The Epstein drama continues

I’ve hardly posted anything about the Epstein case. Other than to refer to a Charlie Pierce comment in a 2019 column about the alleged suicide of Jeffrey Epstein in prison:

Absolutely nobody is going to believe any official story that comes out about this. …

How in the hell do they let this happen? The guy was incarcerated in the Manhattan Correctional Center. He already had made one try. He had to be on suicide watch. And the suicide happens the day after a massive document dump in which a woman who said she was one of Epstein's victims implicates an entire brigade of celebrity "clients," up to an including some European royalty? There almost can't be a dog more reluctant to hunt than this one. (1)

The ”ick” factor on the Epstein story is very high. But we live in the Trump Era, so it’s part of the daily news now.

Now we’re getting more substantive information and it is already a big problem for Trump. So we can’t really avoid it any more, even though I would certainly prefer to. But this is what our American ruling class is like. Here’s a report from Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinkski on the latest: (2)

David Cay Johnson, a genuine expert of Donald Trump from way back, is convinced the Epstein scandal is going to be very damaging for Trump, even though his cult followers seem to be unconditionally loyal to him. (3)

Also, Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain have some substantive documentation on the long speculation that Jeffrey Epstein was working closely with Israeli intelligence:

[T]he House panel also released a new cache of documents from Epstein’s estate containing direct evidence of Epstein’s links to Israeli intelligence: Epstein’s personal calendars reveal that a senior Israeli intelligence officer, with personal ties to former CIA Director Leon Panetta, lived at Epstein’s Manhattan apartment for multiple stretches between 2013 and 2016. When cross-referenced with emails leaked from the inbox of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a portrait emerges of Epstein at the nexus of high-ranking intelligence officials in both the U.S. and Israel. (4)

For some reason, all this brings to mind this Warren Zevon song about a guy who’s thinking he’s seriously cornered: (5)

Notes:

(1) Pierce, Charles (2019): Nobody Will Ever Believe the Official Story on This. Esquire Politics 08/10/2019. <https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a28666006/jeffrey-epstein-suicide-dead/> (Accessed: 2025-15-11).

(2) Trump PANICS As SECRET Epstein Emails PROVE HE’S GUILTY! Secular Talk YouTube channel 11/13/2025. <https://youtu.be/wI9gdHh1mh8?si=RymkZOGoZewSCo3U> (Accessed: 2025-15-11).

(3) Trump won't survive the 'moral indignation' of America. Times Radio YouTube channel 11/13/2025. <https://youtu.be/idrWb5up6k4?si=ZLfMSvbG_CAimW3Y> (Accessed: 2025-15-11).

(4) Israeli Spy Stayed for Weeks at a Time With Jeffrey Epstein in Manhattan. Drop Site News 11/11/2025. <https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israeli-spy-yoni-koren-stayed-jeffrey-epstein-apartment-ehud-barak> (Accessed: 2025-15-11).

(5) Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns & Money [1989]. What’s for afters? YouTube channel 02/09/2016. <https://youtu.be/wT9XlQi0yew?si=53qv0eFrxu6Kd0N7> (Accessed: 2025-15-11).