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“Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a ‘client list,’ the Justice Department acknowledged Monday as it said no more files related to the wealthy financier’s sex trafficking investigation would be made public despite promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi…
“Even as it released video from inside a New York jail meant to definitively prove that Epstein killed himself, the department also said in a memo that it was refusing to disclose other evidence investigators had collected… The department noted that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims and ‘only a fraction’ of it ‘would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.’” AP News
The left is critical of the Trump administration’s handling of the issue.
“The Trump administration has continually claimed they would declassify shocking and never-before-seen Epstein files, conducting a weird little stunt in February where a group of conservative bloggers and influencers were given folders full of supposedly unreleased Epstein-related material; the move flopped when it became clear that they held no new information…
“Earlier that month, Attorney General Pam Bondi even claimed that she had Epstein’s client list ‘sitting on my desk right now to review,’ adding that doing so had been a ‘directive by president Trump.’… The complaints from Trump allies are part of a developing pattern in which administration officials… make sweeping promises of disclosure that they likely can’t ever fulfill.”
Anna Merlan, Mother Jones
“The [FBI] deputy director assured viewers, ‘We will give the original so you don’t think there were any shenanigans.’ The video was finally released on Monday, and as promised, the administration put out both ‘raw’ and ‘enhanced’ versions. But the videos only reinforced the idea that ‘shenanigans’ are afoot as both are missing a full minute of footage…
“The missing minute isn’t the only fishy aspect of the new footage… The door to Epstein’s cell appears to be just off-camera, and the video does not match previously released crime-scene photos… To be clear, none of these grainy or missing images proves the ‘Deep State’ had Epstein murdered… What they do demonstrate is an almost impressive level of incompetence by Trump officials.”
Margaret Hartmann, Vanity Fair
“[The memo] asserted that, contrary to earlier pledges, officials won’t disclose anything further from over ten thousand downloaded videos and images. And, due to insufficient evidence, they won’t investigate any ‘uncharged third parties.’… Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell is still serving a 20-year sentence—apparently for trafficking nobody to anyone.”
Jay Kuo, Status Kuo
“It is not a conspiracy to say the US has a two-tier justice system where rich and powerful people can do terrible things and face no consequences. Earlier this year, Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent Epstein victims, died of suicide. She was the third Epstein accuser who is reported to have died of suicide or a drug overdose. Epstein destroyed countless lives…
“And he didn’t do it alone: he was enabled by ‘respectable’ people who actively facilitated his crimes. And, more broadly, he was enabled by people who looked the other way, who helped whitewash his reputation, who hobnobbed with him in high society. Those people are still out there, living their best lives. And it is looking increasingly likely they will never be held accountable.”
Arwa Mahdawi, The Guardian
The right is divided.
The right is divided.
“Epstein and Maxwell probably did not act alone. The latter was convicted of sex-trafficking, while the former was indicted for it (and died before he could stand trial). Yet the memo claims, ‘We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.’ Whom, then, did they traffic their victims to?…
“More important than the question of who Epstein blackmailed is whether he blackmailed them on behalf of a third party. Many suspect that he worked for one or more intelligence agencies—a suspicion not without evidence, though the memo doesn't address the matter. Indeed, Epstein himself reportedly boasted that he worked for Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency…
“Epstein’s connections to foreign governments, including foreign intelligence agencies, are legion. Robert Maxwell, the father of Ghislaine, was almost certainly an Israeli spy. Epstein met dozens of times with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak… You don’t have to be a chronic conspiracist to conclude this whole thing stinks.”
Andrew Day, American Conservative
Others argue, “When the government wants to bury something, it doesn’t bring a case… After Epstein’s suicide, far from dropping the matter, the SDNY indicted Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s paramour and co-conspirator. These prosecutions entailed an immense amount of documentary discovery, and Maxwell’s case took weeks…
“That kind of discovery, coupled with the independent investigations that criminal defense lawyers do once they have access to it, makes it virtually impossible for the government to conceal crimes… For anyone with a modicum of experience in the system — lawyers, reporters, commentators, et al. — there was just no reason to believe that bombshells were being hidden.”
Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review
“We were told that the video cameras in the prison were not working, but video has suddenly appeared out of nowhere to corroborate the ‘there is nothing to see here’ narrative. That is as contradictory as the claim that the list was on Pam Bondi's desk and the subsequent claim that there is no list…
“Regardless of what the actual facts are, this disaster is a self-inflicted wound. Big promises were made, along with big accusations implicating very powerful people. Now all those promises are unfulfilled, and we are told that none of those powerful people did anything wrong…
“At the very least, the Justice Department was grossly irresponsible for saying they could deliver the impossible; at the very worst, they are providing evidence that when push comes to shove, the Deep State always wins in the end.”
David Strom, Hot Air
