I Covered the Epstein Case for Decades. These Are 9 Questions We Actually Need Answered.

[NJCher]

By Barry Levine

Mr. Levine is the author of “The Spider: Inside the Criminal Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.” He began reporting on Mr. Epstein in the mid-2000s.


This article has been updated to include new information about President Trump’s knowledge of whether his name appeared in the F.B.I.’s files on Jeffrey Epstein.

President Trump and members of his administration teased us with the prospect of making public Jeffrey Epstein’s F.B.I. files. Instead, we got zilch.

Mr. Trump then ordered the Department of Justice to seek the release of some grand jury testimony — a request that a federal judge in Florida denied on Wednesday. But even that information, though it might have filled in some gaps in the Epstein story, would have been only a sliver of what’s in the F.B.I. files — which include a mind-boggling “300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence,” according to the Department of Justice and the F.B.I.

The American people — and above all, the victims of Mr. Epstein’s crimes — deserve answers to outstanding questions about how he operated, with whose help and in whose service. With the exception of redactions required to protect the innocent and materials that must be withheld while under court seal, the complete F.B.I. files should be released.

snip

No Paywall link

[hookaleft]

1. Yep

Those are questions we should demand answers to.

[Mike 03]

2. He nails it.

You bet we want answers to these questions.

Especially, How did he make his money and finance his operation, Did he have connections to Intelligence, and who ran the operation overseas?

And of course...

An evidence inventory made during multiple investigations of Mr. Epstein by law enforcement resulted in a three-page index generated by the F.B.I. According to the index, the evidence included 40 computer and electronic devices, 26 storage drives, more than 70 CDs and six recording devices — along with approximately 60 pieces of physical evidence, including photos, travel logs and employee logs. The records, according to ABC News, also included three discs containing the outcome of court-authorized intercepts of a phone number previously belonging to Ms. Maxwell.

Thanks for posting this, especially the "No Paywall" part!

[NJCher]

3. I might set up a thread

With the 9 questions.

As info comes in, update under each question.

[mzmolly]

8. I expect when Trump's attorney met with Maxwell

He wanted to know if there were any copies of the evidence, so they could be destroyed. I’m sure they also discussed a quid pro quo.

[BoRaGard]

4. 10. Why is the G.O.P. protecting a pedophile?

What's up with that anti-Christian soul sickness?

[Raven123]

5. Thank you. Good read.

[yardwork]

9. Thank you for the gift article.

Melania Trump is tight on the middle of all this.

From the article:

One associate of Mr. Epstein was the French modeling scout Jean-Luc Brunel, who faced his own allegations of sexual assault and died behind bars in Paris in 2022 while awaiting trial on rape charges.

Mr. Brunel was accused of grooming minors and trafficking them to Mr. Epstein. After Mr. Epstein’s conviction in Florida, court documents assert that Mr. Epstein continued his abuse of girls and had a steady supply of victims ferried to him in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to a lawsuit filed by the attorney general of the Virgin Islands, Mr. Epstein used private planes, helicopters, boats and other vehicles to bring young women and girls to his island residence there. The scheme led to the molestation and exploitation of “numerous” girls between 12 and 17 years old, according to legal papers.