This week, more than 1,000 documents related to the still-unfolding story of the deceased financier and serial abuser of young girls Jeffrey Epstein were made public.
As my colleague Li Zhou has explained, there have been days of speculation about what the documents might reveal, and rumors swirled on social media that they contained a list of powerful people complicit in his crimes. Those rumors fueled existing conspiracy theories that powerful politicians linked to Epstein (who haven't been accused of any wrongdoing) like former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump were somehow trying to suppress the nonexistent list to protect their reputations.
However, as Li writes, the truth is:
The "list" is actually dozens of documents from a 2015 court case filed by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre against his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been convicted of child sex trafficking. These documents reference roughly 150 of Epstein's associates, including Clinton and Trump, but don't provide significant new information so much as they offer a more in-depth look at the people in Epstein's circles.
To refresh your memory, Epstein was a mega-rich money manager who, in addition to associating with powerful men like Clinton, the UK's Prince Andrew, and attorney Alan Dershowitz, was also a sexual predator who abused girls as young as 14. He took a deal and received an abbreviated jail sentence for sex crimes in 2008, but it wasn't until 2019 that a Miami Herald investigation made the full extent of his crimes — and how he'd evaded justice for them — public.
Epstein died by suicide while in jail in 2019, so we may never have a full account of his misdeeds — and who else was involved in them. But the Herald is fighting to unseal thousands of documents related to proceedings against Epstein, and they started coming out this week.
Documents released Wednesday and Thursday include police records, depositions from victims, emails, and court documents. More documents are expected in the coming days, and Dershowitz has joined the Herald's suit to have them released, arguing they will prove he didn't participate in Epstein's abuse.
Read Li's full piece about the Epstein documents here.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario