I prepared these comments for a brief television editorial on the Epstein story, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and the list of prominent people who are mentioned in the Epstein emails. It sums up my view of the situation concisely; here it is, lightly edited:
No one cared about the so-called Epstein files during the four years of the Biden administration, but when Donald Trump became president the Democrats, along with some Republicans, began demanding that all of the files be released. The Democrats hoped that the files would reflect badly on Trump, which they don’t—no surprise, since Epstein hated Trump.
It is very unusual to release full raw files of criminal investigations, for good reasons. There is all kinds of stuff in investigative files — hearsay, irrelevant bits of information, outright lies in many cases — and innocent people can easily be harmed.
That has happened here, to Bill Gates for example. Jeffrey Epstein said in an email that Gates had caught a sexually transmitted disease, a claim that Gates vociferously denies. So now are we taking Epstein to be a reliable witness? I don’t think so. And in any event, what business is it of ours? One thing we are not seeing is evidence of crimes. To my knowledge, not a single crime has come to light as a result of the publication of these documents.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the Attorney General to publish a list of prominent people whose names are mentioned in the files. Attorney General Pam Bondi has now produced that list. Here is a sampling of the names it contains, including, ironically, Pam Bondi herself:
Beyonce
Pam Bondi
John Brennan
George W. Bush
Cher
Bill Clinton
George Clooney
Eric Holder
Fidel Castro
Jeb Bush
Kamala Harris
Mick Jagger
Mike Huckabee
Tucker Carlson
Michelle Obama
Pope John Paul II
Elvis Presley
Ronald Reagan
Margaret Thatcher
George Soros
It is a meaningless list, and it illustrates the silliness of the Epstein hype. The Epstein Files Transparency Act was a mistake, and It is time for the news to move on to something more substantial.
