Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Noam Chomsky and Woody Allen were among the familiar faces in the latest batch of photos released by House Oversight Committee Democrats regarding the late Jeffrey Epstein. As the Justice Department prepares to release additional files, the images underscore an uncomfortable truth for all of us: The convicted sex offender moved comfortably among some of the smartest men in the world. Rhodes scholars, technology leaders and artists.
Also in the statement was a photograph of a woman's leg and foot on what appears to be a bed, with a paperback copy of Vladimir Nabokov's “Lolita” visible in the background. The 1955 novel centers on a middle-aged man's sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl. Epstein, a serial sexual abuser, nicknamed one of his private planes “The Lolita Express.” And are we to believe that some of the world's greatest minds couldn't connect the dots?
Donald Trump, who once described himself as “a very stable genius,” included.
“I've known Jeff for 15 years. He's a fantastic guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He's a lot of fun to be around. It's even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are younger.”
The two later had a public fight and Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Excellent. But denial after the fact is only one side of this story. The other is harder to digest: either the self-proclaimed “very stable genius” spent almost two decades close to Epstein without acknowledging what was happening in plain sight, or he recognized it and opted for silence. No explanation reflects both intelligence and character. No wonder Trump defenders keep mentioning the most overused word in American politics today: deception.
“Once again, House Democrats are selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try to create a false narrative,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. “Here's the reality: Democrats like Stacey Plaskett and Hakeem Jeffries were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender. The Democratic hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked, and the Trump administration has done more for Epstein's victims than Democrats by repeatedly calling for transparency, releasing thousands of pages of documents, and calling for more investigations into Epstein's Democratic friends.”
Jackson is right.
Democrats were choosing which photos to publish, even if many of the men photographed were aligned with progressives. That includes the president, who was a Democrat when he and Epstein ran together in New York in the 2000s. Trump did not register as a Republican until 2009. It is now unclear whether the choice of photos and timing was designed to protect political friends or as a weapon against perceived enemies. What is clear is that it doesn't take a genius to see that none of this is a hoax.
The victims are real. The flight logs are real. The millions that flowed into Epstein's bank account have traceable wire transfer confirmation numbers. What Democrats are doing with information is politics as always. And we don't want politics to dictate who gets justice and who is vilified.
Whatever politicians' intentions, Americans can decide how to react to the revelations. And what the men around Epstein did with the information they gathered on his plane or on his island fits neatly into the center of the national conversation about masculinity. What kind of men could allow such abuses to continue?
I'm not saying the smart men in Epstein's ecosystem did anything criminal, but the lack of complaints before his arrest raises questions about his strength for good and evil. And the Trump White House's attempt to characterize this conversation as a partisan witch hunt (a hoax) is an ineffective strategy because the pattern in the use of that word is so clear.
We saw what happened on January 6 and Trump tells us the investigation is a hoax. We listen to the recording of him pressuring Georgia officials for votes and telling us the investigation is a hoax. Trump campaigned on affordability issues (the cost of bacon, not tip taxes), but now that he's in office, that speech is a bluff by Democrats. As if we didn't know the price of food in real time. Ten years ago, Trump told us he had proof that President Obama was not born in the United States. We are still waiting.
In his book, “Art of the Deal,” Trump framed his lies as “truthful hyperbole,” but by now we should understand that hyperbole matters more to him than the truth, and their convictions for serious crimes confirm that some of his claims were simply false.
So if there is a hoax, it is the idea that none of the brilliant men Epstein kept in his orbit had any idea what was going on.
YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow
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Ideas expressed in the piece.
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The release of photographs and documents from the House Oversight Committee demonstrates that Epstein moved freely among some of the most successful and intelligent people in the world, including academics, technology leaders and Rhodes artists.
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Either these prominent men failed to recognize the warning signs despite obvious indicators like Epstein's nickname “Lolita Express” which references a novel about child sexual abuse, or they recognized reality and chose silence; No explanation reflects his character well.
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Claims that this is a hoax lack credibility because the evidence is concrete: the victims are real[1]flight records are documented[1][3]and the millions flowing through Epstein's bank accounts have verifiable wire transfer confirmation numbers.
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The apparent lack of whistleblowing by the men in Epstein's ecosystem before his 2019 arrest raises serious questions about their moral strength and willingness to stand up against wrongdoing.
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The Trump administration's strategy of characterizing these revelations as a partisan witch hunt is ineffective, given its pattern of applying the term “hoax” to numerous matters that were later proven to be substantiated, from investigations into January 6 to documented pressures on Georgia officials.
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Regardless of whether the selection of photos Democrats released was politically motivated, legitimate questions about masculinity and moral responsibility remain central to the national conversation.
Different points of view on the subject.
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Democrats selectively released selected photos with random redactions designed to create a false narrative while attempting to protect their own political allies, including figures like Stacey Plaskett and Hakeem Jeffries, who solicited money and meetings from Epstein after his conviction.
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The timing and selection of photos released by House Democrats appear strategically designed to weaponize the Epstein case against their political opponents while deflecting scrutiny from Democratic figures who also maintained connections to the convicted sex offender.[2].
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The Trump administration has demonstrated a greater commitment to transparency in the Epstein matter by releasing thousands of pages of documents and calling for more investigations into Epstein's connections to Democratic associates.
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Characterizing this as a purely partisan response overlooks the fact that prominent figures across the political spectrum, including those who were Democrats when they associated with Epstein in the 2000s, had connections that require examination.[2].
