Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Thursday, January 4, 2024

The Epstein Lists

 According to lawyers privy to some inside information, there really won't be any truly incriminating bombshells in the documents surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. There's this:

Attorney Spencer Kuvin said the records might reveal one or two people who knew Epstein and have not been previously identified, but it’s unclear if they will be accused of wrongdoing. He said he expects the list of names to include a wide range of people, from high-profile politicians, executives and socialites who knew Epstein to little-known employees who worked at his multiple estates.

“I don’t think there will be any really big surprises, but the name Epstein has turned into such a nuclear disaster that people in his periphery get smeared,” Kuvin said.

This feels true, simply because if there was directly damning evidence one would expect charges. Epstein and Maxwell are dead and in prison respectively because they never gave up the names. We will have a lot of names of wealthy and famous people, because Epstein cultivated wealthy and famous people. Their presence at some of his parties, perhaps even on his infamous island, is not proof of a crime per se.

At some point last night, I saw what looked like a legal filing alleging sexual assault by Donald Trump on a 13 year old. That would obviously qualify as a major development. He has already been found to have sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll and confessed to similar behavior on the Access Hollywood tape. However, precisely because it would totally believable, it's entirely possible (and seems likely so far) that this is misinformation. The reason why I believe that Trump might have sexually assaulted a 13 year old are the same reasons why MAGAts believe Clinton would have done the same.

TL;DR: everyone is bringing their prior political hatreds to these names. 

Oh, and Joe Biden isn't anywhere on the lists, but I would expect someone on Fox to start alleging a cover-up without any evidence. That would be on brand.

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