ER Covering All Bases

Emerald Robinson's on a roll today. It seems with incontrovertible election fraud news coming out the Left is trying to distract the public, but ER keeps her eye on the ball:

Eric Weinstein Takes Flamethrower To NYT

I'll be perfectly honest: Until an hour or so ago I'd never heard of Eric Weinstein. That was when I read Zerohedge:

NYT 'Chief Threat To Democracy': Eric Weinstein Takes Flamethrower To Paper Of Record After Bari Weiss Quits

The 'paper of record' the 'Chief Threat to Democracy?' There are certainly a lot of candidates for that honor, but I suppose that--at a minimum--the NYT fits into the Top Ten or so.

Zerohedge gives a summary of Weinstein's twitter rant, and you can read the whole thing in the original here. Or try both. The unrolled twitter thread makes a good read. All I want to do here is draw attention to three stories that Weinstein says Weiss would have liked to have covered but couldn't. Check this out:

This is the paper in 2016 that couldnt be interested in the story that millions of Americans were likely lying to pollsters about Donald Trump.

The paper refusing to ask the CIA/FBI if Epstein was Intelligence related.

The paper that can’t report that it seeks race rioting:

Can we all agree that those are three big stories? But that second one ...

Recall that Alex Acosta claims--and has never been contradicted--that he was told from way high up the Deep State feed chain that the whole Epstein case was national security involved:

Acosta later said he offered a lenient plea deal because he was told that Epstein "belonged to intelligence", was "above his pay grade," and to "leave it alone".

Today in the NYPost there was a story about how Ghislaine Maxwell is wearing suicide proof paper garments and is being continually moved from one cell to another because her keepers are afraid of assassins. It's almost as if someone way high up (hello, Bill Barr!) suspects Epstein didn't actually suicide.

My point is not to dredge up stuff that we've already discussed. The point is that if someone as Establishment connected as Bari Weiss is willing to entertain the idea that Epstein's underage sex op was "intelligence related", then, yeah, we should all be thinking about that, too.

And the real point of all this is that what's currently playing out in our national life runs very deep. Very deep.

Maxwell Update Per Shipwreckedcrew

Shipwreckedcrew has a number of shrewd observations re what's up in the Maxwell case:

================

@shipwreckedcrew

Absolutely.  This indictment is an invitation to plead guilty.  This isn't even close to what they would actually try her on if she decides to fight.


@NoChromeHD

Your thoughts. Have they held back of more recent serious charges as further leverage? A superseding indictment perhaps?

4:04 PM · Jul 3, 2020


@shipwreckedcrew

Yes.


@SuzieWarrior

Are you saying that if she doesn't plead guilty, there will be superseding indictments? Because I couldn't believe how little they charged her with, and such old crimes. Is that why they didn't charge her with sex trafficking specifically?

4:45 PM · Jul 3, 2020


@shipwreckedcrew

Funny how CNN didn't manage to get footage of the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell's house in New Hampshire, nor did the FBI think it was necessary to make the arrest at dawn.

No cameras, arrest happens at 8:30 am.

Raise your hand if you think the Special Counsel tipped CNN re Stone.

4:44 PM · Jul 3, 2020

================

The real question is: Does DoJ have any plans for a deal? Are they offering this "invitation to plead guilty" with or without strings--requirements for cooperation? Such an invitation in a very high profile case would normally suggest the government is seeking cooperation.

UPDATED: Bill Barr Is Still On The Job

AG Bill Barr's impeachment by the Dem's House may be imminent, but he continues to imperturbably do his job. It's almost like he just doesn't care about anything except the common good of the American nation. Refreshing.

Item: Some jerk named Jason Charter has been arrested as an Antifa leader who was in charge of the attempt to topple Andrew Jackson. He apparently has also been identified as a ringleader in the assault on Jack Posobiec. Who thinks that if enforcement of the law with regard to Antifa were left to Chris Wray at the FBI this would be happening? I don't. What other AG of recent memory would be willing to get in the Dem House's face in this way while they threatened his impeachment?

Item: Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's groomer and procurer, has been arrested by the FBI. The indictment is said to target the years 1994-1997 (wait, who was president then?), and Techno Fog promises a thread on why those years are important.

Sean Davis asks an interesting question about the timing of the arrest:

Is it just a coincidence that a mere two weeks after Attorney General Bill Barr fired Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, that the FBI and DOJ finally arrested and charged Jeffrey Epstein's madam?

Believe this or not, but there are actually people out there on the internet who don't believe this was a coincidence! Not only that, but the same people are asking questions like: What else was Berman holding up? Who else thinks Chris Wray never would have done anything like this, but for Barr? How many AGs never moved against Epstein's operation over the past 20 years?

Does this tell us something about why the Dems were so irate about Berman's removal?

By the way, how did Ghislaine Maxwell wind up in Bradford, NH--population 356? Was she there to see the Bement Covered Bridge, or ... what? Gotta be a story there.

In the meantime, employment numbers for the Trump recovery are stunning.

ADDENDUM: I'm not actually that interested in this case from any legal standpoint, but Jonathan Turley is--and I'll share that interest:

Maxwell's arrest could be bad news for a number of individuals including Prince Andrew. One wrinkle however is the outrageous plea deal struck by the Justice Department with Epstein that purportedly protects "co-conspirators."

Epstein Confidante Maxwell Arrested In New Hampshire

"In a surprising move, Ghislaine Maxwell, the British heiress and confidante to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, has been arrested in New Hampshire. Maxwell’s arrest  could have a ripple effect on both criminal and civil matters ranging from the still uncertain status of Prince Andrew to a number of defamation lawsuits."

... That deal however was not lawfully executed by Jim [sic--should be Alex] Acosta who did a great disservice not only to justice but more importantly these victims. Ironically, the improper role played by the Justice Department in the case may actually help it now with any prosecution of Maxwell.

We now have the indictment. Any problem with the Acosta deal made be avoided by not just attacking the validity of the agreement, as noted, but reliance on multiple perjury counts stemming from depositions (which would not be impacted by the agreement, even if enforceable).

Six counts:

Count 1-2: Enticement of a Minor To Travel To Engage In Illegal Sex Acts
Count 3-4:  Transportation Of A Minor With Intent To Engage In Criminal Sexual Activity
Count 5-6: Perjury

Turley thinks Berman wasn't holding anything up re Epstein/Maxwell. That's very charitable of him, given the past history of unusual legal proceedings and deals in this case.

UPDATE: Well, there is a story about Bradford, NH, and Maxwell. It sounds like she may have been hiding out there, while rumors put her in Paris. Per Techno Fog:

Ghislaine Maxwell - new info from the US Detention Memo: 

1) The grand jury returned the indictment on 6/29/20 

2) Maxwell has 15+ bank accounts. Some hold more than $20 million. 

3) Transfers of millions $$ to/from Epstein 

4) Cash purchase of 156 acre NH Property in 2019

According to the detention memo:

Most recently, the defendant appears to have been hiding on a 156-acre property acquired in an all-cash purchase in December 2019 (through a carefully anonymized LLC) in Bradford, New Hampshire, an area to which sha has no other known connections.

Maybe It Wasn't Suicide?

I'm just pasting this in from CTH from TGP--the Sheriff is reconsidering his precipitous announcement that Phillip Haney shot himself in the chest:

From Gateway Pundit – […] “Unfortunately, there was misinformation immediately being put out that we have determined Mr. Haney’s death to be a suicide. This is not the case. We are currently in the beginning phase of our investigation and any final determination as to the cause and manner of Mr. Haney’s death would be extremely premature and inappropriate. No determination will be made until all evidence is examined and analyzed.” (read more)

It seems to simply be the decent thing to do in the circumstances--Wait at least as long as it took to declare that Jeffrey Epstein's death was the result of a "perfect storm of coincidences." The sheriff is asking the FBI for assistance. I'm not sure what to think about that.

You All Know I Have High Hopes For Barr, But ...

I hadda laugh out loud at this blog at Zerohedge:

Barr Ends All Conspiracy Theories Forever By Saying Epstein Died Via A Series Of Coincidences

The author goes is referring to Barr's recent remark:

“I can understand people who immediately, whose minds went to sort of the worst-case scenario because it was a perfect storm of screw-ups,”

and then proceeds to go down a bullet list of coincidences--10 bullet points long.

Just a few excerpts:

Well if reporting that he’s reviewed footage which we were previously told didn’t exist isn’t enough to dampen those kooky conspiracy theories, I don’t know what is.

So there you have it. The US government says that an intelligence asset with damning information on many powerful individuals did in fact kill himself due to an admittedly bizarre and wildly unlikely series of strange coincidences. I for one have no more questions. Checkmate, conspiracy theorists.

     “Mr. Epstein’s death in August at a federal detention center in Manhattan set off a rash of unfounded conspiracy theories on social media that were picked up and repeated by high-profile figures, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. No matter their ideology, the refrain of the theories was the same: Something did not add up,” says The New York Times in its report Barr’s statements.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s a completely unfounded conspiracy theory to believe that someone with ties to powerful institutions and individuals might be murdered in a way that was made to look like a suicide. We don’t live in a world where opaque organizations do evil things in secret, we live in a world where the government is always our friend and the TV would never lie to us. I’m glad these comments made by Barr (whose father in another strange coincidence gave Epstein his first job) have at long last struck a fatal blow to anyone who would doubt the beneficent hand of our beloved institutions.

Actually, I've read that those original stories that Barr's dad gave Epstein his first job aren't true.

MAJORLY UPDATED: Mark Zaid Linked To Epstein (Who Didn't Kill Himself)

Well! A shared interest in underage girls, judging from Zaid's social media. And Liberal politics. What other Dems is Zaid close to?

2. and what do you make of this?
Eric Ciaremella's attorney Mark Zaid bragging friendship with Epstein.
is the Mark Zaid name on the Flight logs of Epstein's Lolita Express?
and the Adam Schiff name?
Bill Clinton and Hitlary - we already know

disgusting. pic.twitter.com/C5kHHQYW6R

— Greg Rubini (@GregRubini) November 8, 2019

UPDATE: This "update" is a bit of a retrospective, digging up past blogging. Inquiring minds should find it rather fascinating that a "prominent national security lawyer" (a standard characterization of Zaid) was also a longtime lawyer for Epstein, and that Alex Acosta said he was warned off prosecuting Epstein for "intel" reasons.

From July, 2019:

UPDATED: Two Good Epstein Reads

Still puzzling over why ABC killed their great Epstein story? While you puzzle, here are two pretty good reads on what's becoming a bit of a phenomenon or ... a meme.

The first article ran at The Federalist, and I really like that the author highlights what he calls "the Epstein-media-intelligence agency nexus". Imean, none of it makes any sense to me without that nexus. No sense at all:

The Jeffrey Epstein Story Is A Giant Rats’ Nest That Needs Dogged Investigation

From the media to government bureaucrats to Epstein himself, powerful people are getting away with execrable behavior. It's time to investigate the Epstein-media-intelligence agency nexus.

Here's how he ends:

The questions for Congress and the country to ask include: Is Acosta telling the truth about intelligence community involvement with Epstein? Who told Acosta to back off, and why? Where is Ghislaine Maxwell? What did ABC and other media outlets know, and when did they know it? Who were they covering for? If the intelligence community has such power over journalists, how often does the intelligence community tell newsrooms to kill stories? 

What a question!

For conservatives, the above questions apply, but more remain: The left talks a lot about equality, but what does it say about the leftist establishment when its media has consistently killed or underreported stories to protect the rich, connected, and powerful? 

In other words, today’s news isn’t just slanted on a story-by-story basis. It’s slanted in the sense that many important stories never get covered, while small stories get overblown. Should conservatives continue to play this rigged game and treat these networks as left-leaning journalistic endeavors, instead of treating them as full-on opponents? Finally, are the intelligence agencies a threat to liberty, and what happens when even a Republican president, Republican appointees, and a Republican Congress can’t control these agencies? 

In the end, it appears America is regressing, and injustice rules the day. The whole thing is reminiscent of the prophet Isaiah: 

     See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers! Your silver has become dross, your fine wine is diluted with water. Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them. (Isaiah 1:21-23)

Well, maybe DC was never known as "the faithful city," but you get the point.

The other piece is by Kurt Schlichter and goes into the meme thing:

Enjoy The Glorious 'Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself' Meme

UPDATE:

Clovis brewery prints "Epstein didn't kill himself" on the bottom of cans  https://t.co/HVQWL5Zf6F

— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) November 8, 2019

Puzzle: Why Did ABC Kill The Epstein Story?

We've all read (I hope) the new stories strongly suggesting that Jeffrey Epstein--pedo-purveyor to the rich, famous, and reckless (unafraid of blackmail)--was murdered in jail, rather than committing suicide. You may wonder why we haven't heard more about that. Probably for some reason like this:

ABC News' Amy Robach says she had the bombshell story on Jeffrey Epstein 3 years ago

That means she had the story in 2016

She said "we had [Bill] Clinton"

In 2016, Bill Clinton's wife, Hillary, was running for president

We may never know why ABC News killed the story

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 5, 2019

Of course, ABC says the reason they didn't go with that story was because it didn't meet their "standards" of journalism. To which Don Surber responds (Item 2):

Those are the same ABC standards that aired a tape of military training in Kentucky as a "Slaughter in Syria."

Just a reminder that this passed @ABC editorial standards https://t.co/1xgaGWD0Qh

— baby snark do do do do do (@justanurse25) November 5, 2019

UPDATED: Former NYC Medical Examiner: Epstein Death More Consistent With Homicide

Fox is carrying this story today. Note that Michael Baden is not some "out there" conspiracy theorist. Rather, in his 50 year career he was known as "a pioneering forensic pathologist." Below is the core of the report in Fox.

The body of disgraced money man and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan federal prison cell in August, bore telltale signs of homicide despite an official ruling that he killed himself, a pioneering forensic pathologist revealed to “Fox & Friends” in an exclusive interview Wednesday. 

The bombshell claim by Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner who has worked on high-profile cases during a five-decade medical career, is certain to reignite suspicions that surfaced immediately after Epstein, ..., was discovered dead in his cell on Aug. 10. Baden, who was hired by Epstein’s brother and observed the autopsy, told Fox News its findings are more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicidal hanging. He noted that the 66-year-old Epstein had two fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx, specifically the thyroid cartilage or Adam’s apple, as well as one fracture on the left hyoid bone above the Adam’s apple, Baden told Fox News. 

“Those three fractures are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation,” Baden, who is also a Fox News contributor, said. 

While there’s not enough information to be conclusive yet, the three fractures were “rare,” said Baden, who's probed cases involving O.J. Simpson, President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, record producer Phil Spector, New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez and many others. 

“I’ve not seen in 50 years where that occurred in a suicidal hanging case,” the 85-year-old medical legend told Fox News. 

Baden, who's examined more than 20,000 bodies and hosted HBO's "Autopsy," explained that if a person weighed 120 pounds and their head weighed 10 pounds, there would be 110 pounds of pressure on the neck at the jaw during a hanging. But, if someone put a hand around a person's neck and squeezed, that could double or even triple the pressure on the neck, Baden said. 

There were also hemorrhages in Epstein’s eyes that were common in homicidal strangulation and uncommon, though not unheard of, in suicidal hangings, the forensic pathologist said. 

“The prominent hemorrhage in the soft tissues of the neck next to the fractures is evidence of a fresh neck compression that could have caused the death,” Baden said. 

Baden stressed his independent study was not complete. “The investigation is not completed until all the information has come in,” he said. 

... 

The ligature, or item used to tie something tightly, allegedly was made from a sheet that had been twisted and put around Epstein’s neck, Baden said. Evidence on the cloth material could help prove whether or not someone else was involved in Epstein's death. 

“Whoever it is would have their DNA all over the ligature,” he said. “We don’t have those results yet,” he added, saying those results “should be reported quickly to give an idea and lessen the speculation.”

New York City Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson ruled Epstein’s cause of death to be a suicide by hanging. 

“It appears that this could have been a mistake,” Baden said. “There’s evidence here of homicide that should be investigated, to see if it is or isn’t homicide.” 

...

UPDATE: In the interests of impartiality, I offer a dissenting view:

ATLANTA, GA – According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control released on Thursday, people with inside, compromising knowledge of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s financial and political dealings are 843% more likely to commit suicide.

Briefly Noted: Video Footage Near Epstein's Cell 'Unusable'

No, this development doesn't prove Jeffrey Epstein was murdered, but it certainly does give one pause to consider. There's really not much to say at this point. You can read about it at Gateway Pundit and American Thinker. The investigation continues. Thomas Lifson's account at American Thinker includes the key considerations:

In order to evaluate this, we would need a diagram of the floor of the Metropolitan Correctional Center showing the location and coverage area of each camera. If it turns out that the actual entrance to Epstein’s cell is not covered, that is exceedingly suspicious. The question then becomes would anyone be able to access that doorway without being observed by the functioning cameras.

There are no details now available about the nature of the flaw, whether the camera was not functional for an extended period, or just for a limited time surrounding the death of Epstein.

Briefly Noted: Barr In Charge

Email correspondent Jim sent me a NYT article that describes AG Barr's reaction to the Epstein investigation: Barr Seized on Epstein Case as Doubts Mounted About Justice Dept. This being the NYT, while they didn't accuse Barr of racism or of having enslaved anyone, they did try to assign blame to him. Laughably, they used David Laufman to criticize Barr, describing Laufman simply as "a former Justice Department official." One might never guess that Laufman had been former counterintelligence chief at the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and deeply involved in framing Michael Flynn.

Nevertheless, we do get a picture of Barr as deeply involved, in ways that few AGs would be:

After Mr. Epstein killed himself, Mr. Barr moved to quell doubt that the department would seek justice. 

He immediately determined that prison employees and the warden had broken protocol several times. Mr. Epstein’s cellmate had been removed. The employees overseeing him had stopped their regular checks into his cell the night he died, even though prison supervisors and officials knew that he was to be constantly watched. And the prison had yet to officially determine whether he had earlier tried to commit suicide. 

Mr. Barr put on leave the two employees who were responsible for watching over Mr. Epstein the night he died and moved the warden, Lamine N’Diaye. And when he asked Kathleen Hawk Sawyer last Friday to return to run the Bureau of Prisons — a job he had appointed her to in 1992, during his first stint as attorney general — she was impressed by the amount of detail he had gathered about Mr. Epstein’s death and the conditions at the prison where he died, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation who was not authorized to share details. 

Ms. Sawyer told Mr. Barr that she took the job in large part because she believed she would have Mr. Barr’s support to make difficult decisions necessary to address the Epstein case and the bureau’s continuing struggles with staff and funding shortages, prison violence and workplace discrimination issues at its 120 facilities, according to the person.

No doubt, in hindsight, Barr wishes he had done a few things differently with Epstein, but the fact of the matter is simply this: The Attorney General is not head of the Bureau of Prisons. He isn't in charge of day to day operations. Barr apparently traveled to New York to express his concerns about guarding Epstein, although it's not known whether he actually toured the prison facility. There is no reason why an AG should do so. The personal trip to New York was quite sufficient to drive home the point that Epstein required extra caution.

Barr Has Initiated Criminal Investigation Of Epstein Death

Well, I don't know that Barr personally did that. I just said that to yank the chains who are always ragging on Barr. But the bottom line is that DoJ--probably the FBI and the USA office in New York--has initiated a criminal investigation of Epstein's death. But the bottom line is that grand jury subpoenas mean one thing--a criminal investigation. CNN is reporting:

As many as 20 correctional officers who work at the federal detention center where Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide received grand jury subpoenas last week relating to an investigation into his death, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. 

... 

More subpoenas could be in the works as the investigation widens, CNN's source added. 

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment Thursday. 

Both the FBI and the Justice Department's Inspector General are investigating the circumstances around Epstein's death.

It's possible that the criminal investigation was simply prompted by Epstein's death, but CNN's exact words are "an investigation into his death." I assume that DAG Rosen (who supervises the FBI) and Barr are being continually updated, but that the local DoJ (FBI and USA) are handling the investigation.

Awkward

That's the only way to describe the way Jeffrey Epstein is supposed to have committed suicide. I borrowed the quote from CTH, who borrowed it from the NYT:

(New York) The official results of an autopsy showed that the financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell, the city’s medical examiner’s office said on Friday, determining that the cause of death was suicide by hanging. 

[…]  Guards on their morning rounds found Mr. Epstein at about 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, prison officials said. He appeared to have tied a bedsheet to the top of a set of bunk beds, then knelt toward the floor with enough force that he broke several bones in his neck, officials said. 

His suicide came after he appeared to have made another attempt to kill himself in late July, and days after prison staff had recommended he be removed from suicide watch and returned to the special wing in which he was being housed. 

[…] he had been left alone after his cellmate was transferred, and the two employees assigned to guard him had not checked on him for about three hours before he was found. 

Officials said the employees, who have been placed on leave, were sleeping for some or all of that time.

It's not clear whether Russians or racism played any role.

Time to ban bunkbeds? And sheets?

UPDATED: Bill Barr Speaks Re Epstein

To watch the video--slightly less than two minutes in length--follow the time stamp link.

“We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation,” Barr said.

But perhaps most importantly, Barr assures the audience that the case will not end, that co-conspirators will be pursued.

ABC News Politics‏Verified account @ABCPolitics

Attorney General Bill Barr on the suicide of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein: "Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein. Any co-conspirators should not rest easy" https://abcn.ws/2MX6rUv 

/>

4,144 views

0:10 / 1:50

Video

ABC News

8:02 AM - 12 Aug 2019

ABC News has a pretty thorough story here: Jail protocols for checking on Jeffrey Epstein were not followed in hours before he died by suicide: Sources.


UPDATE: Here's the full text of Barr's remarks:

Before I begin, I would like to briefly address the news from the Manhattan Correctional Center over the weekend regarding Jeffrey Epstein.  This case was very important to the Department.  It was important to the dedicated prosecutors and agents who investigated the case and were preparing it for trial.  Most importantly, this case was important to the victims who had the courage to come forward and deserved the opportunity to confront the accused in court. 

I was appalled – indeed, the entire Department was – and frankly angry, to learn of the MCC’s failure to adequately secure this prisoner.  We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and that demand a thorough investigation.  The FBI and the Office of Inspector General are already doing just that.  We will get to the bottom of what happened at the MCC and we will hold people accountable for this failure. 

Let me assure you that this case will continue on against anyone who was complicit with Epstein.  Any co-conspirators should not rest easy.  The victims deserve justice, and we will ensure they get it.

UPDATED: Very Brief Epstein Update

The WSJ is reporting that Bill Barr is taking a very hands on approach to the Jeffery Epstein death investigation. He is requiring FBI Deputy Director Dave Bowditch to report to Deputy AG Jeffrey Rosen every three hours. That strongly suggests that Barr regarded this as a very important case.

The WaPo reports that Epstein was in an upbeat mood. Fox says, although not confirmed, that sources say Epstein was considering cooperation to reduce his sentence.

UPDATE 1: This appears to be a very well informed article about conditions and procedures at the MCC, and specifically within the Special Housing Unit (SHU) where Epstein was being held:

Why The Most Likely Explanation For Epstein’s Death Is Suicide By Negligence 

I think at the end of the day we will all learn that alleged child rapist Jeffrey Epstein was able to kill himself because of gross incompetence. Here’s why.

UPDATE 2: Techno Fog points to indicators of the essential underlying questions:

 Techno Fog 

@Techno_Fog 

Prior DOJ possession of Epstein's finances/corporate records leads to fascinating questions:  

What did the previous DOJ investigation reveal about Epstein's funding? 

And did the finances prove Epstein's ties to intelligence?





Techno Fog 

@Techno_Fog 

With respect to Epstein’s finances, NYT reports that Epstein’s financial lawyers have retained criminal defense lawyers. 

We know through court filings that the DOJ had Epstein's banking/corporate records dating back to 2007. 

What changed since then??

9:32 PM - 11 Aug 2019

UPDATED: ABC Says Epstein Dead--Suicide

Hmmmm. He attempted suicide in July and no precautionary measures taken? Or what?

Aaron Katersky 

@AaronKatersky 

Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Sources tell @abc Epstein committed suicide at MCC Manhattan 

7:54 AM - Aug 10, 2019

Hanged himself.

I assume most of you saw the reports yesterday that exonerated Trump.

UPDATE 1: Greg Jarrett on Fox:

Gregg Jarrett: Given evidence of an attack most recently against him they’re going to want to conduct an investigation that this was indeed self-inflicted, that this was suicide. But the fact that he was in a solitary cell most recently and on suicide watch I agree with Deroy that it is baffling how somebody on suicide watch who is routinely checked every hour and usually there are cameras, could manage to accomplish a suicide. And not only that, when you’re on suicide watch in a jail cell, under normal protocol they remove absolutely everything in the cell that could be used for hanging. It’s always problematic about bedsheets that they use weaker sheets that wouldn’t sustain the weight of an individual. So I’m not quite sure how he managed to accomplish this unless they violated their own protocol.

The world is a mysterious place.

UPDATE 2: Predictably, "the Russians" are being blamed.

UPDATE 3: Will the FBI regard you as a conspiracy theorist--and therefore a potential domestic terrorist--if you doubt the "official" or "prevailing" explanation? Is former FBI agent Jeff Cortese treading on thin ice?

Jeff Cortese
@jeffreycortese 

This is a frustrating turn of events. Justice for the allegedly enslaved girls and accountability for the monsters who abused them just died with Jeffrey Epstein.

8:23 AM - Aug 10, 2019

Jeff Cortese
@jeffreycortese 

It is certainly getting harder for people to say they’re just conspiracy theories.

8:34 AM - Aug 10, 2019

But Cortese corrects my supposition:

Jeff Cortese‏
@jeffreycortese 

“Suicide watch” does not mean watch him commit suicide. 

7:06 AM - 10 Aug 2019

UPDATE 4: Bill Barr is reportedly "appalled":

Flaunting It

If you were a billionaire with a thing about underage girls, but you'd been caught and forced to plead guilty--albeit to a minor charge--and had been required to register as a sex offender, back in 2008, how would you be conducting your affairs? Would you continue as if nothing had changed, or would you be, well, just a bit more discrete? It you picked "be just a bit more discrete" you'd be wrong--that is, if you were Jeffrey Epstein. According to an article by Holly Aguirre in Vanity Fair, Epstein flaunted his behavior.

Locals say Epstein was flying in underage girls long after his conviction for sex crimes—and authorities did nothing to stop him. “It was like he was flaunting it,” says an employee at the airstrip on St. Thomas. “But it was said that he always tipped really well, so everyone overlooked it.”

Oh. "He always tipped really well, so everyone overlooked it." Looks like there are no heroes in this story.


Ever since billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on July 6 on charges of sex trafficking, the media have been scrambling to make sense of what happened on Little St. James, his 70-acre private island in the Caribbean. But on nearby St. Thomas, locals say Epstein continued to bring underage girls to the island as recently as this year—a decade after he was forced to register as a convicted sex offender—and that authorities did nothing to stop him.

Two employees who worked at the local airstrip on St. Thomas tell Vanity Fair that they witnessed Epstein boarding his private plane on multiple occasions in the company of girls who appeared to be under the age of consent. According to the employees, the girls arrived with Epstein aboard one of his two Gulfstream jets. Between January 2018 and June 2019, previously published flight records show, the jets were airborne at least one out of every three days. They stopped all over the world, sometimes for only a few hours at a time: Paris, London, Slovakia, Mexico, Morocco. When they left St. Thomas, the employees say, they returned to airports near Epstein’s homes in Palm Beach and New York City.

Those weren't the only destinations. Switzerland, Italy, Kenya, and Brazil, too. And among the countries that he entered using his phony Saudi passport you can include: France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia. That's a lot of flying, and it's almost certainly only a partial list. No wonder those planes were airborne so much, nor is that amount of travel cheap.

An Update Re Epstein's Legal Affairs

Jeffrey Epstein's legal affairs are very complicated. In the interests of offering some degree of clarity (no guarantees!) I'm going to simply paste in below--with some links added--an edited version of Wikipedia's summary of the two major current legal actions against Jeffrey Epstein, as well as a Miami Herald article. The Wikipedia entry is helpful because it provides a chronological framework and also highlights some unresolved but very important issues. Given the impact that this case will have on politics in the runup to the 2020 election, I hope this clarification will be useful in getting at least a basic handle on the issues.

The cases discussed are not an exhaustive list, but the discussion does include the actions that are getting the most coverage these days. Note in particular that, while the Federal court in Florida has ruled that, the DoJ non-prosecution agreement with Epstein, reached in 2008, did indeed violate the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA), the judge has not decided on a remedy. I have in the (recent) past suggested that a possible remedy would be to void the non-pros agreement, opening the way for prosecution. That would obviously eliminate any Double Jeopardy issue. 

Before we get to Wikipedia, I'll review the very recent Miami Herald article that should be helpful. Please note that the the questions re possible remedies for violation of the CVRA as well as of unsealing documents is complicated and spans two federal districts--one in Florida and the other in New York--arising from two separate lawsuits in Epsteins tangled legal affairs. The Miami Herald, in an article dated July 3, 2019 (Court to unseal up to 2,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents), explains where the matter stands in both Florida and New York. The case documents in question relate to the summary judgment motion and are, I believe, the same in both cases:

In February, a federal judge in Florida, Kenneth A. Marra, ruled that the government violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act when it failed to inform Epstein’s victims that prosecutors had disposed of the case. He ordered prosecutors and lawyers for the victims to come up with a possible remedy. The victims’ lawyers are expected to file their response next week.

The New York case is based on the same evidence. The victim plaintiff prevailed but the documents in the case were sealed by agreement of the parties. The Miami Herald and others sued for release of the documents and, after an adverse ruling at the district court level, were successful before a three judge federal appeals court panel. A last minute (July 18, 2019) request for a full circuit rehearing has been filed by Ghislaine Maxwell:

Briefly Noted: The Epstein "Pedo-Polonium" Effect

Yeah, I wish I'd come up with that myself, but it's in the first paragraph of Zerohedge's roundup: "It's Going To Be Staggering": Epstein Associates Prepare For Worst As Massive Document Dump Imminent:

As the Jeffrey Epstein case continues to unfold, a laundry list of celebrities, business magnates and socialites who have flown anywhere near the registered sex offender's orbit are now tainted with pedo-polonium. Many of them, such as Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak, and Victoria's Secret boss Les Wexner have sought to distance themselves from Epstein and his activities - however their attempts have fallen on deaf ears considering their extensive ties to the pedophile. 

So who are these "Epstein Associates" who have a lot of 'splainin' to do, that "laundry list of celebrities, business magnates and socialites"? Here's a quick copy and paste of names that are emerging. Most of it is smoke at this point, as compared to the fire of the Bill Clinton and Prince Andy allegations, but we all know that the fire will consume more than just those two. Ehud Barak may well be on that "fire" list. Anyway, I copy and paste:

Bill Clinton
Ehud Barak
Victoria's Secret boss Les Wexner
LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman
Elon Musk
Mark Zuckerberg
Bill Gates
Larry Summers
Steve Bannon
Alan Dershowitz
Lynn Forester de Rothschild
Prince "Randy" Andy

Anyone spot any likely GOPers in that list? There's Steve Bannon. That's it so far. The list will undoubtedly expand, perhaps exponentially. We're promised that by people who should know. Some choice quotes:

“Nobody who was around Epstein a lot is going to have an easy time now. It’s all going to come out,” said Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies. Another person involved with litigation against Epstein told me: “It’s going to be staggering, the amount of names. It’s going to be contagion numbers.” 

According to one source, Epstein had a steady stream of who's who's flowing into his Manhattan mansion, including Bill Gates, Larry Summers, and Steve Bannon.  

"Jeffrey collected people. That’s what he did," the source told Vanity Fair. 

"Epstein bragged about his contacts in Washington," said attorney David Boies. 

According to the report, "One theory circulating among prominent Republicans is that Epstein was a Mossad agent. Another is that the George W. Bush White House directed Acosta not to prosecute Epstein to protect Prince Andrew on behalf of the British government." 

"The royal family did everything they could to try and discredit the Prince Andrew stuff," said Boies. "When we tried to follow up with anything, we were stonewalled. We wanted to interview him, they were unwilling to do anything."

Should be quite a thing.