Introduction
More than three million files related to disgraced financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein have recently been released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). The files shed light on the intersection of power, money and sex prevailing in the politics and society in the Western world. The list of Epstein’s contacts pertaining to the US includes two Presidents, politicians, business tycoons, and intellectuals of all ideological shades. The files reveal the extent of Epstein’s social network and web of sexual abusers.
Although some of the names were already known, the latest files provide new details about Epstein’s nefarious network that extended across the Atlantic, involving top politicians, diplomats, powerful businessmen, billionaires and even members of royal families. The exchange of lurid messages between Epstein and his high-profile and politically influential contacts exposes the moral and financial corruption entrenched in the political system and among the influential elite.
Released through proceedings overseen by DOJ, the files have gone a step ahead of cataloging crimes already known. They have forced an uncomfortable confrontation with the moral architecture of modern Western society, and in particular, with the people who claim authority over it.
Though the careers of those whose names are being quoted in the Epstein files seem doomed and it is a kiss of death for their reputations, but the range, scale and spectrum of the revelations have an impact beyond individuals, as it is a telling commentary on the lives of the so called ‘movers and shakers’.
The Who’s Who
A convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, who supposedly died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges, reportedly had a close association with President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton. The documents suggest that both received favours from the disgraced financier.
Epstein, who was accused of sexually exploiting underage girls, had boasted about having a close relationship with Trump, who frequented his wild parties. In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine, Trump said he had known Epstein for fifteen years, since the 1980s. There are several photos and videos of Trump and Epstein at various events in the early 1990s.
While Trump maintains that he had cut ties with Epstein long ago, his name reportedly appears in the latest files. Epstein had also maintained ties with Trump’s inner circle, including Steve Bannon, the White House’s right-wing Chief Strategist during Trump’s first presidency, indicating Epstein’s access to the power centre of the world’s most powerful nation.
Bannon later fell out with Trump. Perhaps Trump’s close ties with Epstein may have been the reason for his administration’s reluctance to release the entire files. The Justice Department finally released the explosive files under pressure from Congress.
Epstein’s apparent close association with Bill Clinton began in the early 1990s. During Clinton’s presidency, Epstein made multiple visits to the White House and maintained ties with the President’s associates. After leaving office, Clinton reportedly travelled on Epstein’s private jet on several occasions for charitable trips.
Another disclosure was his apparently close friendship with renowned left-wing thinker and author Noam Chomsky known for ferocious dissent against the ruling class. Chomsky was not merely one of the many intellectuals invited to salons, but a confidant to Epstein. In an email dated February 2019, Chomsky counseled Epstein on how to deal with the public relations and legal crises Epstein was dealing with in the wake of a newspaper that had tracked down more than 60 women who said they were abused by Epstein, and exposed how Epstein had struck a deal with Florida prosecutors in 2008 that allowed him to avoid sex trafficking charges.
“The best way to proceed is to ignore it,” is what Chomsky wrote to Epstein. “That’s particularly true now with the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women, which has reached the point that even questioning a charge is a crime worse than murder.” In that note, he expressed sympathy to Epstein for “the horrible way you are being treated in the press and public.” This exchange took place eleven years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage girl for prostitution.
Amongst other names are US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has admitted to Congress that he visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012, and also Bill Gates who has said his interactions with Epstein were limited to dinners and that he did not visit Epstein’s island.
The revelations have affected the British royalty and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government. The documents provide extensive details about Epstein’s close association with Prince Andrew. A document apparently sent by Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein included information on investment opportunities in gold and uranium in Afghanistan as also official reports from his visits as a trade envoy to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. Some of the emails exchanged between the two go back to 2011, after Epstein’s 2008 conviction. There are some pictures of Andrew in a compromising setting, presumably at one of Epstein’s mansions.
Another revelation pertains to Lord Peter Mandelson, a former Cabinet Minister, who also served as Britain’s Ambassador to Washington. He was sacked a few months ago due to his friendship with Epstein, who reportedly paid a huge sum of money to him in return for information regarding the fiscal decisions of the British government. He resigned from the Labour Party over his association with Epstein.
Epstein’s links with Israel’s intelligence agencies are also part of the recently released files. The documents have revealed details of Epstein’s interactions with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his funding of Israeli groups, including Friends of the Israeli Defence Forces, as well as his ties to members of Israel’s overseas intelligence services.
Some of the files detailing the ‘wild parties’ at Epstein’s various mansions read like passages from racy novels featuring wealth, power, and sex. The framed photos displayed at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and those found in files show his relationships with the rich and powerful.
The impact of the Epstein files has been felt not only in the US but also in Europe. In the aftermath of revelations, several European political figures have faced investigation or been forced to resign. Former French Culture Minister Jack Lang, who was named over 600 times in the files, stepped down from his post as President of the Arab World Institute. While in most cases there may be no evidence of personal familiarity beyond social gatherings, yet several questions remain.
The Rise of Epstein
Epstein’s own life story, from modest origins to extreme wealth, speaks volumes about his remarkable ability to connect with those in powerful positions. A university dropout who was sacked from his first job as a private school teacher, became a top financier and a billionaire within a few years.
He initially worked at Bear Stearns which gave him a stepping stone to fortune. He established his own Company and managed the investment portfolios of some of America’s wealthiest business tycoons. He himself acquired properties across the world, including a ranch in New Mexico, a mansion in Palm Beach and a 40-room mansion in Manhattan where he entertained celebrities, politicians, business tycoons, and royalty who accepted privileges that came with being in his orbit. He and his accomplice, the socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, procured vulnerable underage girls and young women for sexual exploitation by some of his associates.
The new set of documents released recently reveal the staggering range of his social network and the web of sexual abusers he had built. Even widespread allegations of sexually abusing underage girls and his conviction on charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008 did not affect his connections with influential figures in the US and across the Atlantic. He was awarded just a 13-month jail sentence in 2008. Later arrested in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking, he died in prison in New York in 2019 reportedly by suicide but his menacing presence continues to have lasting impact on those he was in close contact with and calls for broader introspection.
Conclusion
The entire Epstein episode exposes the hypocrisy of those in the West who espouse the high moral ground yet maintain connections with a depraved sex criminal. He may have passed away but the impact of the documents revealing his vast web of connections continues to jolt the US and other countries.
Many of those named were not obscure power brokers. They were respected figures in society. Professors who lectured on ethics, philanthropists advocating compassion, and political leaders speaking of values. These individuals were not merely powerful. They were moral narrators. They helped shape how people think about right and wrong, success and failure, discipline, and decay. A mirror has been held to portray high society and the images are not good.
The issue has brought to the fore moral hypocrisy, the sense that one set of rules governs the public, while another code protects the elite. When morality is exposed as hollow, values lose their credibility and words like integrity, leadership, and ethics their meaning.
The revelations have exposed not only the corruption and privilege of the powerful elite, along with their disregard for morality, but has also shattered the self-proclaimed values of Western society including their judicial system. Western governments uphold judicial fairness as a core value and have repeatedly cited it to other countries. However, the release of the Epstein files reveals how their judicial systems can protect the elite and exposes the hypocrisy of their proclaimed values.
The hypocrisy the files expose is systemic and not accidental. The gap between public virtue and private behaviour is unbelievably wide. Unfortunately, the Western moral elite that enforces ethical norms privately navigate a parallel dark world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maj Gen VK Singh, VSM was commissioned into The Scinde Horse in Dec 1983. The officer has commanded an Independent Recce Sqn in the desert sector, and has the distinction of being the first Armoured Corps Officer to command an Assam Rifles Battalion in Counter Insurgency Operations in Manipur and Nagaland, as well as the first General Cadre Officer to command a Strategic Forces Brigade. He then commanded 12 Infantry Division (RAPID) in Western Sector. The General is a fourth generation army officer.
Major General Jagatbir Singh was commissioned into 18 Cavalry in December 1981. During his 38 years of service in the Army he has held various command, staff and instructional appointments and served in varied terrains in the country. He has served in a United Nations Peace Keeping Mission as a Military Observer in Iraq and Kuwait. He has been an instructor to Indian Military Academy and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He is a prolific writer in defence & national security and adept at public speaking.
