It appears that the Epstein affair could turn out to be one of the biggest political scandals of our time, or even in the entire history of the Republic. Time will tell, but I put it way ahead of Watergate, for example. Now, I call it a “political” scandal not because it is entirely political – people from many walks of life (all at the top of whatever walk it is) have been caught in the web – but it is political because (1) so many of the names on the list are politicians or are heavily involved in politics, and (2) it has generated not only a war of words (and legislation) between the parties, but has also (3) created a major fault line running right through the MAGA movement – one that is unlikely to be fixed by any action of the administration, and which may have a major impact on the mid-term elections and beyond. In other words, it's too late to do the right thing; all that remains is to keep from doing too many wrong things. The administration claims that it can't win when it comes to dealing with the opposition, and this is true. The challenge is to cut losses, and who is wise enough to know what that would entail?
As for that list – which keeps getting larger each day – what is striking is that it pretty much represents a “who's who” of the ruling elite, regardless of political affiliation. So while it's heavily weighted on the political side, other demographics are amply represented – entertainment, the media, sports, business, banking, even royalty (in Price Andrew's case – he being the only one besides Ghislaine Maxwell who has suffered any serious consequences, which is interesting in itself).
Questions abound, and they are unlikely to be answered by any further release of information by the courts or the Justice Department (especially if heavily redacted, which is likely). Things like: (1) What was Epstein's game, anyway? What was his mission? What was he really trying to do, and why? (2) Where did all of his money come from? (Don't say “consulting” – that's a cover story if there ever was one.) (3) If he was as unsavory a character as he seems to have been, why did all these A-list people choose to associate with him, like so many groupies? Why the plane rides to and from his island? Why the parties at his many mansions? And, what did he have on so many of these people? (Whatever it was, it keeps them quiet to this day.)
And of course, the question that kicked the whole thing off – how did he die, and why? (Unless he didn't die but is living on some isolated island along with Hitler, JFK, and Jimmy Hoffa.) In this sense, the whole affair is red meat for conspiracy theorists. If he was engaged in blackmail and/or extortion, for example, how many people would have benefited from his demise? I'm guessing a few hundred. So are they all going to be ushered into a police lineup? Doesn't seem likely, but it would be amusing, you must admit.
If Epstein was a mysterious figure when he was at the top of his game, the mystery has only deepened since his death. And for that matter, if he was that powerful and had that many powerful friends/cronies/associates/clients, why did he get arrested in the first place? People at that level can “fix” just about anything. And how did he wind up in jail? No self-respecting blackmailer or extortionist is going to let that happen. Clearly, his empire imploded for some reason, but then the question is why? Did it get out of his control? Were there too many leaks (including, perhaps, deathbed confessions)? Did he outlive his usefulness? (Surely you don't believe that he was a one-man show like Hugh Hefner!)
Then you have the dithering, awkward, ambivalent, backtracking approach of the Justice Department to the whole thing. One day they want to get to the bottom of it all, the next day they're not so sure. The rationales make no sense... and the Democrats, predictably, jumped all over it, hoping that – at long last! – they've found the silver bullet that will bring down Trump, his administration, MAGA, the Republican Party, and... but hold on, now it turns out that The List also includes any number of Democrats, liberals, and their friends in the media and elsewhere, so they have their own reasons for wanting the whole thing to go away, but apparently hurting Trump is more important, so they're on the side of full release and “transparency”, at least so far.
But then you have the courts, and whose side are they on? (Because the courts are always on one side or the other, let's not kid ourselves.) So they're embroiled in the politics of the thing as well. Who gets more hurt if certain information is released? It's a gigantic cost/benefit problem. The courts – or so it seems – are generally on the side of the Democrats and liberals in general. So how do they work it so that any release of information inflicts maximum damage on Trump and minimum damage on the Democrats?
(Sidebar: The notion of justice being “blind” is a perennial case of naive optimism. While justice as a concept or principle may be “blind” in the abstract, it is anything but when it encounters human nature, which very readily tends toward corruption. And unfortunately the legal system is populated with, by and large, human beings – although one might fantasize that AI could replace them some day, thus enhancing the blindness factor – except that blandness might then replace blindness. So what we wind up with is what the media refer to as “Obama judges”, “Bush judges”, “Clinton judges”, “Biden judges”, “Trump judges”, and so on – right up to and including the Supreme Court. How one achieves balance, fairness, and true justice under these conditions is beyond me.)
But to return to the legislative branch – we have a sharp divide, with what appears to be “release it all, and let the chips fall where they may” (AKA the Democrats have more to fear – but also because some legislators actually feel that the victims deserve justice), and the more cautious voices, who fear (and rightly so) that more information is going to raise even more questions. It's all about whose ox is getting gored, as the old saying goes.
Like any good conspiracy, when you dig too deep you eventually run into what has been called a “wall of silence” – where nobody knows anything, or if they do they aren't telling, for reasons only they know. The evidence that this has already occurred, at least to some extent, is the Justice Department's awkward handling of the matter from the start. It's as if they were, at first, barking up the wrong tree (which means the right tree), so had to switch to the right tree (which means the wrong tree, i.e. the dead end). So they will, at this point, claim due diligence, and blame the courts for scuttling the operation, while countless people up and down the fruited plain will heave a great sigh of relief. No heads will roll, no one will be ruined or “cancelled”, the whole thing will be cast into the memory hole until, probably a generation from now as happened with JFK, it will be claimed that “now it can be told” (once all of the guilty parties are dead). Twas ever thus. But still, it's amusing to see all of the scuffling and avoidance of the real issues.
The Epstein mystery is a mile deep. It's not just about a few jaded or naive or star-struck rich and powerful people seeking pleasures (forbidden or otherwise) along with others of their own kind. It is that, but it's much more. Were they all set up, and if so for what? How were they used, and by whom? And to what end? And did it work? Apparently it did, up to a point, but then Epstein fell out of favor. But why? Did he fail, or did someone decide to terminate (so to speak) that particular program? And if so, why? There will always be more questions than answers, because every answer generates more questions.
The more immediate question for the Republicans, and for the MAGA base, is how to repair the major fault line that this affair has created, and to do it in time to keep the midterm elections from being a disaster – and even more so the next presidential election. How ironic would it be if the Republicans, and the MAGA base, who were riding high after the election a year ago, would find themselves out in the cold thanks to a dead guy who was “the host with the most” for so many years. He's the gift that keeps on giving, but not in the way anyone welcomes.
A final thought – I guess it was about time for another earth-shaking conspiracy, since the JFK assassination has gotten to be pretty much old news by now (and the establishment is of one voice in that the matter was long since settled, so let's move on). JFK's assassination at least united the country – somewhat, and for a while – but the Epstein affair has done just the opposite.
