but Dems chose not to utilize it during the last election, if not before? Zero to none.
The most rational explanation why Trump has fought their release, lifelong close friends begged him, to do so. Rich, powerful men, close to the end of their lives, claimed they rode in the plane, visited the island or Epstein's NYC home, but never touched anyone.
Yet their lives, legacies and the lives of their innocent family members, will be ruined with guilt by association. Look at Bill Gates, whatever he did or did not do, the man often looks more like a pathetically lost geriatric, than the billionaire Godfather of Tech, enjoying his last decade or two of life.
That explanation seems more likely than the Israeli's aiding in the trafficking of children for intelligence. Israeli intelligence has long been thought to be the best in the world, long before anyone ever heard of Epstein. When you are surrounded by hundreds of millions of neighbors, many of whom seek your permanent demise, it has to be.
The one thing Dems are accomplishing, is no one is discussing the fate of 10 or 12 million migrants, the vast majority lacking valid asylum claims. As Dems deride interior enforcement, they do not seek any change in immigration law. They intend to scream loud enough to prevent the deportation of all non violent migrants, and then kill the filibuster and immediately grant them citizenship, at their first opportunity. Blue state populations need warm bodies for apportionment counts, and fewer and fewer Americans are willing to fill the role.
Let’s ignore Ryan Grim’s reporting on this which is far more informative and interesting….
Whitney Webb wrote a whole book detailing Epsteins ties to Israeli intelligence and she argues rather persuasively that he was an arms dealer who dabbled in sex trafficking. The island on Little St James had a private room that was absolutely decked out with cameras that caught many high profile people in compromising positions.
I agree the hysteria around the “Epstein list” is overwrought. I disagree he was just a guy that didn’t have any ties to Israeli intelligence considering sidekick Ghislaine Maxwells father was Israeli intelligence who also died under mysterious circumstances and why did Les Wexner “gift him” his Manhattan mansion ?
Your lack of curiosity is astounding and disappointing…
The fact that Whitney has never gained any traction anywhere leads me to believe that she's another one who sees two people at the same party and deduces from that. But there doesn't seem to be any there there.
She doesn’t live in America anymore. She wrote a 1000 page two volume book on the secret network between organized crime and intelligence agencies who really run things. She shows her sources and has the same credibility Taibbi had 15 years ago before he got a right wing sidekick and became a partisan hack.
I take it you never read her work and are just making the assumptions you accuse her of making.
Read “One Nation Under Blackmail” by Whitney Webb. She shows all her work and you can look up the things she writes about yourself. Or read Ryan Grims latest piece about this matter. There absolutely is a ton of evidence Epstein worked for Mossad
I formerly followed WW and was kind of a fan. However, she’s got an agenda that unfortunately fits her research findings. Not sure she’s an honest broker… Also smoke is NOT fire. I don’t trust intelligence agencies, but neither do I trust questionable evidence. Maybe we’ll discover the truth. I ain’t holding my breath. Again I suspect this is all a distraction…
It's hard to take dim Grim seriously given some of the trash he wrote at the Intercept during peak Russiagate, as well as the pro Democrat leftist bias that he just never seemed to be able to control on Breaking Points.
I’m of the opinion that it’s a giant distraction while the surveillance state grows and taxes increase to fund things that don’t benefit the tax payer. Distracts from shit that actually matters.
Both sides will extract their pound of flesh while the victims, the girls, will be relegated to a side-show by another set of abusers namely the carnival barkers on programs such as The View.
And while 150 girls who have been human and sex trafficked turn 12 tricks each every night on South Figueroa in Los Angeles, or face the wrath of their pimps (or like last year, a bullet to the head) if they don't. 20%+ of them are underage. And these are just the streetwalkers, and the numbers for only one street in one city.
The girl who took a bullet to the head was probably less compliant and pushed back harder on the pimps because her mother had faced the same life and ran a non-profit charity to try to save girls from that life.
Pretty fucking dark tip of a pretty awful iceberg. But no one can make political hay so no one cares about these girls.
Exactly, Kelly. Thousands of girls. Every night. No one gives a flip about them. We could end 90% of it tomorrow. Just publish Photos of the johns in the local newspapers. I’m told by reliable sources that the legal community is opposed to, including judges. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
Missing from this discussion is that whoever was behind this is not guilty of “prostitution”: this was all RAPE. Hundreds, thousands of counts of rape. Not “trafficking,” or any of the other soft terms people are using. Epstein was a disgustung evil rapist, Maxwell is a disgustung evil rapist, and every sicko who visited Lolita Island is a disgusting evil RAPIST. They should all be prosecuted and given the maximum jail sentence. Americans want these people shamed and jailed.
Matt, you and Walter both know people in Epstein's circle - I bet you know people from your prep school who got in there or to adjacent circles. Sexual perversion seems to go along with the arrogance of position, and our elites are no exception. What's going to be revealed is a paraphrase of Hannah Arendt, "the banality of the sexual peccadiloes of our elites". Larry Summers looks pathetic in the emails, as does Woody Allen and we'll see who else.
You've seen these people in action, they love to be naughty and share their tawdry offences in their little circles. This is nothing but further exposure of the mediocrity, incompetence, and immorality of those who consider themselves deserving of high position in our society.
We need a competent educated class of righteous people, not the DEI-infested group we have now.
Too true, right now. I'm encouraged by the changes in education that I see - especially schools like the new University of Austin. Just gotta survive until they graduate enough bright young people to make a difference.
...and then you learn that Drop Site is funded in part by Soros via some Social Security Works foundation bullshit (has Ryan Grim ever even said the words "Social Security" in public?) and are once again left to conclude that everything is fake and a grift.
This is such lazy fucking commentary. I figured twitter idiots who don’t read would do this, but not somebody who’s supposedly read the article he pays for.
Matt’s keeping an open mind, but asking for evidence. Journalism 101.
Is it? Is this not a response to the "release the files!" messaging, taking the other side? Because that's what the words amount to. "Yes of course release the files, but" works the same as "Of course I support free speech, but". Take that out and the only point left is, "we don't technically actually know yet if the schoolgirl-humping was strictly related to the politician-owning".
Well, alright. I guess there's probably someone out there who needed to hear that. I mean, he obviously had the girls around while he was with powerful people, and he obviously made introductions, and as you say, the girls themselves either got massively paid off or recanted and/or became unalive after describing exactly what went on. But maybe it's nothing?
Or, possibly the idea was to say "all this Epstein hullaballoo is just more Russiagate, look away, look away".
Based on all the substack commenters here saying "look at me I'm looking away! Who cares about Epstein!", that was not just my read.
It’s a command economy run by the head of state. They assassinate dissidents or lock them up. They spend a ton on military and send their own sons to slaughter in a country whose borders they promised to protect. They conduct psyops and foment instability worldwide, and their leader wants to create an empire.
Russia has been an empire for a long time (longer than the US, not nearly so long as China), and behaves like any other empire.
That includes when it was called "the USSR", with boundaries that just happened to correspond with those of the prior Empire - and behavior to go with it.
This is "Muscovite Russia", which started as a small duchy tributary to the Golden Horde - the Mongols. Before that was "Kievan Russia," founded by the Vikings, which corresponded very roughly to Ukraine - the boundaries varied a great deal over the years. That was early/middle Middle Ages.
All true. So are you suggesting that the USSR’s failure was not its communism but the fact that they are Russian? Is communism just another expression of empire building? Maybe that’s why it lasted as long as it did in the USSR - the culture and the system were inherently simpatico. I think you’re on to an interesting thesis!
Okay, just for the record, I don’t care what is revealed in these files. I’m in favor of their release no matter who turns out to implicated in crimes or misdeeds. I’ve said repeatedly I thought Trump should have released these materials before. My quarrel is with the assumption that there’s an intelligence blackmail scheme, especially an Israeli one, to expose. It’s obviously possible, but the evidence for this is nonexistent.
See Mike Benz. He dives deep into the Epstein matter. If I understand him correctly, he does not believe this is a blackmail operation, but rather Epstein was a fixer who brought the right people together to accomplish clandestine and illegal international transactions.
Mike Benz is a literal fraud who claimed to work at “state department cyber”
There is no record of this. He literally lied and made up a totally fake background and people take him seriously. It’s hilarious.
He’s literally listed in state department archives.
https://2017-2021.state.gov/biographies/michael-a-benz/
Why would you say something so provably wrong? People take him seriously because he knows his shit and has an autistic level of recall about statecraft minutiae.
Because Andrew has an agenda and he's a troll. Here's his Sept 28 writeup which he describes as:
"My longform breakdown of the story of the Dancing Israelis and the timeline of their whereabouts on 9/11 which proves their foreknowledge of the attack, as well as scrutiny of the FBI investigation of them which ended in a coverup.
"If you find the article to be a revealing forensic case, please share it. It is meant for both 9/11 conspiracy skeptics and 9/11 conspiracy addicts alike."
I should have known he was one of the people whose brain has been broken about Israel. Of course. End must be a fraud, because he makes very credible arguments about why this may not be ze evil JOOS controlling the world like a puppet. That maybe he was an unsavory cog in American backchannel statecraft and releasing the files might harm our standing with allies as they could reveal far more about sources and methods than is safe. I think it’s clear America will happily work against an ally if it serves our interests, as we should. But that doesn’t mean I want the ally knowing about it.
My guess is you have absolutely no idea what the dancing Israelis story is about and you think it’s a made up conspiracy instead of a story that was reported on widely at the time by mainstream media and which spawned police and FBI field office reports on the arrested Israelis and their activity.
If you actually read the article instead of being a presumptuous asshole you’d know that though, so you should probably read it to avoid future embarrassment if you ever speak about the topic.
Mad?
Public records indicate Benz was appointed to the State Department on November 24, 2020, as "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy" in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. However, he left after just 2-3 weeks (or up to 7 weeks by some accounts), before the end of the Trump administration. Critics point out this position did not exist before his appointment and was discontinued afterward, suggesting it was an "in-name-only" role without real duties. He reportedly did not stay long enough to get an official profile picture or security clearance.
Benz has described himself as "the head of all things Cyber" at the State Department, implying deep involvement in cybersecurity and disinformation policy. However, sources claim his actual background was as an entry-level speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2019-2020, with no prior cyber experience. His abrupt transfer to State is alleged to stem from an "internal disciplinary investigation" at HUD, not merit-based promotion. He reportedly failed security clearance twice, preventing any real access to sensitive cyber work.
### Tweet Threads from @NameRedacted247 and Similar Users
@NameRedacted247 has produced detailed threads accusing Benz of fraud, focusing on his employment history as part of a broader "influence operation." These threads compile timelines, screenshots, and sources to argue Benz's State Department claims are exaggerated for grift. Here's a summary of key threads:
- Main Thread on Employment Fraud (Posted March 22, 2024): In this extensive thread, @NameRedacted247 outlines Benz's timeline, stating: "Mike Benz is lying about his employment history, falsely claiming to have worked for the State Department in a high-level cyber-related role. But he didn’t. There is a bigger story behind his abrupt transfer to an 'in name only' role for 7 weeks at State after being an entry-level speechwriter at HUD." The thread includes:
- Evidence of Benz's HUD role (2019-2020) as a low-level comms staffer.
- State Department hire date (November 24, 2020) via a FOIA-sourced document.
- Claims of no profile picture or lasting impact, suggesting a nominal appointment.
- Accusations that Benz misrepresents himself as a "diplomat" and "cyber head" to infiltrate censorship discussions.
- Links to archived "Frame Game" content (his alleged alt-right persona from 2016-2018), tying it to a pattern of deception.
- The thread warns promoters like Elon Musk and Michael Shellenberger to reconsider, noting Benz's lack of remorse in responses to exposés.
Don’t be mad at me because you are a sucker who fell for a fraud.
“Sources claim…”
Not super factual.
Interesting information about Benz. How unlikely is it that the USA would have cyber experts listed as something else in what look like unrelated departments? Or off the books completely? Separate Benz's credentials from the content he provides. From some of the presentations he's made he knows what he is talking about. And I'll answer my own question: After what's come out about the activities of the US security services during Russiagate I would say it's impossible for them to plant cyber people. But you never know.
Thank you for sharing my good work, I can tell you obviously know absolutely nothing about the dancing Israelis and probably think it’s a made up conspiracy instead of a fact that’s been proven by both police reports and FBI field office reports which were long ago released due to FOIA requests and which I extensively quote as the exclusive source of information in my article.
You probably should have read it before trashing it, but I’ll take the free advertising anyway.
“Probably”? You aren’t real keen about dealing with the truth… you have to speculate.
That says he was an assistant secretary of state for business affairs. It does not say he was in cyber.
😆😆
Mad?
Public records indicate Benz was appointed to the State Department on November 24, 2020, as "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy" in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. However, he left after just 2-3 weeks (or up to 7 weeks by some accounts), before the end of the Trump administration. Critics point out this position did not exist before his appointment and was discontinued afterward, suggesting it was an "in-name-only" role without real duties. He reportedly did not stay long enough to get an official profile picture or security clearance.
Benz has described himself as "the head of all things Cyber" at the State Department, implying deep involvement in cybersecurity and disinformation policy. However, sources claim his actual background was as an entry-level speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2019-2020, with no prior cyber experience. His abrupt transfer to State is alleged to stem from an "internal disciplinary investigation" at HUD, not merit-based promotion. He reportedly failed security clearance twice, preventing any real access to sensitive cyber work.
### Tweet Threads from @NameRedacted247 and Similar Users
@NameRedacted247 has produced detailed threads accusing Benz of fraud, focusing on his employment history as part of a broader "influence operation." These threads compile timelines, screenshots, and sources to argue Benz's State Department claims are exaggerated for grift. Here's a summary of key threads:
- Main Thread on Employment Fraud (Posted March 22, 2024): In this extensive thread, @NameRedacted247 outlines Benz's timeline, stating: "Mike Benz is lying about his employment history, falsely claiming to have worked for the State Department in a high-level cyber-related role. But he didn’t. There is a bigger story behind his abrupt transfer to an 'in name only' role for 7 weeks at State after being an entry-level speechwriter at HUD." The thread includes:
- Evidence of Benz's HUD role (2019-2020) as a low-level comms staffer.
- State Department hire date (November 24, 2020) via a FOIA-sourced document.
- Claims of no profile picture or lasting impact, suggesting a nominal appointment.
- Accusations that Benz misrepresents himself as a "diplomat" and "cyber head" to infiltrate censorship discussions.
- Links to archived "Frame Game" content (his alleged alt-right persona from 2016-2018), tying it to a pattern of deception.
- The thread warns promoters like Elon Musk and Michael Shellenberger to reconsider, noting Benz's lack of remorse in responses to exposés.
Where are you getting that information? He is currently the Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO). On the FFO website, his bio states that he "is a former State Department official with responsibilities in formulating and negotiating US foreign policy on international communications and information technology matters." So ya, he's lying in his bio on the FFO website & no one has called him out.
When I look him up I find that he worked, albeit briefly, at the U.S. Department of State during the Trump 1 administration serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Technology in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
He has appeared on numerous legit podcasts etc and you'd think maybe they vetted him??? I found no evidence that he is making a fraudulent claim as you state.
Public records indicate Benz was appointed to the State Department on November 24, 2020, as "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy" in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. However, he left after just 2-3 weeks (or up to 7 weeks by some accounts), before the end of the Trump administration. Critics point out this position did not exist before his appointment and was discontinued afterward, suggesting it was an "in-name-only" role without real duties. He reportedly did not stay long enough to get an official profile picture or security clearance.
Benz has described himself as "the head of all things Cyber" at the State Department, implying deep involvement in cybersecurity and disinformation policy. However, sources claim his actual background was as an entry-level speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2019-2020, with no prior cyber experience. His abrupt transfer to State is alleged to stem from an "internal disciplinary investigation" at HUD, not merit-based promotion. He reportedly failed security clearance twice, preventing any real access to sensitive cyber work.
### Tweet Threads from @NameRedacted247 and Similar Users
@NameRedacted247 has produced detailed threads accusing Benz of fraud, focusing on his employment history as part of a broader "influence operation." These threads compile timelines, screenshots, and sources to argue Benz's State Department claims are exaggerated for grift. Here's a summary of key threads:
- Main Thread on Employment Fraud (Posted March 22, 2024): In this extensive thread, @NameRedacted247 outlines Benz's timeline, stating: "Mike Benz is lying about his employment history, falsely claiming to have worked for the State Department in a high-level cyber-related role. But he didn’t. There is a bigger story behind his abrupt transfer to an 'in name only' role for 7 weeks at State after being an entry-level speechwriter at HUD." The thread includes:
- Evidence of Benz's HUD role (2019-2020) as a low-level comms staffer.
- State Department hire date (November 24, 2020) via a FOIA-sourced document.
- Claims of no profile picture or lasting impact, suggesting a nominal appointment.
- Accusations that Benz misrepresents himself as a "diplomat" and "cyber head" to infiltrate censorship discussions.
- Links to archived "Frame Game" content (his alleged alt-right persona from 2016-2018), tying it to a pattern of deception.
- The thread warns promoters like Elon Musk and Michael Shellenberger to reconsider, noting Benz's lack of remorse in responses to exposés.
Don’t be mad at me because you are a sucker who fell for a fraud.
eat shit idiot.
liar.
Rarely do we see debate of such wit and perspicacity. Yet and still, here is Michael O’Donoghue’s "The Churchill Wit" from National Lampoon.
The Churchill Wit
Churchill was known to drain a glass or two and, after one particularly convivial evening, he chanced to encounter Miss Bessie Braddock, a Socialist member of the House of Commons, who, upon seeing his condition, said, "Winston, you're drunk." Mustering all his dignity, Churchill drew himself up to his full height, cocked an eyebrow and rejoined, "Shove it up your ass, you ugly cunt."
When the noted playwright George Bernard Shaw sent him two tickets to the opening night of his new play with a note that read: "Bring a friend, if you have one," Churchill, not to be outdone, promptly wired back: "You and your play can go fuck yourselves."
At an elegant dinner party, Lady Astor once leaned across the table to remark, "If you were my husband, Winston, I'd poison your coffee."
"And if you were my wife, I'd beat the shit out of you," came Churchill's unhesitating retort.
During the darkest days of World War II, when each night brought waves of Luftwaffe bombers raining death and destruction on a near-defenseless London, Prime Minster Churchill went on the air to address the British People. "I read in this morning's paper that Herr Hitler plans to wring England's neck like that of a chicken," he began, "and I was reminded of what the Irish poacher said as he stood on the gallows. It seems the poor fellow as approached by a well-meaning if somewhat overzealous priest who, in horrific detail, described the unfading torments of Hades which awaited him if he did not repent his misdeeds. The condemned man listened patiently to all that the priest had to say, and when he was done, grinned broadly and replied, 'Eat it raw, fuzz-nuts.'"
Shortly after Churchill had grown a moustache, he was accosted by a certain young lady whose political views were in direct opposition to his own. Fancying herself something of a wag, she exclaimed, "Mr. Churchill, I care for neither your politics nor your moustache."
Unabashed, the young statesman regarded her quietly for a moment, then wryly commented, "Suck my dick."
While serving as a subaltern in the Boer War, the young Churchill was asked by a superior officer to give his opinion of the Boers as soldiers.
"They're assholes, sir," he ventured, then paused briefly and added, with a whimsical smile, "They're assholes."
Sir Winston carried on a life-long feud with Labour party leader Aneurin Bevin and, on one occasion, while Mr. Bevin was delivering an unusually long speech to the House of Commons, Churchill slumped into his seat and appeared to doze off. When Bevan noticed this, he inquired in his loudest voice, "Must the right honorable gentleman fall asleep during my speech?" Receiving no reply, Mr. Bevan continued until, a few minutes later, the sound of snoring was distinctly audible to all present. This time Mr. Bevin slammed his hand on the rail and shouted, "Until now, the Conservative party had usually managed to conceal the fact that it was asleep." Without even opening his eyes, Churchill quipped, "Flake off, touch-hole" and unconcernedly resumed his nap.
Churchill was given to reading in the bathtub and, while staying at the White House, he became so engrossed in an account of the Battle of Fonteney that he forgot President Roosevelt was due to drop by to discuss the upcoming conference in Yalta. At the appointed hour, the president was wheeled into Churchill's quarters only to be informed that the prime minister had not finished bathing. Roosevelt was about to apologize for the intrusion and depart when Churchill, puffing his customary cigar, strode into the room stark naked and greeted the nonplussed world leader with a terse, "What are you staring at, homo?"
O’Donoghue’s National Lampoon bit made me giggle uncontrollably first time I read it. When you’re well versed in all the caustic wit and sherry-sipping Mandarin high jinks that shit is funny.
This site offers some of the real-life context for Churchill's wit. https://wlm3.com/tag/churchills-wit/ O’Donoghue’s SNL impression of Merv Griffin having six-inch steel spikes driven into his eyes showed real commitment.
Sorry; anyone who knows anything about Churchill knows that all those Lampoon "quotes" are just made-up bullshit. Just do an online search for any well-known Churchill utterance and you'll see what I mean.
And I am by no means any kind of fan of the guy: I think he was one of the more despicable characters in the political history of the 20th century. But he did have a killer wit, and no, that didn't involve saying dumbass things like "shove it up your ass".
That’s the joke, dude.
Mad?
Public records indicate Benz was appointed to the State Department on November 24, 2020, as "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy" in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. However, he left after just 2-3 weeks (or up to 7 weeks by some accounts), before the end of the Trump administration. Critics point out this position did not exist before his appointment and was discontinued afterward, suggesting it was an "in-name-only" role without real duties. He reportedly did not stay long enough to get an official profile picture or security clearance.
Benz has described himself as "the head of all things Cyber" at the State Department, implying deep involvement in cybersecurity and disinformation policy. However, sources claim his actual background was as an entry-level speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2019-2020, with no prior cyber experience. His abrupt transfer to State is alleged to stem from an "internal disciplinary investigation" at HUD, not merit-based promotion. He reportedly failed security clearance twice, preventing any real access to sensitive cyber work.
### Tweet Threads from @NameRedacted247 and Similar Users
@NameRedacted247 has produced detailed threads accusing Benz of fraud, focusing on his employment history as part of a broader "influence operation." These threads compile timelines, screenshots, and sources to argue Benz's State Department claims are exaggerated for grift. Here's a summary of key threads:
- Main Thread on Employment Fraud (Posted March 22, 2024): In this extensive thread, @NameRedacted247 outlines Benz's timeline, stating: "Mike Benz is lying about his employment history, falsely claiming to have worked for the State Department in a high-level cyber-related role. But he didn’t. There is a bigger story behind his abrupt transfer to an 'in name only' role for 7 weeks at State after being an entry-level speechwriter at HUD." The thread includes:
- Evidence of Benz's HUD role (2019-2020) as a low-level comms staffer.
- State Department hire date (November 24, 2020) via a FOIA-sourced document.
- Claims of no profile picture or lasting impact, suggesting a nominal appointment.
- Accusations that Benz misrepresents himself as a "diplomat" and "cyber head" to infiltrate censorship discussions.
- Links to archived "Frame Game" content (his alleged alt-right persona from 2016-2018), tying it to a pattern of deception.
- The thread warns promoters like Elon Musk and Michael Shellenberger to reconsider, noting Benz's lack of remorse in responses to exposés.
Don’t be mad at me because you are a sucker who fell for a fraud.
"There is no record of this."
Uh, well, yeah there is a record but see it was a short time but maybe it was 7 weeks but critics say it wasn't a real position and and and
just shut up.
By the way do you know how bad you need to fuck up to have your security clearance yoinked/denied, as Benz did?
He worked at state with no security clearance yet he’s the expert and “head of all things cyber?”
There’s no record to back up any of the claims he’s made about his extensive expertise or importance in his roll. He was transferred due likely to a punishment and then left within weeks. Despite this he runs around credulous the podcast circus calling himself an expert on the diplomatic, intelligence, and cyber domain.
I’d say that’s quite fraudulent personally but if you want to believe a guy who worked somewhere for three weeks, has no record of any significance in that time, and now claims to be a super informed expert, that’s certainly your choice to make.
He has the goods though
If somebody says something is true and can prove it then great, and I don't have a problem with frauds making good points. My main contention is that he presents himself as something he isn't and then credulous podcasters like Carlson don't question it at all and present him as an expert.
I am quite sure I have heard Taibbi invoke his name several times as well.
But maybe it's a mixture of both? Sometimes a fixer, to be a fixer, may need to know something about the people he's helping and to influence them mixes in the sex stuff, as well as other mischiefs, to attain the goal. Really too much to speculate on until those involved start speaking out. One can get a lot out of answers of denial.
Speculating is half the fun and the truth can be pretty wild
That’s just what Mike said & he repeated it a few times.
Finance is central to this episode but will we ever know anything about that either? I doubt it
Everyone is fixated on the girls, many of whom are indeed victims, but the Epstein saga is way more than about sex. Focusing on the sex aspect will keep everyone's eye off the ball. It begins and ends with the sex. I doubt the public will ever learn the truth.
Comparing it to Russiagate doesn't make that point, though. Russiagate was a fully partisan smear campaign based on nothing. This is not that, with or without the Israel factor. We don't need evidence that Epstein was running ops for Israel to know that Israel possesses and uses significant influence over our politics and media. That's a fact with or without Epstein. It's right there in plain sight and Israeli officials proudly boast of it themselves. Even if he was just a rich guy who was really into underage girls and hobnobbing with intellectuals and elites, it's still a real story that he was pulling strings with politicians and influencing global affairs through his close connections with them. "But for all we know those connections weren't related to the underage girl diddling", okay, let's see. Whether they were or they weren't, the shit still happened and it still shows how power is actually gained and wielded in our system which you say yourself is important for people to discover. Calling it Russigate Part Two completely contradicts that.
Reading comprehension is important. Matt is not comparing the Epstein operation to Russiagate. He's comparing the press misleadings and machinations about Epstein to the press shenanigans of Russia Russiagate, which is spot on. C'mon man.
Russiagate is totally press shenanigans, misleadings and machinations. The Epstein story is far more at this point.
Reading comprehension is indeed important. Have another go at my comment.
It’s a false equivalency in a way. Epstein is like Russiagate except Russiagate was total bullshit. The comparison is apt when you compare ‘Epstein files’ media speculation to John Brennan’s take on his Russiagate lies: “…but doesn’t it have the ring of truth?”
Russiagate?
Trump is a Russian asset you mean?
How else to explain Trump blaming Zelensky for starting the war?
The guy is running through airport security yelling he has a bomb in his bag and you people don’t think he should be investigated?
"Russiagate was a fully partisan..."
You can't get ten minutes into researching RussiaGate before it becomes blatantly obvious that the democratic and republican are equal partners in RussiaGate. They are walking down the boardwalk with each other hands in the other's jean short pockets.
Partisanship can't survive even lightly researching RussiaGate.
So did you not do any research on RussiaGate at all, or is this just a straight up gaslight?
Matt, it (intel blackmail schemes) will likely continue to be hidden, even if it's true. The reason, IMO, why Trump 'flipped' to now support file release and everyone but 1 voted 'yes' on the discharge petition is because only 'unclassified' files will be released. Once that carve out was established the Uniparty made a sigh of relief. Anything Trump's DOJ considers in the 'national interest' will get a general description only (its classified!), and no content. These are the 'files' that brave independent journalist should pull the strings on.
All that said, anyone who took $ political donations from Jeffrey post 2008 is going to be shamed. Most of them are now retired though or will be retiring soon.
Obligatory:
https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-sadly-announces-a-dog-ate-the-epstein-files-and-then-the-dog-was-lost-in-a-boating-accident-and-then-the-boat-was-nuked
Bee should have put them pooches on those Venezuela boats 😂
They also missed an opportunity for a "Pam Blondi" joke.
Purported Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) also have a nasty habit of disappearing.
Comment of the day!
And in that case, if they're still hiding stuff, the furor goes tenfold and MAGA dies a very painful death. Not a great option.
At that point, everyone knows, as now many suspect, that Trump's government has something major to hid - if not DJT himself, someone else very important.
Trump nor the DOJ never had “the files”. He requested with a FOIA the files the two courts had sealed. The reason (public demand) was insufficient, so the files sealed d by the courts are not part of the 20k tranche. It’s long been known that Trump threw Epstein out of Mara Lago due to his stopping by for gatherings and treating guests’ daughters in his typical way. 2004, 2007, 2009. In 2011 he sent an email telling him not to send his club dues anymore. Out. From what I understand, Epstein expressed envy towards Trump for his success, but also feared him for his ability to report what he knew about his unlawful activities. Most of this is Wolff’s email, except for Epstein being physically thrown out of Mara Lago, as any good Grandfather would have done.
Whatever Trump has to hide, so did Biden. That’s why after a decade of drumbeat to release first by QAnon and now today by mainstream D’s (and R’s) Congressional votes, whatever comes out the DOJ sausage tube is only that which is “unclassified” and doesn’t injure “national security”.
Democrats were supremely stupid to have pushed this while Trump controls the DOJ. Whatever is released Trump can now say he didn’t want to release it but was legally forced to. Which is now true.
How many more ‘Larry Summers’ (patient zero) might retreat from public life?
DOJ now has 30 days to let us know.
The Dems had four years to release these same files - if your ‘something to hide’ theory is correct, then what did the Dems have to hide?
Epstein involvement in deep state activities (intel schemes involving UK, Israel) and/or Epstein $ donations to many Democrat politicians and other affiliations with high levels of the donkey party and its apparatchiks. Already leaked are Hakeem Jeffries trying to set up dinner & meet/greet between Epstein and Obama. Then a whole line of D supporters that have had cozy dinners with Epstein (like Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, Charlie Rose, Arianna Huffington, Michael Wolff and other ‘D helpers’
Everyone knows…. Who’s writing this, Obama?
AKA limited hangout
Yes. And also there is zero probability that Israel carried out an intelligence op on US soil without the knowledge of the CIA.
Israelis run massive ops on US soil without the knowledge of ANY American government agency--CIA, FBI, etc.
In fact, they run ops that are obvious, but American intel and law enforcement agencies intentionally look the other way.
Yes you finally figured it out. We 15 million Jews (that's half the population of Mexico City) rule the world. We take all the power and money away from the rest of you. You all are just jealous (insert Fagen-esk figure here). You better cosy is to your Jew friends who might save you when we take over the world har har har
If you think of "Israel" less as millions of Jews and more like another CIA type of entity you'll do yourself a big favor.
Clearly you have no concept of Jewish history. This is a very old story.
Take a breath Alison. Recall that this is the context that you were responding to: "Israelis run massive ops on US soil without the knowledge of ANY American government agency--CIA, FBI, etc."
You (unknowingly to yourself) are a modern day Goebbels acolyte.
Yeah, right, all 16 million Jews are essentially a CIA equivalent. You should mspend more time gardening and less time on the interweb.
lol. OK Bob. Have a merry Christmas.
Hmmmm....Might want to study up on logic, as well as reading skills.
The Mossad, and its sister organizations, and their non-governmental adjuncts, are the most efficient, ruthless, focused intelligence agency in history.
In addition to mastering covert and technical operations, they are masters of political influence operations, manipulating American (and other countries') politicians to create an atmosphere in which their operations are ignored or minimized.
The truth could be discussed openly as recently as 2014. See this Newsweek article:
"Israel Flagged as Top Spy Threat to U.S. in New Snowden/NSA Document"
"In a section of the document headed "Foreign Intelligence, Counterintelligence; Denial & Deception Activities: Countering Foreign Intelligence Threats," Israel was listed as a leading perpetrator of "espionage/intelligence collection operations and manipulation/influence operations…against U.S. government, military, science & technology and Intelligence Community" organs."
https://www.newsweek.com/israel-flagged-top-spy-threat-us-new-snowdennsa-document-262991
Funny how we're all here because we have rejected the MSM but you pull them out when you need them to back your opinion. Honestly as a Jew I am thrilled that we have the Mossad. If not for them Lebanon probably would have joined the massacre back in 2023. Jews have a very long history of persecution so pardon us if we're a wee bit paranoid. Or maybe everybody really does hate us
Not opinion, fact. Again, work on your reading comprehension. That's NOT the "MSM's" opinion, that's details made public by various non-mainstream sources from documents stolen from the government by Edward Snowden.
The linked article describes the leaked documents' contents--that Israel is the most dangerous hostile foreign counter-intelligence threat to the USA, and that they operate freely against American interests on our soil.
So, as originally stated: Israel runs massive intel ops in the USA without the knowledge of the CIA, FBI, or other American agencies. Actually, a better description is "WITH the knowledge of the American agencies, which ignore them."
For full details (and other intel details), see the Snowden Archive:
https://github.com/iamcryptoki/snowden-archive
Well, maybe there would be less hatred directed toward Israel, if it committed fewer war crimes.
Jews are catching up to what I've known since I was about ten (I'm 72). They really do.
It's obvious Israel controls the world. That's why Islam controls 55+ countries and the Muslim population worldwide is ~2 billion. And it's why Christianity controls umpteen countries and its population totals ~2 billion people.
Meanwhile Jews can barely control a New Jersey sized country - a country they initially inhabited 3,000 years ago. And, get this! There are just under 16 million Jews in the world.
Yeah, they control it all. Or so says the modern Goebbels.
EG, AIPAC.
You mean AIPAC runs ops for Israel that the CIA doesn’t know about? Wow, maybe you could write a book or something. You know become as famous as le Carre. You know, fiction.
No, I mean AIPAC IS an op for Israel, as the name implies, that the CIA and everyone else knows about. Which was the topic I responded to.
It tells us more about CIA than about Jews and Israel influence LOL
Absolutely nothing depends on the imaginary claim that the CIA didn't know. Say it happened, and say the CIA knew. Okay, what would have been different? If anything, if we grant that much, there's reason to think the CIA also got in on the act.
The Mossad and CIA are for all intents and purposes, one and the same. When will these governments ever learn that secret police are always a bad thing?
It’s not a bad thing when you’re on the inside. Unlimited resources and no accountability. What’s not to like?
As you've already noted - the notion of criminality, as opposed to general sleaziness - is a terribly inconvenient nuance. There's no evidence of crime - if there is, the dereliction of the state's duty may be the final blow to the Dept of Justice as an institution, as this spans Obama to Trump 47. Not that I expect the partisan assholes to rise above themselves on that account.
If Epstein truly did have "friends" in high places, the names better not be redacted.
Are you saying that trafficking young girls is not a crime but just "general sleaziness?"
If such real evidence exists - then why such lame attempts to prosecute him? Epstein was many things, but apparently not a pimp.
I still don't understand. He WAS jailed for sex trafficking. He WAS a pimp, by his own admission. What else he was is what the controversy is about. Like, who was complicity in his trafficking ring? We know what happened to Prince Andrew as a result of his performance, and it had nothing to do with anything but having sex with minors. That the minors were groomed and trafficked makes it all the more revolting. Epstein's political activities (spying etc.) I have no doubt were also promiscuous, judging from the evidence. But the sex crimes are just as heinous. At least to me.
The only "client" of Epstein "the pimp" according to all the evidence to date so far, as Matt notes, is Epstein himself.
Here's the 2008 indictment https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1180481/dl - Read it for yourself.
Here's the AI response: Jeffrey Epstein was never convicted by a jury of the major federal sex trafficking charges brought against him because he died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial in August 2019. However, his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was found guilty by a jury on multiple counts of sex trafficking in December 2021. Jeffrey Epstein's Legal Outcomes 2008 State Plea Deal: Epstein previously pleaded guilty to lesser state charges in Florida for solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor. As part of a controversial plea deal with federal prosecutors, he avoided federal charges and served a 13-month sentence in a minimum-security facility with a work-release program. 2019 Federal Charges: In July 2019, federal agents arrested Epstein, and he was indicted on one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He pleaded not guilty to these charges and was awaiting trial when he died. Case Dismissed: Following his death, all criminal charges against him were dismissed. Ghislaine Maxwell's Conviction - in a separate trial that followed Epstein's death, his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell was tried and convicted for her role in the sex trafficking operation. Ditto, guilty only of arranging for women/girls to have sex with Epstein, nobody else. America breathlessly awaits more news! (TM)
Finally, someone who can read !!
Sex crimes with minors is about as bad as it gets. It’s OK with me how the perps are treated by their fellow convicts.
The sex crimes were worse. Lording over the “ least of us” pisses me off
That's the part of the story that you most want to see, so you see it.
I recently read a different piece, with the 14 year old, who was trafficked TO Epstein by one of the older girls, and told to lie and say she was 18.
So in this instance, Epstein is a "John" instead of a pimp. Also a criminal offense.
I think that is the significance oc the release of the files - will they contain evidence of improper influence and/or protection pertaining to Epstein's prosecution, or maybe more accurately, nonprosecution?
Of course, it's a crime but as Matt so clearly stated many times, there is no, zero, zilch in the way of evidence that he trafficked to anyone but himself.
If that's the case, why has Larry Summers admitted his own Epstein-enabled sex crimes and has taken a leave of absence from public life as a consequence? I really don't know how much evidence you need. A smoking gun? If a murderer goes on trial and there's enough circumstantial evidence to convict, off he goes to the penitentiary. The jury makes the call. Same thing here. The American people (for once) are gonna make the call. We've seen enough (those of us who've been immersed in this, that is) to have no doubt whatsoever how Epstein operated, despite the fact that before this story broke most of us couldn't even imagine people like this exist. Which is one reason it took so long to break. There's a streak of Puritanism in Americans, still. But the scales have fallen from our eyes (us gals' eyes anyway). We are fully informed. We understand why so many men are in denial about it. Yes, including Matt, who had a front row seat to this sort of shit when he lived in Russia. . .and wrote about it with great relish. For him it was all just kid's stuff, a big lark. Victims? What victims? The girls were having the time of their lives too! Weren't they?
Please give me your source for Mr. Summers admitted to any "sex crimes" Bonnie. And you might add a citation as to where and when Matt said " the girls were having the times of their lives". That is a serious allegation, or might you be putting your own filter on what " men" must be thinking?
Nothing I have seen from Summers is an admission of criminal guilt. The mea culpa to his class was for continuing to communicate with Epstein.
That is false; we have the testimony of the young women involved, many of them.
yeah, Patel said that exact same thing in testimony and I'm trying to figure out how he gets out of a perjury charge- NUMEROUS women swearing that Epstein/Maxwell trafficked them to numerous men. I think these guys believe that if they keep repeating their "zero, zilch evidence" line it it will somehow become true.
Please give me your sources for the testimony. as I track it the stories have changed over the years
The more you dig into that testimony the more you find out that some of the victims became procurers for Epstein themselves. Giuffre for instance was accused by the parents of a girl in the UK of recruiting her into what essentially was prostitution. So far, that being the key point, there is no credible evidence of other people being involved
Meant for michael Griffin, not Bonnie.
Please share your source for this testimony? Matt mentioned Giuffre in particular had recanted her testimony about Dershowitz for instance. After testifying she had been trafficked to him over a period of time on multiple occasions, in planes, hotel rooms etc, she then says oops I made a mistake? Again, her own lawyers said her book was a work of fiction. I think what we are all missing here, and what Matt is trying to point out is that the testimony that we do have has been tainted, either by the accuser herself or by the fact they were able to remain anonymous and then receive payments from the estate. I am certainly not saying that Epstein himself along with Maxwell did not abuse these girls, but the proof we have so far of him trafficking to "others" is questionable. The key word being " so far"
There’s also no evidence the intelligence agencies knowingly lied us into the Iraq war either.
I was thinking the same thing re: the Israel connection after Walter got that text from Jonathon Greenblatt on Mondays ATW afterwords in which you both began denouncing that conspiracy.
Walter is such a fucking hack. You need to cut bait. So confused about his folksy "grew up in Iowa or Minnesota, but had a WWI wet nurse for 5 years living in DC... So confusing.
Also, has anyone said "so called representative" when referring to Plaskett, or have I just missed it. Right when she called you a so called journalist at that hearing that's all I can think of her as...
Pretty harsh bro
Can someone please focus on our own intelligence apparatus’ relationship with Epstein. Our spooks have been mighty cozy with Mossad for decades. As plausible as the Israeli connection appears, it’s inconceivable that the CIA is a junior partner, let alone controlled by Mossad.
If true then we won’t learn a thing that matters
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
“cancel-culture seppuku”
Worst Sonny Chiba movie ever..
I always figured it was a joint intelligence operation involving multiple agencies that probably included Israel and the CIA. I thought that probably explained why neither party wanted to release the details since they were all complicit, but hey what do I know.
'Bout as much as me, Bubba!
I see it the same way, man.
Will be shocked if much is released. Anything dealing with foreign countries (Israel and others) will be redacted for "National Security".
I don't have a TV but my brother-in-law claims Epstein only had one real friend: Donald J Trump. It will be entertaining if all the people involved with Epstein are exposed and their involvements detailed, but that is unlikely to happen.
My brother in law knows your brother in law. Let’s not listen to either of them….
That's the most likely outcome and it's the natural path this thing will take, which is why it's frustrating to see Matt seeming to side with the "no big deal, who cares" narrative that will most likely push the facts under the rug for the next two decades or so at least.
The Israeli angle is a straw man Matt. I know few on the left who are advancing that theory— not that it can’t be true, that’s not most people’s main concern. Your MAGA sidekick is doing his own wild surmising, and you don’t seem too concerned about reining him in, do you? But let’s get real, Matt, here’s a newsflash, Russiagate had much more meat on its bones than the slim pickings you’ve been advancing to give cover to Trump for his vendetta-laced prosecutions. Those are collapsing as we speak. Occam’s razor —Trump stonewalled on Russia because we’ve known for years he’s been accepting dirty money from them, and as much as you try to deny it, Mueller was damning. And Trump, who has a history rife with sexual assault, is fighting tooth and nail on the Epstein files for a reason. Yes let’s wait for the evidence, it will all come out, now or ten years hence, and you will be revealed as a partisan actor.
It's rare to see a Russiagate truther in the wild in 2025. Having shown such piss poor judgement of fact vs fiction and still refusing to admit how wrong you were, I've formed a baseline set of beliefs on the Epstein case as the exact opposite of what you posted above. I suspect it will serve me well.
Watch out for this one. Subscribes to both Bluesky & Beto ‘O'Rourke.
Matt and others did a good job of muddying the waters. Ask yourself if HRC would have been investigated if those in her campaign staff had either worked directly for a foreign hostile power (Manafort) or were GRU spies (Kilimnik) or went on frequent paid junkets to Russia (Flynn). That coupled with the fact that Trump had been receiving dirty money from Russian sources for years when no one else would lend him money, that this saved him from bankruptcy, and his ‘Russia are your listening?’ escapade would have meant not investigating would have been a dereliction of duty. Mueller was damning and the rest will come out eventually. Of course you won’t believe it, which is your perogative, but you must admit it is amusing to see Taibbi’s counter narrative collapse in court.
This is hilarious. You blather on about Trump being a Russian asset like the last ten years never happened. Then you hypothesize that in another ten years Matt’s bias will be proven. That’s possible, I suppose. But being full of beans now doesn’t give credibility to your attempts at fortune telling. Maybe you should rewrite this in quatrain form. Nostradamus was mostly full of crap, too.
I never said Trump was a Russian asset— you did. There are many gradations
in between, from useful idiot to collaborator. That’s the problem: Matt and others do battle with a caricature of Trump as a Manchurian candidate. There is enough evidence that Trump was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy on more than one occasion with shady Russian money, that Russia intervened on his behalf, and the fact that he requested and received help from a hostile foreign actor is part of the record. That’s not mentioning the extraordinary presence of Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn and Konstantin Kilimnik at the highest levels of his campaign (btw way, the ‘translator’ Kilimnik now lives in a $2million mansion in a closed GRU complex in Russia).
But the evidence of Trump’s collaboration was fabricated by the DNC and our intelligence agencies. We have a clear paper trail, even with redactions. They lied. You can either prove someone’s guilt or you can’t. Gradations are extra-legal. They might accommodate your Manchurian Candidate hyperbole and hydra of hypotheticals, but they won’t cut it in a court of law. And if all the things you say are true, why did the most well-financed investigative agency in the world have to resort to such evidence-free, cooked up nonsense? From what I’ve seen, Matt is doing battle to compile thousands of documents into a factual record of events. He’s pretty clear when he’d engaging in speculation.
Like much with Trump, from sexual assault to financial crimes, much of what he does is out in the open. The maximalist position advanced by Taibbi and parroted by his readers was that it was all a hoax. But just his ‘Russia are you listening!’ escapade was sufficient to have the CIA and FBI up his ass. Imagine for a moment HRC saying ‘Cuba are you listening!’ and 24 hours later GOP servers are hacked by the Cubans (and yes, it’s established that Russia hacked the DNC, we’ve since learned that Dutch intel witnessed it in real time.)
I remember the 'Cozy Bear' hack and alleged Dutch videos of the Russian hackers. Russia does routinely try to hack our political parties and cause havoc. The Dutch group also claimed the DNC hack occurred over a period during 2015-2016, which dick-punches your 24-hr timeline on the "Russia are you listening?" hypothesis. The Steele Dossier and attendant nonsense was a hoax. There's little argument there. These peripheral hacks you mentioned are concerning. But do they prove that Russian hackers worked at the direction of or with knowledge provided by the Trumpers? Several Dem administrations, notably the Clintons, had sketchy connections with Russian government entities, too. Maybe you're right and ten years from now we'll learn of Trump involvement. You still haven't explained why the DNC/intel groups would fabricate evidence when this clear knowledge of Trump/Russia collusion hacking stuff was there to be seen. Matt can only report the verified facts at hand.
I think Trump is more afraid of who else is in there (and is gonna take it out on him) than his own past actions.
I’m fairly certain Epstein did a shit ton of money laundering for the elite and that’s something that will come out too.
Walter thinks it’s the US intelligence weenies.
It is, and they aren’t working alone. It’s the most likely case that he was an asset of many intelligence agencies all trying to play him for their cause and using him to sting/surveil/manipulate as they saw fit.
That he operated in the U.S. shows how the intelligence agencies tolerated him, and I’m sure they didn’t do that for free. But he’d be more useful to US intel if he was also working with other governments and intelligence agencies which they could leverage him on.
I think its the Brits.
I’m certain that the evidence will remain nonexistent. Especially if Epstein actually did intel work or was engaged in blackmail, ironically. For what is the purpose of both activities? Control over information. There is just no way that these so-called files haven’t been “sanitized” long since. Real players cough the Clintons cough will do anything to protect themselves. Anything.
Broadly, I agree, and have long been a Taibbi superfan, but “nonexistent” is too strong. Maybe the evidence is too weak to be making confident assertion the Epstein is a Mossad operative manipulating US foreign policy?
There's one more way the Epstein story relates to Russiagate that I left out, which speaks to the reason the news has become so exhausting.
Trump-Russia was the story that mainstreamed conspiratorial thinking. Trump should have just been The President. Maybe a crappy president, maybe an embarrassing president, maybe an utter incompetent and a fool – but the country could have held together under that version of history. Instead we were deluged with messaging telling us Trump was a foreign agent and that all we needed to do was "find the evidence," as Maxine Waters put it. During the course of the reporting of that story Trump became something more than a mere man and foul-mouthed real estate developer. He became a demonic figure, the icon to an anti-religion. The Russia conspiracy was a liturgy, with actors reading the Mueller report like a gospel. It was insane and it re-wired the brains of half the country to imagine secret connections everywhere and become fluent in spook-speak. Each successive thing Trump did was not just bad, it was the Worst Thing Ever and Pure Evil, and we never came out of that.
It's in this environment that the Epstein story assumed so much importance. If this story broke 20 years ago the media focus would have started with the non-prosecution agreement and the money and fanned outward to wherever those things led. Now, because of a phenomenon I think started with Russiagate, we start with maximalist assumptions and work toward “the proof.” I see people outraged at the idea (even in theory) of not assuming the intelligence conspiracy and blackmail, e.g. “What else could it be?” or “What do you think Bill Clinton was doing on those flights?” or “How else did he get Les Wexner’s money, if not by blackmail?” We’re in a world where people have to make judgments based on their ideas about how the world really works behind the scenes, which is not how most people thought about politics even a decade ago, when they felt they could afford to not know. I think we’re being drowned in conspiracies, and not always seeing straight.
Most people think in reverse: conclusion first, evidence later. It helps keep preconceived notions and loyalties intact.
Reminds me of a sales class teacher who told me that people make the decision to buy for emotional reasons, then afterwards construct arguments to justify buying the thing they wanted.
i ended up married like that once :))
I suspect that is the process by which most marriages happen.
Not bad.
"Get out there! You've got the prospects coming in. You think they came in here to get out of the rain? A guy don't walk on the lot lest he wants to buy. They're sitting out there waiting to give you their money. Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it?"
And it's so much easier to buy into political BS because you don't have pay or even walk onto the lot. Just be a good little follower.
"And it's so much easier to buy into political BS because you don't have pay or even walk onto the lot." .....or think"
There also seems to be an almost overwhelming temptation to come to a conclusion, to add it all up to something meaningful. When the evidence to do so is insufficient, most will fill in the blanks. The reluctance to do this is one reason I admire Matt. There are many reporters who don’t seem to know when their conclusions aren’t supported by the evidence at hand.
Start from Trump is Hitler then let the chips fall where they may.
And long on post hoc and cui bono.
and confirmation bias and Russell conjugation
Totally agree. The sunk-cost fallacy is real.
Taibbi (today), scolding people for being too conspiratorial about the Epstein shitshow and saying things like this: "'What else could it be?' or 'What do you think Bill Clinton was doing on those flights?'"
Also Taibbi (yesterday): "The list of high-ranking politicians from both parties who traveled with or took money from Epstein — Donald Trump and Bill Clinton included (what was the latter's 'humanitarian' visit to Siberia with him about?) — boggles the mind."
And, of course, the conspiratorial thinking is solely attributable to Russiagate, and not, say, the fact that there's literally a conspiracy cult, now global, devoted to the idea that Trump was sent by God to flush out pedophiles in high places; or the fact that, as Taibbi himself insinuates, Epstein's death was suspicious; or the fact that Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred to minimum security just days after meeting with Todd Blanche; or the fact that...
Russiagate re-wired some brains. No doubt about that.
"there's literally a conspiracy cult, now global, devoted to the idea that Trump was sent by God to flush out pedophiles in high places". your tinfoil hat is on waaay too tight.
That's a description of QAnon, you idiot. I didn't say I bought into the conspiracy.
You're not wrong on at least one count: Russiagate has certainly poisoned the well that our so-called democracy has relied on for sustenance.
AND FOR THE RECORD YOU BASTARD, THE EPSTEIN STORY DID BREAK 20 YEARS AGO. He got a sweetheart non-punishment for rape brokered by Trump’s first Secretary of Labor, and before most of these emails exposing the rot in our society were written.
Not only that, but Alex Acosta said he was told to back off the first Epstein prosecution because Epstein belonged to intelligence. All of this has been out for nearly twenty years and the corporate media chose not to look into it at all.
Yep. Epstein would still be pimping teens to Trump and his buddies had Julie Brown of the Miami Herald not investigated him. There isn’t concrete proof that Epstein was an actual agent for a foreign government but since he traveled in the circles that foreign governments like to know about, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that someone from those governments contacted him frequently.
Bullshit. The reason the Epstein story is so important is that it demonstrates that our ‘elites’ thought that a man who consumed high school sophomores and provided them to other 50-year-olds was a great guy and someone worth befriending. Epstein was always and obviously a gross pervert, but our society deems women to be objects and not people, so his abuses merited at best a wink.
Just to be clear, if Bill Clinton was a customer of Epstein’s, then Clinton belongs in prison for the rest of his life. Same for anyone else. Like #MeToo, the Epstein scandal reminds us of just how horrible women have it in this life. Matt Taibbi, who holds a deep, passionate, and permanent loathing of everything female, has a bias in favor of all other woman-haters and all men who abuse women.
Hint: watch the other hand.
— A Magician
Watch the show
...Epstein is the refined version of Russia!Russia!Russia! ... no matter what documents are released ... there will always be questions about what was purged ... what was held back for national security reasons (if any) ... I have always believed, information was the real coin of the realm ... the world's first profession ...
...blackmail carried on for over 20 years seems unlikely ... more like trusted discretion ... so it would seem Epstein represented access and influence ... connecting the *right* people with the *right* people ... intelligence operations? ... perhaps only in the sense of discretion because of the status of the people involved ... liked it better when follow the money was the first step ...
more like trusted discretion ... so it would seem Epstein represented access and influence ... connecting the *right* people with the *right* people. 🎯
In all kinds of ways, Jeffrey Epstein was Supplier To the Elite.
I wish it was just money - more dignified than underaged girls
Conspiracies are not rare or unlikely. Ask any prosecutor. Most major crimes, and many minor ones, require a conspiracy - and then there's all the perfectly legal conspiring we ask, say, Congress to do.
Who really runs the world?
Next day: the answer, of course, is "no one," or it would make a lot more sense than it does.
But that doesn't make "conspiracy theory" anything but name-calling.
I appreciate your throw-away anecdote trashing Maxine Waters. It's honorable to remind us that One Of The Worst People Ever still holds public office at our expense.
Maybe there is so much conspiratorial thinking because so many have been proven to be true. Russiagate itself was a conspiracy to delegitimize and possibly remove a duly elected president. Covid. Censorship industrial complex. Biden's mental health. Epstein. And so on.
The public has lost faith in the ruling class and the corporate press.
Also, 20 years ago there was no social media so there was no need for instant opinions. Now we are expected to have opinions on everything immedicately, especially for things we know nothing about!
20 years ago journalists were under pressure to get the story but also to try and get the story right. Now, with polarization at fever pitch and the mandate to get it on X first, getting the story right is far less important than getting a story - any story - out. And be sure to frame it in a way that results in clicks and fits within our favored tribe's accepted tenets at the same time.
Wait for facts? Ha!
Maybe people develop an appetite for payback when they have to sit through listening to 8 years of birtherism bullshit?
Yes.
This is Trump's Tax Returns 2.0.
For years Democrats demanded Trump's tax returns and Trump duly refused them. Then, even though it's a felony for someone in government to leak them AND the NYT professes to have a policy against publishing illegally-obtained content, the returns were leaked and the NYT published them. Immediately, we were inundated with left-wing influencers promising to comb through the returns and publish findings regarding Trump's criminality.
Then nothing happened and the matter was completely forgotten.
See, it turns out there was nothing scandalous in Trump's tax returns, but Trump still refused to release them to the media spin machine that had already proven capable of manufacturing scandals out of thin air.
Now we have "Epstein files" that were in the government's possession for the full duration of the Biden Administration, yet were never published nor leaked, despite the DC-wide belief that Trump becoming POTUS again would be apocalyptic. What kind of idiot expects them to damn Trump now? What we've gotten instead is the "drip, drip, drip" strategy of the WSJ, periodically releasing another variant of "Epstein's birthday card" or "Hey, did you know Trump was mentioned in an email?" It's all nothingburgers released at regular intervals, intended to psychologically reinforce a belief in something that's not actually there, so that years from now every left-wing zealot will "remember" that there was a big scandal the same way they "remember" that Trump colluded with Russia.
EDIT to add: https://principlesvstribes.substack.com/p/an-incredible-story
Control 101. Politicians continue to use the Goebbels playbook. Accuse your enemies of that which you are doing. Say it loud, say it proud and if you say it enough, it really doesn't matter if it's true, it will stick to the point of destroying the other side.
I mean, we know Russia Gate was total BS, but people don't care. So, why not keep using the same playbook to neuter the president, and the administration, and members of congress until once again you get enough people to vote enough of the TYPE of politicians you need to then truly rule.
This is NOT about the population, this is about control. Always has been, and always will be. Control is greater than the entire Forbes list combined.
Coercive control is what Communism is all about. Or all forms of totalitarianism, actually.
It is not really difficult to control the minds of many people out there, if you know how. They are predictable.
God help the USA.
You mention the WSJ. I have a good friend who has been a subscriber to the WSJ since college (now in his 60's) and his loyalty and trust with them is such that if he reads it in their paper it is absolute, unquestionable fact. Walter mentioned on Monday's ATW how they (news media) are doing the exact same thing here as they did with Russiagate, because it was so wildly successful. It was, no question. People heard about it every day for months on end as if it was an unquestionable fact, and now that we know it was a lie..., well, no one really cares, or worse, it was so embedded in their brains that they will still argue that "well, there was still something there". It's called propaganda, and it's extremely effective at convincing people that lies are the truth and that the truth is a lie.
Dogma is a hell of a drug. Same as it ever was…
Not coincidentally domestic propaganda was made legal with the "modernization" of the Smith Mundt Act in 2012. The "Official Narratives" are given to State Media by the State Department (CIA) and all else is "Disinformation" -- the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016.
Yeah, the WSJ is a left wing rag you potato!
Whatever the "Epstein Files" are, they have been in the possession of the "Deep State" for years.
Is there any doubt that those who created "Russia Russia", the entire Covid hoax, and many other "Get Trump" deceptions, have also modified the "Epstein Files" to reveal Trump as the most despicable person ever?
At this point, what would they have to lose by simply making up another "Get Trump" hoax?
Who are the authors of the Epstein files?
This isn’t 2016. Trump is the deep state.
First - learn what deep state means.
Uninformed Opinion has entered the chat
They will. This one did nothing. They don’t stop, to their misfortune.
🎯
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming ...
The BS echoes through the folklore untethered to any provable truth.
California Uber Alles.
California delenda est.
I’m literally in the Mojave now. Goddamn Cazadores!
That's about the point where the drugs usually kick in ...
Bats! Maybe I should’ve laid off the pineal gland and just stuck with jet and buffout…
Misdirection. Surprise surprise!
Yes, isn't it curious they never include any dates in these missiles. It's as if Larry Sumner was taking advice from Epstein about his mistress the same day Epstein sent Trump a card.
For the record, I couldn’t give a fuck about the Epstein files.
Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one. The only interesting thing about Epstein-gate is watching the journalist whores finding creative ways to write non-stories to get Trump.
Yea, I don't give one either, but the fact that he *hung himself* is the part that I find interesting...
Oh, and why he had a painting of Slick Willie wearing Monica's dress. That's interesting/funny too....
People like that don’t normally kill themselves. Put me down as doubtful that he hung himself.
And where someone gets the money to buy his own island.
Painting hanging in his office of Clinton in that pose wearing that dress showed that he owned Clinton’s ass
🛎️🔨
I'll care about this when the elites, politicians, and media pushing this story begin to care about the much larger and already proven grooming gangs in the UK. Not all underaged sex trafficked girls are equal, I suppose.
and neither does this guy... :) :) :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2HH7J-Sx80
Great video, thx for posting.
THANK YOU
Agree completely with Matt. The latest iteration of blah-blah-blah Trump must be destroyed. Yawn. Missing White Woman on steroids. Yes, young somethings as playthings of the rich is a drag, but the story's real appeal is imho frankly salacious. Blowing up the cartels is the best way to end sex-trafficking present and future.
Matt and Walter were right to point to Epstein as distraction and I'm ready to believe that Walter is right about the tar baby aspect of Trump 2.0 Talk a lot and carry a big stick.
Update: Matt and Emily Jashinsky just now - Most amusing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnqezDiSTNg
MSM orange man bad playbook
Step 1: bombshell - whip up hysteria
Step 2: the walls are closing in!
Step 3: nothing burger that makes the left look bad
Step 4: look another shiny object! Start over from step 1.
5. Bombshells!
The problem of course is that the hysteria gets legs because the once upon a time moderate liberal class that was sensible, cautious and well read is now a magnet for superlative headlines that speak to virtue rather than rational thinking.
Today's Karen class is a shell of what once was a very well informed party. Today the Karen's walk into fires because the MSNBC's told them to. Unfailingly, Unquestionably. Liberals are dead, not because they suck, or they are stupid, but because they became Progressives, and ceased to exist.
Yes, I look back fondly on those days, having been a Democrat, and a proud one.
turdferguson823336 Thinks MSNBC is "Progressive". Some comments section we've got here.
Blowing up the banks would be the best way to end cartels but trump is owned by those same banks.
Let's just blow up a whole lotta people for a while that seem kinda shady. Yea, there will be some mistakes, but on balance, the shady people will quit doing shady things. A lot of people will be better off in the long run. Sorry about the collateral damage, that's just how it goes sometimes.
Blowing up the cartels is the best way to end sex-trafficking? What 'cartel' did Epstein belong to?
The Cartels run thousands of kids. It’s disgusting. Doubt they are connected with Epstein, however.
( gets vapors)
Will somebody think of then children! The cartels that traffic children? 🤣
Let's just blow up a whole lotta people for a while that seem kinda shady. Yea, there will be some mistakes, but on balance, the shady people will quit doing shady things. A lot of people will be better off in the long run. Sorry about the collateral damage, that's just how it goes sometimes.
You think it’s only a ‘drag’ that a serial rapist and Pimp To The Stars got away with it for decades?
No one need believe Trump is especially moral to deduce, it is highly unlikely there is a Trump smoking gun in the files. Dems had these records for years. What are the chances there is a Trump silver bullet floating in them, but Dems chose not to utilize it during the last election, if not before? Zero to none.
The most rational explanation why Trump has fought their release, lifelong close friends begged him, to do so. Rich, powerful men, close to the end of their lives, claimed they rode in the plane, visited the island or Epstein's NYC home, but never touched anyone.
Yet their lives, legacies and the lives of their innocent family members, will be ruined with guilt by association. Look at Bill Gates, whatever he did or did not do, the man often looks more like a pathetically lost geriatric, than the billionaire Godfather of Tech, enjoying his last decade or two of life.
That explanation seems more likely than the Israeli's aiding in the trafficking of children for intelligence. Israeli intelligence has long been thought to be the best in the world, long before anyone ever heard of Epstein. When you are surrounded by hundreds of millions of neighbors, many of whom seek your permanent demise, it has to be.
The one thing Dems are accomplishing, is no one is discussing the fate of 10 or 12 million migrants, the vast majority lacking valid asylum claims. As Dems deride interior enforcement, they do not seek any change in immigration law. They intend to scream loud enough to prevent the deportation of all non violent migrants, and then kill the filibuster and immediately grant them citizenship, at their first opportunity. Blue state populations need warm bodies for apportionment counts, and fewer and fewer Americans are willing to fill the role.
Good comments.
Let’s ignore Ryan Grim’s reporting on this which is far more informative and interesting….
Whitney Webb wrote a whole book detailing Epsteins ties to Israeli intelligence and she argues rather persuasively that he was an arms dealer who dabbled in sex trafficking. The island on Little St James had a private room that was absolutely decked out with cameras that caught many high profile people in compromising positions.
I agree the hysteria around the “Epstein list” is overwrought. I disagree he was just a guy that didn’t have any ties to Israeli intelligence considering sidekick Ghislaine Maxwells father was Israeli intelligence who also died under mysterious circumstances and why did Les Wexner “gift him” his Manhattan mansion ?
Your lack of curiosity is astounding and disappointing…
The fact that Whitney has never gained any traction anywhere leads me to believe that she's another one who sees two people at the same party and deduces from that. But there doesn't seem to be any there there.
She doesn’t live in America anymore. She wrote a 1000 page two volume book on the secret network between organized crime and intelligence agencies who really run things. She shows her sources and has the same credibility Taibbi had 15 years ago before he got a right wing sidekick and became a partisan hack.
I take it you never read her work and are just making the assumptions you accuse her of making.
Cough. Cough. British Intelligence connection?
Correct. He spied for Israel, UK and Russia. You can a google it..numerous sources reported this years ago
All this is within reasonable possibility. Actual evidence? Haven’t encountered a speck of clear and present evidence however…
Call me skeptical. Occam’s Razor would suggest it’s a distraction. Limited hangout.
Read “One Nation Under Blackmail” by Whitney Webb. She shows all her work and you can look up the things she writes about yourself. Or read Ryan Grims latest piece about this matter. There absolutely is a ton of evidence Epstein worked for Mossad
I formerly followed WW and was kind of a fan. However, she’s got an agenda that unfortunately fits her research findings. Not sure she’s an honest broker… Also smoke is NOT fire. I don’t trust intelligence agencies, but neither do I trust questionable evidence. Maybe we’ll discover the truth. I ain’t holding my breath. Again I suspect this is all a distraction…
It's hard to take dim Grim seriously given some of the trash he wrote at the Intercept during peak Russiagate, as well as the pro Democrat leftist bias that he just never seemed to be able to control on Breaking Points.
Read Whitney Webb’s book…One Nation Under Blackmail. It’s 1000 pages and two volumes. She shows all her work and her sources.
I’m of the opinion that it’s a giant distraction while the surveillance state grows and taxes increase to fund things that don’t benefit the tax payer. Distracts from shit that actually matters.
🛎️🔨Admiral GG gets it🏆
I told the mate just yesterday: "Even if Larry Summers is the only person brought low by the Epstein files, I will be a happy man."
A truly loathsome human being. But I will accept other targets of opportunity.
But Larry will continue to teach and draw a hefty paycheck. Some sacrifice.
I’m guessing he’s going to retire from his position at Harvard or take a leave of absence.
Not going to be his decision. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/11/20/summers-leaves-teaching-at-harvard/
The article does say, “ Mr. Summers has decided…”, but I agree with you that it wasn’t really his decision.
We'll see.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/11/20/summers-leaves-teaching-at-harvard/
Bellingcat? 🤢🤮 I hope that’s mocking irony and not a tribute moniker.
He joins “The Plagiarizer”…
Always appreciate your insight and analysis, Matt.
Both sides will extract their pound of flesh while the victims, the girls, will be relegated to a side-show by another set of abusers namely the carnival barkers on programs such as The View.
And while 150 girls who have been human and sex trafficked turn 12 tricks each every night on South Figueroa in Los Angeles, or face the wrath of their pimps (or like last year, a bullet to the head) if they don't. 20%+ of them are underage. And these are just the streetwalkers, and the numbers for only one street in one city.
The girl who took a bullet to the head was probably less compliant and pushed back harder on the pimps because her mother had faced the same life and ran a non-profit charity to try to save girls from that life.
Pretty fucking dark tip of a pretty awful iceberg. But no one can make political hay so no one cares about these girls.
Thank you. People only care when it’s convenient.
Exactly, Kelly. Thousands of girls. Every night. No one gives a flip about them. We could end 90% of it tomorrow. Just publish Photos of the johns in the local newspapers. I’m told by reliable sources that the legal community is opposed to, including judges. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
Missing from this discussion is that whoever was behind this is not guilty of “prostitution”: this was all RAPE. Hundreds, thousands of counts of rape. Not “trafficking,” or any of the other soft terms people are using. Epstein was a disgustung evil rapist, Maxwell is a disgustung evil rapist, and every sicko who visited Lolita Island is a disgusting evil RAPIST. They should all be prosecuted and given the maximum jail sentence. Americans want these people shamed and jailed.
And the democrats
Democrats misdeeds will be dismissed. Anything involving Trump or any Republican will be front page news.
God....yes they will. Bastards. This is all they got.
Projection. High on their own supply.
Matt, you and Walter both know people in Epstein's circle - I bet you know people from your prep school who got in there or to adjacent circles. Sexual perversion seems to go along with the arrogance of position, and our elites are no exception. What's going to be revealed is a paraphrase of Hannah Arendt, "the banality of the sexual peccadiloes of our elites". Larry Summers looks pathetic in the emails, as does Woody Allen and we'll see who else.
You've seen these people in action, they love to be naughty and share their tawdry offences in their little circles. This is nothing but further exposure of the mediocrity, incompetence, and immorality of those who consider themselves deserving of high position in our society.
We need a competent educated class of righteous people, not the DEI-infested group we have now.
“ competent educated” Few and far between
Too true, right now. I'm encouraged by the changes in education that I see - especially schools like the new University of Austin. Just gotta survive until they graduate enough bright young people to make a difference.
...and then you learn that Drop Site is funded in part by Soros via some Social Security Works foundation bullshit (has Ryan Grim ever even said the words "Social Security" in public?) and are once again left to conclude that everything is fake and a grift.
"Of course we want to see the files, but"
Really because it doesn't sound like you do.
This is such lazy fucking commentary. I figured twitter idiots who don’t read would do this, but not somebody who’s supposedly read the article he pays for.
Matt’s keeping an open mind, but asking for evidence. Journalism 101.
Is that what you got from the article?
What other reason would there be to sit and write an article saying "of course we should know but it's probably nothing"
I didn’t say that at all. I just said it may not be an intelligence blackmail scheme. Very strange read of this…
Is it? Is this not a response to the "release the files!" messaging, taking the other side? Because that's what the words amount to. "Yes of course release the files, but" works the same as "Of course I support free speech, but". Take that out and the only point left is, "we don't technically actually know yet if the schoolgirl-humping was strictly related to the politician-owning".
Well, alright. I guess there's probably someone out there who needed to hear that. I mean, he obviously had the girls around while he was with powerful people, and he obviously made introductions, and as you say, the girls themselves either got massively paid off or recanted and/or became unalive after describing exactly what went on. But maybe it's nothing?
Or, possibly the idea was to say "all this Epstein hullaballoo is just more Russiagate, look away, look away".
Based on all the substack commenters here saying "look at me I'm looking away! Who cares about Epstein!", that was not just my read.
Certainly not as much as you, speaks volumes, no?
Russia hasn't been "communist" for a while. A corrupt market economy is a better description.
Oligarchy is more fitting at this point.
It’s a command economy run by the head of state. They assassinate dissidents or lock them up. They spend a ton on military and send their own sons to slaughter in a country whose borders they promised to protect. They conduct psyops and foment instability worldwide, and their leader wants to create an empire.
Sounds like communism to me.
Russia has been an empire for a long time (longer than the US, not nearly so long as China), and behaves like any other empire.
That includes when it was called "the USSR", with boundaries that just happened to correspond with those of the prior Empire - and behavior to go with it.
This is "Muscovite Russia", which started as a small duchy tributary to the Golden Horde - the Mongols. Before that was "Kievan Russia," founded by the Vikings, which corresponded very roughly to Ukraine - the boundaries varied a great deal over the years. That was early/middle Middle Ages.
All true. So are you suggesting that the USSR’s failure was not its communism but the fact that they are Russian? Is communism just another expression of empire building? Maybe that’s why it lasted as long as it did in the USSR - the culture and the system were inherently simpatico. I think you’re on to an interesting thesis!
1991