Epstein, Trump, Clinton, and Israel: A Retrospective

This weekend, more than five thousand college Republicans convened in Tampa for Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit. Highlighted by events featuring A-list MAGA pundits, the gathering demonstrated a clear generational divide emerging within the party, particularly around military support for Israel and the Trump administration’s surprise declaration that the Epstein case has been closed and no further information is forthcoming. It appears likely that the two subjects are deeply connected.

Origins

Jeffrey Epstein is arguably one of the most infamous and prolific pedophiles in history. He grew up in a working-class Jewish family in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn and had a rather unnoteworthy childhood. By all accounts, he was a gifted student and a somewhat accomplished pianist. While he attended Cooper Union before transferring to NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, he failed to earn a college degree.

Despite his lack of credentials, he was hired as a math teacher at the Dalton School, an exclusive and prestigious prep school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The first of many strange connections to Epstein was at Dalton, where the school’s headmaster at the time of his hiring was Donald Barr, a former member of the OSS (the precursor of the CIA) and father of future Attorney General William Barr, who was the sitting US Attorney General when Epstein was said to have killed himself.

The year before he hired Epstein, the elder Barr authored a science fiction novel that was about a group of interplanetary elites that had teenage human sex slaves on whom they and those they ordered would perform sadistic sexual acts. Epstein would ultimately be asked to leave Dalton for “poor performance” amid concerns over what was seen as inappropriate behavior with young female students. Barr had already been shown the door. Alan "Ace" Greenberg, CEO of Bear Stearns, who had two children attending Dalton, offered Esptein a job at the investment bank, where he became an options trader.

Epstein was said to have done well, quickly rising to limited partner, before ultimately being terminated in 1981 for violating SEC regulations. While he'd briefly made partner, he had no real wealth to speak of. At this point, Epstein’s trajectory becomes much more opaque. He founded a consulting firm, and the later narrative spun together in New York circles was that he managed a very exclusive wealth management enterprise that only took on billionaire clients. Since Epstein’s firm had virtually no footprint on Wall Street and a litany of executives at top firms say they never saw evidence it existed, this seems unlikely, to say the least.

During this time, one of Epstein’s close friends told a reporter that he claimed to have worked with governments to recover laundered money, collaborated with individuals involved in money laundering, and worked for intelligence agencies himself. He worked with Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer who was a player in the Iran-Contra scandal and helped smuggle cash out of the Philippines for Ferdinand Marcos, before being arrested in Switzerland for concealing assets and later in the U.S. for fraud and racketeering.

The Maxwell Connection

Epstein also became friends with Robert Maxwell, a Jewish publishing magnate from the U.K. who was an ardent Zionist. In The Samson Option, a 1991 book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, regarding Israel’s covert development of nuclear weapons, Maxwell’s connections to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad were first revealed. Maxwell sued Hersh and his U.K. publisher for libel, but the case was dismissed. Maxwell died under suspicious circumstances when he was said to have drowned after falling overboard on his yacht just weeks after the book’s publication.  He was said to have been $5 billion in debt at the time of his death and was facing charges for raiding his company's pension fund. He reportedly said Epstein helped him hide the pilfered money. 

Maxwell’s Mirror Group settled a countersuit from Hersh, stating attacks against Hersh and his publisher "were completely without foundation and ought never to have been made." The statement added that Hersh "is an author of excellent reputation and of the highest integrity, who would never write anything which he did not believe to be true and that he was in this instance fully justified in writing what he did." 

Upon his death, Maxwell was given a state funeral in Israel, which was attended by high-profile figures including Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and President Chaim Herzog. He was then buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, a site considered one of the most prestigious burial locations in Judaism. His grave is in a prime plot facing the Western Wall, a religious site of great significance.

Maxwell’s well-established connections to Mossad were chronicled in much greater detail in Whitney Webb’s two-volume One Nation Under Blackmail and Gordon Thomas’ Robert Maxwell, Israel's Superspy: The Life and Murder of a Media Mogul. After Maxwell’s death, Epstein went on to date his daughter, Ghislaine, who is currently serving 20 years at a federal prison in Tallahassee for her role in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. 

The  Wexner Connection

Epstein’s most inexplicable benefactor, however, was billionaire retail clothing magnate Les Wexner, owner of Victoria's Secret, The Limited, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bath & Body Works, and other notable brands. The two met in 1986. Just five years later, Epstein was not only Wexner’s financial manager, but he also had complete power of attorney over his entire empire, at a time when Wexner, a multi-billionaire, was the 25th richest person in the United States.

Wexner, or his money at least, even purchased a nine-story, 51,000-square-foot townhouse, which is the largest private residence in all of Manhattan, only to sign it over to a trust entirely controlled by Epstein, who moved in and used it as his primary residence until his incarceration in 2019.

It is unknown what services Epstein performed for Wexner to warrant such largesse. Wexner himself is a strange character with well-documented ties to organized crime. He is the most prominent political power broker in Ohio and Ohio State University’s most generous donor of all time, having given hundreds of millions of dollars to the school both personally and through foundations. The school’s medical center even bears his name. While Wexner donated heavily to Mitt Romney and George Bush’s presidential campaigns, his life’s work has been advancing the interests of the State of Israel.

Epstein the Socialite

Epstein became a Gatsby-like figure in Manhattan and Palm Beach, throwing lavish parties attended by celebrities from the world of politics, tech, entertainment, the media elite, and even top scientists. The parties all had one thing in common. There seemed to be a never-ending supply of young, beautiful women. Epstein reportedly used his ties to Wexner to represent himself as a modeling scout for Victoria’s Secret, luring young women without connections with a promise that he could help them break into the runway world. 

Epstein even started his own modeling agency with Jean-Luc Brunel, a Next Top Model scout who was also reported to have hanged himself in his cell while awaiting trial in 2021 after being charged with drugging and raping a 17-year-old girl, decades earlier. In one of the suits filed by an Epstein accuser, Brunel was said to have flown 12-year-old triplets in from France as a birthday present for Epstein to abuse.

Relationship with Trump

During this time, Epstein also became close with Donald Trump, who, in a 2002 interview, claimed to have known him very well. "I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years," Trump told New York magazine. "Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." In an audio interview, Epstein confirmed this, claiming the two had been “best friends” for more than a decade. 

At least one woman has claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Trump when she was 13 at an Epstein party, but she withdrew her 2016 civil suit. However, no evidence has ever been presented to corroborate her claim, and the President has never been charged with anything related to his relationship with Epstein or been alleged to have visited Little Saint James, the private island Epstein owned in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

That said, there is no question that Epstein and Trump were close. There is a trove of photos and even video of Epstein and Trump dancing and partying at Mar-a-Lago. Trump can be seen mouthing, “she’s hot” to Epstein and glancing at one of the many young women in attendance, before pulling him in and whispering something that cannot be discerned. Trump also flew on Epstein’s private jet, where, according to a taped interview with Epstein, he and Melania first consummated their relationship after he introduced them to each other.

Trump met Ghislaine Maxwell two years before she moved from London to NYC and began dating Epstein. Robert Maxwell introduced the two at a party he had hosted on his luxury yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, while it was docked in New York. Ghislaine became close with Ivanna, one of Trump’s ex-wives, and the two were photographed together many times at events over a 15-year period. Trump also attended one of many parties for Prince Andrew at Epstein’s NYC mansion.

Trump’s Atlantic City casino manager has stated that Epstein and Trump would frequently visit the Taj Mahal together, and that the state commission nearly cited the casino for hosting guests under 21, after a top professional tennis player, then 19, was spotted with the duo by a commissioner. This may have been Gabriela Sabatini, who Trump "dated" while he was "on a break" with then-wife Marla Maples. He was more than twice her age at the time. New reporting by the Wall Street Journal describes a lewd letterTrump sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday, adding additional context to how close the two were. Trump threatened to sue the WSJ's owner and longtime supporter, Rupert Murdoch, ahead of its publication.

Trump and Epstein would ultimately have a falling out. A 2020 book claimed that Trump had banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after a prominent member claimed he tried to get his underage daughter to take off her clothes, which many Trump supporters have used as a defense of the President. However, earlier and more voluminous reporting suggests that a dispute over a bidding war they got into over another famous Palm Beach property, the Maison de l’Amitié, was the source of contention.

Things got ugly, and both Trump and Epstein reportedly told the broker that the other couldn’t put adequate cash together to close on the deal. Trump ultimately won with a bid just north of $41 million. He then flipped the property to a Russian oligarch for well over twice what he’d paid for it just a few years earlier. For his part, when asked in 2020 why they had fallen out, Trump said, “It doesn’t matter.” 

Relationship with Clinton

In the same New York magazine article that included Trump’s now-infamous quote, Epstein’s relationship with Clinton is also noted. The two had just flown on Epstein’s jet to Africa on a trip sponsored by the Clintons’ foundation that also included Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey. “Jeffrey is both a highly successful financier and a committed philanthropist with a keen sense of global markets and an in-depth knowledge of twenty-first-century science,” said Clinton. “I especially appreciated his insights and generosity during the recent trip to Africa to work on democratization, empowering the poor, citizen service, and combating HIV/AIDS.”

Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times (photo) during Clinton's presidency, according to visitor logs. He made at least three more visits to Mark Middleton, a businessman and lawyer who served as a special assistant to Clinton. However, the visits were after Middleton had left the administration, at a time when he reportedly still managed to maintain a White House phone line and credentials. 

According to flight logs, Clinton flew on Epstein’s jet 27 times. On five occasions, including a trip to Thailand, Clinton ditched his Secret Service detail. In a Netflix documentary, a contractor doing work on Epstein’s island claimed to have seen Clinton there. However, he stipulated that he had never witnessed Clinton or anyone else involved in sexual activities. Like Trump, Clinton is a known philanderer who has been credibly accused of rape/sexual assault. 

Jeffrey Epstein’s brother has been quoted numerous times saying that Jeffrey had told him in 2016 that if he made public the dirt he had on Clinton and Trump, “they would have to cancel the election.”

Relationship with Ehud Barak and other big names

Ehud Barak is the former Prime Minister of Israel who also served as a general in the country’s military and the Israeli Minister of Defense. Barak has deep ties to Epstein, who, along with Wexner, paid him millions for "research" after he left office. The Times of Israel has reported that Barak visited Epstein dozens of times between 2013 and 2017, stayed at his mansion, and flew on his private jet.

Epstein also had more than a dozen meetings with Ariane de Rothschild, the chief executive of the Rothschild Group of Swiss Jewish bankers, who had married into the family and was the firm’s chair at the time. 

Jes Staley, former CEO of Barclays and a longtime executive at JPMorgan, was another close friend of Epstein’s, whose relationship with the sexual predator seemed to be more than business. Emails released as part of various legal proceedings showed Staley describing Epstein as a "deep friend" and "cherished friend." Staley was found by a UK tribunal to have misled British financial regulators about the nature of his relationship with Epstein. The FCA banned Staley from holding senior management roles in the UK financial sector and fined him £1.1 million. 

Emails between Epstein and Staley suggested that the names of Disney princesses were used as code for the girls Epstein would provide to the banker. “That was fun. Say hi to Snow White,” read one email. “What character would you like next?” Epstein asked, to which Staley replied: “Beauty and the Beast.” Epstein responded: “Well one side is available.” Staley, who was married with two daughters, admitted in sworn testimony to having sex with a member of Epstein's "staff."

First Arrest

In March 2005, a woman contacted Florida's Palm Beach Police Department and alleged that her 14-year-old stepdaughter had been taken to Epstein's mansion by an older girl and paid $300 to strip and massage Epstein. The Palm Beach Police Department launched a thirteen-month undercover investigation of Epstein, including a search of his home. 

Police found two hidden cameras and a trove of photos, some depicting girls the police had interviewed during their investigation. Adriana Ross, a Polish model later named as a co-conspirator for her role in recruiting and managing underage girls, reportedly removed computer drives and other electronic equipment from Epstein's Palm Beach mansion before the search. Interviews with five alleged victims and seventeen witnesses under oath and other items found in Epstein's trash and home allegedly showed that some of the girls involved were under 18, the youngest being 14, with many under 16.

During the investigation, Police Chief Michael Reiter publicly accused State Attorney Barry Krischer of being too lenient and called on the FBI for assistance. Krischer inexplicably impaneled a grand jury to investigate the child abuse charges against Epstein. Reiter called only two witnesses and referred to them as “prostitutes.” The grand jury returned a single charge of felony solicitation of prostitution. Reiter, one of the few good guys in this story, called it the worst failure of the criminal justice system he had ever seen. 

Epstein's defense lawyers included Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and former U.S. Solicitor General Ken Starr, who served as the special prosecutor in the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Esptein pleaded not guilty. With the feds now involved, Reiter was more hopeful. The Justice Department was, by 2007, aware of at least 34 underage Epstein victims. It seemed inevitable that Epstein would be going away for a very long time, especially since federal sex trafficking laws were more severe. 

Suddenly, Alexander Acosta, the U.S. Attorney for Southern Florida, turned on a dime. He began negotiating a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein’s lawyers. Well, negotiating might be a strong word, as it appears as though he gave them exactly what they asked for. Epstein pleaded guilty to one count of adult solicitation of prostitution and one count of solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18—state charges. 

Although the charges carried a maximum of 20 years in state prison, it was agreed that he would serve just 18 months in county jail. Epstein ultimately served only 13 months and was allowed to leave the jail for 12 hours every day on a "work release" status. Essentially, he got house arrest with sleepovers in a private cell at the Palm Beach jail when he should have gotten 20 years of hard time at a state prison like Walton or Dade.

The deal also included a completely unheard-of caveat: stating, “The United States also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein, including but not limited to Sarah Kellen, Adriana Ross, Lesley Groff, or Nadia Marcinkova,” four of Epstein’s recruiters. Epstein was said to have bragged that he had purchased Marcinkova, a Yugoslavian, from her parents when she was just an adolescent. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra later ruled that Acosta had violated the federal Crime Victims' Rights Act by not informing more than 30 identified victims of the deal, thereby denying them the opportunity to oppose it.

Acosta was a surprise nomination for a cabinet pick when Trump was elected in 2016. Trump nominated him to be the 27th United States Secretary of Labor, and the Senate confirmed his nomination.  There was even talk that he would be appointed Attorney General when Jeff Sessions resigned over his refusal to do as Trump wished regarding the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. However, Epstein's second arrest brought his handling of the previous plea deal into the national spotlight, and he ultimately resigned. 

In the lead-up to the deal, Epstein had traveled to both Israel and Cuba, reportedly to explore the possibility of absconding to one of the countries should his lawyers be unsuccessful in their efforts to secure a deal that was to his liking. It was later discovered that he possessed an Austrian passport under an alias, although it appears that his U.S. passport had not been revoked. 

Aftermath of the first arrest

Epstein was not shunned from high society after becoming a registered sex offender. On an evening in December of 2010, just months after completing his sentence and doling out tens of millions of dollars in civil settlements to 17 of his alleged trafficking victims, Epstein hosted a dinner party at his NYC mansion. Guests included TV anchors Katie Couric and George Stephanopoulos, director Woody Allen, and comedian Chelsea "believe all women" Handler.  These people gathered at Epstein's house and broke bread with the notorious pedophile after he was exposed as a pedophile.

It was a party to honor his close friend, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who was then the fourth in line to the British throne. A photo later surfaced of Epstein and the Prince, who had stayed at Epstein’s mansion during the trip, walking in Central Park. The British press jumped on the story, cranking out weeks of headlines about the 16-year relationship between the two men.

The Prince, of course, was later accused himself. In 2014, Virginia Giuffre alleged that she was sex trafficked to Andrew by Epstein and Maxwell. An infamous photo of the two was featured in dozens of tabloid articles. Andrew denied any wrongdoing, but ultimately settled a civil lawsuit over sexual assault (Giuffre was a minor at the time of the alleged events) for a reported $3.6 million. He resigned from public roles in 2020, and the Queen removed his honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages in January 2022. Giuffre committed suicide in May of this year.

In the weeks leading up to the 2016 election, a woman named Katie Johnson filed a civil suit alleging that in the early '90s she and another young girl were lured with promises of cash and a modeling career to parties at the New York City mansion of Epstein. Over the course of two such parties when she was 13, she claimed to have been molested and then raped by Donald Trump, while also being forced to perform sexual acts with the other girl, who was only 12, while Trump watched and complained about their performance. She dropped the suit on the Friday before the election, with her lawyer noting that she was unwilling to attend a press conference or otherwise move forward after receiving a litany of death threats.

While no evidence was ever presented to substantiate the claim, it renewed interest in Epstein. The right-wing conspiracy QAnon, which was immensely popular among MAGA voters, proffered that an elite group of pedophiles secretly ruled the world, protected by the so-called deep state. Notorious right-wing conspiracy theorist and Alex Jones, who lost a massive civil suit against the parents of the Sandy Hook Massacre victims after claiming it had been a hoax perpetuated by “crisis actors,” had been yammering for years about a group of pedophiles who had an island where they would perform dark, satanic sex rituals with children. Buoyed by real scandals such as the Franklin affair, the Epstein saga seemed to add even more credence to what had once been considered the province of the lunatic fringe.

Second arrest

On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport on sex trafficking charges. He was imprisoned at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, and FBI agents searched his mansion, discovering evidence of sex trafficking and "hundreds—and perhaps thousands—of sexually suggestive photographs of fully—or partially—nude females". Hard drives were also taken from a safe they had cracked, which was reportedly as big as a closet. 

Some of the photos were confirmed as depicting underage females. In a locked safe, compact discs were found with handwritten labels including the descriptions: "Young (Name) + (Name)", "Misc nudes 1," and "Girl pics nude." Similar searches of his Palm Beach mansion, his island compound, and his private jet were also undertaken.

In his safe, agents found $70,000 in cash, forty-eight diamonds, and the aforementioned fraudulent Austrian passport, which had numerous entrance and exit stamps, including those indicating the use of the passport to enter France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. The passport showed his place of residence as Saudi Arabia.

Epstein requested to be released on bail, offering to post $100 million with the condition that he would also submit to house arrest in his New York City mansion. U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman denied the request on July 18, saying that Epstein posed a danger to the public and his wealth and connections made him a serious flight risk. The late actions and sudden change in posture suggested powerful people had decided Epstein was too dangerous to roam free and, like Maxwell, may have served his purpose.

Death

On July 23, 2019, Epstein was found injured and semiconscious at 1:30 a.m. on the floor of his cell, with marks around his neck. His cellmate, a former New York City police officer awaiting trial on four counts of murder, denied having any knowledge of what happened. Correctional staff suspected attempted suicide, but did not rule out the possibility that his cellmate or another inmate had assaulted him. Epstein was placed on suicide watch but taken off six days later and placed in a special housing unit. His close associates said he was in "good spirits."

When Epstein was placed in the special housing unit, the Justice Department was informed that he would have a cellmate and that a guard would check on the cell every thirty minutes. These procedures were not followed on the night of his death. On August 9, 2019, Epstein's cellmate was transferred out, but no one was assigned to the cell. Epstein was found dead in his cell at 6:30 a.m. on August 10, 2019.

On the night of his death, Epstein was not checked on every thirty minutes. The two guards who were assigned to check his cell that night were said to have fallen asleep and did not check on him for about three hours, initially falsifying the records. The two guards were later charged with fabricating records, but prosecutors decided to drop the case in 2021. The two cameras in front of Epstein's cell were said to have "malfunctioned" that night. Recent camera footage released by the Trump administration does not show Epstein’s cell or all of the approaches to it and has other irregularities, including a missing minute of footage and altered metadata. 

On August 11, an autopsy was conducted, and the medical examiner determined that Epstein had thrown himself violently off the cell's top bunk and had hanged himself in a modified manner. The preliminary result of the autopsy found that Epstein sustained multiple breaks in his neck. Among the bones broken in Epstein's neck was the hyoid bone. Such breaks of that bone can occur in those who hang themselves traditionally from much higher heights, but are much more common in victims of homicide by strangulation. 

A 2016 study found hyoid damage in just 16 of 264, or six percent, of cases of hangings. Forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht noted that hanging by leaning forward would not result in broken cervical bones. On August 16, Barbara Sampson, the New York City medical examiner, nonetheless ruled Epstein's death a suicide by hanging. 

Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner of New York City and a board-certified forensic pathologist known for his work investigating high-profile deaths and as the host of HBO's Autopsy, was hired by the Epstein estate to conduct a second autopsy. Baden determined that Epstein had experienced several injuries—among them a broken bone in his neck—that "are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation". Baden stated that he thinks the evidence points to homicide rather than suicide.

Trump’s Response 

It’s worth noting that the Biden administration was radio silent on Epstein for four years, never once even suggesting it would release information. During those four years, however, the MAGA movement latched onto the issue, suggesting Biden was covering for Clinton and other Democrat elites. FBI Director Kash Patel spent the entire time talking about the Epstein files, demanding that Biden release all of the information and stop covering up sex crimes against children. Patel’s deputy, former Secret Service agent and Fox News contributor Dan Bongino, made millions as a right-wing podcaster whose number one issue was “stop protecting pedophiles and release the Epstein files.”

In February 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi invited conservative influencers to the White House and distributed binders labeled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1." MAGA influencer Liz Wheeler recently clarified that the group was invited to the White House as a cadre of "new media" it planned to give access to the administration in a rebuke of the "dishonest mainstream media" only to be suckered into a photo op at the end holding the binders. Unfortunately, they contained far less than had already been made public back in 2015, and with even more redactions. 

Wheeler has since stated that Bondi informed her at the time that this wasn't the "juicy stuff" and that truckloads of documents, "the real juicy stuff" that the FBI had been "stonewalling" her on, would be forthcoming. Days later, when asked by Fox News about an alleged "client list" of Epstein's, Bondi said, "It’s sitting on my desk right now to review." Bondi also alleged she was reviewing "tens of thousands of videos" of Epstein "with children or child porn."

Then, everything changed. Patel appeared on the right-wing podcast The Joe Rogan Experience and essentially said, Nothing to see here. Patel and Bongino also appeared on Fox News and gave what looked like a hostage video, making the same assertion. It has been noted that Patel, 45, and far from what would be considered "classically handsome," is dating a beautiful young woman nearly half his age who works for Prager U, a right-wing, pro-Zionist outlet whose CEO, Marissa Steit, served in military intelligence for the IDF.  Bondi also qualified her statement, saying she had just meant the Epstein file was on her desk, but upon review, there was nothing additional to add. 

On July 6, a memorandum was released to the press, noting that "files relating to Epstein include 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. Teams of agents, analysts, attorneys, and privacy and civil liberties experts combed through the digital and documentary evidence with the aim of providing as much information as possible to the public while simultaneously protecting victims ... Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography ... There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties ... One of our highest priorities is combating child exploitation and bringing justice to victims. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends. To that end ... 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 fallout from MAGA was swift, but Trump’s reaction was telling. The president interrupted a question to Bondi during a cabinet meeting to say that he couldn’t believe people were still talking about this creep. 

“For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration, who conned the World with the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, 51 ‘Intelligence’ Agents, ‘THE LAPTOP FROM HELL,’ and more? They created the Epstein Files, just like they created the FAKE Hillary Clinton/Christopher Steele Dossier that they used on me, and now my so-called ‘friends’ are playing right into their hands,” he continued. “Why didn’t these Radical Left Lunatics release the Epstein Files? If there was ANYTHING in there that could have hurt the MAGA Movement, why didn’t they use it? They haven’t even given up on the John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr. Files.”

“These files were made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by Biden,” he later said when asked by reporters. “I don’t understand it, why they would be so interested,” he said later the same day. “He’s dead for a long time. He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don’t understand what the interest or the fascination is. The credible information has been given…. I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring. I don’t understand why it keeps going. I think only really pretty bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.”

Nearly every MAGA pundit who had made some noise about the issue, from Charlie Kirk to fringe figures like Tim Pool, fell in line and suddenly decided to trust the government, but the base was not as flexible. Polling shows that only 3% of Americans are satisfied with the administration's handling of the Epstein issue.

Conclusion 

It's worth noting that this week, Trump exercised an unprecedented executive privilege to fire Maurene Comey, the federal attorney who prosecuted both Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein. She is also the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump is now alleging had a hand in "what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax," as the president put it while slamming "former supporters" for falling for this "bullshit, hook, line, and sinker."

I have no idea what the Epstein files say about Trump, but his reaction suggests it isn’t good, to say the least. What I’m more concerned about, however, are potential state ties Epstein may have had, particularly with foreign intelligence. I’ve been covering this story for over a decade, and my impression has always been that Epstein was most likely an Israeli intelligence asset whose actions were likely sanctioned by our own intelligence agencies, or at least zionist factions within them. 

Epstein's vast wealth seems to have originated from Les Wexner, whose primary life mission has been advancing the interests of the state of Israel. Epstein himself bankrolled significant investments in Israeli tech companies. He was a very close friend of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and was also tied to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Robert Maxwell was a Mossad asset who mysteriously died just after that fact was revealed. 

Investigative reporter Vicky Ward, who attempted to spill the beans on Epstein in 2003 when a mother came forward to say that Epstein, who had offered to assist in the artistic ambitions of her twin 16-year-old daughters, had tried to molest one of them, only to have a nervous editor scrap mention of it, circled back years later. She reported that a senior member of the Trump campaign had asked Acosta, during his vetting for Labor Secretary, why he had cut the sweetheart deal with Epstein. He reportedly told them that he'd been instructed to stand down, that Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and the matter was "above his pay grade."

It has long been speculated that Steve Bannon was the source. Bannon connected with Epstein in 2017 and was reportedly coaching him for an upcoming 60 Minutes interview that never materialized. He also set out to do a documentary on Epstein and has 15 hours of interview footage, but all that ever came of it was a trailer.  For all his bluster over Epstein and the AG releasing the files, Bannon has never disclosed why he hasn't released his tapes.

Acosta awkwardly evaded questions at the time, and while he later responded in the negative when asked by the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility if he had "direct knowledge" of Epstein being an intelligence asset, that clearly gave him a chance to provide a non-denial, denial, as "direct knowledge" is different from "being told." Acosta failing upward to a cabinet-level position and even being considered for AG seems like a reward for playing ball. 

Epstein was allowed entry to Israel even as he faced serious charges of sexual crimes against children in the United States, and it seems as though he was planning to abscond there if the negotiations went poorly. CBS News recently profiled how common and easy it is for American Jews accused of pedophilia to disappear into Israeli society.  On the southwest corner of Epstein's island, a Jewish temple was painted in the colors of the Israeli flag, featuring a blue-striped base with a "golden dome" on top. It had an arched wooden door with a medieval-era lock that appeared to be designed to keep people in rather than prevent entry.

It’s also noteworthy that the memorandum closing the case was issued the night before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to visit Trump and announced publicly that he had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize just after Trump authorized his long sought bombing of Iran nuclear facilities, a move that Netanyahu reportedly told Trump they were making with or without the U.S. before Trump quickly added that we might have to help. 

Israel has once again attacked Syria and recently announced that it would attack Iran again if it had reason to believe it had restarted its nuclear program. Netanyahu has also said that the 8th front of Israel’s war is combating “disinformation” in the American Media. 

Israel has a long history of spying on the U.S., its most significant military and financial benefactor. Israel has a long history of honey pot operations to leverage influential people to act in its interest. Occam’s razor would undoubtedly suggest that Epstein was using his sex trafficking operation, cameras, and access to rich and powerful people to provide Israel with intelligence it could use to its advantage.

Maxwell's family and legal team are currently appealing to Trump for her release, arguing that the United States violated the original non-prosecution deal it made with Epstein that it would "not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein." 

"He’s the ultimate dealmaker — and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it," wrote Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, in a recently released statement. "With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the US government made and broke."

We are unlikely ever to see what our government knows about Epstein, his connection to U.S. politicians, celebrities, scientists, academics, judges, and other people of power and influence, because the scale of the depravity and the alliances and actions it's caused would likely cause Americans to lose all faith in their institutions. It would also cast a dark shadow on Israel, which is the bigger reason as to why Americans will likely remain in the dark.

Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. Mitch is also the author of three novels and a short story collection available here. He can be reached at editor@thebradentontimes.com.