It doesn’t add up. Here’s why.
Last night, the DOJ and FBI released a memo (first published at Axios) concerning their review of the FBI’s “holdings related to Jeffrey Epstein” as well as their review of Epstein’s death.
The Epstein “Files”
It’s alleged that the DOJ/FBI review was “exhaustive” and included “digital searches of its databases, hard drives, and network drives as well as physical searches of squad areas, locked cabinets, desks, closets, and other areas where responsive material may have been stored.” In total, the FBI’s search uncovered “a significant amount of material, including more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence.”
This included: “a large volume of images of Epstein, images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors, and over ten thousand downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.”
In total, the DOJ/FBI confirmed that “Epstein harmed over one thousand victims.” If we had to guess, federal authorities reached that number by combining the girls he personally victimized (in Florida, New York, New Mexico, and other places) with the children subjected to the “illegal child sex abuse material.”
At a minimum, this proves that the Southern District of New York (SDNY) undercharged Jeffrey Epstein. The indictment of Epstein included charges for sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking – not the other offenses addressed in the new memo. Perhaps the Feds would have got around to that charge – he was officially charged on July 8, 2019 and died on August 10, 2019, and it takes time to review evidence seized from his possession. Or perhaps not. Who knows.
Also concerning is the DOJ/FBI representation that they “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
We just don’t see how that can be true. Excluding Ghislaine Maxwell (who is a charged third party), we know there is sufficient evidence to predicate an investigation into uncharged third parties.
How do we know this?
First, because Epstein’s indictment alleges a sex-trafficking conspiracy with his employees and associates:
“In creating and maintaining this network of minor victims in multiple states to sexually abuse and exploit, JEFFREY EPSTEIN, the defendant, worked and conspired with others, including employees and associates who facilitated his conduct by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with EPSTEIN at the New York Residence and at the Palm Beach Residence.”
Second, the SDNY confirmed it had an active investigation into the Epstein/Maxwell co-conspirators and that there was an active grand jury (presumably looking at these conspirators) during the Maxwell trial. Here are the receipts.
The DOJ/FBI also concluded their “systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’ There was also no credible evidence that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.”
It’s worth noting that the “Epstein List” has its own type of mythology. It was long suspected that Epstein was part of some intelligence operation to blackmail powerful politicians, entertainers, and businessmen. He was in proximity to the powerful and to intelligence agencies, and his sweetheart deal with the DOJ in 2007 that protected not only himself but his co-conspirators (named and unnamed), only furthered that idea. So too did the alleged statement from Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney who approved the Epstein plea deal, who said “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence” and to leave it alone.” (Acosta would deny making that statement.)
At some point, the “Epstein List” went from being a suspicion to being an assumed fact, something that trended on social media every time records were unsealed in the Ghislaine Maxwell civil case.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is partly to blame – her careless words contributed to the public’s belief that there would be an imminent release of the “Epstein List.” In February 2021, when asked by John Roberts at Fox News whether the DOJ would release a list of Epstein’s clients, Bondi responded: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has since clarified that Bondi was referring to the Epstein files as a whole. It shouldn’t have got to that point, but Bondi is going to Bondi. This isn’t the first time she botched matters related to Epstein. Remember the release of the binder?
This doesn’t mean that Epstein doesn’t have connections to intelligence. The connections are there. The depth of the connections are still unknown. Ghislaine Maxwell is said to have told people that Epstein recovered money for the US Government. I don’t see the CIA looking through their Epstein records. (The CIA could neither confirm nor deny those records existed when we made a FOIA request.)
Sadly, it looks like the FBI and DOJ will not be providing the public with any more information regarding Epstein. The memo stated:
“To that end, while we have labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government’s possession, it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
The general public is supportive of not releasing information relating to his victims – we don’t need their sensitive information. The same goes for their medical providers, the witnesses who corroborated their stories, and their families. Everything else – such as the investigations into the co-conspirators and the Epstein interviews? Those could be released responsibly, with information redacted to save Epstein’s victims further trauma.
Epstein’s Death
Finally, the memo addresses Epstein’s death: “After a thorough investigation, FBI investigators concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on August 10, 2019.”
It notes that this conclusion is consistent with the findings of the Epstein autopsy, the SDNY investigation concerning the correctional officers tasked with guarding Epstein, and the conclusions of the DOJ’s Inspector General.
Epstein’s suicide – assuming he killed himself – isn’t outside the realm of possibilities. (Of course, neither is the alternative.) He went from being ultra-wealthy and walking through powerful circles to facing a near-certainty that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. Men have killed themselves facing much less challenging circumstances.
In support, the FBI released ten hours of video from outside Epstein’s cell. If you watch closely, there’s about a minute of footage missing from 11:59pm to 12:00am. Maybe something happened in that one minute. Maybe nothing happened. Like all things Epstein, it seems we’ll never get the whole truth.
