As you may have heard, leaks of the Epstein emails have begun and a vote to release the files is on the way. Empty Wheel has a good post on some of the details and their significance; Mother Jones covers the nuts and bolts of the process ahead.
The Necrotic Toddler is whining this is all a political tactic, and there’s truth to that — any investigation into a political figure will be tinged with politics. Though not as political as the Felon ordering AG Pam Bondi to investigate Clinton (as the Felon’s equivalent of a mob mouthpiece, she’s done as she’s told). Despite politics, digging into Epstein’s connections is the right thing to do. Epstein was a monster. Anyone who participated in victimizing young girls with him should go down. And yes, that includes Democrats. The Felon declaring Bill Clinton’s the pervert, not me! does not convince me (as noted at the link, the emails indicate Clinton was not, in fact, on Epstein’s island), but if there’s genuine evidence, the government should act on it.
Now, some links:
“Jeffrey Epstein said in an email that Trump ‘knew about the girls.’ That’s not a smoking gun it’s a bonfire,”
“The Epstein affair brings to light a much larger problem,” Oreskes wrote at the time. “It undermines the integrity of the research enterprise when individuals can pick and choose lines of inquiry that appeal to them simply because they can pay for them.” — From a Scientific American article about Epstein’s chumminess with multiple scientists.
Former Harvard president Larry Summers told Epstein it’s so unfair how people are judged because they “hit on a few women 10 years ago.” I’ve no idea if he’s talking about himself, Epstein or someone else but it does show the rancid nature of some of the powerful men whining about cancel culture.
“The correspondence reveals that Epstein had planned to donate $500,000to Poetry in America — a television show and digital initiative spearheaded by Harvard English professor emerita Elisa F. New, who is married to Summers. In 2016, Epstein donated $110,000 to Verse Video Education, the non-profit organization which funds the initiative.” — excellent reporting from Harvard Crimson.
Fox propagandist Megyn Kelly has a defense: Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t raping eight-year-olds! She also refers to Epstein’s 15 year old victims as “barely legal” which is a lie — it isn’t legal anywhere.
“As every journalist knows, it’s always the right move to offer your sources advice on how to blackmail their co-conspirators re charges of sexual predation and child trafficking” But Epstein was very good on manipulating and bribing the media.
“He’s a provider of access to money, connections and beautiful women and girls — everything that these people need to affirm their own status. being rich and powerful is a grift which requires other to bolster & buy in. That’s the service Epstein provided.”
“Epstein replied, “you see , i know how dirty donald is. my guess is that non lawyers ny biz people have no idea. what it means to have your fixer flip.”
“Maxwell’s meals have been customized and delivered to her, and the warden has awarded her special privileges – including arranging guests to visit with computers, a security risk not typically allowed – and is sending documents and emails on Maxwell’s behalf. For other inmates, mail can take weeks to arrive or is often lost, Raskin said in the letter, which was reviewed by CNN.”
“Perhaps even more so than the appallingly light sentence, the most remarkable and telling thing about the deal Trump’s future Secretary of Labor cut with Epstein is that it immunized any friends and associates who were involved in his crimes. I’m not sure you could come up with anything else that better defines where American politics has ended up in 2025.”
“And yet it has still been shocking and appalling to see how many conservatives, most of them men, wrapping Trump and by extension Epstein in a protective shield. “Trafficking underage girls for sex” should be the kind of principle that transcends politics, but here we are seeing that the rule on the right is more like “trafficking underage girls for sex is bad if Democrats do it” (and before anyone yells about the Clintons, I don’t see any collective effort on behalf of the Democratic Party to prevent the Epstein documents being released in order to protect Bill Clinton or any other Democrat, and if Clinton was involved then he deserves to be exposed and held accountable).” — From Jill Filopvic’s look at the fundamental misogyny in play. I see some of the same in the new revelations about Matt Gaetz.
Paul Campos, who has been pessimistic about things lately, sees some cause for optimism: “That it’s no longer deniable to even the most delusional denizens of MAGAland that Trump is obsessed with doing everything possible to cover up his own dealings with Epstein.” As he said in another post, just because past scandals don’t stick to the Felon doesn’t mean this one can’t. And he’s not someone to get hopeful about such things.
Pingback: They’re too safe | Fraser Sherman's Blog