So is there even an Epstein client list?
I'm sure everyone has seen posts on the internet asking how Ghislaine Maxwell could have been convicted of child sex trafficking if she didn't traffick children to anyone. This just shows that the person isn't up to speed on her criminal trial. Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking one minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in sex crimes, and three counts of conspiracy. The "client" she trafficked the minor to was...wait for it...Jeffrey Epstein.
There's no evidence that anyone else was involved or that a list of clients exists. The belief that there is comes from several sources.
1. An analysis by Slate (a left-wing source) concluded that Epstein's wealth and income was too high to be accounted for solely from his known jobs and activities. The article concluded that he must have been arranging for wealthy clients to have sex with minors, filming them, then blackmailing them. However, there's no evidence for any of this, just speculation.
2. Epstein's personal phone book was originally released in heavily redacted form. This led to speculation that important people were being protected. When the unredacted version was released later, it did indeed have many prominent people in it. However, this isn't proof of anything other than they knew Epstein.
3. Epstein owned a private island, Little Saint James in the Caribbean. He often flew his friends there in his private plane. However, this isn't proof that anyone on the flight logs engaged in illegal activity. Nevertheless, anyone on the flight logs, like Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Allen Dershowitz, and others is automatically assumed to have traveled to the island to have sex with minors.
4. Photographs exist of Donald Trump and others with Epstein. This, along with several problematic comments, leads to the assumption (again, with no evidence) that Trump was personally involved with Epstein's criminal activities.
5. Epstein's suicide while in federal custody was suspicious as he had been on suicide watch, then was removed from it, and cameras with a view of his cell were not working. A recent video purporting to show the door of his cell, with a suspicious one minute missing, is actually the entrance to his cell block that had 7 other cells in it.
6. The QAnon conspiracy involved claims that members of Congress and prominent celebrities were having sex with minors, and that Trump would expose this. When the "Q drops" ended around the time of Epstein's arrest in 2019, attention shifted to Epstein as it was assumed that he was central to the conspiracy. A substantial portion of Trump's base bought into this, and were eagerly awaiting the release of the "client list" followed by mass arrests of Congress members and celebrities ("the storm"). It didn't help that Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had the "Epstein file" on her desk in February.
So for Trump to say last week "nothing to see here, move along and stop talking about this" was a huge betrayal. The only thing comparable on the left would be if it was discovered that Bernie Sanders and AOC were being financed by Citibank, or Greta Thunberg was making millions from Big Oil. Whether this will be the thing that finally breaks the spell of the MAGA cult remains to be seen, but it's clear that Trump has backed himself into a corner. His base has been telling each other for the past few years that there is an "Epstein client list" and Trump was going to expose everyone on it. Trump benefitted from this conspiracy theory as it painted him in the most positive light possible. These people aren't going to take "there is no list" and just move on, as they have too much invested in it.
My prediction is that Trump will fire Dan Bongino and blame the whole thing on his incompetence. It won't be hard because Bongino is incompetent and completely unqualified to serve as deputy FBI director. Of course he will scream and yell, but the only reason anyone in the MAGA base likes him is because he's a Trump fluffer. Once Trump denounces him, it's over.
My personal opinion is that there never was an "Epstein client list." Yes, Epstein threw lavish parties, there were minors present, and some guests probably had sex with them. But Epstein didn't keep track of this or blackmail anyone, and the only people for whom evidence of criminal activity exists are Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein himself. The fact that someone is in his phone book or flight logs isn't evidence of criminal activity. It is, of course, possible that the DOJ has some evidence implicating other people, however, to maintain their 93% conviction rate, they only bring cases that are slam-dunks, and this may not be one of those.
There's no evidence that anyone else was involved or that a list of clients exists. The belief that there is comes from several sources.
1. An analysis by Slate (a left-wing source) concluded that Epstein's wealth and income was too high to be accounted for solely from his known jobs and activities. The article concluded that he must have been arranging for wealthy clients to have sex with minors, filming them, then blackmailing them. However, there's no evidence for any of this, just speculation.
2. Epstein's personal phone book was originally released in heavily redacted form. This led to speculation that important people were being protected. When the unredacted version was released later, it did indeed have many prominent people in it. However, this isn't proof of anything other than they knew Epstein.
3. Epstein owned a private island, Little Saint James in the Caribbean. He often flew his friends there in his private plane. However, this isn't proof that anyone on the flight logs engaged in illegal activity. Nevertheless, anyone on the flight logs, like Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Allen Dershowitz, and others is automatically assumed to have traveled to the island to have sex with minors.
4. Photographs exist of Donald Trump and others with Epstein. This, along with several problematic comments, leads to the assumption (again, with no evidence) that Trump was personally involved with Epstein's criminal activities.
5. Epstein's suicide while in federal custody was suspicious as he had been on suicide watch, then was removed from it, and cameras with a view of his cell were not working. A recent video purporting to show the door of his cell, with a suspicious one minute missing, is actually the entrance to his cell block that had 7 other cells in it.
6. The QAnon conspiracy involved claims that members of Congress and prominent celebrities were having sex with minors, and that Trump would expose this. When the "Q drops" ended around the time of Epstein's arrest in 2019, attention shifted to Epstein as it was assumed that he was central to the conspiracy. A substantial portion of Trump's base bought into this, and were eagerly awaiting the release of the "client list" followed by mass arrests of Congress members and celebrities ("the storm"). It didn't help that Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had the "Epstein file" on her desk in February.
So for Trump to say last week "nothing to see here, move along and stop talking about this" was a huge betrayal. The only thing comparable on the left would be if it was discovered that Bernie Sanders and AOC were being financed by Citibank, or Greta Thunberg was making millions from Big Oil. Whether this will be the thing that finally breaks the spell of the MAGA cult remains to be seen, but it's clear that Trump has backed himself into a corner. His base has been telling each other for the past few years that there is an "Epstein client list" and Trump was going to expose everyone on it. Trump benefitted from this conspiracy theory as it painted him in the most positive light possible. These people aren't going to take "there is no list" and just move on, as they have too much invested in it.
My prediction is that Trump will fire Dan Bongino and blame the whole thing on his incompetence. It won't be hard because Bongino is incompetent and completely unqualified to serve as deputy FBI director. Of course he will scream and yell, but the only reason anyone in the MAGA base likes him is because he's a Trump fluffer. Once Trump denounces him, it's over.
My personal opinion is that there never was an "Epstein client list." Yes, Epstein threw lavish parties, there were minors present, and some guests probably had sex with them. But Epstein didn't keep track of this or blackmail anyone, and the only people for whom evidence of criminal activity exists are Ghislaine Maxwell and Epstein himself. The fact that someone is in his phone book or flight logs isn't evidence of criminal activity. It is, of course, possible that the DOJ has some evidence implicating other people, however, to maintain their 93% conviction rate, they only bring cases that are slam-dunks, and this may not be one of those.
