A few years later, I basically no longer endorse a large section of this post, and I think it should have gotten a much more critical reception than it did.
The key things you need to understand about the Epstein case are:
Epstein almost certainly never trafficked any underage victims to associates, and almost none of his victims have ever claimed this. Pretty much all of the salacious coverage about this case stems from Virginia Guiffre’s accusations, and in the case of Alan Dershowitz these were so effectively refuted that she ended up withdrawing and then recanting one of the only two civil suits she actually brought.
Epstein killed himself, probably without the assistance of coconspirators (who as I mentioned earlier don’t exist, at least in the case of his sex crimes).
I was probably wrong and overexcited about possible “intelligence connections”. People have since casted doubt about the “belonged to intelligence” quote from Acosta by pointing out the fact that only once source, the Daily Wire, has ever reported it. I also did not know this at the time, but for his part Acosta himself denied that this reporting was accurate to OPR in their followup investigations in 2020. And there would be no reason for D.A. Acosta to lie about this—on the contrary, he would have screamed about it at the top of his lungs to everyone who accused him of misconduct, if Epstein being a cooperator was actually something that factored into it.
I think some part of me knew that the “Epstein’s intelligence connections got him out of his first conviction” was a ridiculous thing to believe at the time, but wanted to make the post more interesting and so put it in anyways. I apologize for letting my excitement get the better of me that way.
I still endorse everything in the addendum; Epstein having coordinated with or manipulated correctional staff, on his own, to give himself the opportunity to commit suicide is the most plausible theory I’ve heard for the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. And of course don’t take the organizational chart literally is good advice.
Epstein’s benefactor co-founded the Mega Group, a target of American counterintelligence. Epstein’s partner-in-crime was the daughter of a billionaire famous for his lifelong entanglements with intelligence. The future head of Biden’s CIA visited Epstein, even after Epstein was convicted as a sex criminal. But these are regime secrets and he’s dead, so Trump’s bluff is safe.
None of those factoids are much evidence of anything, but I suppose I should be more specific: Epstein’s intelligence work (if he conducted any) probably had nothing to do with the lenient sentence Epstein received in 2008, which is what the OP claims.
A few years later, I basically no longer endorse a large section of this post, and I think it should have gotten a much more critical reception than it did.
The key things you need to understand about the Epstein case are:
Epstein almost certainly never trafficked any underage victims to associates, and almost none of his victims have ever claimed this. Pretty much all of the salacious coverage about this case stems from Virginia Guiffre’s accusations, and in the case of Alan Dershowitz these were so effectively refuted that she ended up withdrawing and then recanting one of the only two civil suits she actually brought.
Epstein killed himself, probably without the assistance of coconspirators (who as I mentioned earlier don’t exist, at least in the case of his sex crimes).
I was probably wrong and overexcited about possible “intelligence connections”. People have since casted doubt about the “belonged to intelligence” quote from Acosta by pointing out the fact that only once source, the Daily Wire, has ever reported it. I also did not know this at the time, but for his part Acosta himself denied that this reporting was accurate to OPR in their followup investigations in 2020. And there would be no reason for D.A. Acosta to lie about this—on the contrary, he would have screamed about it at the top of his lungs to everyone who accused him of misconduct, if Epstein being a cooperator was actually something that factored into it.
I think some part of me knew that the “Epstein’s intelligence connections got him out of his first conviction” was a ridiculous thing to believe at the time, but wanted to make the post more interesting and so put it in anyways. I apologize for letting my excitement get the better of me that way.
I still endorse everything in the addendum; Epstein having coordinated with or manipulated correctional staff, on his own, to give himself the opportunity to commit suicide is the most plausible theory I’ve heard for the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. And of course don’t take the organizational chart literally is good advice.
To be fair, does look like there were at least some commenters pointing out issues with the intelligence connections hypothesis: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/hurF9uFGkJYXzpHEE/a-non-magical-explanation-of-jeffrey-epstein?commentId=rsT3jNAYqj5uZzwSH
Two years after the post was written! Although, still, good on Lukas.
Oh, huh, indeed. Didn’t notice that 2 year gap.
Epstein’s benefactor co-founded the Mega Group, a target of American counterintelligence. Epstein’s partner-in-crime was the daughter of a billionaire famous for his lifelong entanglements with intelligence. The future head of Biden’s CIA visited Epstein, even after Epstein was convicted as a sex criminal. But these are regime secrets and he’s dead, so Trump’s bluff is safe.
None of those factoids are much evidence of anything, but I suppose I should be more specific: Epstein’s intelligence work (if he conducted any) probably had nothing to do with the lenient sentence Epstein received in 2008, which is what the OP claims.