Epstein Case Makes Geopolitical Waves

A Hydra of Scandals Wraps its Tentacles Around the Globe

Epstein and friends

The Epstein case, what started as a sinister hive of powerful men seeking illicit sexual gratification by exploiting young women and girls, has turned into much more. The files made public have pulled the curtain on a world that only conspiracy theorists dared to imagine. They have triggered a wave of scandals with major geopolitical impact.

Coming at a time when populist politicians are making gains, they will intensify the trend. Initially, the focus in democratic countries, where the media responds to demands for public scrutiny, will become even more concentrated rocket fuel for demagogues on the left and the right, who have long claimed the powerful, the elite, are not to be trusted.

The next chapter of this saga may well move to the possible role of Russia, now that the documents prove Epstein kept ties to multiple Kremlin insiders. Most of the time, when the word “Russian” appears, it refers to a nameless woman or girl being exploited, but not always.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country is investigating whether Epstein was working for the Kremlin.

“I don’t need to tell you how serious the increasingly likely possibility that Russian intelligence services co-organized this operation is for the security of the Polish state. This can only mean that they also possess compromising materials against many leaders still active today.”

Russia denies the accusation.

Phillips O’Brien, the strategic studies professor at St. Andrews University and prolific Substacker, thinks the Epstein files have solved the mystery of why President Donald Trump is so deferential to Putin (mentioned 1,005 times in the redacted files). O’Brien says the pieces of the puzzle, why Trump even allows Putin to humiliate him when he tolerates no criticism from anyone else, are finally falling into place. The kompromat, he suggests, was gathered by Epstein.

The most widely promoted conspiracy theory, this one fueled by extremists on the left and the right for many years, is that Israel’s Mossad was behind Epstein kompromat machine. But reviews of the documents on his closest Israeli friend, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, so far fail to back that up. A three-hour recording of a conversation between them produced nothing of interest. In a private email responding to an invitation to Israel, Epstein declines, explaining, “I do not like Israel. AT ALL.”

For most people, the documents, searchable on multiple databases, reveal a world where no rules apply to the mighty, not even the most basic rules of human decency. “I loved the torture video,” Epstein tells a man now identified as Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of DP World – formerly the controversial Dubai Ports -- one of Dubai’s foremost businessmen, who also appears in a photo in the kitchen, chummily cooking with Epstein.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem interviewed on CNN, and with his friend Jeffrey in the kitchen

Like a horror film version of an old-fashioned men’s-only golf club, the influential figures that swirled around Epstein used women as objects and revolting facilitators to satisfy their desires. (Check this spine-chilling story about a woman, a “human rights” official, joking about the challenge of finding not one but two girls for Epstein.)

The men had that in common, their willingness to play by no rules. They shared no other ideology. Epstein’s circle was not exclusive to the right or the left, to Democrats or Republicans, Israelis or Arabs. There was some of everything. All you had to be is rich, famous or powerful, preferably all three.

The files are replete with what The Economist calls the “grand old men of capitalism,” names well known on Wall Street, and its counterparts around the globe. But Epstein also hosted the iconic leftist academic Noam Chomsky, whose name appears in the files more than 3,000 times, and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, a center-left-leaning economist who served under President Bill Clinton. And, of course, Clinton.

The more we learn about that rarified universe, the easier it is to understand why Trump exploited the case to boost his political career. The scandal is a dream for politicians who manage to ride the wave of discontent with the status quo. Populists like to divide the world into the elites who have only their own interests at heart and “the real people.” Trump — who appears more than 4,000 times in the redacted files and more than a million times in the unredacted ones, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md), who had expanded access — played it masterfully. Until he lost control of the narrative.

Ultimately, Trump’s claim that he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago turned out to be a lie (Epstein was never a member) and despite efforts to shield him, the DOJ released a shocking document that summarizes unverified accusations against the president. Again: these are unverified and refer to what his Department of Justice released.

Like a skilled populist, Trump relentlessly stoked conspiracy theories for years, retweeting a post that claimed Clinton was involved in Epstein’s death, and carefully signaling to Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell that he would not hurt her.

“…what we’re saying is we want an investigation. I want a full investigation, and that’s what I absolutely am demanding. That’s what our attorney general -- our great attorney general -- is doing...”

“So you have to ask: Did Bill Clinton go to the island? That’s the question. If you find that out, you’re going to know a lot…”

“Her boyfriend died in jail. And people are still trying to figure out how did it happen…Was it suicide? Was he killed? And I do wish her well. I’m not looking for anything bad for her.”

More recently, when the pressure grew, Trump shifted to dismissing the case as a “Democrat hoax.”

In the U.S., the DOJ sent shockwaves when it declared it didn’t find evidence that Epstein ran a sex trafficking ring and said it would bring no more charges. The case closed, and forced by Congress to release the files, the DOJ appeared to have worked harder to redact the names of perpetrators than victims, even as dozens of women come forward to say they were trafficked and raped. Without justice, the case is ripe for political use. By now, however, it’s not just demagogues who will exploit it. The very real failure of the system will carry political reverberations. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga), running for reelection, is already talking about the “Epstein class.”

In Europe, the revelations are felling once-respected figures. In the U.K. the former Prince Andrew has lost his titles, is thoroughly disgraced and may face worse. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s may fall because he appointed as ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson, who had a close relationship with Epstein and let him in on confidential – and potentially very profitable – information about government plans to address the 2009 Eurozone crisis. The scandal is being called Britain’s worst of this century.

In Norway, Sweden, Slovakia, and elsewhere — not in the U.S. — prominent figures are under investigation after the files became public.

Simply appearing in the massive trove of documents is no proof of wrongdoing, of course. I was surprised to see my own name, once in an internal FBI news briefing summarizing an article I wrote about the far right in the U.S., and twice in emails from Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen, now under investigation, apparently emailing my articles to Epstein.

The wholesale opening of Epstein’s emails has undoubtedly tainted many innocent people, but it has directed a spotlight onto a worldwide web of depravation and corruption. There’s much we still don’t know, but it’s clear that people who are not used to suffering consequences will be punished; although most will not. Either way, the scandal will refuel the global populist wave and will increase suspicions and conspiratorial thinking, with far-reaching repercussions.