The Epstein conspiracy

Dear Readers, Our faith in justice has been systematically eroded for political purposes. This leaves us open to believing conspiracies.  

Jeffrey Epstein, an evil monster conjuring images of exploited children and the sex trade, no one mourns his demise. His partner in crime is the impoverished socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell. Her access to the upper-crust society helped build her client base as an independent financial advisor.  Epstein was a “high-flyer” with access to some of the most powerful men and women, including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. The investment strategies were dubious, but the monied class cared not. 

The underside of his success eventually caught up with him. In 2006, a Florida West Palm Beach Grand Jury indicted him on a single count of solicitation for prostitution. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to two felony counts, was sentenced to 18 months in jail, 13 months to serve, and was required to register as a sex offender. He was allowed to do this because Alexander Acosta (a George Bush appointee), then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, signed a non-prosecution agreement deferring to the state prosecution. 

During the first Trump Administration, Epstein was charged by a Federal Grand Jury with running a child sex trafficking ring in New York and Florida. Hundreds of girls have told similar stories of sexual abuse. The ugliness of the 2008 plea deal came under closer scrutiny – Mr. Acosta was Labor Secretary at the time. On July 19, 2019, Mr. Acosta resigned in disgrace.  

Less than a month later, on August 10, 2019, Jeffrey Epstein “allegedly” committed suicide, taking secrets of his criminal enterprise to the grave. Ghislaine Maxwell was successfully tried after Joe Biden took office. She was eventually sentenced (June 28, 2022) to 20 years in prison for her role in the sex-trafficking conspiracy. 

At its core, we have a tawdry story of powerful people cavorting with a creep. The Biden Justice Department never “followed the money” to unmask Epstein’s powerful co-conspirators.  Very intriguing and ripe for conspiracy theories, mostly floated in MAGA circles, finding fertile ground in “true believers.” What was Prince Andrew doing hanging out with him? Bill Clinton, a well-known philanderer, spent time with Epstein … What was that about? Maybe George Soros and “liberal” political donors would be exposed?  Epstein’s death was an expansive liberal cover-up.

Conspiracy nuts demanded the truth – Dan Bongino and Kash Patel podcasted during the Biden Administration, beating drumrolls for transparency. Donald Trump promised, in the run-up to the November 2024 Election, that he was going to release the Epstein files. 

Indeed, he looked ready to fulfill this campaign promise in February; the conspirators had access to the “goods.” Pam Bondi, his Attorney General, said the binder was on her desk and she was releasing everything, even as she chastised the FBI (Patel and Bongino) for withholding documents.  

Intrigue was added when Elon Musk said in June that President Trump was mentioned in the Epstein Files. Then the conspiracy fizzled, the FBI released a memo a month later, essentially saying, “Yep, Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide, case closed, nothing to see here.” Except, the surveillance video does not show his suicide, and a medical expert doubts it was suicide.

Let’s unpack this. Mr. Acosta committed a horrible lapse in judgment by signing the non-prosecution memo. Do we know why he did it? Nope. This does happen all the time, where a U.S. attorney defers to a state prosecution; typically, this wide-ranging investigation is the exception. We should have questions answered; there should, even now, be a Congressional investigation.

The Epstein story should be relegated to a tawdry world of grotesque excesses by powerful people and one man’s colossal abandonment of professionalism. We should have trust in what we are told.  Bi-partisan administrations erased a human stain from our society.  

Epstein must have known that his luck had run out; no “golden ticket” was coming. Suicide is an irrational act; we can never truly comprehend a man’s decision to take his own life.  Having said that, the fact that Epstein saw his future and took matters into his own hands is not unreasonable.

But, people of influence (like Steve Bannon) nurtured a conspiracy for political purposes and will not let go. Clearly, President Trump’s fingerprints are on this jarringly brief memorandum released by the Justice Department; Pam Bondi sits in the cross-hairs, bragging about a binder of revealing evidence, until Dan Bongino and Kash Patel signed off on a memo silencing the conspiracy.  We do not know what to believe, and faith in justice suffers.

Warner Robins attorney Jim Rockefeller is the former Chief Assistant District Attorney for Houston County, and a former Assistant State Attorney in Miami.  Owner of Rockefeller Law Center, Jim has been in private practice since 2000.  E-mail your comments or confidential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.com.