In the swirl of conspiracy theories, it’s hard to tell what’s real.
Jeffrey Epstein, the rich sex offender, has been dead for six years. But we’re still talking about him. Why?
His story has captivated the imagination of conspiracy theorists bent on proving that the government is corrupt — that elite America is a cabal of villainous pedophiles covering for one another. Those notions collided with real news in recent weeks, when the government released a long-promised memo about Epstein’s case. The Justice Department said it had nothing new to report.
Americans aren’t buying it. Most (69 percent) believe that the government is concealing information, including about who else may have been involved in his abuse of young girls, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The fallout has threatened to fracture Trump’s base and given Democrats new energy.
In the swirl of conspiracy theories, it’s hard to tell what’s real in the Epstein saga. So today’s newsletter will help clarify what we know — and explain what reporters are still trying to learn.
Why are Americans so fixated on this?
As a refresher: Epstein was a financier who paid teenage girls to perform sex acts. He used his onetime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell to recruit and manage his victims. He had a wide circle of influential friends and acquaintances, including Bill Clinton and Trump.
Epstein was in legal trouble for decades: In 2005, police in Palm Beach, Fla., investigated him after the parents of a 14-year-old girl said she was molested at his mansion. In 2008, his lawyers finalized a plea deal that helped conceal the full accusations against him. But his story became major national news in 2019, when federal agents arrested him. (Read a timeline of key moments in the case.)
