Staff Writer Cordy Page interrogates the political back-scratching and revolving door between politics and finance evidenced in the Epstein case.
The latest slew of files released by the Department of Justice has refocused the world’s attention on the network of the late, disgraced financier, Jeffrey Epstein. Notwithstanding the many redactions, the most recent emails and communications have laid out in detail how extensive Epstein’s power network was.
We see powerful figures played off against one another, million-dollar donations establishing new connections, and nepotism embedding known figures into positions of power. The elaborate sex-trafficking network hovers in the background of the files like a persistent fly. The Epstein files serve as vindication for conspiracy theorists who purport that the world is controlled by billionaire paedophiles. Whilst the most infamous aspect of Epstein’s life is what the original focus was on and the primary reason for the files’ release, until now, the resulting political corruption exposed has only received light speculation.
Yet, the files show us something already guessed, if not known, about the way our world operates at the highest level.
This was a network that stretched across the entire political spectrum, from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, between European and Asian governments, bridging law firm heads and Ivy League luminaries. Always present, spooling the thread out from the centre, was Epstein. Via his philanthropy and reputation as an intellectual, Epstein commanded respect and influence globally.
His reputed extensive wealth opened doors and facilitated scenarios in which famous and powerful people were drawn in, ending up in his financial or favourable debt—or obligation: quid pro quo relationships in the hope of donations or funding that could be achieved in exchange for something ostensibly trivial – internal government communications, for example. The locus of his power was the way he had something different for everyone, depending on the need.
The case of Peter Mandelson is one that epitomises the Epstein network. In 2009, Mandelson, acting as Business Secretary, advised Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan CEO) via Epstein to ‘mildly threaten’ then-Chancellor Alistair Darling. That an acting minister willingly conspired against the government he operated in is one of many stories of political corruption to emerge from the files.
Mandelson used his position in government to gain favours from a by-then convicted Epstein, and yet there has never been any speculation that Mandelson directly knew of or was involved in the sex-trafficking side of Epstein. This is entirely plausible—Mandelson’s sexuality meant his needs were never centred around young girls, but rather what Epstein could offer him in political connections in exchange for insider information. What Epstein could offer, it transpired, included £10,000 wired to Mandelson’s partner.
Epstein’s reputation was such that even after he had been imprisoned for trafficking, he maintained connections and solicited commiseration from those figures. Indeed, Epstein redoubled his philanthropic efforts, undertaking a public relations campaign to counter the bad press about his sexual exploits. His money and others’ knowledge of it allowed him to continue to operate in much the same way, and simultaneously allowed the people around him to excuse their continued association.
Epstein was arrested on federal charges in 2019 following years of lawsuits and investigations. This was a decade after his first incarceration, and over two decades since a first report was filed by Maria Farmer in 1996.
We know why it took 23 more years for Epstein to be arrested on federal charges. Wealth—or the appearance of wealth—amassed at such a scale produces institutional paralysis beyond simply the ability to purchase superior defence. The problem of elite accountability is exposed and exhibited throughout the Epstein files. Tellingly, the only reason the public has been privy to this most elaborate network is that he was a convicted sex offender.
If the emails of another big player billionaire were similarly released, they might not evidence the same sexual predatory activity and trafficking, but they would likely reveal similar corrupt political insider trading. Epstein’s justice pattern is not unique, either, but replicated wherever the accused has enough money to float above the law.
The Epstein files tell us what we already know—an elite stratosphere powered by connections and defined by net worth has never been so clearly discernible. Maybe we owe the conspiracy theorists an apology on that front.
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