| Is The Epstein Myth Dead? | _INTRODUCTION_ | When I first started paying attention to politics, I bought into the Epstein conspiracy — not the basic fact that he abused and trafficked underage girls, but the bigger story: that he was trafficking children to powerful people as blackmail, and that the whole theory was a master key to how the world really works. That was, more or less, the Pizzagate theory. | I was in college. New to politics. And like most people at that age, I was drawn to explanations that felt more "revealing" because they were more dramatic. At one point during my senior year, I was at the Comet Ping Pong pizza shop for a rock concert. Comet was one of the central locations in the Pizzagate theory — so central that a man later showed up there with a gun, convinced he was going to find trafficked children hidden inside. | The place itself did strike me as weird: strange paintings, bathrooms built to blend into the walls. Only after I started really looking around did it register — this was that pizza shop. So when I went to grab a drink, I asked the bartender about Pizzagate. I was promptly kicked out. And I treated that as confirmation of the theory. | Last week, I was talking to a college kid who asked me what I thought about Epstein — especially after the recent releases. He was shocked when I told him I no longer believe the Pizzagate conspiracy. He still does. | At first, I was just thankful I'd grown out of that gullible college phase. But it also reminded me why these stories matter: they turn into myths, and when the myth breaks, it pulls you closer to reality. That's exactly what's happening as we see more and more Epstein files released. | The "latest" Jeffrey Epstein document dump released over 3.5 million pages out of the 6+ million held by the Department of Justice. It includes filings and exhibits from his criminal cases (in the Southern District of New York and in Florida), material from the Ghislaine Maxwell case, a tranche of Epstein's emails and some texts, plus photos and videos. | The DOJ withheld or heavily redacted roughly half (around 2.5–3 million pages) of the 6+ million potentially responsive Epstein files, mainly due to duplicates, victim privacy, and legal privilege (~200,000 pages). | The release was produced under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the Justice Department to publish all Epstein-related records in its possession. The bill was introduced by Reps. Thomas Massie (R.) and Ro Khanna (D.), and signed by President Trump in November 2025. | There's a nauseating amount of material here, and people have already mined it from every angle. For this article, the goal is narrower: what they tell us about Epstein, which popular claims/myths still aren't substantiated, and how much of today's narrative is just politics. | In this piece, I cover: | How Epstein used foreign leaders and intelligence agencies to make money What the files prove about his sex trafficking operation (and what they don't) Which political narratives about the files are hoaxes Why are so many people now in trouble And a Q&A with your questions
| _MAKING FRIENDS AND MONEY_ | One of the clearest takeaways from the emails is how wide Epstein's world really was, and how easily it seemed to span ideological and institutional boundaries: populist-right figures like Steve Bannon, heads of state, Wall Street liberals, and the titans of Silicon Valley all appear as names he could reach directly… | (If you want to read the rest, become a member and get access.) |
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