Epstein's web

I can't remember exactly when I first heard about Jeffrey Epstein and his "parties", but it was many years ago, long before Trump ran for President.  I always found it bizarre that Epstein has managed to get away with this stuff relatively unscathed for so long, given that his behavior is widely known.  I suspect he "has the goods" on so many powerful men who have indulged similar predilections at his parties or in his company, that he's been practically untouchable.  The absurdly-light sentence and non-prosecution agreement he received in 2008 in Florida, shutting down an FBI investigation into his activities, strengthen this impression.

Mock Paper Scissors posted a speculative piece last week focusing on the huge quantities of photographs of underage girls which Epstein kept, which have now been seized as evidence:

Why would he keep vast quantities of incriminating evidence?.... Epstein did not blackmail anyone, he doesn't need the money.  But what if the pictures are insurance policy of a sort?  What if he had a sort of "Dead Man's Switch" set up that if he gets caught, the pictures would be found, so better not to try to catch him. It's a dumb QED, but he got arrested and this cache of documentation instantly is found.

This makes a lot of sense.  The photo collection might be only part of the evidence Epstein has that would incriminate others, and even just his testimony that other men had engaged in child rape could lead to charges against them or at least ruined reputations.  So whenever Epstein was in trouble, as in 2008, powerful figures have pulled strings, made threats, done whatever they had to do to get him off the hook -- because they didn't dare let him go down and take them down with him.

But this time, it's not playing out that way.  For one thing, the photographs are already in the hands of the authorities, so even if the men incriminated by them (if any) could get Epstein off the hook, it wouldn't save them.  And the case has received so much publicity this time that it's hard to imagine prosecutors offering him another easy deal.

As the investigation continues, it's likely that any other evidence Epstein kept will also be unearthed.  If so, we'll see charges brought against powerful and prominent men, charges which will be extremely hard to deny in the face of photographic evidence.  Speculation has focused particularly on Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.

Now, it has to be emphasized that both Trump and Clinton are fully entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until they are actually proven guilty of something.  That being said, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if evidence against Trump did surface.  He has already been sued twice by a woman who claimed he raped her at one of Epstein's parties when she was 13 (she dropped the case, citing death threats as the reason).  If irrefutable evidence is found that Trump did indeed commit such crimes, it could well be the end of his Presidency.  I've long opposed impeachment on the grounds that we could never get 20 Republican Senators to vote for removal, allowing Trump to claim vindication and whip up his base, thus actually strengthening his position in advance of the 2020 election which is our real chance to remove him.  But if it's proven that he's a child rapist?  Getting those 20 votes would become a lot more plausible, especially if the evidence leaks and actual photos start circulating on the net.

As to Clinton, frankly the very fact of his close association with Epstein arouses dark suspicions.  Epstein's predilections and behavior have long been an open secret -- his private plane is even known as the "Lolita Express".  Why would any decent person choose such a man as a friend?

(As an aside, if the 2016 election had not been stolen and this scenario were happening with evidence surfacing against Clinton, we would now be facing a huge scandal involving the husband of the President.  It's an interesting exercise in alternate history to consider how that might play out.)

Again, of course, remember that both Trump and Clinton are fully entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until they are actually proven guilty of something.  I'm speculating here.

My point is, even all that might be only the beginning.  Epstein kept company with a lot of prominent people, and there have probably been others who took care that their activities and association with him didn't become publicly known.  Don't be surprised if the months to come see the disgrace and arrest of some of the biggest names in politics, entertainment, and other fields -- including some we would never have suspected of such crimes.