Consider this a spoiler alert for those still searching through the three million pages of documents released by the Department of Justice last week, hoping to find the smoking gun on Jeffrey Epstein and the moneyed elite. As has been clear now for a few years, the smoking gun doesn't exist, at least according to the FBI. Epstein trafficked underage girls to feed his own perversity, but the vast Epstein trafficking and extortion ring didn't exist.
The Associated Press broke the news yesterday, to the extent it was a scoop at all:
The FBI pored over Jeffrey Epstein’s bank records and emails. It searched his homes. It spent years interviewing his victims and examining his connections to some of the world’s most influential people.
But while investigators collected ample proof that Epstein sexually abused underage girls, they found scant evidence the well-connected financier led a sex trafficking ring serving powerful men, an Associated Press review of internal Justice Department records shows. ...
The AP and other media organizations are still reviewing millions of pages of documents, many of them previously confidential, that the Justice Department released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act and it is possible those records contain evidence overlooked by investigators.
But the documents, which include police reports, FBI interview notes and prosecutor emails, provide the clearest picture to date of the investigation — and why U.S. authorities ultimately decided to close it without additional charges.
Is it possible that prosecutors missed a sex-trafficking ring of the proposed enormity suggested by accusers? Theoretically, sure. In practical terms, no way. The DoJ didn't just collect three million pages of testimony and evidence as an afterthought, nor did they catalog 180,000 images and thousands of hours of video. The FBI and prosecutors clearly wanted to build a case on Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, along with anyone else implicated in potential trafficking. The DoJ under two presidents spent thousands of man-hours – maybe tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands – building a massive trove of testimony and evidence, and they didn't do that to shrug off Epstein or protect his super-rich pals.
Let's underscore another point about all of that effort, too. The initial effort to re-indict Jeffrey Epstein came because the Miami Herald humiliated Alex Acosta in 2019 over the slimy plea deal he made with Epstein in 2007, which is what prompted the speculation of an extortion-trafficking operation. The Trump DoJ rapidly re-indicted Epstein after committing to a new probe. Epstein committed suicide, but the Trump DoJ prosecuted Maxwell and put her in prison for 20 years. If Maxwell had evidence of a wider operation, she would have cut a plea deal to expose it at that point.
More to the point, though, the DoJs of Joe Biden and Donald Trump had ample motive to dig for dirt in the Epstein files. Neither came up with anything significant. Democrats convinced themselves that the files had a political kill shot hidden on Trump over the past year, but Merrick Garland wouldn't have hesitated for a second to publicize it before the 2024 election if it existed. Pam Bondi couldn't find anything either, despite her suspicions of a vast conspiracy.
And finally, the victims themselves could have exposed such a network if one existed. They have organized for the release of the files as a means to substantiate their own claims that Epstein ran a sex-trafficking ring for the elite, but these victims could have simply named the people involved at any time. Some victims made claims to investigators but could not provide any other direct evidence, and the other evidence collected didn't match up. And it's not as if the FBI didn't try to connect those dots:
Prosecution memos, case summaries and other documents made public in the department’s latest release of Epstein-related records show that FBI agents and federal prosecutors diligently pursued potential coconspirators. Even seemingly outlandish and incomprehensible claims, called in to tip lines, were examined. ...
Investigators said they confirmed that Giuffre had been sexually abused by Epstein. But other parts of her story were problematic.
Two other Epstein victims who Giuffre had claimed were also “lent out” to powerful men told investigators they had no such experience, prosecutors wrote in a 2019 internal memo.
“No other victim has described being expressly directed by either Maxwell or Epstein to engage in sexual activity with other men,” the memo said.
What about the videos that some speculated served as Epstein's extortion levers? The only people implicated by the videos and pictures were Epstein and Maxwell:
No videos or photos showed Epstein victims being sexually abused, none showed any males with any of the nude females, and none contained evidence implicating anyone other than Epstein and Maxwell, then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey wrote in an email for FBI officials last year.
Had they existed, the government “would have pursued any leads they generated,” Comey wrote. “We did not, however, locate any such videos.”
It's possible that Epstein could have destroyed "blackmail" videos before his re-indictment. But if Epstein managed to do that, why not destroy the videos that directly implicated himself and Maxwell?
The truth of the matter seems to be that Jeffrey Epstein wormed his way into elite circles while also using his wealth to prey on underage girls in a horrific manner, and Ghislaine Maxwell partnered with him on those crimes. And that's it. A few pals like Prince Andrew may have participated in those activities, but there is no vast sex-trafficking ring to expose, despite the hysteria generated by ambitious politicians in both parties and the usual media vultures. Perhaps we can now put this new episode of McCarthyism behind us, finally.
Editor’s Note: The mainstream media isn't interested in the facts; they're only interested in attacking the president. Help us continue to get to the bottom of stories like the Jeffrey Epstein files by supporting our truth-seeking journalism today.
Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member