The Epstein case has not only shocked the billionaire’s world, but also sparked countless political conspiracy theories.
Billionaire Elon Musk last month accused US President Donald Trump of being named in the “Epstein dossier”, referring to documents related to pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison six years ago.
“Time for the real bombshell: Trump is on the Epstein file. That’s why they won’t release it. Have a great day, DJT!” Musk wrote on June 5. DJT is Trump’s initials.
Musk’s post has once again stirred up public opinion in the US about Epstein. The disturbing facts and unverified doubts have turned the scandal of this billionaire pedophile into an obsession that has had a major impact on US politics.
US President Donald Trump at the airport in Morristown, New Jersey on July 6. Photo: AP
Jeffrey Epstein scandal
Epstein, born in 1953, is an American billionaire financier. He was accused of buying sex with a series of minors from 2002 to 2005 at mansions in Manhattan, New York state and Florida state. Epstein used his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell to recruit and manage young girls to serve his sexual needs.
He was indicted in 2006 after an investigation by the FBI and Florida police. Two years later, he reached a plea deal with a state court to avoid federal charges that could have resulted in a more serious prison sentence. Epstein pleaded guilty to two felony charges, including soliciting sex with a minor, and served 13 months in prison.
However, over the years, the Miami Herald published a series of articles revealing how the criminal justice system had favored Epstein, despite overwhelming evidence against the billionaire.
In July 2019, he was arrested by federal agents in New York on charges of trafficking dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, and having sex with them. The businessman faces 45 years in prison if convicted. Epstein has denied all charges and is being held in a Manhattan jail.
However, while awaiting trial, Epstein hanged himself in his jail cell in August 2019. The charges against Epstein were dropped, but the investigation and prosecution related to the incident continued with Maxwell as an accomplice.
Maxwell was sentenced in 2021 to 20 years in prison for helping the billionaire pedophile commit crimes for nearly a decade.
In early 2024, a federal court unsealed more than 900 pages of documents from a 2015 defamation lawsuit against Maxwell. Mr. Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew were named in the documents, known as the “Epstein Files,” but that does not mean they were guilty of wrongdoing, as the list included Epstein’s victims, witnesses, and partners.
The relationship between Mr. Trump and billionaire Epstein
Mr Trump and Epstein are said to have been friends for years, meeting regularly at high-society parties in New York and Florida. In a 2002 interview with New York magazine, Mr Trump described Epstein as a “wonderful person” he had known for 15 years.
“People even say he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are quite young,” Mr. Trump said at the time.
Mr. Trump and Epstein at a party in Mar-a-Lago, Florida in November 1992. Photo: NBC News
However, two years later, in November 2004, the two men competed to buy a property in Florida. Mr. Trump eventually won by making a higher bid.
Little is known about their relationship after that. Mr. Trump sold the property four years later to a Russian businessman, earning double what he paid for it.
Not long after the auction, Palm Beach police received reports of young women going in and out of Epstein’s home, according to a local police officer.
Four months later, police received a more serious complaint from a woman who said her teenage daughter had been paid to give Epstein nude massages, according to police records. The complaint prompted police to launch a wide-ranging investigation into Epstein.
When Epstein was arrested in 2019, Mr. Trump was in his first term as president. “I knew Epstein as well as a lot of people in Palm Beach knew him,” Mr. Trump said at the time. “I don’t think we’ve spoken in 15 years. I’m not a fan of his.”
During the 2024 election campaign, Mr. Trump announced that if he won, he would release more documents about the Epstein case, including the so-called “client list,” referring to people who visited one of the billionaire’s islands.
This pledge has led Trump supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement to believe that after returning to the White House, he will publicly expose the “heinous crimes” of Washington elites targeting children.
MAGA’s Anger
The Epstein case has long been a hotbed of conspiracy theories in the US, especially among the right-wing and MAGA movement, who have sought to point the finger at Democrats, citing former President Bill Clinton’s acquaintance with Epstein.
Liberals, meanwhile, have taken aim at the billionaire pedophile’s longtime friendship with Mr Trump, as well as Epstein’s suicide in prison during his first term.
After taking office as Attorney General in early February, Pam Bondi frequently mentioned the US Justice Department’s investigation into the Epstein case. She accused the previous administration of hiding a lot of relevant information and would make it all public, as President Trump promised during his campaign.
Trump’s most ardent MAGA supporters praised Bondi’s efforts, but they were disappointed when the Justice Department and the FBI released about 100 pages of “The Epstein File: Phase 1” that same month, much of which was identical to what had been declassified by a court in 2004.
Sources familiar with the matter said Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have assigned dozens of agents and prosecutors to prepare “The Epstein File: Phase 2,” but it is unclear when the next batch of documents will be released. Democrats quickly seized on the opportunity to push the Trump administration to release the full documents.
The Justice Department’s failure to release more information about Epstein and Musk’s June comments has drawn criticism from many Trump supporters, with some suggesting that something shady is being covered up.
Epstein’s “Phase 1” dossier was released in February. Photo: AFP
Mr Trump has urged his supporters to stop paying attention to the dossier, calling it a “boring” case. “I don’t understand why people are so interested or passionate about it,” he said.
The MAGA movement’s reaction became even more intense when the Justice Department and the FBI released a memo on July 7, concluding that there was no evidence that pedophile billionaire Epstein “made a client list” as many rumors had suggested.
The two-page memo confirmed that Epstein committed suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, consistent with a medical examiner’s findings, and found no evidence that Epstein was murdered.
They said the “Epstein dossier” did not contain enough evidence to warrant further investigations into other suspects. The videos of child sexual abuse found by investigators were not videos Epstein had filmed himself or his friends committing the crimes, but were downloaded by him, according to Bondi.
“I was angry, disappointed, and taken advantage of after going to the White House and being presented with a dossier that was all previously released information, but presented as ‘new Epstein documents,'” said far-right activist Jack Posobiec, a member of the MAGA movement. “They said there would be more information released. There was nothing.”
In the face of MAGA’s own backlash, the Trump administration has partially caved. Last week, the Justice Department asked a federal judge in New York to make public witness statements to the grand jury in Epstein’s prosecution. The request came after Trump authorized Bondi to “provide all relevant testimony.”
Experts say Mr Trump has gotten himself into trouble this time. “Mr Trump and others have made the mistaken assumption that they can promote conspiracy theories without facing any backlash. The Epstein case is a testament to how difficult it is to reverse a conspiracy theory once it has been launched,” said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University.
Conspiracy theorists warn that even if the Trump administration releases more information about Epstein, it will do little to quell the baseless rumors.
“For conspiracy theorists, no amount of evidence is enough,” said Josephine Lukito, who studies conspiracy theorists at the University of Texas at Austin.
