"The girls he had sex with were “tweens and teens,” Mr. Epstein told him."
An admission of statutory rape right there. I want all the other men who participate indicted.
52
Your headline is wrong. Epstein is a sex offender. Not "was". He's a registered sex offender for life. Get it straight!
215
“The culture before #MeToo was — ‘You’ve done your time, now you’re forgiven.’”
Really? There are that many convicted sex offenders on the NY social circuit?
37
Journalists: how thirsty are you that you keep referring to him as "handsome"?
38
A female physician with unimaginable money and connections in his inner circle...I hope someone really looks into her role.
51
George Stephanopoulos is simply not being candid with your reporter. It strains credulity he went to Epstein’s mansion for a party not knowing who he was. It seems more likely he thought he could fly under the radar for the opportunity to meet with Prince Andrew and friends privately....until he was caught. This is the same person that suspected President Clinton was having an affair with a teenager ( in Stephanopoulos’ office, no less, according to Lewimsky) and looked the other way.
45
Where are the #Metoo movement activist? Nowhere to be found... I hope the same women that fight against all female injustice and abuse in America would take the time to protest loud wearing "pink"! waiting outside the courthouse for Epstein to appear, calling all their SJW friends to make justice.
Very selective behavior. Noted.
14
Does anyone know if Dershowitz is still in investigators' cross hairs?
31
Good that the Times included pictures of some of Epstein's enablers. In addition to the pitchforks, it's time for public shaming. It's time to tell these abusers of all sorts, "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more!" And it's time the sold-out moralists on the right and the slumbering dupes in the bases woke up and got right with things.
21
Epstein's story exemplifies to perfection successful exploitation of the rather unsavoury Linkedin slogan "It's not what you know, it's who you know".
20
When Chelsea Handler asked Woody Allen how he and his wife met, what did Woody say:
a) “Well we met in the kitchen at first”
or
b) “Her mother introduced us, I think”
or
c) “We met in Xanadu...”
18
There is way more to the story than one can fathom! Blackmail is this man "special talent". Would give eyeteeth to watch some of these vips squirming.
27
The powerful welcomed him anyway because most of them have similar or other equally problematic-at-best proclivities.
The richer or more politically connected you are, the easier it is to get away with unethical, even criminal behavior. For longer periods of transgressing. Therefore, there is a high likelihood that the ranks of the powerful have a higher concentration of unethical, even criminal persons than the general population, and I'm not talking small stuff.
These people also network and collaborate, for generations. That's what we saw from Brett Kavanaugh's background, for example; generations of privileged scions getting away with seriously bad behavior with law enforcement looking the other way and "lesser" people also doing so because they know what would happen to their lives if they spoke up.
It's a perfect illustration of the difference between conspiracy and collusion. These highly flawed powerful people don't meet in a back room and plan out how they're going to continue to flout or misuse the law with impunity. All they have to do, at least, is look out for each other when things go awry. Scratch each other's back.
Incidentally, the history of our country has led to the highest concentration of such institutional moral corruption being in the current Republican Party (a lot of them flipped party in the 60s), though both parties have it because it's mostly about money and power, not political ideology. Epstein just got so arrogant that he outted himself.
34
does anyone see the adjacent problem of American universities such as Harvard are so dependent I'm rich donations from anyone the comes off the street? That Harvard cannot sustain itself by the exorbitant fees paid by students and the US government, and all the donations of the alumni?! But they are very unproductive sycophants?!
27
As epitomizing American Culture as Donald Trump is. Life in the "greed is good" era of the Reagan Restoration. All kinds of greed.
17
‘Due diligence’? George Stephanopoulos or Katie Couric could have googled Epstein and in minutes knew exactly who he was...and their profession is ‘journalism’.
50
It is part of a cult. Similar protective measures of cult 'members' kept abuses by Roman Catholic priests concealed. In my experience, an organization with 'civic duty' pledges kept silent about a man who sexually abused young boys where I lived in their 'village/orphanage' between 1956 and 1958.
18
In a country where money is a protected form of free speech, I’m not surprised at all. Disgusted and angry? Yes.
29
The reference to this contingent as "the top of New York society," as the writer Candance Bushnell is quoted as having done, is a misnomer. These individuals represent the lowest echelons of our culture -- vulgar, corrupt, shameless and striving. The fawning respect regularly accorded these individuals, including by newspapers such as the NYT in its society pages, should be turned on its head. When is "class" going to be connected to character?
44
Why did he recently return to the US? He must have known he was going to be arrested.
7
There is a rather wonderful moment in the rather fine 2018 film, Marry Shelly. Confronting Lord Byron on the crass seduction and abandonment of her sister elicits something like this response: "When a girl is before a grown man ... well, he has no choice." Mary shoots back, "There is always a choice."
We set high ideals for our selves and when we fail, we can always blame our baser natures as humans. Yet isn't that the thing about being human? We have a choice to be better than our natures. Perhaps money renders it a moot point.
18
Luke 12:15 Then he(Jesus)said to them, "“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
How especially appropriate for these times. Epstein might
get a chance to actually receive these words of wisdom , while serving life in prison
11
And YET - we still have a self proclaimed predator in the White House. Go figure - I guess Franklin Graham will support Epstein because - well - his god approves of such actions or at least if those people can get you power.
22
All of the "socialist democrats" welcomed him as he is a huge democrat donor.
7
How incredibly brazen Epstein was to name his super jet "Lolita Express"
31
Yes the fall of Rome.....
11
Chelsea Handler, Katie Couric...George Stepanoupolis having dinner at his home after he was arrested and spent prison time for raping underage girls. What else happened. Where is the investigation into them...
17
One look at his smug mien, which belies a massive ego and sense of entitlement, it would be fun to let him know just how revolted and disgusted those young girls and women felt at having his old, wrinkly, perverted self upon them.
17
Attn: Leon Botstein
Please donate those dirty dollars ...
Suggestion: https://www.ecpatusa.org or similar organization
Signed: Julia Smull Lennen, class of 1975.
8
It is sickening to read the forgiveness and ignoring the facts these elitist, academics and universities have towards Epstein considering the ethical and moral depravity of even one charge with sex with a minor. They would do a background check on an applicant for a position as a maid in their household and eliminate any candidate with a felony. There would never be forgiveness for a crime committed a decade earlier, for stealing a purse while addicted to drugs, convicted of a felony along with a prison term and no crimes in the decade after release. That individual lives with the stain committed in their youth throughout their lives. The people who observed young girls following Epstein around, his young groupies, and never thought anything about it? It is no wonder the country is so screwed up, my Mother would have known why and what was going on and called Epstein's out on it. My Mother had convictions and fought for the vulnerable her entire life, she was a real leader and intellect.
17
I think Epstein's bail hearing tomorrow will speak volumes about where we are in the buying of American justice. It's been reported that authorities raided his home and found photographs of young girls posing with prominent figures in various political, academic and bussiness circles. If that evidence is surpressed or considered of no consequence, while the posting of mansions and private planes as bail is granted, we'll know that wealth and privilege in the US isn't bound by any laws, morals, or decency.
37
People are surprised? The affluent and business community have always operated on a different plain then us. How many CEO's when to prison that were involved in the financial debacle in the mid 2000's? USA puts the ordinary or average person in prison than affluent. White collar crime s not considered a crime in this country if done at a higher level. The question should be asked was or is this going on at places like Mar Largo
35
Just wondering if this will end up being bigger than the Catholic Church scandal.
18
@NICHOLS COURT
Very similar: multi- continent pedophilia ring. Let's hope justice this time doesn't take as long.
16
Great article NYT the readers informed its readers in a well balanced and thoughtful manner
11
It is a red flag when the publicity is big and the charitable amounts seem less than stellar. I also wonder where is the money coming from for a person who seems so cash-poor to have so many travel options and real estate. I think there is a lot more to this story than sex and trafficking scandal.
25
@Mark NOVAK - yes there's a lot of info out there on Epstein. Flight logs, his passengers, his personal phone book (92pg) just google it. Jeffrey Epstein/92pagephonebook for starters.
10
From the Dennison Men's Clothiers, Route 22, Union, New Jersey commercial on WABC radio in the 60s: Money talks, nobody walks.
4
Notably missing from this article is that Prince “Randy” Andy was also accused by at least one of Mr. Epstein’s underage girls of having sex with her multiple times on the Island. In doing some research, I have found her accounts to be credible.
26
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A photo, from last week’s state dinner for the Emir of Qatar, put an explanation point on how this administration feels about sexual trafficking, etc. Seated at the head table next to Christine LaGarde as Robert Kraft.
23
In America Money speaks Volumes. It does not matter what side of the aisle you smooze. Open your Wallet and you become the "Big Man on Campus" Now they are all running away from his association.
8
The attitudes of many of the commenters regarding bail is just as disturbing as the behavior Epstein is accused of.
The comments vividly illustrate the depths to which mobs quickly descend.
Everybody gets bail----everybody, unless the government can show compelling evidence you're not going to show up or a few other well defined exceptions. Epstein has not been convicted and he is facing mere allegations.
I don't believe the reporter, I don't believe the girls and I don't believe prosecutors. The case is too perfect.
Rich people have to put up with haters in general. I don't envy the rich people I know for that reason. Jealously is an evil, consuming emotion. That's what I'm seeing.
4
Envy is likely a factor, but the fact facing law enforcement is that Epstein is a huge flight risk. Bail isn’t an unqualified right. When a defendant is likely not to appear in court, is extremely dangerous, is likely to flee, etc, he can be held without bail. The man owns a jet and a private island, for goodness sake. How easy would it be for him to fly away to a country that doesn’t extradite, thereby evading prosecution potentially forever? They already caught him on a flight back from France, which is where child rapist Roman Polanski has lived for years as known fugitive...
38
The “mere allegations” Mr. Epstein is facing are for sex with children. And with his means he is absolutely a flight risk. This has nothing to do with “jealousy”: this predator (who has already been found guilty) needs to be locked up until his trial and, if convicted, face serious jail time.
48
@Steve The record is clear and unambiguous: Mr. Epstein shows up for court.
Epstein had all of the assets you mentioned last time and he showed up. I think Epstein wants to get into court. We now know the allegations, let's see what they can prove, let's take a look at who is making the allegations. What if accusers have motives to fabricate, histories of lying, allegations that are empty and can be proven false.
Prosecutors have long histories of filing charges they can't prove.
I like Epstein's chances against these people. I like them a lot.
Why is this story top story for a fortnight?
The guy likes young girls. Yes it’s against the law but probably a lot of men are the same. He went too far but does he deserve to be publically crucified?
I’m not condoning his behaviour but this smack of the morality police probably fuelled by feminist zealotry.
7
@Leejesh
Sexually preying on Children.
Most people find preying on children sick.
For you, it's not really a big deal?
I'll stick with the majority on this one. I want my country to raise strong and healthy children.
45
@Leejesh
This is a FACT: once a pediphile, always a pediphile.
It's been proven over and over. There is no treatment for them.
They will continue to abuse children and young girls because
they CAN'T stop.
And they will go to any means to coverup their sexual addiction.
So if the court lets this guy out, knowing full well he will continue harming girls,
then they should face prosecution as well.
12
You may not be aware of the facts. It is alleged that he was a kingpin of a sex trafficking ring that operated for decades, also supplying minors to very influential people, that includes British royalty and perhaps even a former US President...it may also involve blackmail. This may be just getting started...
15
I will guess that few of these big wigs would ever step into the places of town on the wrong side of the tracks, unless there is gentrification going on, or come within 15 feet of a street begger, yet they embrace anyone who's rich and famous, even a rapist.
9
Money is power. Look at certain African countries where the corruption is a given. Look at the Perfumo Scandal in the UK. Forward to The Kennedy administration, and later with Ted, and various other male Kennedys. Refresh the names of Gary Hart or Jon Edwards. Bill Clinton would be obvious. Al Franken, the list just run on and on.
Why is Alan Dershowitz being so quiet?
8
Somehow the fact that statutory RAPES are at work here seems to get buried in all this glitz! these girls and their families deserve better, how about focusing on THEM and locking him up!
24
The headline needs an update. He *is* a sex offender. Present tense. They welcome him. Present tense.
26
I’ve met awful men like this over the years and their openly stated motto is “you’re only as old as the girl you feel”. They don’t hide it but laugh openly about it because they know they are untouchable and society considers the girls disposable.
28
Nothing new, the narcissist bone spur fellow has received billions from his financial buddies to run his campaign after he was exposed as sexual abuser and predator. Now he lives on Pennsylvania Ave.
27
A "renaissance man" who posted "amateurish" websites and "often misspelled" the name of the Harvard professor, Martin A. Nowak. His twisted sense of viewing himself as merely "an offender" rather than a sexual predator is disturbing.
He continued to con and misrepresent himself among various influential, powerful and academic individuals all the while he was abusing underage girls.
He reminds me of something I read one time:
All that is gold glitters, but all that glitters is not gold.
The more I read about him, the I find his mindset and behavior despicable.
I truly think Julie Brown should receive a Pulitzer for her dogged coverage of this horrific story.
42
The celebrities that have been named only had regret when they received a call from the New York Times about their activities.
20
Donating other people's money to prop up his brand...publicity stunts and fake plaudits...multiple charges of sexual assault...mysterious sources of purported wealth...this all sounds very familiar! Jeffrey Epstein for President 2020...there appear to be 60M plus American voters who would vote for a guy like this.
20
A big con by a narcissist who doesn’t have as much money as he says he does. Sound familiar?
31
Do we think the inmates at San Quentin would be as forgiving as the oligarchs in this article?
6
@Lawrence Garvin,
San Quentin is a state prison. Epson will be in a federal prison.
1
"The Powerful Welcomed Him Anyway."
Come on. The Times' class warfare is in overdrive. Mr Trump banned Mr Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. And, many powerful other folks avoided him.
In fact, the folks who stood by Epstein were the exceptions. These folks included Alan Dershowitz and Bill Clinton.
5
@Amy Bone spurs banished him over a bad business deal not over the man's peccadillos. Molestation good; disagreement over a business deal bad.
12
Factually THERE IS NO EVIDENCE HE WAS BANNED FROM MARALAGO and Miami Herald has published photos and videos of Trump& Epstein TOGETHER AT WHITE HOUSE February 2018!
6
Just take a closer look of Mr. Epstein's friends and acquaintances and you may discover that the secret of his success is catering forbidden fruit to the rich and powerful.
There is not argument in nature that birds of a feather flock together, humans flock together based on their hobbies and pass times, orgies, bacchanals, swinging and extreme partying attract the same minded group of folks, those wealthy and connected friends that have helped and covered for him, did it because of what Mr. Epstein brought to the party.
12
There's really not much difference between the morals of Epstein and Donald Trump. Both are abusers and unabashed self promoters.
20
Money takes care of money? And maybe, too, we all find it hard to believe the worst about people we like and easy to believe the worst of people we don't? This makes corruption and sexism and racism much more dangerous with its us and them views of the world.
4
I hope that the NYT will find a way to write a companion piece to this article about what most sex offenders go through. It is always a good time to think about what our nation’s extensive sex offender registry does and does not accomplish. For most sex offenders, having to register for as long as 15 years to a lifetime creates a burden on the them that allows few to rejoin society. It boggles the mind that Jeffrey Epstein was allowed to fly all over the world as a registered sex offender. Most people on the sex offenders’ registry must ask for permission to leave their residences for any extended amount of time. Furthermore, the violation of the terms of their registry invalidates all plea agreements and returns the offender to their original sentence. That Epstein was found with child pornography is a clear violation of his sex offender status. Please find a reporter to profile a sex offender living under a bridge in Miami because no one will rent to him, or a family that feared reporting sexual abuse because they knew it would destroy the life of a brother, cousin or stepfather, or a person who was convicted of a sex offense at the age of 17 for having consensual sex with a 15 year old. People in these situations live as pariahs for decades while Epstein cavorts around the world. A true pedophile, the thing the registry was created to control, will always re-offend, so we must ask what is the registry good for if it had no effect on Epstein at all?
17
Donald Trump and Jeffery Epstein have an awful lot in common (pun intended). The conspicuous difference is Trump has not been indited...yet.
11
Rich, powerful, and celebrities, think they are entitled to get whatever they want, by any means. It's how many, if not most, successful men, behave. They all attend same parties, go on vacation together, and play golf in foursomes. Women are toys for them, not fellow human beings.
7
Just like with Michael Jackson - if you’ve got money, people will overlook everything else.
14
George Stephanopoulos says that he should have done more due diligence on his host of the 2010 dinner party attended by celebrities and guest of honor Prince Andrew.
George, what kind of “due diligence” were you going to do? And are you now conducting due diligence on the hosts/hostesses of every event you attend?
I don’t believe knowing the background of the party giver is the issue. The real question to ask yourself is “why am I attending this event?” If your goal is because it will contribute to your personal wealth and worth, maybe you should rethink your use of your time. Would it not have been of more value to spend an evening with your family? Or reading a great book, seeing a good film, attending a concert, speaking at a town hall, etc.?
9
In USA, the 21st century motto should "if you can fake it with sincerity, you can make?"
7
I wonder how many trump supporters are comfortable with the knowledge that trump and epstein used to hang out together.
7
@Paul Wertz Oh they're still comfortable with him and will vote for him again. It's the christian family values thing that always seems to get overlooked. And apparently those in the senate have no qualms about this behavior either. Hypocrisy reigns with the GOP.
9
Underneath loads of $$, are often people who elbow others out of the way, lie, cheat, abuse and destroy.
I hope Epstein is kept out of general society for life. He is an example of the worst kind of rot from the inside to the outside, rewarded all the way along by a society who thinks a rich person deserves it. Often they do not.
Don't be dazzled by that kind of wealth.
Be dazzled by hard work, compassion, and dedication to moral integrity.
17
Does Epstein planting fake and exaggerated news stories about himself and his philanthropy to elevate his status in elite social circles remind you of anyone else....a certain "John Barron", maybe?
Trump and Epstein grow more alike with each new revelation.
14
Pedophiles are a tight knit group, based mostly on their predilections for underage children. With Mr. Epstein, we are seeing that when you add prestigious positions, socially prominent friends, and millions of dollars into that group, their sense of invincibility grows exponentially. Mr. Epstein could have, and should have been criminally held accountable back in 2007. That he was not only enlarged his sense of invincibility until the Miami Herald uncovered and published his trail of attempted facades from 2007 until now. Hopefully justice delayed is not justice denied.
12
How could he teach math without a college degree?
15
@lorraine
A similar rhetorical question should be asked of how could a person who never held public office be elected president?
11
It's disturbing how the media acts as enabler when the subject is part of the high society crowd.
As recently as last week major media was calling Epstein a billionaire. He's still referred to as "brilliant", a math whiz, a genius with money-- just because prominent people said that about him. Is there some peer-reviewed publication of Epstein's that show his wizardry and brilliance? No, but these tags just get repeated.
He's certainly a proven con man and a predator. Why not just use those appellations?
17
First thing that crossed my mind when this went down, especially when you see the cast of characters on the periphery, is the term honeypot. So, taking that into consideration, and coupling it with a country that exerts an inordinate amount of control over other foreign governments, like the United States and England, and presto, secret negotiations, backroom agreements, and behold, investigations terminated, charges lowered, sentencing softened. What else is new?
4
They don't know a 10 million dollar donation to Epstein came from? Seriously? When I try to deposit 500$ in cash in my bank account they want my drivers license.
25
Most Americans work hard to achieve their goals. In fact, they work so hard keeping their noses to the grindstone that they don't have time to attack the least among us, including raping tweens. Yet, the connected few, who get away with horrific crimes, make more connections and move out and up in society. Maybe, the rich and powerful should look in their guilted mirrors and select colleagues for integrity, not glitz and wealth. My son went to school with a male student, who represented generations of wealth on both sides of his lineage. He told my son, "It is not what you believe or do, it is what you own." Epstein's clique members evidently didn't care what he did but what he owned.
17
And Epstein will have a Ken Lay style “heart attack” in 3,2,1......
12
Jeffrey Epstein in Shanghai but with 'Chinese characteristics.'
"Chinese billionaire tycoon Wang Zhenhua formally charged with child sexual abuse. State broadcaster shows 57-year-old former chairman of Future Land Development behind bars in Shanghai detention centre
49-year-old woman, identified only as Zhou and accused of procuring girls, is charged with same offense.
Zhou is a 49-year-old woman identified earlier as having taken two girls, aged nine and 12, to a five-star hotel in Shanghai, where Wang, the 57-year-old former chairman of Hong Kong-listed property firm Future Land Development, is said to have been waiting." (South China Morning Post).
8
The inmates at San Quentin wouldn't have been so forgiving.
6
One wonders, had the victims been boys, would this have been gotten away with for so long, with the imprimatur of our recently resigned Secretary of Labor? Female children suddenly accrue assumptions of increased age and maturity when they are exploited and defiled, by this society and law enforcement.
13
@Carol Lawson sure. Like the Catholic Church got right on it. 50+ years for some of these alter boy cases.
7
Seems that the robber barons of an earlier age were somewhat circumscribed by more generous government programs that limited the overall effect of individual donations and values.
When government funds programs in science and education and medicine, the standards are a matter of public scrutiny. But when rich people use their money to inflate their egos, their interests are usually not the public good.
The moral is, government should take more money from the super rich to reflect our morals.
12
That was quite an impressive non-sequitur.
I wonder how one is supposed to treat a person who has served a prison sentence for anything. Are these individuals to be shunned and become social outcasts for the rest of their lives? Does it depend upon the crime(s) they committed?
4
Depends if the criminal used money, power, connections, influence to get a lenient sentence. If so then justice still needs to be done.
10
In my experience-based opinion, anyone who has willfully done sexual/psychological damage to children absolutely deserves shunning.
13
The only question is why hasn't this billionaire already been appointed to a Trump cabinet position? He has all the requisite qualities.
31
@JCX
...and why hasn't Hillary hitched her wagon to him yet?
2
Of course the rich and powerful welcomed him…money has no morals.
17
These people, or att least come of them, may be rich but they all come across as bored lazy grifters. With too much time on their hands and needing to find their dinners someplace they will accept invitations from anyone supposed to have some measure of prestige.
Try inviting them to a Liike League dinner somewhere away from the coasts. They’d rather starve. Those are their principles.
7
Speechless. His victims didn't stand a chance.
14
"A former Arizona teacher has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the lowest possible sentence allowed for her crime, after pleading guilty to molesting a 13-year-old student."
See how that works?
33
@RonRich
facts, law, witness credibility, and confessions ("after PLEADING GUILTY") matter too.
See how that works?
@GMooG
Not sure what your point is. Are you suggesting that if Epstein is found guilty, he will receive a sentence similar to a teacher.....20 years in prison?
1
Very interesting how Mr Epstein's case plays out in comparison to Brittany Zamora, the Arizona teacher who has been convicted of having sexual relations with one of her 13 yr old male students, arrested in 2018, has been sentenced to "20-years". That was quick and is a minimum sentence. Is that sentence justice for a 27 year old teacher and a tween?
The fact that we as a society (and in the media) derive such pleasure from being "hard on crime" is just the flip side of the coin. In America justice is for losers. Gee, I can almost hear a certain someone of high office saying that.
24
It just gets worse and worse. I hope, now, justice prevails and this man goes to prison for the rest of his sorry life for what he's done to hundreds, maybe thousands, of teen-age girls entrapped in his depraved web.
And the woman doctor? She 'didn't know'? She had been close friends and 'didn't know'? The gate-keeper didn't know? All is forgiven? The scientists at the conference, with their observation of young women following him around (reminds me of Khaddafi and his women) seemed to know something was wrong. But they still took his money.
Wealth. Power. Corruption. These people should be ashamed.
20
The rich “and their vast carelessness,” as Fitzgerald put it. As long as you have the means, you’re okay.
20
As a society, we should do better at stopping such people early on, before they have assaulted and raped and traumatized hundreds upon hundreds of vulnerable children and young people. Such an effort would include educating all children and youth about their rights under the law, what behavior is illegal and/or wrong, what actions on the part of strangers or acquaintances might lead to harm, how to respond when someone crosses lines, and how to report abuse to the authorities. Let us not let abusers off the hook so easily; someone's orgasm weighed in balance against the life of a child should be an easy call. Why isn't it?
10
There’s a painting from the famous artist Rembrandt from 1635, The kidnapping of Ganymede. Don’t think for a second that this stuff is a modern day thing.
5
And will everyone who accepted his donations now be returning the money?
17
Conclusion: Money talks, not charm, brains or anything else. If you have money and spend it lavishing to entertain the "right people" and donate enough to recognized institutions or causes you can get away with anything and be accepted anywhere, regardless of any criminal record or activity, including rape, pedophilia and general over-all perversion.
20
In the meantime the rich and powerful made their fame and fortune by labeling all poor and black Americans as predators and jailing them for profit. Then they sipped champagne and partied with people they knew were real predators. Now they walk around pretending they are the champion of poor people by protecting illegal immigrants whom they can exploit for cheap labor and human trafficking. They are sickening.
28
It isn't not surprising that the so called elite associated with Epstein. New York City is a place where everything is transactional. You scratch my back and some day maybe I'll scratch yours.
19
I guess the authors of this gossip aarticle suggests that everyone shun this guy, as implied by the article title. I'm not suggestingc he should have been let off, not sought therapy, etc. But if you were in the same situation every schadenfreudian reader would spin thier story and contact friends to re-integrate. Come on ...
1
Capitalism is turning out just as Stalin predicted.
13
@Kristen. Dante would put Epstein in one of the lowest levels of the inferno, but would place Stalin in the mouth of Satan.
2
You really have to read this NY Times article apparently the result of the reporter interviewing Epstein.
It is presented in the vein of
"Mr. Epstein has embarrassed himself by committing quite the faux pas."
This how seriously the issue was taken in 2008.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/business/01epstein.html
9
@LibertyLover
This article is a good find - thank you. I am amazed that the prosecutors were able to overlook sex with a 14-year old (and not look for others) and allow pleading guilty to sex with a 17-year old.
7
@Mike
It's much worse than that. The US Attorney's office was working WITH the defense to lie to the victims, telling them the federal case against Epstein was ongoing, when in fact they had already made a sweetheart deal with Epstein. They should be disbarred.
Read the whole sorry story here:
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000169-11f3-d0be-adfb-75fff4490000
3
It appears that big shot Democrats, liberals and progressives can forgive even repeat sex offenders such as Epstein as long as he shows them the money when they come calling.
6
My recollection is that Acosta,who let him off, is a Republican
14
The same bunch who are using Trump's "Migrant Protection Protocol" to send young women and girls seeking asylum in America into one of the most dangerous parts of Mexico while they await their hearings. Is money changing hands for those "bagels", too?
9
Consider this: when a NYC’s St Vincent public hospital, serving the very poor, was having financial problems because the poor lacked HC insurance - and the ACA was about to be approved- billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg closed it down and sold the space to his real estate pal who immediately tore it down and put a super luxury tower, compete with a $50 million penthouse sold to foreigners who needed to launder money. The lack of morality by Bloomberg was precious.
This is the background where Epstein was a socialite / financial genius with others like himself who have yet to be reckoned with. At about this time, there were a number of rabbis who got caught laundering money for “charities” and selling human organs. It’s all bout money. So, it’s not surprising that Bill Clinton would be involved in this sordid tableaux as well.
16
I’ve always made the argument that when history looks back Bloomberg did more damage to this city than Rudi who I couldn’t stand!!!!!!
7
Bloomberg thought he was above the law.
—changing term limits
—ridiculous deal for Related for Hudson Yards without the developer being on the hook for the infrastructure and HUGE payments to the MTA
Bloomberg was fired from Solomon Bros and should have been fired from everything he did after including his namesake company.
11
@Steve Been saying that for years, couldn't agree more. And deBlahsio following suit and courting big developers.
3
Here we go again...like Harvey Weinstein power, wealth and celebrity protected Jeffrey Epstein for years. In both cases the" Inner Circle" turned a blind eye as the victims quietly suffered after the abuse. Even worse for the " tweens and teens" who are the most vulnerable when preyed upon by a powerful, wealthy predator.
Shame on you the " Inner Circle!" You are known by the company you keep, you knew this guy violated young girls- children. This is a sad and sick story that now involves you. Your wealth, power and celebrity will not change that.
13
And we think it's the trumpists who were conned, We are all chumps now.
4
Thinking of this mess. He obviously has staff at all these sex dens. Probably hundreds who work for him. The construction workers, electricians, security people, household help etc. Has he paid them all off? And then, the teens and tweens? Where did they come from? Where are they now? Has he kidnapped or killed them? And what's with all high security equipment he supposedly has. Something stinks big time. So many questions. Some reputable reporter's need to be on this asap. That one gal could use some help I'm sure. Of course we can't trust the government when it comes to this guy. Too many friends in high places.
7
@karen
Go to gawker.com and look at Epstein's 92 page phonebook from 2004-2005. It's mind blowing all the people he had on staff at each one of his many residences around the world that were on call to procure, schedule and deliver him hundreds of girls. There are hundreds of girls phone numbers, names listed in there too.
1
it is said and i feel it is true that your company tells a lot about you. over an extended period if some
people show a clear preference for sleazy characters. how ever good they smell and look, they are sleeze too. pelosis daughter is right
6
@T D CHANDRASEKHAR: In another story I read that Epstein's long time 'girlfriend' (whatever that means), who knew all and helped him find children to have sex with, went to Chelsea Clinton's wedding. Of course, both Clintons went to Trump's wedding to Third Wife and Chelsea was a good friend with Ivanka. Both fathers of Chelsea and Ivanka are accused rapists and sexual offenders. Trump has been accused by a 13 year old who was taken to Epstein's lair where she says she was raped by Trump who then threatened her life and the life of her family if she 'told'. She filed suit and it was proceeding in 2016 when she suddenly dropped it, saying she had been threatened and was frightened.
Bill Clinton supposedly took over twenty flights on Epstein's plane and though he denies anything and everything, I don't believe him at all. We know who he is.
What an interweaving of despicable lives.
6
This article explains why Trump is President: Because Americans confuse wealth with worth, celebrity with competence, and place both wealth and celebrity above everything else including morals. Pedophiles are only a problem if they are not wealthy and not white. But you gotta give it to Chelsea Handler. I want her show back!
14
As with the Catholic Church, so with Epstein.
In the “church,” accused child rapists are turned over only to church authorities, not to the police. This is as far as Francis is willing to go. Francis and the others in the hierarchy who thus protect Rapists of Children are accessories to those rapes.
In the Epstein case, I wonder in particular about Barr, who has known Epstein for decades. It was Barr’s father gave Epstein a teaching job at the exclusive Dalton School even though Epstein had no college degree. Why? Barr’s law firm defended Epstein in his earlier trial. Why? Barr, a widely respected former AG, shamelessly lobbied for the AG job under Trump and has bizarrely and inappropriately acted as Trump’s consigliere, even as the new Epstein stories were bubbling to the surface. Why?
What does Epstein know about Barr’s family? About Trump?
I hope some fine journalists at the Times are investigating the Barr connections to Epstein.
17
Epstein-Barr Syndrome is a real thing.
8
You say "Jeffrey Epstein Was a Sex Offender. The Powerful Welcomed Him Anyway," but so what?
Trump was (is?) a serial sexual abuser, but this country, with the help of some of the most conservative groups like the evangelicals, elected him President!
9
Very interesting! How about a follow up article on the tens of thousands of children that are being sexually abused this very second on the streets of New York. LA, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and other cities throughout the Country? Epstein is a blip on the screen and infinitely small potatoes compared to the aggregate pimps on the street. Who are the faceless millions paying the pimps and prostitutes? Won't sell any papers, will it?
3
Would love to see some follow up to the Robert Kraft story, too. I know, I know, he didn't personally traffic anyone, so where's the harm, right?
6
All cultures and societies have their pecking orders and screens for social mobility. It just so happens that in the US it is money. It is clear to anyone who reads much about global history that money itself has nothing to do with integrity, morality, leadership or any other human quality that most of us champion. It just buys "stuff" and for some, it buys position, self-worth and, yes, even sex. American's are so crude it is shameful. No matter how much money you have when you are dead, you are dead.
6
we should welcome back people who have served their sentence. however that assumes that the sentance was appropriate for the offense and that they worked toward rehabilitation.
but that doesn't seem to have happened here. i dont faukt the other people for his problems. i blame Epstein and people like Acosta.
3
This is probably a petty observation, but who on earth wears blue jeans to court?! My guess is the dude could’ve afforded a decent blazer and some chinos, if not a suit. Is there anything about Epstein that isn’t tacky and nauseating? I guess he and Trump really are peas in a pod. That smug grin... I need some Dramamine.
6
Would the powerful still have welcomed him after being branded a sex offender if it had been boys as young as 14 that he had sexually abused?
5
I wonder if there is even one other person that banned Epstein from their properties because he was a molester?
The only reason this story resurfaced was because Democrats thought they could use it against Trump.
They were successful in taking out Acosta, who seemed to be the only person that actually wanted to convict Epstein of something.
Perhaps burning one of their largest donors in their attempt to get Trump seemed worth it. Their TDS blinded them from the fact that Epstein’s buddies were all powerful Democrats.
Epstein will slip and fall and accidentally die while in prison.
Democrats are very good at opening cans of worms that will crawl right back onto them.
2
Amazing how Ken Starr was so outraged by Clinton behavior, and yet more than willing to defend a serial child rapist. Why does morality have to be so situational with so many people? It is much like Evangelical Christians spouting the doctrine until it is inconvenient for them to hold to it.
21
One article said that there were CD's in the mansion with two people's names on them, suggesting that Epstein had videos of these third parties having sex and could have blackmailed his guests. Was Epstein into cocaine? If his guests were doing cocaine at Epstein's house, then they could have been blackmailed for that too. He might have been able to blackmail his guests just for smoking pot at his house.
4
Money, the root of all evil! Need I say more.
5
@Mack
the quote is "the LOVE of money is the root of all evil."
3
"Jeffrey Epstein Was a Sex Offender. The Powerful Welcomed Him Anyway."
And so it goes. Many of the powerful who disdained trump and could never find a good word to say about him turned on a dime and not only welcomed but fawned on him the minute he became more powerful than they.
Corruption has always existed and the indicator of a society's health is how it handles it. In our society it has its tentacles on the very highest level of government. The chain linking Epstein to Acosta to trump is but one part of a what is likely to be a much more extensive web of connections.
The trump network, far from draining the swamp, has swamped the drain.
Decline and fall.
00:30 EDT, 7/14
9
If every sex offender were ignored by the rich and powerful then they would have no one to talk to.
In my experience, lawyers are loathe to do anything that rocks the bar association boat. For two of them to accuse one as prominent as Dershowitz is noteworthy.
14
In the recent complaint against Jeffrey Epstein it mentions that there are 2 un-indicted co-conspirators. Who could they be?
10
@David
And why in his earlier plea deal were all co-conspirators given protection?
I keep wondering about Barr. His father gave Epstein the teaching job when Epstein had no degree. Why? Barr’s law firm defended Epstein the last time. Why? Barr bizarrely lobbied for the AG job, then has acted as Trump’s personal protector. Why?
What secrets do Epstein and Trump know about Barr?
12
@Franco51
It seems like the same circle of names keeps coming up--Clinton, Barr, Epstein, Trump, more...seems like this is about to come to a head. It was a tight group in NYC but I feel like some more shocking revelations are about to come out.
“Though Mr. Epstein never attended Harvard or even got a college degree….He found Harvard’s doors open to him once he opened his wallet, with donations starting in the early 1990s that eventually totaled at least $7.5 million.”….”Mr. Epstein, a former math teacher, even popped up for lunchtime discussions among scientists at a Harvard cafeteria,….”
“ By 2014, a page appeared on the website for Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, the initiative Mr. Epstein had financed 11 years earlier with a $6.5 million donation (and a pledge of $23.5 million more that never came).”….” A Harvard spokesman said he did not know who was responsible for the page, which has since been removed.”
Harvard University, is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Trump University was an American for-profit education company that ran a real estate training program from 2005 until 2010. It was owned and operated by The Trump Organization.
At what point will these two institutions become indistinguishable?
5
Yes, the Democrats never discriminate.
1
‘Justice is blind’
Ha!
That’s a good one. Tell me another.
4
Who else are they going to be dealing with?
2
All the websites and online articles were likely designed - in part - to try to push search results about his conviction down in the rankings. IE search on Epstein’s name and you’ll have to go through a couple pages before you see anything about him being a sex offender.
9
@Pete
Who still uses IE?
@Pete: Wow.....thank you for that information. We naive people need to be reminded how the world really works. If you've conned the money and blackmailed people, you can keep the con and evil going.
Thank goodness for Julie Brown at the Miami Herald. She is a hero. May she stay safe.
5
Oh Brooklyn I cry for you. So many low life’s have soiled your great history.
Many thanks to my parents, long dead, and the many men and women and institutions of Brooklyn who educated me, formed a moral conscience and led me to a life of complete satisfaction and service to his fellow man.
4
Wonder how many he shared his "tweens and teens" with. Methinks that might be the real reason they welcomed him back. Perhaps the Times needs do a bit more digging?
10
“...the story of Mr. Epstein and his social circles shows how some people were willing to welcome back — or at least give a pass to — a handsome rich man who had been convicted of a crime involving a minor.”
The “story?” Why didn’t it break years ago? It’s nice that the NYT is belatedly doing it now, but it’s only a rehash of what should have publicly come before. The facts were all there. It just took a little digging. Rather than do its investigative research in a timely manner, however, the NY media attended his functions and helped spread the lies he told about himself, and everyone fell for it except maybe for Trump of all people, who apparently, kicked the guy out years ago. How the NYT would like to be able to tar him with it, but instead it has become mired in the tar patch itself along with the rest of the NY media by not doing its job in the first place. That’s the saddest part.
3
How many Epsteins are out there getting away with it? Probably quite a few with high society and celeb media choosing to look the other way.
5
The elite knew. Multiple Harvard Admin and faculty do not spend so much time with a man who wasnt even a student of theirs without some quid pro quo going on. And all the pals Epstein helped out are squirming. Its painful and nauseating to watch. All are tainted with the stink of elite cavorting from one coast to the other, and beyond. Our betters are anything but. Perhaps its time to rehabilitate our country. Perhaps its time to fight the income inequality that has caused the elite in this country to get this corrupt. Bernie/Warren 2020. Neither of them are involved in these creepy secret societies.
9
The Epstein saga is the biggest scandal in our lifetime. It is going to incorporate people on both sides of the aisle. I did read elsewhere they Epstein was under 'intelligence' control. Who knows?
NYT should be at the forefront of this scandal and do its level best to expose any and all who knew what Epstein was doing, or if they were heavily involved as well. The young girls who were the victims deserve justice.
But at the same time, I am reading that liberal sites and media are already trying to keep the Clintons' name out of this scandal. What does that say about them?
7
The liberal news media doesn’t want to spend time and effort investigating their buddies. Now if Republicans were involved, that would be an entirely different story.
4
Care to cite a source for the claim about the "liberal news media"? I have seen the Clintons' names in every article I've read.
9
So, Bard president Botstein admits he accepted "an unsolicited $50,000 in 2011 for its high schools, followed later that year and in 2012 by another $75,000 in donations." Why, oh *why* would anyone just decide to donate $200K to schools that they had no apparent prior relationship with? Elite academies that, like Dalton, are private and populated by teens? There's probably more to this part of the story even if it was not a direct pay to play.
9
“At the top of New York society, plenty of people have “weird chitchat attached to their name,”
Down here in the lower end of society weird chitchat is called a vice and it’s usually a crime
15
Epstein stikes me as a very Trumpian character, New Yorkers both, with the smoke and mirrors displays of weath, openly predatory relationships with women, experts at manipulating the media, and cultivating relationships with politicians, etc. One this though, you left the New York Times out of this critique. Just as it did in it’s failure to disclose the corruption in the New York banking and real estate industries, the Times and the rest of the New York media seem far more culpable than a bunch of scientists looking for funding for their work. Why is this all happening right under your noses?
8
This is the story behind the story. Trump would not be president if the media and the justice departments in NY and nationally spent the money and the time to investigate white collar crimes and criminals and cronies. After the fact is not sufficient.
7
Money is power and people of the left and right are attracted to it. Very, very few of us are immune and very few readers of the Times, if given the opportunity years ago to break bread with Epstein would have turned it down. The love of money is the root of all evil, Jesus said, and that is all we need to know about this story.
7
How is it these people don't know what a registered sex offender is? I've known, and most people I know have known. We are warned when a registered sex offender moves into a neighborhood! And Chelsea Handler didn't know how Allen met wife?? The very rich seem to have no understanding. Sexual Abuse was a crime long before #MeToo and I have known that I think most women know that.
8
This quote from the New York Times in July 2008 is priceless:
"Looking back, Mr. Epstein admits that his behavior was inappropriate. “I am not blameless,” he said. He said he has taken steps to make sure the same thing never happens again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/business/01epstein.html
5
On both sides of the aisle.
2
The same point can be made about Roman Polanski. A truly horrible human being who confessed to drugging and raping a child, who was treated as royalty by Hollywood for decades, won Oscars, and even had a film made about him that tried to cast him as a victim. Of course, not surprisingly, it turns out that numerous other women now claim he raped them when they were children too. Hollywood has a lot to answer for when it comes to giving men like Polanski not just a second chance but a free pass.
10
When is Great Britain going to complete its long overdue revolution and get rid of that rotten monarchy? Does any one family need 40 castles? They are the biggest welfare recipients in the world, yet a dinner with Prince Andrew, makes even the socially connected start salivating. Really? I mean, really? Watch the prince's name start disappearing from the articles that cover Mr. Epstein. I guarantee it.
3
Around the same time, 2009, in one of our Central Bucks schools a 23 year fresh out of teacher in the athletic department went two jail for having three some with two 17 year old girls.
One of the girl got weed and invited him to her house while her parents were out of town.
He boasted it in Facebook that is how he got in trouble.
We consider Katie and George as ethical journalists. I don’t think so. Particularly Katie, she benefited from two sexual predators.
1
It doesn't take a big leap to recognize that much the same article could be written about Epstein's erstwhile buddy, Donald Trump, who spread similar falsehoods about his success, leveraged other people's money and manipulated the media all the way to the White House. For the best account of the New York milieu in which they dazzled, read Tom Wolfe's 1987 "The Bonfire of the Vanities," which perfectly captures the moral blindness, financial greed and frantic social climbing, that enabled these two con men to flourish.
8
When I read this piece I cannot get out of my mind the image of all those men and women of color who have been serving years of their lives in prisons for possession of marijuana, and a man convicted of preying on underage girls is walking around Harvard Yard. I wonder, do any of these prestigious institutions and rich individuals ever use Google?
8
It is sad that Acosta wasn't vetted by this admin. I am not surprised. no one in his admin is vetted properly. domestic abusers, conflict of interests. I wonder if the ABA is going to suspend Acosta for breaking the law since he didn't notify the victims.
7
In the US money means you can abuse and still be part of the inner circles. This case lays bare the corruption and lack of conscience among the wealthy elites some of whom we felt were on our side of justice. For instance, I am very disheartened to know that this pedophile was invited to Chelsea Clinton's wedding (and I voted for her mom). It was an open secret that he liked little girls and yet he was at her wedding. Think about that...all too often the elites see the rest of us as expendable. They are not cruel people but they live in a world that justifies hanging around with sordid people as long as those sordid people can contribute to their causes and campaigns. GOP or Dem, there is no difference.
2
@Pat: I do not believe, from what I've read, that Epstein went to Clinton's wedding. His 'madam' and long-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell did.
7
The outrage of many of the commenters by Mr. Epstein's behaviour written about in today's New York Times is somewhat baffling to readers who are not citizens of the USA but other westernized industrial nations. Americans seem to see their own country much differently than citizens of other countries. The USA aka America is thought of as the richest, most powerful nation in today's world where your American Dream is not about being successful or making the world a better place. The American Dream is all about making a lot of money so that the individual can enjoy all the perks having made that money and of course keeping it and this culture dominates the entirety of the often touted American way of life. Is it any wonder that those who have succeeded not only in that acquisition but also praised for doing so may hide despicable behaviour behind that money.
I worked and lived on the UWS from 1995 to 2007 and while doing so often thought that 'In God We Trust" on your paper money should be changed to "In Money We Trust". With the emergence of China as an economic powerhouse many in your country are horrified that their attainment of the American Dream will be threatened.
6
I would not want this guy in my house nor would I want to share a meal with him.
However, aren't we suppose to give ex-cons the benefit of the doubt when they get back out in the world? Aren't we suppose to think that they have reformed their ways and give them the opportunity to try again?
Would I leave my teen daughter alone in a room with him for even a minute? Nope.
Does my liberal training make me think that everyone deserves a second chance? Yes.
How do we reconcile these two things?
Is it different because he is (or was) a sex offender?
@Jwalnut. He should be registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life even after he served his laughable,
sentence, If wasn’t rich and well connected the stipulation would have been better enforced in New York. Pedophiles generally don’t reform and should be kept away from temptation. They don’t deserve a second chance around children.
6
Who else in New York 's so-called high society?
2
Well, his victims weren't their sort, were they?
3
The still unanswered $64KQ: how did he enrich himself?
8
@J A Bickers: It seems pretty apparent it was blackmail. I hope those CD's with so much evidence comes to be publicly known. I want to see them all come tumbling down.
7
“Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals.”...”upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.”(Paul Piff and Dacher Keltner) The rich right the laws, own the courts, Congress, the WH, and State houses and Governors, and they control the press. “The Court held that the free speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political communications by corporations, including nonprofit corporations, labor unions, and other associations.” Stripped the meaning of individual citizens and speech. This is the penultimate design of dynastic wealth. This denies the rights of all non wealthy.
Epstein is a product of the aversion to empathy by all rich and privileged. Pope Francis failed to recognize that abused victims of pedophile priests and their enabling bishops and clergy. Trump evades capture and conviction with the help of the very wealthy, corrupt attorneys, courts, and the press.
6
Strange narrative here. What should be the proper penance for someone who has consensual paid sex with a 17 year old and served time in prison for it? Should they be allowed to make a living? And if the answer is yes, how would people that person socializes with know they have a long history of actively looking for very young women? The answers are clearly class related biases - that arrests of upper middle class are because of prosecutorial overreach, arrests of poor and working class are because they are predators.
3
They were not "very young women." They were children who could not consent to see. He did not have sex with them. He raped them. Fix the language.
11
Mr Epstein: just another entitled wealthy no-rules-but-his-own sexual predatory sociopath. Will he buy out of punishment with the help of Dershowitz or Starr?
Robert Kraft just donated $100K to the families of the group of motorcyclists killed in NH. There is another paid for public relations reputation improvement campaign in the works.
Cleaning up or buying back ones reputation seems to be the norm for these men. Though certainly not an indication about cleaning up behavior.
Money and power create their worlds of no rules.
Tom Wolf hit NYC's adoration of inclusion in celebrity as revealed by these recent bonfires.
7
Epstein's mysterious funding flows to him through Deutsche Bank.
Trump's mysterious funding flows to him through Deutsche Bank.
They both have decades of disgusting personal lives and connections that are like gold to those who collect kompromat.
Hmmmm.
9
@SLBvt: And Anthony Kennedy's son worked at Deutsche Bank. William Barr's dad hired Epstein to be a teacher (with no teaching credentials and no college degree) at Dalton, a private school for elites.
No degree of separation with these people.
7
Philanthropy certainly seems to be a nice word for tax breaks in the world of the rich.
10
Jeffrey Epstein sounds pretty dispicable in many ways even without his predatory sexual behavior. But that a person would want to re-establish a life after a conviction is not a crime. Separate the rich, famous and slippery from the conviction and what you have left is what many regular ex-felons and sex offenders - there doesn't seem to be a past tense for people who have committed a sex offense - face on a regular basis: making yourself whole after you have paid your debt to society. There are jobs that must be found, a social support network to establish and yes, a reputation to rehabilitate. In the case of a person convicted of a sex offense, the difficulty of this task is trebled and never goes away - not as long as his/her past can be brought to light by simply googling their name. In most states it is a life sentence that many now law abiding people risk having rubbed in their face, their hard work to become whole again dashed, all without a moment's notice. I don't like what I see in Jeffrey Epstein and don't condone his methods, but I cannot blame him for making an effort to go forward in life.
2
@Plumberb
Most convicted sex offenders don’t have the means to manipulate the media and society in their favor as this creep has done, for instance hosting parties with royal family.
10
It seems that the elite institutions of higher learning are over and over linked to controversies involving money and power. It does shoe how warped our sense of values are. Money, power, influence. Is that all there is to hold in high esteem?
9
Let us congratulate the media for forcing out R. Alexander Acosta, Secretary of Labor for handling a legal matter not as harshly as the current climate would want him to have done.
However, there is no evidence that Acosta benefited financially or career wise because of his lenient legal judgment as a prosecutor. Lawyers are trained to do weird things all the time- expedient, making a mark, and enriching oneself. None of that appears to be the case here.
But the list of rich and powerful befriending the one time golden boy is heavily populated by Democrats.
The honorable Senator from the Empire State, Chuck Schumer, received thousands of dollars from Jeffrey Epstein. These contributions helped elect Schumer and propel him from a lowly local congressman to a national leader of the US Senate.
Schumer had the gall to proclaim that it was impossible for anyone to have confidence in Secretary Acosta's ability to lead the DoL and that Acosta should resign or be fired. Great!
When the sustained and generous funding from Epstein was revealed, Sen. Schumer has decided to return some of the funds that he had collected from Mr. Epstein. Returning some of these funds now tantamount to a shoplifter returning merchandise after being caught.
Mr. Schumer must resign the position he won with tainted money from an alleged pedophile. Mr. Schumer conspired to elevate the profile of an alleged sex offender.
9
Another illustration that sexual assault is not considered a real crime and that it is often set aside for an otherwise “good” person. Let’s not get too caught up in the wealth issue, it’s the same in all strata........#me too anyone? Unfortunately once some people get power they also feel entitled to take what they want...with women being unfortunately a key object of acquisition...because they feel they have earned it....and because there is rarely any consequences or condemnation they really aren’t wrong are they? We need to get serious and we need to get consistent with ensuring the law is applied and enforced by police, lawyers and judges
4
That is a nice litle snapshot of NY society. Professional hostesses engineered parties where no-one really knows anyone, lots of wannabees, hangers-on and recycled product, acceptance of an invitation requires careful prior due diligence. And the hapless Prince Andrew, always a bit of a goof-ball, how did he get inviolved in this? Where was his due diligence? A chance to be "in the presence of" does produce a turn-out, but then the question becomes, in the presence of what?
10
I genuinely would want no part of that crowd..
3
The only part of this that has anything to do with $$ is that Epstein paid disadvantaged and vulnerable girls to do what he wanted. The rest of this case is misogyny, a cultural illness. I'm pretty sure most of us have turned the other way when we've seen someone say something horrible about women and girls and a lot of us have even sat there quiet when we know a man is cruel towards women and girls. We are culturally programmed to look the other way, although this is shifting.
Until we come out of denial about hatred of women in this society, these guys will continue hurting girls. This culture helps them thrive.
Btw: Rest in Peace Sadie Roberts-Joseph who was found in the trunk of her car, dead, yesterday. My heart hurts.
9
This article is about the rich associating with the rich and their ability to somewhat erase a bad reputation. However, I'm pretty sure that pedophelia and rape are not at all constrained by social or economic class. Perhaps having a $56 million mansion and immense wealth lets you hide a lot more crimes, but I've seen people from all levels of society commit crimes.
3
The utterly shallow nature of these people; Couric, Stephanopoulos et al is astounding. Their after the fact shock is equally shallow and decidedly self-serving. It would appear that there really is a cultural element that, by virtue of celebrity or wealth, feels it is entitled to make its own rules. Epstein is just the very tip of a very ugly iceberg.
7
Money talks. It can buy almost everything.
3
None of these people, with the exception of some of the academics, appears to have anything to do. They scam their way into money and then use it to bribe editors and professors. With all the people living on the street you’d think we might produce a Diogenes or two, whom we really need.
3
In my opinion, some people here in the comments begin to generalize too much and throw everyone into one bag. There are all kinds of people in the world, humans in general are full of flaws and diverse. There are still rich people in the world, who are very intelligent and have a genuine, good heart and moral compass. Just as there are poor people who can be bad and don't have any moral rules. In this particular case, it's about specific people, not everyone. ''Everyone'' is dangerous black and white thinking. Plus, Epstein is a skillful psychopath and can manipulate people, it seems.
If someone is friendly with someone for a long time, he will see this person differently and more willingly defend him, especially if this alleged friend puts on a mask &
and pretends to be a good etc. I always remember what George Carlin said - we complain about politicians and the elite, but where are they come from? Are they falling from the sky? No. They are coming from our society. The ruling class is a mirror image of the whole society. It's just that people are different, good and bad, everywhere, in every social class.
6
One of the most offensive enablers quoted in this article is Peggy Siegal, who says, "the culture before #MeToo was - 'you've done your time, now your forgiven.'"
I'm a 64 year old survivor of repeated child abuse. I've struggled through countless years of depression, eating disorders ad suicide attempts. So no, Ms. Siegal. People who are victims of child sexual abuse do not need a trendy social movement, like #MeToo, to waken them to the never ending suffering that results from it. And believe it or not, Ms. Siegal, before #MeToo we understood the rotted nature of sexual predators. You speak only for the enablers mentioned in this article who believe that power, wealth and social status privilege men to treat children as objects for their pleasure.
12
Congratulations to Kantor, Mcintire and Friedman! You wrote the inclusive reference piece which readers can use as a memory jog. Now, all we need is a conviction. Go NYS
prosecutors!
and Friedman!
2
A "tween" is a child between the ages of 9 and 12.
7
Great that the guy is finally being prosecuted, but will there be three new articles about this case every day from now on?
1
@Elisabeth I’m hoping these articles are leading to the explosive reveal of the names of all involved.
But I’m not sure if they aren’t instead, a deflection.
4
Another sure blot on Donald Trump. But of course those who adore him are not listening and will once again as they did with Kavanaugh blame the complainant who told the truth.
5
Was the purpose of this story to show readers that there are two social, political, economic, legal and cultural systems in America today; or, is this an entertainment piece for the little people to see how the rich and powerful manage their affairs through exploitation of the connections that they have with their class? Kind of looks like Scientology on steroids. In fact maybe Scientology was modeled after an analysis of American high society going back to the time of its founding?
3
The FBI needs to appeal to others to come forward now - not just the children who were raped - but those employees and bystanders who may have seen, heard or known about what Epstein and his wealthy friends and associates were up to these many years. It will help complete the picture and help to prosecute ANYONE who had anything to do with this depraved, vile behavior.
8
I dream of a class action suit by all the girls he injured -- and a judgement dividing all of his wealth -- every last penny -- among them.
8
What a great story, NY Times. Predators like this one don't live in a vacuum. It appears this one drew oxygen from the highest levels. I will be intrigued to read about our current and former presidents' association with him. In the mean time my respect for Harvard University has hit an all-time low
8
I have represented sex offenders, among many others, in my two decades of legal work. None of them are capable of being rehabilitated. All of them will re-offend given the opportunity. All of them have been men.
Despite consulting with world-class psychiatrists and other credentialed experts in my defense of these individuals, I can only conclude that nobody knows why they cannot control themselves.
As to Harvard "doing business" with a sex offender, this is not surprising. Harvard is no different than any other money-oriented organization. It would happily take all of Epstein's money until he took his last breath and it would then send an attorney to analyze his probate estate to ensure it received all it could.
34
There is one case out there, also in Florida that is getting lost because exactly of the same type of lawyer power, influence, and money. This case should be brought back to the light of all because there are some real sex trafficking evidence. This is the case of Kraft and other wealthy men in the recent spa case in Florida. All these men (and enablers) are getting away in front of our eyes and there is nothing we can do (outside Florida) since Florida legislators and leaders are more concern to stop former felons to their right to vote than stoping criminal actions by these suspects.
38
What this article highlights is that with enough money and hubris you can pretty much do anything and get away with it. There are two completely different American systems of justice, wealth, education, and politics and those of us not in the elite one are mere tools of the other.
31
@Tammy - Actually, it’s very difficult for women to be taken seriously in actions against abusive men in this country, whether rich, poor or otherwise. It gets back to this society’s pathological dismissiveness towards and hatred of women.
5
Arthur Koestler knew poverty when he was young. In a remark in The God That Failed, he indicated the cause of a good deal of the hostility to the rich that the Epstein story has brought out: “...I developed a strong dislike of the obviously rich; not because they could afford to buy things (envy plays a much smaller part in social conflict than is generally assumed) but because they were able to do so without a guilty conscience.”
I grew up rich but when I was 17 my family lost everything. I managed through summer work and scholarships to get through college, and afterward held jobs (for example as a recruiter for a trade school) that put me in contact every day not only with working-class and poor people but with the underclass as well. Later I became a financial planner; today almost all my clients are millionaires.
So far as I can tell from thousands of encounters, the rich morally are neither worse nor better than middle-class or working people. The underclass may be another matter. As a normal part of the interview for the trade school, I used to ask my prospects, “Have you been in jail?” Half the time, my underclass prospects, all young men, would say, “Yes.”
I could add detail (a lot), but readers will interpret as they please. I will not however accept as true that rich people are morally worse than the rest of us. It does not fit with experience.
2
@David Todd
The point is that they are not punished for their misdeeds in the same way poor people are. That's the whole point.
They get away with things because they are rich.
15
@David Todd
I’d guess that many or most of the “underclass” who had been to jail went in large part because they were desperate and acted in illegal ways and because they were not white.
6
The rich are worse because their privilege shields them from the law, the consequences of bad behavior and makes them entitled to break the law, harm and kill, and today to form corporations to shield them from accountability. One only has to consider the Sacklers, who addicted America, or the Murdochs and Sinclair’s who made propaganda popular, the Walton’s who extort tax cuts from localities, ends small retailing, and pays so little that their employees qualify for food stamps, Medicaid, earned income tax credits, and housing subsidies while employees can’t afford homes and pay no real estate taxes, or Bezos who pays little and no taxes. The rich, like Trump, say they are “playing by the rules” avoiding taxes while they pay to write the rules in their favor in campaign “donations” bribes and lobbyist bribes. The rich are worse because they are parasitic, or countenance parasites who exploit the public and control the narrative and the government.
9
Jeffrey Epstein seems a lot like Harvey Weinstein. Epstein paid cash it seems and Weinstein paid with starring roles. Maybe they can share a cell for some time.
30
Staggering that this charade was acted out for so long with so many people clearly either duped or complicit. I don't know what Trump's connection to Epstein is, but the press would be wise to stop reporting only this point while ignoring the deep connection with Bill Clinton. The public knows better.
11
Who isn’t compromised among these politicians who care nothing what anybody but billionaires thinks?
6
@Once From Rome: I've read many of these stories and most have spoken of Bill Clinton's connection. No one is ignoring him. And no journalist better. We need to know about all the men who used girls, all the women who helped them do that and all who socialized with Epstein, knowing him to be a vile human 'thing', an animal more than human.
2
After reading this article we see a world of elites oblivious to anything but their own proximity to those who share their wealth and social status, regardless of their deeds.
Thankfully, I'm worlds away from this upper echelon, elite, creme-de la-creme society.
11
Epstein's wearing that Harvard sweatshirt reminds me of a couple of my acquaintances who took some graduate courses at Northwestern University to make their friends think they got their undergraduate degree there.
10
@tom boyd
Why would someone want people to think they graduated from Northwestern?
The wealthy elite cares only about themselves. That much has always been clear.
11
Of course they did. Like Trump, billionaires know that they are above the law. Anything can be forgiven becuase you have the right to do whatever it is your like.
8
Is this any different than when Roy Cohen was welcomed back into New York society? I could never understand or except that then nor the excuses I am reading now.
13
Well, to be fair that sounds good. It sounds like people, or at least rich people, are forgiving. The idea that people shall be punished for life seems wrong. I think he’s a sick individual. Is he an evil individual? I don’t know. To be fair, many of us are pretty bad people. Perhaps, we should be so sanctimonious. People in this country have too much of a culture of convicting and condemning and labeling others, as if they’re perfect themselves. People are destroyed for life, and often this negatively affects everybody because it creates permanent underclasses. Some are denied voting rights for unconnected reasons, others are imprisoned etc.
1
In my view, this whole thing is very clear. The key lies in the fact that Jeff Epstein, a bright but unstable guy who never finished college (!), was managing the assets of billionaire Les Wexner. Indeed, Wexner is the primary source of Epstein's wealth. This begs the question: why would a multi-billionaire essentially bankroll an unstable, less than ideally educated guy to "manage his money"? Because Epstein is his fixer. Epstein is his Ray Donovan. The rich have problems that need to be discreetly dealt with and Epstein fixes them. Maybe he gets a reputation and fixes the problems of other rich and powerful people. He lives in their circles. They see him as one of them. And he gets paid through donations to his fund. Maybe he helps with something so big he's given the largest townhouse in Manhattan? And like Ray Donovan he always finds a way out of trouble, so he's not worried about prison. The problem for Epstein is that this is real life and even the most powerful only get one get out of jail free card. Epstein already used his up. He may dump a bunch of personal info about his clients to persecutors or the media, but it won't matter. The heats too high. He's toast.
30
@MJG Did you meant prosecutors? Intersting.
What interested me the most in the Times this week and why?
Answer: This article in particular caught my attention instantly. My initial reaction when I read the title was “how many more headers like this am I going to read until this type of behavior/severe misconduct comes to an end?” I answered myself soon after “probably too many.” I found this article the most interesting because it offered a background on this disgraceful man so I a bigger picture of his life was painted alongside the information known currently about his current legal status.
-Sophie
2
Gilbert & Sullivan: "things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream." The vain wealthy folks associating with Epstein were so blinded by their own overweening senses of self-importance that they overlooked that the milk had curdled. Wealth and arrogance are poor substitutes for character and humility.
12
I am never surprised at what money can buy...most anything but class.
18
It is because we allow money to define worthiness.
12
Why does this article repeatedly claim he served time in prison when he only slept in a local jail after work for 13 months? What other prison inmate pays his debt to society by being chauffeured to and from work every weekday?
21
I like beer.
@patarnold155. “Prison-lite” is more like it. He should have spent ALL his time behind bars 24/7, just like all other convicted sex offenders.
3
Often, there is no price to be paid among the city's elites for all kinds of personal and we now see criminal actions as long as you are still rich and connected. I hope this article is a wake up call for all the people who knowingly collude with people who are immoral or criminal in their personal and/or professional lives.
2
My observation is that there are 2 types of rich folks: those who worked hard and had good fortune, and those who sought wealth and power as an end unto itself. The latter group often will — as the headline says — welcome criminals of all types as long as it preserves their own wealth and power. It’s easy to tell one from the other, and we’ll all be better off when we return to respecting the former and bringing the latter to justice.
8
Read the last line, and mull on the fact that tweens are 11 and 12 year olds.
21
@Anthony. I understand your sentiments. What he is referring to is that pedophilia is the sexual attraction towards children without secondary sexual characteristics, (i.e. there is no physiological/biological reason to be sexually attracted to children who can’t reproduce). His behavior is extremely problematic, but often the press lumps everything together. He’s not going to be attracted to 5-10 year olds for example. My guess is that sometime around his own early puberty he was sexually abused.
One of the greatest problems in this case is that his wealth shields him from having to take a look at his behavior. Kind of like our president. His wealth should be directed towards treatment for the abused girls.
3
Questions: Are there any reports of pregnancies or abortions among the many girls who were provided to Mr. Epstein? Have the several dozen "models" at the Epstein/trump party been identified. Were they over 18? Have any law enforcement agencies raided the many properties owned by Mr. Epstein? Why has there been only silence from Harvard University with regard to the Epstein gifts? Is Mr. Epstein wealthy or is he a front for some other activity? There is serious communication equipment on the New Mexico property. How many of the girls have identified Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz or Prince Andrew to law enforcement investigators? There seem to be unending questions about this corruption.
11
We forgive and revere those with money. We just do.
When Jackie Kennedy - the world’s most glamorous woman married Aristotle O people were flummoxed. What I recall is the wise comment that Aristotle was more attractive when he stood on his money. I lived in the Bronx during the reign of Nicky Barnes. He was a drug deal who used violence regularly to advance his dealings. He was also rich and well dressed. He was treated like a hero/prince.
The rich are different from us. It is not their vegetables. It is us.
2
Would the powerful have welcomed him back had his offense been against dozens of boys? I think not.
9
These people are not the "top of the food chain," they are the bottom of the food chain. And if my son announces that he wants to go to Harvard, I'm going to have a long sit down with him to try to convince him not to go. That place smells like day old fish. Also, just because Trump says he dropped Epstein, doesn't mean that he did. I think we all know by now that what Trump says has nothing to do with reality. I am finished with celebrities; with listening to celebrity doctors, or believing articles in "prestigious" publications, or putting one ounce of faith in interviews. They are all concocted and done for one purpose only; to protect the rich and to help them get richer. These people make me sick. The echo chambers of their lives, how they fawn over each other and over money - why do we need them? We don't. Yet the NY Times is just as culpable that way - constantly publishing articles that burnish the reputations of the already famous and somehow implying that these people know something we don't know. But the opposite is true. They stand for nothing. The vast, decent majority of people in the US actually live their lives more ethically than any of these bums.
9
How is it that the mass media didn’t make a front page event of a secret deal between prosecutors, defense lawyers, judge, ten years ago ? Is it normal in a democracy to have secret deals or sealed rulings ? I don’t think so.
7
"Though some institutions and prominent people, including Donald J. Trump, said they shunned him, Mr. Epstein’s tactics largely worked.... some people were willing to welcome back — or at least give a pass to — a handsome rich man who had been convicted of a crime involving a minor"
This paragraph suggests that Trump "shunned" Mr. Epstein because of his sexual misconduct. Even Trump does not claim that. Trump's own claim is that he had had a falling out with Epstein prior to the case in Miami. In fact, Trump is also quoted as suggesting that both he and Epstein liked beautiful women and that some that Epstein liked "were on the young side" without any suggestion that that was actually problematic to Trump when he said it.
33
@Anne-Marie Hislop Excellent point. We are also left to wonder what that party with only Epstein, Trump and a trove of "young women" in attendance. Nobody has gone into detail about that party.
5
Money rules America.
And rich people are easily bought at the right price.
14
The thought that he owns a private island seems very disturbing. You wouldn't be there unless he wanted you to be, you wouldn't be able to leave without his help, and whatever went on would be away from outside scrutiny.
30
This article, and all the reports coming up in the last 3 years, remind me that whenever I had dealings with really rich and really powerful men (and their women) during my working life, I often felt besmirched and needed to take a long shower afterword. That was, by the way, mostly from the ‘80 through ‘10, just when Epstein and trump were active.
19
This story's coverage feels increasingly like the stuff of tabloids and less the nation's paper of record. Certainly, this event is newsworthy and many thanks are due the Miami Herald's Julie Brown for exposing this incongruity of justice as an extreme example of unwarranted dispensation granted through status.
It also begs critical questions about how we can tolerate these abuses of privilege that illustrate in no small measure why the American voter has lost faith in the meritocracy that both parties have enabled for generations. In this case, Epstein was not a political leader, but he moved in tight enough orbit around such leadership that the question must be asked whether they gave him cover for crimes that would have buried any other American outside their "horse-and-hound" set.
That point is unequivocally worth noting, but it should serve to focus us sharply on every other player in the field and not sink into detail that advances little consequential. Again, kudos to the Miami Herald without whom this man may have continued unchallenged and unpunished, noting the Herald's staff rendered this stellar journalism despite a lamentable lack of operating resources.
Now if the NYT can undertake reporting that leads to settling the gnawing question around public officials' possible collusion by tacit approval or worse, then please carry on! But looking for more angles simply to report on the same wreck is a waste of precious time and resource.
37
True. But it is the business model in the click economy.
7
So what is new here. Why are people surprised that money can buy most things including social standing. As far as Harvard goes it is strange that it has established itself as the most money hungry institution. They will put up anything for sale for the right amount of donation.
41
I think USC holds the money hungry honor in recent days.
2
America's economic/political elite are all about wealth and power. This is precisely why humanity is on the verge of extinction (i.e., global warming).
31
So tired of reading about this miserable low life. Can someone please do some investigative reporting on his victims? Who are they, what has become of them, how can we help them, and what can we do to change our discourse and expectations so we are prepared to protect the least among us? There is nothing further I need to know about Jeffery Epstein and his powerful friends. I want to know more about the other people in this story -- the forgotten ones.
82
@Anna
Without taking anything away from your good intention to help these individual victims, true help has to come in the form of structural change. We focus on the individual stories in the USA, thus overlooking to identify patterns and not making the necessary adjustments to our laws, institutions, way of life. There are thousands of victims, millions of sufferers - no charity will ever conquer that: only becoming a more just, educated and fair society will do so.
27
@Anna - read a article about Epstein's former butler who stole Epstein's personal phone book and tried to sell it for $30,000. The article showed 92 pages of this phone book. Each page was full of girls names and phone numbers, hundreds of them. Also showed all the people working for Epstein that procured, scheduled, lined up girls by the hundreds in each city where he had a residence. This stuff is out there for anyone to see.
4
I'm so waiting for the interest rate to rise. It'll be the surest way to separate the truly rich from the merely highly leveraged. That is, people who benefit from the assumption others have about their perceived wealth. I suspect one group has much lower morality than the other.
6
@William Fang
I'm pretty sure both the truly rich and highly leveraged have similar morals.
Both likely walked on a lot of people to attain their position.
21
@William Fang
Gee. Here in the real world, I'm hoping interest rates stay low, as I am hoping to refinance my home mortgage.
1
@J Anders
Are you really comfortable accusing millions of people of malfeasance without a shred of evidence? Why would you begrudge other people their success? I'm nowhere close to wealthy, but rich people don't offend me. Have to be comfortable in one's skin, I guess.
Just reading this article makes me want to vomit and then take a long, very long, very hot shower.
39
Didn't the disgraced crook Bernie Madoff hobnob with much of the same crowd, minus the underage girls?
42
@MIKEinNYC
Um, making money is not a criminal activity yet, as AOC is too young to run for president. Epstein's crimes are taking sexual advantage of minors, and Madoff's running a Ponzi scheme. Since when is hanging out with other successful folks a crime? If that is what makes them happy. Me? I'd rather share my brilliant observations in the NYT comment section.
1
"Jeffrey Epstein: how US media – with one star exception – whitewashed the story". This is not coming from some conspiracist pages but from the Guardian. I think the US press - at the exception of the Herald - needs some serious introspection here. That man should have been hunted by every single investigative journalist day after day and night after night at least since 2007.
103
Ditto re R Kelly … although the list of the complicit numbers in the millions. His procurers, the parents, the executives, the music industry journalists, and the fans who went to see him in concert and bought his music. And one journalist had him cold for twenty years before someone did something.
36
@Pierre Darnoc
The Herald went too far, as they have trumpeted a claim against Alan Dershowitz that is obviously false. Perhaps they were blinded by an "exclusive" on camera interview with the accuser - who had previously taken $160k from a disreputable British tabloid. Dershowitz is on the warpath, and the Herald will receive its share of criticism.
seriously, why so much coverage.
we know so many who are twisted yet powerful.
please
3
It just occurs to me that those complaining of too much coverage are completely free to totally ignore it.
12
@mark
So no one should know what they have done?
I'm sure Mr. Epstein would appreciate that.
4
The real story here is that the courts and the media covered up what was going on because wealthy and famous people were involved.
5
No excusing Epstein as he is a disgusting criminal.
But it is disingenuous to suggest that only the rich or “powerful” welcome back ex-cons with deplorable lifestyles...sadly it is common enough throughout all economic groups - low/middle/high.
13
Thank you for mentioning Alan Dershowitz. His name has been curiously absent from most of the recent coverage about Epstein.
150
@RJR
According to the 6th Amendment, the accused is entitled to a vigorous defense. What did Dershowitz do wrong? There is no serious claim whatsoever that he was involved in any illegality or immorality, period.
1
So if Mr. Epstein were a poor man of minority heritage, would the "best deal " prosecutors could get be 13 months in a private jail wing with 6 days a week off and a chauffeur?
50
@J Anders
That wasn't the deal. No need to exaggerate.
Either way, Epstein hired his own lawyer's Dream Team. Combined with the obvious unwillingness of the victims to testify, the perpetrator got off very, very easily. But race has nothing to do with this.
2
Too many people are addressing this as a rich vs. poor thing...
There is no side to this.
Any justification for an adult sexually victimizing anyone, especially a child is inexcusable, period. (Actually it calls for an, exclamation point as this clearly has not sunk in to a bunch of old guys).
The fact that we have so called "prestigious" institutions and individuals who don't see this is wrong, is why it continues.
20
@mediapizza The justice, or lack of, makes it a rich versus poor thing.
3
But it IS rich v poor. A poor man couldn’t afford the lawyers who made the plea bargain happen.
4
Such a dark time. Tired of reading about all the smutty behavior of those related to the current administration, empowered by the consent of the rich.
32
This got me to wondering what investment advice his buddies on Wall Street would give for a multi-millionaire who's going to spend the rest of his life in prison.
10
@LibertyLover
Don't count on that happening. The case against Epstein is pretty weak in light of the deal he signed in 2008.
1
@VCuttolo
Not true. The NPA only applied to that US Attorney's office jurisdiction in Florida.
This case is obviously carried out with the full force of the US Dept of Justice. SDNY is the toughest US attorney's office in the US. They are going after him with both barrels. He doesn't stand a chance. There is a huge collection of evidence including from Florida.
7
@LibertyLover
According to what I've read, the SDNY has very little in its favor. Of course they are also going up against major defense lawyers. Perhaps they'll be able to get him on the payouts, but I doubt they'll get him on much of anything that happened before his plea deal was signed.
The rich have no judge of character they accepted him and the worst GOP President ever . They need to stop listening to lies and know when someone is lying . Better learn if fast before Trump gets another 4 years.
21
@D.j.j.k.
Why would the rich care about character, especially when the "character" promised to give them a humongous tax break if they elected him?
5
The deal can be undone due to Acosta’ failure to inform the victims and other improprieties.
People and by that I mean famous, well known people are disavowing any association with Mr. E. better known as the child abuser. They will run in droves away from him. You taint your self, that’s just the way it is. Hey if you’re poor and associate with criminals you are judged by law enforcement as possible lawbreakers. It works both ways. He is a criminal.
5
You mean he welcomed them!!
It was his party and they all came. All his Dem friends.
6
It worked for Trump didnt it? These people have no morals or conscience. Its what they have in common.
23
Scientists who were guests on Epstein's island noticed that Mr. Epstein “was always followed by a group of something like three or four young women,” yet they thought nothing further of it. Too busy with the free scuba diving and other amusements.
The final line in this article quotes Epstein acknowledging that he had sex with "tweens and teens." That these victimized girls were children is borne out by the American College of Pediatricians who define childhood as ending at age 21. To characterize these vulnerable children as women in any sense is an injustice and serves to distort and minimize the heinous crimes that he has committed.
I hope that Jeffrey Epstein will do hard time in the general population of a prison where inmates tend to give pedophiles a dose of their own medicine. Then, perhaps, he will no longer laugh off his perversion as "like stealing a bagel."
48
@AMLH This is the same excuse that some used to minimize the sexual assaults of Catholic priests--that the victims weren't children because they were adolescents. However, do we really want to categorize twenty year olds as children?
@Ceilidth
Pediatricians and the insurance companies who pay their fees do.
2
A cabal of agile, guilty people, with a pedophile in their midst... all obviously fazed now... only when all of it has come to light.
So, what is “tweens and teens", if not young girls, i.e. young female kids. An extreme example of, "let me redefine the sin, thus I am not the sinner."
That infamous dinner (alluded to here) made me recall, that my father taught me as a child... never to eat food or drink bought by someone else's money unless I was sure and trusted that it was rightfully earned.... otherwise he said, you took unclean, blood money inside yourself.
And it always has consequences.
I have adhered to this (perhaps archaic) principle all my life.
Feels good to be a nobody... no?
28
Seems the media is nine years late to this one.
21
Tooting his own horn? That sounds familiar. Oh yeah, it was what Trump has been doing his whole life. Like when he paid $50 to each of those people standing around cheering while he rode down in that Trump Tower escalator to announce his entrance into the presidential race. Or, how about when he used to call radio stations, using a fictitious name like John Barron and others to prop up the Trump name. Apparently, you can fool some of the people all of the time. Just look at FOX news.
49
Yes.. well Fox Propaganda Network is playing this story as not involving Trump much but are tying Bill Clinton to him big time when actually quite the opposite is true.
5
In all seriousness, it only takes $7.5mil to buy Harvard??!!
21
@kj
I bet they will sink much lower for a lot less.
@kj It takes less than that. I thought Jared Kushner's parents paid around $2,000,000.
2
He said "the girls he had sex with were tweens and teens..." Aren't "tweens" 10-12 years old? Ewwww.
36
why did you not mention atty gen Cyrus Vance argued forcefully to move register Epstein as a sex offender in NY after his conviction in FL? where are the calls for his resignation? so much for protecting the citizens on NY from this predator....
32
Google ‘Katie Johnson vs Trump and Epstein’. This is the girl who was 13 when she was brutally raped by Trump in 1992. Her testimony is disgusting and believable. She decided not to go through with the lawsuit in 2016 after numerous death threats
43
I’m surprised more commenters are not mentioning this.
It’s easy to view and download a copy of the complaint filed by Johnson against Trump and Epstein. Find it and read it. You think this woman made this stuff up to get “attention”?
They told Ms. Johnson that if she reported the repeated rapes and sodomies which happened when she was thirteen, they would kill her and her family.
The court’s final decision was to “encourage both parties” to explore civil mediation.
I’m a layperson and it was easy to download, read, and understand most of the details of this case.
Why has this complaint of rape and sodomy by Donald Trump, currently holding the office of president of the united states, not been discussed more thoroughly by journalists? Just how far do these reaches of power go?
Epstein and Trump are the reason “pizzagate” has become a word in our discourse. A classic case of projection.
Can we get back to leaders who at least pretend to be humanists?
4
@Linda T And we know that Trump’s “fixer”, convicted felon Michael Cohen, routinely threatened people on Trump’s behalf...
2
I will know that authorities are going to take this seriously when Dershowitz gets arrested and goes to jail.
They should search all of Epstein’s properties using cadaver dogs.
25
This just goes to show that the rich and the famous don't care about what happens to young girls who are not so lucky as to be rich and famous. The grotesque story of how Roman Polanski has admitted to child rape and yet retained all of his jet-set privilege is pretty similar.
23
As an alumnus of harvard (lower case h)- I am disgusted. Never wearing MY sweatshirt again!
13
The amazing thing about men like Epstein is that intelligent, educated elite women who stir the pot at social gatherings simply overlook his pedophilia when making up a guest list. These women simply forget they are females themselves and plan their receptions and events as though nothing untoward took place. Amazing! They must compartmentalize their information filters: the victims are from the lower classes or are from other countries so they don’t count. Next!!!
16
Private schools losing their credibility further by the day. Dubious admissions procedures, put your sweatshirt on the pedophile if he pays enough, no degree necessary to teach, hang out in the cafeteria with the registered sex offender...name a building for him and put him on your website- what kind of education system do you call that? These are the best and the brightest?
18
Money is really the second god.
4
In this case, it’s the first!
1
@Tuhen. I think money is #1 hands down.
1
My understanding is that about 95% of prosecutions in the US end in plea deals. The innocent spend years in jail because they have been told that a plea is the only way to avoid a longer sentence. The guilty with good lawyers are allowed to plead to lesser charges, not reflecting the severity of their crimes. In this case, an appropriate sentence would have prevented additional years of sexual predation. The responsibility for this rests squarely with Acosta, and others who went along with this scheme. The widespread use of plea deals has compromised justice in the US.
18
So what other stories on Forbes cost $600?
33
The ultra-rich may have forgotten the lesson of the Bolsheviks. It could happen again if the ultra-rich aren't careful. Or, maybe a better analogy could be Marie Antoinette.
21
@explorer08
Unfortunately, Fox News wasn't around to help out.
@explorer08
Hah! Don't we wish! Unfortunately I've seen some of Donald Trump's rallies on TV. Those folks are like members of an evangelical cult. They swallow every lie, cheer every despicable insult & ignore every illegal activity. They will vote for Donald Trump even if he violates their own children & issues Executive Orders & trade policies that ruin their lives.
It's like watching old newsreels of Germany in the late 30's.
2
Was Acosta truly 'told Epstein was intelligence and above his pay grade,' as reported elsewhere?
With considerable protection for a very long time I can't help suspect Jeffrey Epstein was always a CIA intel-gathering / blackmail op, specifically designed to compromise the very wealthy and foreign or domestic heads of state. Until now, he certainly seems to have enjoyed the last four war criminal presidents just looking the other way -- or even being his regular guest.
Because the people involved are powerful enough to bury the case and seal the files. The media refused to deal with the issues, possibly out of fear.
9
A long term solution to this "billionaire hero worship" is a 90% marginal tax rate as during the Eisenhower administration. It prevented oligarchs, set the stage for 50 years of scientific and technological achievements and the Moon landings, built the interstate highway system, and made America great. In fact, not just great, but the envy of the world.
These people will not stop until the money flow stops. Only Bernie or Warren or both can get us there.
122
@John 100% agree!
18
@Kelly
But it seems they cannot work together. And the democratic party seems to hate Bernie because he is not a true "democrat." They would rather lose to Trump.
3
The methods Epstein used to repair his reputation are very similar to the methods used by Trump.
Did they both hire the same PR firm?
29
This whole case reminds me a lot of the 1990s movie "8MM", about a wealthy guy who pays underground filmmakers millions for professionally-made snuff murder films involving young women which he collects. When the protagonist looking for one of these missing women asks the man's attorney "Why did he do it?", the attorney responds, "Because he could." A perfect line, and applicable here.
12
So basically, your value in society is determined by the level on the social ladder you attain. Thus you pursue that attainment by becoming a "friend" of so and so and an owner of something or other. And even if you lie about your accomplishments, so long as you can cover it up, you're still an acceptable entrant in this competition, other competitors can easily ignore your little peccadilloes. It's so easy to understand how your soul can shrivel. So easy. Sad.
6
This is about power. It always ends badly.
8
In hindsight, where vision is 20/20, the Senate should have convicted Bill Clinton, removing him from office for his lying, and behavior with a subordinate.
Al Gore would have assumed office, and likely re-elected in 2000, and we would have avoided the disastrous years of Bush the Lesser.
Instead, the bar for Presidential comportment was set - low and cynical.
19
@Space needle
Let's go back to the mid to late 90s when Clinton's affair with Monica was discovered and he was lying about it. I told a Republican friend that I thought Clinton should resign the Presidency even though I was a Democrat. His response: "You're a Democrat ? How could you be? " Didn't I just prove that even Democrats have some red lines that shouldn't be crossed ? (like Bill Clinton's behavior and lying about it). Now Republicans with Trump don't seem to have any lines, red or otherwise that Trump wouldn't cross or hasn't' already crossed.
4
People don’t care what happens to girls or, women. They elected Trump even they heard who he was in his own voice. They also supported Kavanaugh. Girls, women are disposable for the rich and powerful. Controlling their bodies one way or the other is all they care about.
I feel heartbroken thinking about these children and wonder how many more Epsteins are out there.
64
Now we know that Epstein counted on his tenuous and disingenuous association with “important” people to enable his predation.
The evil of this man knows no boundaries. It has literally made me feel nauseous.
Sending wishes for peace and healing to all of the child victims of his abuse.
18
Often times prosecutors are instructed to drop a case relating to affluent and well connected individuals.
Maybe Oligarchs of media, politics, and education are the co conspirators involved in these crimes as well, hence the selective jail time that Epstein received.
10
There are tens of thousands of Epstiens on the sex offender list, locked up or have done there time and moved on. He is a perfectly ordinary sex offender, with lots of money and connections. It's the sport of getting at Trump by proxy and lifestyles of the rich and famous that keep this story going. Just go take a look at the New York State sex offenders registry online. Their crimes are described with victim ages. Time served is often there as well. Judging by the comments here an amazing number of people are completely ignorant of the people in the world around them - thank goodness for that.
4
I'm not saying that everyone who hung out or dined with Epstein participated in his parties and predatory sexual activities, but check out yesterday's interview in New York Magazine with a retired hedge fund manager who was a neighbour of Epstein's in Florida. He and a several other hedge funders had never heard of Epstein or crossed paths with him, which they would have if he was only dealing with billionaires' money like Epstein had claimed. They suspect he could have actually been running a massive blackmailing scheme. That may be the reason a lot of these people were buzzing around Epstein. Again, I'm not accusing everyone who had contact with Epstein of the same illicit activities, but it explains why he had access to these elites if he indeed was not the successful hedge fund manager he represented himself to be.
35
Money and the material world has no shortage of followers. Depending on how much this matters to you it will lessen the moral values to attain your "fix".
Epstein, Trump, OJ Simpson, etc all have a dedicated following. We will see how far society allows this to go as time passes.
11
Pulitzer prizes for Julie K. Brown for her investigative reporting that blew this story open and a prize for the Miami Herald for supporting her many months of work.
87
I was impressed by Julie K. Brown's tenacity and courage in telling these girls' stories of debasement.
Her series on Epstein, and how many connected people covered for him, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Alan Dershowitz wrote a personal letter to the Pulitzer committee trying to trash this reporter and her character.
These men are accustomed to silencing people who tell the truth. They say justice delayed is justice denied, but I am glad these girls might finally see law enforcement operate the way it should.
3
Much more of this and it will be time to storm the Bastille.
24
"his plea involved one girl, a 17-year-old, and the crime was prostitution, which made it look like the teenager was in part to blame "
Uh, no it doesn't. She was a victim of rape. A minor cannot give consent under the law.
20
@LibertyLover My understanding is that "one girl" was 17 when the deal was made but only 16 at the time of the crime. His lawyers cleaned this up good.
3
I am waiting to find out when some reliable witnesses come upfront to acused President Clinton and the current one.
9
@Change Face
They already have. Ditto for two of our current Supreme Court justices.
Christine de Blasey Ford was right when she said she feared that if she came forward she would simply be steamrolled and it wouldn't change anything.
6
Woody Allen's movie "Manhattan" is based Allen's relationship with the 16 old Mariel Hemingway at the Dalton School. Where were the parents of these teens and tweens during this time???
32
Especially interesting to read of George Stephanopolous meeting up with him for lunch, after release from jail. Ah, yes, George. Rhodes Scholar, Mr. Suave and sophistication, Clinton White House alumnus, and self-styled investigative journalist ready to take on all the heavy issues of the day. What, didn't do your research on this guy before meeting up with him? My word, what's the world coming to? Surely had been more right leaning you folks would have been all over him. But, alas, how could you face the guy when you bump into him the Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard unless you treat him like a rehabilitated criminal wanting to do good in the world. Just watch all of the other phonies now try to wash their hands of this guy.
21
America seems in grave danger of losing its moral compass. This lead story in the NYT tells of vile ethics, internecine collusion and debauchery. It involves the rich and powerful. Yet the story somehow also connives to add to the social forces that are normalising these behaviours among the wealthy and powerful so we may come to tolerate them. This is true corruption.
21
The Sheik
Leaving aside the sex offender charges - although you really cannot - Mr. Epstein reminds me of the character, Sheik, in the John Sayles' film from 1983, "Baby It's You".
1
Rather ironic. If Hillary Clinton had been elected in 2016 we probably would also be reading about presidential connections to Epstein. And you could be sure that if The The Miami Herald had not dug up the story , some Republican dirt diggers would have found it and made hay of it. Depending on the makeup of Congress we could be in the middle of Epstein-Gate right now.
plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
5
I'm looking forward to hearing Katie Couric and George Stephanopoulos explain their association with such a dreadful person as Jeffrey Epstein.
Charlie Rose needn't bother.
27
Only in America can a wealthy degenerate be welcomed back into the bosom of NY high society. Ain't this country grand!
17
Looking at the US from overseas it appears that the US - usually the rich- are obsessed with only 2 things: money and sex. No wonder they all love Trump.
17
@Elizabeth Wong yeah like standing in line at the grocery store reading the National Enquirer. Aren’t we just the greatest! And to think Mr. Biggly contributed so much to get us this low. And all along they thought he was bringing us closer to our god.
1
Me thinks some people are a little nervous about being implicated right now...... A plea deal for a little documentation of your adventures with buddy Trump, Mr. Epstein? Oh you’d still be behind bars for the rest of your life, but we promise you’ll get toothpaste and soap.
10
Projection is the key word.
It seems there's an hypnotic aura around the very wealthy that makes so many assume they are "nice" and that they should be looked up to and respected.
I've seen this over and over again, and I don't exactly know where this comes from. But it seems that many less than wealthy individuals in our culture have been taught that and automatically think social etiquette, clothes, money, etc. equates with morality.
Projection is the key word.
3
When I read so many insightful comments here from some clearly smart people, I feel like The New York Times has an opportunity to gather this like-minded community in a room in real time to share thoughts live, versus each of us existing in a virtual space, often in a vacuum. Especially to make change happen. I hope this fine newspaper finds more ways to gives us those opportunities going forward.
12
It appears that with recent tawdry revelations, including those involving Kushner and now Epstein, "access" at Harvard is guaranteed by the extent of one's largesse to that renowned institution. Money clearly "talks", including in Cambridge, and everything is for sale in the academic marketplace.
13
It does appear that quite a few ruling-class men feel their rule extends over any women or young girls who cross their path, and that when caught, other men of their class rush to shield them.
17
I hope that SDNY (and whatever other parts of the Justice department are involved) have all the video tapes allegedly found in Epstein’s NYC home and I hope they will be able to identify the men on those tapes. Let’s hope they get tapes from the Florida house, too, as well as the homes in Paris and the Virgin Islands. Maybe, if AG Barr doesn’t get involved, those men will be brought to justice along with Epstein. It doesn’t matter if the are leading corporate executives or politicians, if they did what Epstein is accused of, they need to face the wrath of parents everywhere. With Barr dancing at the end of strings controlled by Trump, though, there is a good chance the men on those tapes will never face justice.
16
The last quote by Epstein, "tweens and teens" made my stomach turn.
46
The rich are different and society which let's face it they control it and the law are supposed to be two different things but they appear to intermingle in tangled web.
2
I must admit, I find Epstein to be fine company for President Trump. It is disheartening, to see how easily Epstein re-entered social circles. This says almost as much about the cliques he circulated through, that so little was known about his nefarious activities, and that there seemed to be so little curiosity about what landed him in trouble in the first place. Honestly, what WOULD it take, for him to be denied entrance to these parties, screenings, etc? The more I learn about the 'privileged class', the less I long to be counted among their ranks.
13
And then a few rungs down the ladder, a thirty year veteran employee of a major bank is fired from his job when his employer learns that the man was convicted of putting a slug in a vending machine, when he was 19 years old. For those without access to publicists and a retinue of wealthy friends to provide cover, there is no forgiveness. Ever. From another perspective, this does provide the less lucky with motivation to claw one's way up the socio-economic cliff regardless of the possibility of a dramatic fall.
21
Noblesse Oblige. Remember that? Unfortunately the so many nouveau riche are clueless on so many levels. Art, architecture, morality, civic behavior, generosity on and on and on. If the rich stopped their selfish behavior, people demonizing the rich would stop. This includes corporations because corporations are people too, right?
18
Reason number one why all income should be taxed as ordinary income and we should quadruple the size of the IRS and focus on those with assets greater than $2 million
89
@Deirdre - I agree. All of these titans of industry purportedly creating jobs and wealth for America and the world. Trickledown economics. It is a sham.
Line them up and abolish all of their tax incentives and loopholes and preferential treatments. Pay up, Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, Leon Black, Elon Musk and the like. Society owes you nothing.
22
Commend Times and other newspapers bring these open crimes into public eyes. We already have a Secretary of Labor resigning. How many more of the rich and political co-tailers are embroiled and will be outed? The $64 million dollar question is will they be outed as there are other offenders.
23
Seriously: “a handsome” rich man. You’ve got to be kidding. How did that make it through the Times edit process?
38
@Schlomo Scheinbaum There is no shortage of sexual abuse among religious types of all religions. In fact, it seems a lot more common and excused there than it does among the less religious.
1
"The girls he had sex with were “tweens and teens,” Mr. Epstein told him."
Funny how this entire NY Times article never mentiones the word "rape".
Sex with tweens and teens is called rape.
Let's practice, NY Times: Say the word after me now - RAPE!
473
@Bernie
Good idea. Unfortunately the NY Times is committed to maintaining the social hierarchies that make people like Epstein possible.
11
@Bernie
This Jeff dude, what a total loser and a total waste of life and space. Though many men fantasize about having sex w young girls, it’s another thing to actually rape, manipulate, and ruin a young person, and ruin someone’s sexuality for life. Perhaps this person himself was sexually raped, abused and manipulated? And why
did the adult women friends not see the abusive behaviors before they saw the dollar sign? The love of money is truly the root of all evil.
6
Epstein’s sybaritic lifestyle full of sexual deviancy and pedophilia exemplifies some of the seven deadly sins like Lust, Avarice and Pride.
This perverted sexual predator manifests the dark side of societal debauchery and moral depravity. It’s also mysterious how this college drop-out from Brooklyn with a very secretive financial services business, managed to amass arguably such a huge fortune.
The most outrageous part of this utterly sordid scandal is that it continued for such a long time allegedly with the full complicity of a coterie of very powerful men in the world, including well known politicians, oligarchs and members of the intelligentsia and royalty. This is probably because Epstein secured their assistance and silence by extending illegal carnal pleasures to these powerful men through his female victims.
In all likelihood this is why a few years ago, Epstein managed to walk away with a “slap on the wrist” albeit he got caught “flagrante delicto” for brazenly practicing pedophilia. Epstein’s very powerful and wealthy male friends possibly helped him for the fear of being exposed as beneficiaries in Epstein’s sexually deviant world.
Epstein should spend the rest of his pathetic life in prison. I would like to see some of his very powerful libidinous friends get exposed and punished as well but that’s possibly impossible in a morally corrupt world where perverted plutocratic pedophiliacs like Epstein can walk away with impunity as “money can buy anything”.
63
"Over a decade ago, when Mr. Epstein was very publicly accused of sexually abusing girls as young as 14, he minimized the legal consequences with high-powered lawyers ... "
Because keeping it in your pants is for little people.
46
“very publicly” - the language at the paper of record is getting very sloppy.
2
No soul so black, no act-so inhuman, no stain of iniquity so set, that it can't be cleansed at the Harvard money laundry.
143
Corrected headline: Epstein IS a sex offender...
80
Why are we wasting newsprint on this story?. Brown people are in cages, sexually abused at the border, shot to death by white police officers.
We all know the racist deal so there is nothing new to the minorities who live in white America. Same old same old.
White despicable ignorant men are always in charge. God give us strength.
30
@Tony You forgot "predatory" in your description.
1
tweens and teens. How old, again, is this idiot?
23
This is a fact: once a pediphile, always a pediphile.
It's been proven over and over. There is cure, no treatment,
They will continue to abuse young children and girls because they
can't stop.
Sexual Predators will use any means to coverup their sexual addiction.
If the court lets this guy out, knowing full well that he will continue
harming little girls, then they should face prosecution as well.
41
@Mabel - I don't think that is true. There are medical treatments for sexual compulsions that also treat "disordered" sexual compulsions like pedophilia. We just don't normally force people to use those treatments.
@Normatius Hebdo. Yes there are treatments out there and many have been tried. But the sad truth is that none of them really work to stop these predators.
3
@Nomatius Hebdo Mabel has it straight...treatment is EXTREMELY unsuccessful for sexual predators. When found they need controls...not to be left to 'heal' themselves.
2
Donald Trump did not shun Epstein over morality it was a property disagreement in Florida. Trump and Epstein raped two women one named Katie Johnson and another Jane Doe both of whom are terrified for their lives and will not come forward except one who did to the Miami Herald author. They both need to be found, protected and tell their story concerning Trump in particular. Because we have an unconvicted rapist in the white house.
Epstein and Weinstein are of the same ilk and who is worse? Probably Epstein is the bigger monster, but does it matter at that level of crime and depravity? They are monsters living in a comfortable world with open secrets because no one is willing to listen to the victims. Both Epstein and Weinstein think they are innocent, they were teens and tweens, he said.
96
I guess going to court and being prosecuted is not necessary for you, because you know the truth.
1
The Clinton-Epstein-Weinstein nexus is pretty strong, but doesn't seem to get nearly the attention. I wonder if anyone is surprised George Stephanopoulos, he of Bill Clinton fame, partied with Epstein.
29
@TL - Partied? It was one dinner.
6
Hey, in case you didn't know it, the "one-percent" in this country have their own code of conduct and just the smallest amount of a conscience, if any.
32
@John S. Sexual abuse of minors and getting away with it is not confined to the “1%”. It’s rampant.
I am glad I limit my donations to Harvard to women’s athletics programs... So disturbing to read this article and see Harvard (among others) fawning over this convicted pedophile rapist.
28
As the famed Attorney for the Army said to the demagogue senator Joe McCarthy in 1954 'Senator, have you no shame' This could also apply to the people mentioned in this article who continued to associate with the {registered pedophile} Jeffrey Epstein even after he was released from prison in 2009. The lives of many of the rich and famous are laced with hypocrisy. NYT columnist Michelle Goldberg nailed it in her column last week about the Epstein saga and those who were involved wittingly or unwittingly in his web of deception and criminal behavior.
19
We worship money, celebrity and power.
We jail the poor and mentally ill.
Aren'ft we great?
150
Thank you for this starkly true comment.
10
I love that Chelsea Handler asked Woody Allen how he met his wife. Perfect.
763
@Abbie
May go down as one of the very best cocktail party small talk quips ever.
Well done Chelsea Handler. If only a camera had captured the expression on Woody's face.
36
@Abbie
I wonder what Woody replied:
a). “Oh, we met in the kitchen at first...”
Or
b) “Her mother introduced us, I think”
Or
c) “we met in Zanadu...”
12
I love my baby sister and her big mouth.
52
Do you remember the story of Frank Abignale, "Catch Me if You Can"? It's easier to catch someone who isn't rich, or soi-dise rich.
6
Mr. Epstein appears to be a rather talented sociopath. Clearly he has an uncanny ability to persuade. I read this article with all of disgust, surprise and fascination, and agree with @JWB that the concluding lines are "chilling."
Two questions:
What brings such a monster into being?
Will justice be served this round?
22
Rich and powerful people are subject to ethical constraints?
Aren’t journalists supposed to be less credulous than their audience?
6
What is it about NYC? I don't know anybody who lives there who isn't messed up in the head to some degree. Yeah yeah yeah, they got plenty of money, millions, billions - so what?!? They all need shrinks - even their pets need anti-depressants!
18
I’ve often pondered this question myself. It’s a real chicken or egg situation.
2
@99percent -- sorry you haven't met a representative population, but in my experience most people in NYC are perfectly nice, have a conscience and are not rich, given the cost of living in the city and all. The folks who show up in this story are the super-elite, and their callous stupidity should't reflect on an entire city.
1
It’s fascinating how upset people get over sexual norms being violated. A man like this is expected to be shunned, yet someone in government that has promoted policies that have killed thousands of innocent civilians are welcomed with accolades. What this man did is no longer acceptable human behavior in our society, still, how can it be more evil than what many military people have done? When we have situations like the one in Sudan and elsewhere, to point to this guy as the face of evil is ludicrous. We have hundreds of thousands of children toiling on farms from dawn to dusk and we’re going to pretend like we care about children. Considering all the serious problems that are going on, the fact that this is such a big issue says a lot about our society.
20
@Tim Phillips... could your comparison have been more nebulous, or ignorant?
2
@kmk I love the irony of your reply.
1
With all of the environmental damage, public health and labor abuses the ultra rich inflict on society, sexual predator is just another category of exploitation to them. He's in The Club, so what's the Big Deal?
12
An earlier NYT article said that Epstein offered to give up his passport in order to persuade the judge to let him out on bail. Why didn't the police already have it? Why didn't they take it when they arrested him as he got off his plane after flying in from Paris? I would think that would be routine when you're arrested on arriving in U.S. territory. Especially when you arrive in your private jet.
22
How shocking. The rich and powerful have no scruples.
14
If people thought Trump was a one-thousandaire, he would be out of the news in a New York minute. But people think he is super rich and that his money gives him special intelectual abilities; an image Trump promotes quite well. Fact is, many people got lucky, inherited their wealth, or are masters of name dropping, again something Trump promotes quite well. I know a lot of less well off people I would walk on broken glass for and a lot of people with money who I would cross the street to avoid. Money has very little to do with one's talents, intelligence or integrity.
32
@Tom --Trump and Epstein both seem to have a special talent for "failing up" -- the worse they do, the more they get rewarded.
Money buys a lot-prestige from the media, celebrities, educational and cultural institutions. In the hunt for money, many of these institutions are willing to look the other way, be willfully ignorant. Oh, they recant and return funds later, but only when the donor is outed as a crook or, as in this case, a serial sexual predator. In some states someone who is label as a "sexual predator" can hardly find a legal place to live. I guess the answer is owning your own island or a penthouse.
13
There is a “super class” of people that we don’t see and with which we have no connection. They operate independent of regular society and are subject to none of the rules that govern what we consider to be “normal” behavior. This is Trump’s world. Old money hates these people because of the attention they bring with them. Read “Mar a Lago”. A book detailing life in Palm Beach. These people are not like us. I feel sorry for them.
6
Is any outfit more guilty than the NY Times for routinely equating pedigree with capability and suitability (witness the repeated Cy Vance endorsements, despite colossal lapses in pursuing the privileged), or the endless irrational adulation for anyone or anything associated with Harvard--something Epstein cleverly leveraged to his advantage; or the passes given to actors like Crowe and Baldwin who have assaulted desk clerks and other 'commoners.' Unfortunately "sophistication" in too many tony circles equates with giving degenerates a wink and a pass.
31
Don't stop now. The Times, or if not, other New York media need to dig for who else enabled him, especially who were the wealthy sources of his money, since there are credible doubts now being raised that he ran a hedge fund.
20
Has Epstein ever been married? Haven't seen this information in any stories. This seems like something guests and "friends" might have pondered when they socialized in light of his involvement with young girls. Actually, it seems that his "friends" didn't care, as long as they got what they wanted from Epstein. Who knows what that might have been, but you'd think they might have stayed away, given his reputation. And, Woody Allen? Really?
15
Woody Allen gets a pass to continue to make movies, Roman Polanski is honored by the Academy Awards. Should we really be surprised about this?
26
So basically he is a con with PR just like Trump. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
14
R. Couri Hay is a decent human being among our society's presumed grandees (excluding: Katie Couric, Chelsea Handler, and George Stephanopoulos because maybe they went to gawk at Prince Andrew and didn't know about Epstein).
4
Fickleness, thy name is wealth.......( or assumed wealth )
2
At the end of the day, the jury will pass judgment on this filthy, vile individual, and then all of a sudden, his wealth, lawyers, townhouse, planes and hifalutin friends won't matter anymore. He'll get his inmate number, like every other federal prisoner, and off he'll go - not to Club Fed, but to a real maximum security prison where he belongs. He will live out the rest of his days there, inside a small concrete cage, being told when to eat, sleep and use the toilet, which he'll have to do in front of other inmates and correction officers. If I'm not mistaken he'll get one shower a week. He'll eat the same trash that everyone else eats. And he will deserve every second of it. Sound harsh? Think about the girls - the children - who were wayward, down on their luck and desperate, whom he savagely exploited. Now it's not so harsh.
17
Presumably he threw lavish parties with free food and entertainment. Drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park and you'll attract a following; drag a tureen full of caviar through Manhattan and you'll do the same thing--only they'll have better teeth and clothes.
25
This is a pathetic story about the values of our contemporary society where the almighty dollar only matters. I can understand that it is ok for Dershowitz to represent Epstein in court, but socializing with him is another matter. How could George Stephanopoulous and Couric dine with convicted pedophile.This is the reason why Trump's "fake news" gets traction with his followers.
8
I'm sorry but there is something off about all this reporting.
There is a huge difference between George Stephanopoulos attending a dinner for Prince Andrew that happened to be hosted at Epstein's house, and Eva Andersson-Dubin or Peggy Siegal or Alan Derschwitz actively working to re-introduce him to society or defend him. There is no reason to lump them together. And it seems from some reporting that the Clintons may also have been more like George Stephanopoulos and not like Derschwitz.
There is a difference between a scientist like Dr. Hawking attending a gathering underwritten by Epstein and Leslie Wexner.
23
I understand the rage over Epstein getting off lightly on accusations of rape and abuse of children 10 years ago. I can understand people didn’t google his past, and not knowing the lurid details of what he was accused of while associating with him. For the life of me, I can’t understand, how months after the #Metoo movement began, how Roman Polanski got a standing ovation from Hollywood elites who knew he raped a 14 year old, and has been on the lamb ever since.
24
Thank you so much for mentioning this.
I have wondered the same thing!
12
Until we, world wide, really begin to get an understanding of psychopathy/narcissism/sociopathy we will keep rewarding these types of monsters with "get out of jail" cards. These pathologies lack empathy and compassion and they often bully their ways into positions of power and influence. They also, often too for some reason, embody the worst forms of misogyny.
And the rest of us need to take a very close look at ourselves and ask, are we allowing rich people more sway, pushy people more influence and are we ignoring misogyny when we see it, letting these monsters hurt more and more people.
Learn as much as you can about these types and stop giving them more power.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/communication-success/201810/7-characterisitics-the-modern-psychopath
7
These elitists are the same ones that go on television and write newspaper columns and magazine articles. They talk down tooThe folks in the middle of the country. Right now the same elitists are sifting through all possible media to find even the slightest link to the President Trump.Then maybe become famous. Sickening.
6
Why is this story front-page news? Wealth, power, sex and politics? Please. It’s just another tired summer re-run. Bury it for something substantial, and more important. Which would be anything.
4
Tell the tweens and teens and their parents that what happened was unimportant! There is a short documentary circulating in which a victim of Epstein’s explains how he wrecked her life. Now, take this instance and multiply it a ten thousand fold and you begin to have a sense of the nature of the lives of young women in this world.
7
I've never felt so happy to be a nobody doing nothing of any kind of particular note than at this time.
650
@Lifelong New Yorker
I share your exact sentiments. Thank you!
30
@Lifelong New Yorker Thanks! I've met billionaires and homeless in my life. The most memorable man was the bracero in 1973 who was walking back to his housing from Safeway. I was hanging out under a bridge in my carefree hippie days. He plucked a bottle of beer out of his bag, gave it to me, and smiled.
38
@TheraP Yes, to go through life stealthily, unnoticed with our daily routines..simple, isn't it.
30
It appears that Mr. Epstein has been advanced by enablers all his adult life -- something not dissimilar to our current Commander-in-Chief. How many "brilliant" students without college degrees are teaching at exclusive prep schools these days?
15
I am beginning to feel as many of us did in the fifties, when our only option at sounds of alarms was to get under our desks, something ---is coming; I just don't know in what forms.
5
Liberals like me assume that indigent felons who have served their time should be readmitted to society (and allowed to vote.) It seems like a double standard to assume Epstein should have been shunned after his time. You can reasonably argue his time was unjust, and that he was unreformed, but the principle of presumed redemption after incarceration remains.
6
@Max Alexander I don't think the point of the article is that he should have been shunned. I think the point is that his wealth shielded him from what his original consequences should have been, and continued to paint him as something he isn't. He didn't even comply with his responsibilities as a sexual offender once released, and suffered no repercussions. He never should have been released from prison in his lifetime. As much as I want anyone who serves their debt to society to get a chance to succeed, sexual offenders are notorious re-offenders. It's a difficult quandry - seemingly the only way to keep victims safe is for them to be locked up permanently. Even those without a lot of money are loose on the streets. I regularly read about predators in my neighborhood being re-arrested. And I live in a LOwer SOcioeconomic NeighborHOod
12
I agree with you .
In this case he wasn’t repentant, intimidated the witnesses, sought an illegal deal and kept child porn .
In the perfect world he would have taken responsibility for his actions ....
In that scenario I hope there would not be the outrage that people stood by him .
2
I’m not sure whether the wealthy or well-connected are more naive than the rest of us or are simply more enabled to rub shoulders with these sociopathic social climbers.
But I’ve often been so glad I was never in a position to be tempted and lured into a lifestyle of hobnobbing with the rich and powerful and wayward.
From the sidelines, where I live and look on, it all seems so sordid. And I’m grateful to have led a life “apart” from such goings on. It’s repulsive, yet I can see how tempting it mist be for some who relish the attention or the decadence.
It feels dirty just to read about it.
7
@TheraP. There are plenty of rich who live exemplary lives and do a lot for others. They don't make the headlines.
3
the rich are different from
you and I,said Scott
Fitzgerald.yes,they are.
they are without any shred
of moral values when it
comes to one of their own.
they socialize with each
other in the Hamptons and
on Martha's vineyard;
then they interview each
other for TV and go about
their merry way. I never
trust a TV interview, ever.
I never believe the myths
which the rich propagate
about themselves, ever.
16
One theme among responses seems to be to focus on the corruption of the very rich. Some people even explicitly say that none but the very rich would tolerate this kind of behavior.
I think it's more likely that the behavior, and the tolerance and victim-blaming and so on are pretty uniform throughout society.
Of course a warehouse manager or landscaper who preyed on young girls wouldn't have the resources of Epstein, but I think you might find many of the same patterns, of people willing to enjoy his company and favors, witnesses reluctant to come forward, even small-town defense lawyers able to get him off more lightly that might have been expected... In it's various ways, the same corruption is pervasive.
25
John: what you’re saying is absurd. The average Joe who commits this kind of crime inspires no one to come to his aid or forgive him after serving his time (in Epstein’s case sounds like he served about half of his obscenely short sentence in his office). Wealth and connections helps you buy your way through tough times. While all men are treated equally, some are treated more equally than others.
5
A very wise and extremely well-respected Venture Capitalist told me once, right before I took my company public, that there are two ways the vast majority people go when they become suddenly rich:
If you are fundamentally a good person, great wealth only makes you a better.
If you are fundamentally bad, great wealth only makes you worse.
wise words, indeed....
38
@Michael Your "wise" angel was reciting advice available since Aesop and contained in board books sold for infants. Good on you, though.
1
@Hypatia agreed. this particular VC was in a discussion with me concerning Bill Gates (IHO a good person) when the topic came up concerning all the "monsters" his group has funded
1
It would seem that being rich and powerful is perhaps the sole criteria to mingle with the rich and powerful.
7
Thank you for naming names. But you need to name many more, no matter their standing in society.
23
92 pages of Epstein's phone book on Intelligencer.com
4
Trump
2
For whom has Jeffrey Epstein been working for all of these years? That is the question.
53
Kind of reminds me of Richard Nixon's comeback trail.
5
@Steve Fankuchen
To my knowledge, Nixon never raped girls.
"Ms. Siegal, perhaps the city’s most prominent professional hostess, took a more active role, using her gate-keeping powers to usher Mr. Epstein, a friend, into screenings and events."
What is this malarkey about "most prominent professional hostess" and "gate-keeping powers"?
What an indictment of New York "society" and what runs it.
24
No surprise here. My husband and I know a guy, a decent, well-off, hardworking but not very educated guy, who has done work for "Mr. Epstein" (as he calls him) over a period of years. When we mentioned Epstein's conviction and asked how he felt about doing business with him, he proceed to trash Hillary Clinton, her husband and their connection with Epstein. When we mentioned that Trump also was supposedly friends with Epstein, he went back to the Clintons. We just let him rant about them for a few long minutes and thought it best to just let the conversation drop.
15
And the acquaintance, too?
7
I think we just need to take a moment and give a standing ovation to the justice department of the Southern District of NY for putting a collar on this perp.....
107
@Tullymon @cernovich and the Miami Herald too
17
@Tullymon
It's about time! I am glad they are are charging Epstein but the BIG elephant in the room is that it has been over a decade since Epstein has been out of 'jail' and apparently no one from sea to shining sea was looking into what he was up to. No supervision at all. Each state can point a finger at the other but that is very cold comfort to all his victims.
2
This points up the tremendous damage done by Acosta in his Florida deal on behalf of Epstein and his evil enterprise in 2008.
And WHY did it have to be a courageous reporter for the Miami Herald that finally drew attention to the travesty?
Florida is an advanced state. And where was the federal government? The American Bar Association?
People are rightly outraged. Fumingly outraged.
28
Pedophilia is illegal and immoral. It should be dealt with on those terms, not on a partisan basis.
23
Remember this article the next time the "elites" deign to lecture us on politics and morality.
16
Love it. You pay enough money, and most anybody will look the other way. Should surprise no one. But I find it especially funny how all of these champions of women's and children's rights from the left embraced him as will. Phonies, all of them.
19
"Same as stealing a bagel." To many, maybe so. Read the names associated with this bagel thief! The thread is thick and long.
7
No wonder we can't stamp out sexual harassment in universities and other high-prestige work settings. It seems the elite of these organizations are happy to hob-nob with a pedophile while yet others embrace a President who is almost certainly a rapist.
How did America go so wrong? Or was the America I grew up in just an illusion? I'm reeling.
49
@Nancy I know what you're feeling. When 45* took the presidency I felt like I'd been standing on sand my entire life. For a while I felt stupid. Then, in a moment of absolutely blazing clarity, I got angry.
2
Epstein is a disgusting human being, but I’m curious about how people wanted him treated when he returned from New York. Tarred and feathered? Lynched in Central Park? The sensational nature of this case and the depravity of his crimes make it very easy to hate him, but the moralizing undercurrent that runs under the outpouring of public sentiment speaks to a very American conception of justice. We don’t want people punished, we want them broken. You find this across the political spectrum; the focus of the ire may be different, but the thirst for blood is the same. Until we move away from a conception of justice that is terminally rooted in Old Testament vengeance, we will never have substantial criminal justice reform in our country.
10
Epstein was never punished. He received a tiny reprimand. Justice was not served. Is that not obvious?
6
No tarring and feathering necessary, but the only alternative is making him the toast of the town?
5
Epstein faced no social repercussions after doing jail time for a number of reasons (his wealth, faux generosity, etc.), but the chief reason why he was able to put a favorable spin on his criminal & perverted behavior is the sweet deal he got from Acosta. Epstein's sexual-predator crimes essentially were swept under the rug by Acosta -- anyone in the criminal law field will tell you that Epstein was able to craft a deal that minimized his evil deeds -- thereby enabling Epstein to still be welcome in Manhattan society.
11
People have pointed out the chilling last sentence of this article.
Here is another sentence: “So how did the two of you meet?” Ms. Handler recalled asking Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn.
27
The Rich and Powerful are now one homogenous group, interesting. Say a lot about the writer.
4
Bottomless pit...
Epstein is just the continuation of this rotten darkness that submerged all of us. I can't even read about this filth anymore. How many showers a day can you take for God’s sake.
What I can't comprehend is, that at the time of this most ugliest administration, supported by ugly base with no moral values whatsoever, Robert Mueller, appears to be a reluctant witness playing footsie with the country.
Taking aside his ambiguous conclusion in a very lengthy report, that not even public officials took time to read, the report that was successfully misinterpreted by his loyal AG, the report that has to be read to the public in a school teacher manner, so everyone will understand who invaded the WH, at the time that he orders raids around the country to deport law-abiding brown skin people, his cabinet cruelty at the border, terrorizing children, women and men, dehumanizing and dismissing like trash people who are coming from the most extreme conditions, trying to stay alive and save their kids...
Mike Pence, goes on a tour of the border and lying to all of us, right in our faces...he is gross to put it mildly, they all are.
So for Robert Mueller to be so nonchalant at the time when our country literally goes in flames, just incomprehensible!
34
@faivel1
Well said and thank you.
3
The entire *point* of the Miami Herald's initial expose of Epstein was that then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta effectively swept the entire matter under the rug and allowed Epstein to serve a pittance of a sentence for his crimes. Is it really that surprising that Manhattan's society elite was blissfully unaware of them -- especially given the burnishing of his social status by influencers such as Peggy Siegal?
While I obviously wouldn't characterize them as "victims," the likes of Siegal and Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin -- both clearly smart and savvy women -- were just as taken in by a talented con artist as everyone else in New York society: many of whom also considered Donald Trump to be "one of their own" until he launched his initial volleys off the deep end (starting well before his presidential run, with his Obama-birther obsession).
7
Supposedly, the NY wealthy never considered tRump one of their own. Does not make either any better.
2
Wrt the last sentence in this article - an adult does not "have sex" with a minor. It's rape. The girls he raped were "tweens and teens".
Now I have to go wash out my brain.
104
how strange. he never had a partner. never had a family. mr. success. mr big. mr smart ... what did people think when they saw all theses young girls round him?
35
@Pamela. “What he does is none of my business” is what they all thought. Then they all turned a blind eye, as you do, when it’s a very wealthy (or powerful) man.
“[Candace Bushnell] stopped reporting after she was thrown out of his townhouse and threatened.” That’s a clue! Not many of us have thrown best-seller authors out of our homes.
Here’s another clue: “Mr. Epstein had a conversation with R. Couri Hay, a publicist, about continuing to improve his reputation.” How many of us hire publicists to improve our reputations?
Finally, the kicker...
“I’m not a sexual predator, I’m an ‘offender,’ Mr. Epstein told The New York Post in 2011.”
“The girls he had sex with were “tweens and teens,” Mr. Epstein told [Hay].
Not pedophilia? Get a dictionary: ’tweens are 8-10 years old. And teenagers aged 13-17 are minors.
What a guy!
12
Tweens are 10-14; not that that makes it any less criminal. But truth matters.
I just had my niece (14) visiting for a holiday. Physically, she appears to someone paying no attention to the psyche and soul as if adult. But just 5 min in her company tells you she is a child. How anyone, even someone who did not raise kids, can think otherwise and exploit a child for pleasure and think it is what the child wants is beyond me.
4
“The culture before #MeToo was — ‘You’ve done your time, now you’re forgiven.’”
I wasn’t aware that even included sex crimes perpetrated against minors. How naive of me...
9
Actually, that is supposed to be the case with all criminal justice. Of course, it never is. Prison (except in tax cases - and this one) stains people for life. But again, it did not for Epstein because people considered the rumors what happened based on the lightness of his sentence.
1
“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.” - Groucho Marx
(My apology to Mr. Marx for using his words in this context)
6
Morality car washes: for the Mafia, it's Las Vegas, and for Jeffrey Epstein, it was Harvard. Different coasts, same result.
12
The authors state that Epstein was released from prison. It is worth noting that he did not spend any time in prison. A prison is for people who are guilty. Epstein was guilty. Remarkably, Epstein was in a private wing of a jail. A jail is for people who are presumed innocent. A prison inmate is not released outside the walls of the prison until a significant portion of the sentence has been served.
Epstein left the jail six days a week.
15
I suppose the very rich think that upholding morality is a job for the 99%.
24
Jeffrey Epstein's current batch of lawyers are an interesting bunch, and there is no doubt that Epstein is entitled to the best legal counsel he can afford. It is interesting that two of his criminal lawyers are silk-stockings types with outstanding reputations, and one is a local lawyer who proudly puts his client list on his webpage including "Alleged Crime Bosses" of the New York and Russian variety, including a wide range of people named Gotti.
I makes me wonder why Epstein would need an experienced (and no doubt highly competent) mob lawyer for his case? Perhaps it relates to his business, whatever that is. Prosecutors can't seem to figure it out.
15
This long piece about Jeffrey Epstein was quite appropriate and believable. However like many other rich men and corporations Epstein acquires social tolerance for his criminal behavior by making large financial aid and staging admirable events to make it easier for others to look away from his grievous sins. (The owners of pharmaceutical corporations who have made outrageous profits from opioid addiction do the same, for example). The willingness of the legal and judicial authorities to aid or acquiesce in this "devil's bargain" however is shameful, and only honest journalism like this by Kantor, McIntire, and Friedman can unmask the greedy charade being made by these wealthy princes who cheat justice, and yet pose as upstanding citizens.
14
@Cmank1 EVERYBODY uses charitable donations as a surefire way to rationalize all kinds of sins, whether its CEOs with controversially large pay packages, companies criticized for exploiting profits, etc.
4
Be careful. These guys are really, really good. The people around them may seem, in retrospect, to be enablers but the current clarity is far different from the distorted reality at the time.
Read Malcom Gladwell’s “In Plain View” in the New Yorker. He nailed it. I would be quick to condemn too but I’ve seen first hand how incredibly devious and convincing these type of people can be.
21
By turning himself into mountainous proportions of liberal style and elite academic philanthropy, Mr. Epstein was probably able to convince many that young virgin sacrifices was what the volcano god into which they fell required in order for him to help save humanity from the lesser gods, and it worked for they sent them in numbers silently almost as if were their righteous duty to an idealistic cause.
10
Unfortunately there are people in this country to whom money is far more important than morality. Many of them are listed in this article. Others, including the man now in the White House, is one of them. He knew what Epstein was all about and was happy to pose for photos with him.
15
Isn't is just so perfectly clear that the same techniques used by an otherwise reprehensible person, Donald Trump, were also used to make Trump seem "acceptable."
Will those who kow tow to Trump's every needy whim wake up one of these days? Mattis did. Other "respectable" people should. Not enough have...
39
@Jim Walsh
Unfortunately you just described the majority of the Republicans in the House and Senate. I wouldn't count on them waking up until Trump is defeated and that's the real problem.
36
“[H]e staged a comeback campaign among the elite that largely worked.”
Once again, we learn that the so-called “elite” are not really so elite after all.
22
TrumpEpsteinism is a certain cultish approach to life that is distorting to values and reality itself. Dogmas around sex, money and power help them to create themselves as fantasy characters. Hyped enthusiasm gathers people together who are attracted to such and the entertainment of it becomes their entire world. The cultic gleeful enthusiasm surrounding - the energy of it can make individuals think they have found some truth. However, the very narrowness of it dictates what they can know about and the cult becomes their entire source. Repetitive messaging, isolation and segregation all play upon needs of fragmented people.
5
It’s difficult, very difficult, to understand why this incredibly repugnant stage four crud, ongoing for years, is only now under the journalistic microscope. Do we need to wait another 5 years before the Alan Dershowitz’s, the Donald Trump’s, the Bill Clinton’s and their ilk are fully discredited and tossed into the trash bin?
Will it take an economic free fall before the top tier’s greed and sense of all entitlement is finally brought to a halt?
25
Geez, why are many of us not surprised? Could it be that we are all too familiar with the complicit media?
3
The culture before the "Me,Too" movement sounds like rape culture among rich white men, and those who enable them.
Pedophilia was excused in some periods as pederasty, a natural love of boys, or as Trump explained it a shared appreciation for beautiful minor women, even Epstein's "very young women".
These were children not women. Kavanaugh's attempted rape of 15-year-old Christine Blasey Ford, Roy Moore's predatory actions towards young teenage girls, Trump's many public boasts/jokes about "very young women" AKA minors, and now this, outline a rape culture with rich white males seeing girls as prey.
Why New York supported this is a mystery to me, but so is all the money. It came from somewhere. There is much still to be known.
14
Thank you, Jodi, Mike, and Vanessa, for doing what so few reporters have done -- calling Mr. Epstein's actions "sexual abuse of girls" and not "sexual encounters with young women" or "teenagers." What he is accused of is rape and I have been so angered by the sugar-coating of it.
7
who are his lawyers? name every last one of them.
7
And after we get the names, we can all get together at Washington Square, pass out pitchforks and torches and hunt them down. The very idea that a defendant has a right to an attorney is sooooo 2016!
4
The Board of Directors of Dalton must be cringing.
7
A good editor finds elements in a piece that are potentially jarring, such as pointing out in this one that Lawrence Summers is a former president of Harvard yet not also identifying him as a former Clinton Administration cabinet member. I'm not certain it really matters and I'm not trying to connect the dots between the odd flight manifests involving Mr. Epstein and Mr. Clinton with the professional credentials of Mr. Summers. I believe, however, since Mr. Epstein has been directly linked with Mr. Clinton in many ways, a failure to point out Mr. Summers' pedigree in relation to this story is distracting and inviting the criticism of others.
10
"Mr. Epstein asserted that what he was convicted of did not constitute pedophilia, said Mr. Hay, who declined to represent him...The girls he had sex with were 'tweens and teens,' Mr. Epstein told him."
So Epstein is saying he's an hebephile or ephebophile rather than a pedophile, since he only has sex with pubescent and post pubescent minors.
That really makes no difference to me. How can you justify raping a child by saying, "she was 13 years old and reached puberty, at least"?
11
The headline tells you all you need to know about the .1%. Oh, and these are the people who control our political system.
21
This is my shocked face -- rich men (and even those not so rich) use women and girls simply as objects for sexual satisfaction, and their wives and mistresses happily go along with it. Have to keep a white-knuckle hold on that brass ring, or the money (lazy lunches, dresses, manicures, servants, gala tickets) dries right up. While Epstein and the men he supplied with children should be the focus of investigation and punishment, a review of all the complicit women in this circle might be enlightening.
13
I am reminded of a quote by Dorothy Parker: “If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.”
64
I would like to know how this man avoided the draft for the Vietnam War, all while I was neck high in rice paddies?
26
I think we need to redefine the concepts "elite" (as it applies to human beings) and "reputation". The individuals mentioned in this article are merely rich, not elite, based on their willingness to associate with this pervert. And epstein needs to be taught the concepts of "predator" and "pedophile" (sex with tweens not pedophilia? since when?)
6
It’s unfortunate, but I do have to say in my lifetime as an observer of people and my experiences, men’s value systems are far less punitive and judgmental than women’s. As a result, this type of thing is allowed to happen, fester, and continue with little consequence. It is something in the male DNA that keeps the “good old boys network” going.
7
@Frances P That must be why all his procurers were women (not to mention those women trying to restore his reputation).
2
Many of us on the left chastise the Trump supporter for overlooking bad and even vile behavior by accepting the bigger picture. Apparently that attitude is prevalent among the privileged class also. If you're "one of us" you get a pass. Power and money cling together, once in you have to fail in ways other than personal character. Possibly because many have similar or equally vile tastes.
What it says is that to some people the law is laughable. Money and power are all that matter. What may come out in this story is how many people we thought were admirable turned a blind eye since he "got away with it."
Of course now none of them can remember even knowing him.
11
@Kathy
"Of course now none of them can remember even knowing him."
I won't soon forget Trump's tiny hand on Epstein's shoulder in the recent photo, documenting the association.
1
I remain completely baffled about what could have been so appealing about Epstein that everyone would overlook the obvious. Yes money talks but in that circle, he one just one of many. I feel like there must be something else or maybe his lifestyle was the daydreams of others
4
Time for Americans to reread Balzac's wonderful essay on Gold and Pleasure in Paris, prefacing "The Girl With The Golden Eyes". Time for American's to reread Balzac whole Human Comedy, appropos Vautrin in in the White House.
15
No matter what Epstein says, the court made him register as a sex offender, something that he will carry for the rest of his life. He may make light of it and pay off young women to keep quiet, but he carries an indelible stain. Our nation is wracked with sex trafficking – mainly girls and women who have no power and are easy to exploit. They are free game for men like Epstein, no matter how philanthropic he attempts to be. It is as though he were a slave owner of old, picking the best-looking girls and young women to sleep with him and do his sexual bidding. The shame is that men and women of letters, science, business, and social standing coddle him and feed his ego.
17
Kudos to the reporters and dogged prosecutors who have brought Epstein to answer for his sick crimes. Hopefully their focus will next turn to Dershowitz.
84
So what does this say about the "elite" of NYC? It appears that money is king in any city and being convicted of a crime means you just didn't have the right lawyer.
34
Let's be real here. Even my own partner, who is a nice, honorable guy, looks the other way when one of his friends says questionable things about women and girls. When younger women are mistreated and spoken of badly, very few ask the person to stop. Misogyny is alive and well within our societies. It is like we are in some kind of autopilot, and it's time all of us woke up to how it affects girls and the greater society.
35
@KA: Tell your partner to stop looking the other way. Wake him up and tell him to turn off autopilot.
11
Seems like NYC society is just high school all over again.
14
Patriarchy.
It’s in NYC, and it’s Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.
In fact, it’s everywhere.
1
Yes—Most of the facts of this case were known during the 2016 election as the case is more than a decade old. Bill Clinton’s connections to this man were known and discussed (including the fact that flight logs show him on the plane at least 26 times)—yet the media was strangely silent as they had their “man” in the white house.
The media was strangely silent about this until it became a newfound way to get at Trump. I think the American people owe an explanation by those reporting it to shreds now, why it wasn’t touched in the 2016 election.
27
And don’t forget that Donald Trump was close to Epstein for many years, and has been accused of a joint sexual assault with Epstein in 1994 by one woman. She had a corroborating witness and a friend whom she told at the time. But Epstein has huge resources and great lawyers, so as usual, the case went nowhere.
As for Trump, it is only one of a large number of sexual assaults he has been credibly accused of, and he is POTUS right now. Bill Clinton’s term ended almost 20 years ago.
5
There's only one truly unforgivable sin in New York society: being broke.
35
The Jeffrey Epstein story is something even more despicable that our current president's tweets and actions. I suppose that is some kind of accomplishment.
7
Jeff Epstein will soon be out of jail again. He has been befriended by rich and powerful men. Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are his peers. He hangs out with the best and the brightest, and has made a small fortune doing so. In his first trial he bought the very best criminal defense lawyers, and they were able (for reasons we still don't know) get his very serious child abuse charges reduced to nothing; his "penalty" a joke. Men and women who, like Epstein and his friends, think wealth means license to do what ever depravity they please, will eventually disgust even the most cynical, jaded persons in our society. There will be revolution. They will be brought down one way or another. Read history. They always are.
18
Other than a nod to "what-about-ism" and false equivalence, what was the point of the gratuitous reference to "the Clintons" in this otherwise excellent article (Epstein was "close to the Clintons", an ambiguous phrase that implies a personal relationship between the "Clintons" and Epstein)?
This assertion was made in the article without any further explanation or context. Other than "the Clintons", every other person named in the story was given an explanation and provided with an opportunity to comment and respond.
The Clinton connection to Epstein was simply asserted without any background explanation, presumably to satisfy some standard of partisan "balance".
In a detailed response to the original stories about Epstein this week, Bill and Hillary Clinton have provided a detailed breakdown of all of their contacts with Epstein, all of which were related to their charitable foundation. If the NYT wanted to dispute their explanation, they should have done so directly.
It almost seems as if every news story now is required to have some kind of negative reference to the Clintons, no matter how stretched or contrived.
In short, the Clinton reference was completely extraneous to this story and should not have been included.
25
@John Mhttps://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-arrest-856874/
Photos in the article include one of Epstein with his Madam, procuress, beard,pimp, accomplice, co-conspirator or whatever else she has been called standing alongside Trump and some woman or child, age not determined. The other photo is of Chelsea Clinton’s wedding, and Ghislaine Maxwell is shown with the group of guests at the church. Maybe the Clintons should have been a bit more careful about where foundation money came from and how it was earned.
In my opinion Maxwell is almost worse the Epstein. She seems to have done a lot of the real dirty work in getting these children to the Epstein residences.
I fail to believe that the Clintons were unaware of what Epstein was up to. It is not “what aboutism”. Both Trump Clinton showed poor political and personal judgement in associating with Epstein and Maxwell. One has every right to question and criticize the connections.
8
@Bashh So now you're dragging Chelsea Clinton into all this, saying that she has ties to Epstein's scandals because she invited someone who knew him to her wedding? Talk about a stretch! What office was she ever elected to?
As I said in my post, what on earth do the Clintons have to do with this news article, other than to provide some partisan cover for Trump?
1
Why does this guy's "self-made-genius-billionaire-who-dates-hot models-in-New-York-City-but-actually-doesn't-want-to-tell-anyone how-much-money-he-doesn't-have" schtick sound so very, very familiar?
73
101 Sexual abuse facts: Sexual predators do not stop without huge consequences/jail time or extreme threats to lifestyle. They average 175 victims in their lifetimes, preying on women but even more so on children because they are easier to victimize. They do not heal themselves of their disease of sexual obsession/addiction.
So to believe ; “The culture before #MeToo was — ‘You’ve done your time, now you’re forgiven.’” is absurd. I was victimized 60 years ago and nothing has changed...perps skate and victims bear the pain for them.
37
@wz Thank you wz for saying it like it is. Respect.
2
The Dalton School, ugh. Hiring a person without a college degree!? Even now private schools hire people without the necessary credentials to actually TEACH! As a public school teacher, with credentials (unlike Epstein I graduated from NYU and then some) and the mother of a public school teacher, who is earning her required masters from Columbia Teachers College, I am offended that private schools like Dalton still have prestige when their teachers could be half rate.
61
I think you meant to say, “...when their teachers are not vetted thoroughly and shouldn’t be anywhere near children.”
This is an article about child abuse that we’re commenting on, not teaching credentials.
4
It pretty much states E was hired at 21 and the facts emerging go back to 1975zzz still why hire such a young person and WHO permitted it on staffatDalton? It’s the most pathetic research I have read lately. As for hanging w the kids I mean really?
3
@A Mazing
It goes without saying that Epstein abused children and should stay behind bars until his last breath.
Teachers are not just ‘vetted’. Check out NYSED.gov to understand what is required. Even back in 1975, someone like Epstein would not have been allowed to sub in NYC public schools.
11
I find it astonishing that he would actually make that remark about "tweens and teens". That's sounds like a pretty blunt admission and it's probably a glimpse into how he's been rationalizing his behavior for a long time. In his twisted thinking, pedophilia probably only applies to very young children, and he thinks he's above that. Unfortunately, it seems like he may have had plenty of help in justifying that way of thinking.
22
At Mr. Acosta's Senate confirmation hearing, he was asked about the Epstein case and is reported to have said "I was told it was an intelligence operation, to back off". An intelligence operation targeting wealthy and politically connected people for possible blackmail and extortion? Surely Mr. Acosta can not be that dumb. On the other hand some things stand out. A prominent hedge fund manager published in Bloomberg says that nobody in that circle ever traded with Epstein, knows who any of allocators might be, and was believed to have only one client. Ghislane Maxwell, Mr. Epstein's procuress, the daughter of Robert Maxwell, billionaire publisher, certainly did not do so out of penury or want. So the question certainly arises, who exactly told Acosta it was an intelligence operation, and if so by what country?
12
From Norma Barnett
Thanks to all for thoughtful remarks, especially about the need to value morality and integrity throughout one's life. What strikes me as truly strange, however, is why "rich and famous people" (not all, but as with Epstein often enough) rely on the belief that if someone is nice, interesting, educated, charming, rich, well-connected, has five beautiful houses, that they are a person of integrity. ? I'm not poor or famous; I am educated; I choose my friends because I enjoy their company and because I trust their integrity. How can I tell? I take time getting to know someone and pay attention to how they treat others and conduct their work. It takes time to find out about the inside of the person who looks good on the outside. It also works the other way--some people, like some of the homeless I work with, are extraordinary people. You have to talk to them and get to know them to see their worth. Do "rich people" not know this? Of course they do. Bill Clinton must have known about Epstein's reputation. I did, just by reading the paper, 15 years ago. Why did Clinton to fly on a plane with a pedophile who ran a sizeable staff of people who procured young girls for himself and his "buddies". Many of the comments about Epstein suggest that because he was rich, charming and smart that of course they'd want him as a friend. And apparently assaulting young girls doesn't matter. And therefore, you are, all of his friends, complicit. Shame on you.
15
"A strange thing happened when Jeffrey Epstein came back to New York City after being branded a sex offender: His reputation appeared to rise."
This is not strange and not new and not surprising. It is however disgusting, immoral, unethical and reprehensible behavior.
The American judicial system is geared to be responsible only to the rich and powerful. It pits the weak against a system they can't beat while coddling the rich. Epstein, with access to both money and power was coddled and welcomed by political, social and economic elites who mostly saw opportunity for influence and more power and more wealth.
The Clintons who claim to feel the pain of others actually don't feel a thing. Neither does anyone else with money and power or access to both.
It is not the elites who populate our prisons or who are sleeping on the streets. It is not the elites who don't have to go to the emergency room for basic medical care. It is not the rich and powerful who have to worry about "broken windows" justice or being arrested for petty crimes.
The elites do not worry about sexual predators nor do they worry about being arrested for abusive and criminal behavior. If you have enough money to distribute to rich the system stands aside. Nothing short of being found holding a bloody knife while standing over a dead body with 15 stab wounds is enough to put the elites behind bars. And even then, if you have enough money, there's a good chance you can get away with murder too.
8
Perhaps Mr. Epstein will enjoy getting shall we say overpowered in prison...maybe by lotsa new friend's seeking intimacy., that is. Experience is the only teacher. Perhaps he will now find out what helpless and powerless mean. I doubt he will buy his way out of this one. Isn't it interesting who 45's group of ever more sordid friends have been over the year's? I heard prisoners don't treat child sex offenders very well.
7
Here’s the truth. If we want to think of ourselves as being better than them, truly, it starts by beginning to not be like them.
Rape in prison is torture, both immoral and illegal.
Even if they aren’t better than this, we are.
6
@A Mazing Raping young helpless teenage girl's is immoral and illegal. Sometimes payback is the right remedy, and i feel in this case it is. But i get you. I'm not better or worse than anyone. You?Comparison is futile. We just disagree.
All these people sound horrible, each in his or her own way, including the science superstars and university top brass. Empty pretension, ambition, narcissism and greed: I wouldn’t trust any one as far as I could throw him or her; their whole existence is transactional.
Epstein won’t buy his way out this time; but who wants to know any of his alleged friends? Not a decent human in the lot.
8
Epstein's "social life" offers a devastating commentary on the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
Who would have thought that one of Harvard's most noted law professors would be a pal and supporter of the two most notorious sexual predators of the postwar era: Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, phonies for whose incredible misconduct that good attorney has a million facile excuses? You can't make that stuff up.
31
One of my favorite sayings is "fine feathers don't make fine birds."
A nauseating, yet perfect, example of the rich and pampered.
Prison is too good for this excuse of a man.
8
He will be popular.
2
The article made it sound like rapist Epstein actually went to prison. He did not, he overnighted there. He kept working and that’s why his reputation did not suffer. Because of the deal.
12
Candace Bushnell looked into rumors about Epstein in 1994— until she was “thrown out of his townhouse and threatened.” Here’s to journalists with the grit and the support of their institutions to report on people who make such threats and hold such power. They are fewer by the day.
26
@Farina: Yes, on the face of it that might have been the most extraordinary line in the story. Where could it have gone from there?
6
remember in the tin drum, Gunter Grass, the Nobel winning writer's epic, when the midget with the voice that can cut through glass, stands off to the side of the jewelry store and when bourgeois customers window shop, etches holes in the glass.
and most steal.
spread these young girls before old rich men and see how many remember their ethics, besides those stripes like Mueller or the one in a thousand with perfect marriages.
A shadow of suspicion has been cast over Dershowitz, many financiers, Clinton, Trump -- scores of suspects I've learned to consider as lowlifes.
Bu even their betters, like FDR, JFK, Bush Senior, Eisenhower (with Mary) -- even Churchill -- (with the champagne kitten) appear to have violated their vows.
Why are we surprised? Why do we continue to ignore reality?
That's just the way men are made.
So let's deal with it, open the doors, turn it over to the free market, regulate and tax it.
Or is that too shocking in America where so many citizens and institutions have taken the hypocratic oath?
1
@frankly 32
"That's just the way men are made"??? I can't believe you said that! You insult decent men by assuming men in general have no morals or self control. Open the doors for access to underage girls to the "free market"? That is such a shocking and disgusting perspective, I'm almost speechless!
16
@Natasha
since you've pigeon holed me as shocking, let me twist the knife: stop being a hysterical woman and assuming the worst:
of course de-criminalizing prostitution must only be allowed when the inherent problems are successfully addressed, and it shouldn't involve any females or males below voting age.
but where are these "decent" men besides your home, where are they in power or the Fortune 500.
Remember when the Republicans who pushed to impeach Clinton couldn't find a speaker who hadn't been catting about?
We have few saints in our past, or present, and, despite me 2, they are not likely to be around in the future.
Franklin, Winston, JFK, Eisenhower were tremendous forces for good. -- their affairs were for the most part irrelevant to their service.
Did it occur to you that you are woman splaining about men.
Listen, I've been one for 72 years and have read thousands of books dealing with them.
I've dodged gay predators and seen politicians behind closed doors.
And I seriously doubt that there is any drive except for survival that exceeds the power and influence of the sex drive.
The fact that 8 billion people are crowded on this earth settles this debate.
1
Clark Rockafeller, Madoff ...and Epstein ...bold lies and willing listeners
4
Four reporters contributed to this article and yet there is no mention of Mr. Epstein's most notable "friend" former President Bill Clinton. No mention of flights by the former President to Mr. Epstein's private island, all recorded in public records by the Secret Service as to date and those present. Lots of other discussions of his "charitable largess" but no mention of the million given to the Clinton Global Initiative. Given the former President's past reputation concerning women it would seem that his attraction to Mr. Epstein would be discussed in this lengthly article.
10
@James: Not mentioned because there were no flights to the island to mention. Clinton should probably have shunned the guy, but Clinton's use of the plane, and Epstein's contribution to Clinton's charity, were all open and above-board.
1
@John Bergstrom
You've been had. Go back and read Clinton' statement. Carefully this time.
"Love of money is the disease
which renders us most
pitiful and groveling, and
love of pleasure is that
which renders us most
despicable."
Longinus
4
Lots of focus on the money angle. But there are rich people who shun the spotlight. What makes these rich people so vile is an unchecked FOMO. They're the types who get enraged if they're not invited to the opening of a bag of chips.
3
Duh, he was a respectable vehicle to the sordid sought by the respected.
3
What is wrong with these men? Really, what is wrong with them?
13
So because you have committed a criminal offence you aren’t entitled to have any friends? What about Roman Polanski? He still has a celebrity lifestyle on the French Riviera. I still think there is an air of moral panic about this. What he did was wrong but they were teenagers not kids. It’s been top story for a fortnight.
1
Roman Polanski lives in a country where he has committed no crime. However, if he were to travel to America.....
2
How does one become a math teacher without a college degree?
16
@Casabohemia: For better or worse, private schools, like charter schools, have a lot of leeway in hiring their faculty. The guy probably had a lot of math skills.
3
@John Bergstrom Thanks for the explanation. I didn't know that. He likely has math skills, but too bad he doesn't understand the numbers...... under 17 yo plus over 50 yo equals a no no.
6
@Casabohemia
By wiring a large sum of money into an offshore account ?
2
Interesting how so many of the “creme de la creme” rationalize away the sour stench when one of their own goes bad.
6
Look, I get and share the outrage, but it's not the rich's, or any other economic class's, job to judge. It IS the job of the DA to judge, so I ask once again, why does Cyrus Vance still have his job after having asked a judge to keep Epstein off the sex offenders' list, when a teenager can be on it for life for an affair with another teenager?!
54
The golden age of the kleptocrats was built on lies, smoke and mirrors. The house of cards will eventually collapse. It always does. Epstein was also on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations, whose president, Richard Haas, has aspirational pretensions of becoming Secretary of State in a Democratic administration. Our think tanks and universities are chuck full of con men and manipulators - Alan Dershowitz, Jonathan Turley (close friend of William Barr). How can the country move forwarding pedophiles, abusers and crooks are running around as part of what passes for “society.”
12
Wealth and power corrupt. The purpose of an economy is to deliver what is necessary to members of society efficiently and effectively. A strongly regulated market economy does this best . No person should have an enormous amount of wealth. Wealth that enables anyone to buy and sell others should never exist. Nor should people need to sell themselves in order to live. A society that allows such abuse cannot in good conscience call itself civilized. We live in the society we have created. We have the ability to make of thise world a heaven, if we only have the vision
9
The last lines of the article are among the most chilling I’ve ever read in the NYTimes.
827
And here's another line from the article:
“So how did the two of you meet?” Ms. Handler recalled asking Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn.
38
@JWB Yes, absolutely revolting. For those who need reminding, "tween" refers to pre-adolescence." The Merriam Webster definition is "children especially in the 9 to 12 year-old age group."
78
@Karen - Seems tat Publicist may be/needs to be called in to speak w/current Prosecutors. Def difference between Tweens and Teens - not a predator ? Not a pedo ?
19
Among their skills, predators and exploiters like Epstein know how to ply their trade by winning approval of powerful people across a broad swath of the ideological spectrum of the rich and powerful. And no doubt, one hand is washing the other in the strictly metaphorical sense.
6
It never ceases to amaze me how willing the rich and powerful are to trust somebody like Epstein.
Anyone caring to check him out would have uncovered how many lies he was telling. Or, is everyone so fixated on cultivating their own images that they can't see through his?
Many factors are contributing to the demise of our culture--well, it's been contributing for some time--but the key one is celebrity worship and a willingess to take whatever anyone says at face value..
As I read this article, I saw so many commonalities between Epstein and the president in terms of creating their own personas, serving as their own PR chiefs, and managing to create an aura that couldn't be farther from the truth when it comes to wealth, importance, business acumen, and accomplishments.
Two con artists, one a president, the other a felon, and not that much distance between them.
128
@ACM
I’m surprised that Elizabeth Therano did not hang w this crowd or somehow surfaced in the story.
1
I remember when TIME magazine, before it became gender-inclusive (and robot-inclusive, I think) selected a "Man of the Year" to highlight as influential and having an impact on the world. The impact didn't necessarily have to be positive.
Now just about every news outlet in America features, and in fact shares, a "Man of the Month."
2
This episode exposes one of the differences between the rich and the rest of us. For the rich, a get out of jail pass is an entitlement. I have a friend who is also a judge's son, as a high school junior he was street racing his new expensive performance vehicle on a quiet suburban street. When caught going over 125 mph in the wrong direction, the police officer escorted him and his vehicle back home where the officer appraised the judge of what had happened. No ticket issued. I also know of a small town's mayor's son, who sold pot. The police department was advised that he was hands off. And so he was. With resources and the right connections the wealthy can afford a good lawyer and with the social standing get away with pretty much any bad behavior (see the Texas affluenza case, or New Jersey judges reprimanded recently).
I also worked in Newark for a public agency, where I saw the disparity in the criminal justice there. It was amazing the number of young men and women who were arrested for marijuana and drug possession who were told if they were to plead guilty and there were no further arrests in two years, their record would be wiped clean. Years later these same people were denied employment following their probationary period. Why? That previous arrest was discovered. Good workers, but they had a record. There are no free passes on that end of the social economic scale.
60
"A Harvard spokesman doesn't know who was responsible for the web page"; the Manhattan D.A. didn't know about his office going to bat for Epstein in an effort to reduce his category of sexual offender; unnamed people in the Dept. of Justice were contacted by Kenneth Starr and by implication influenced the U.S. Attorney in Florida to proceed with the Non-Prosecution Agreement which included agreeing to keep the victims in the dark and suggesting ways to avoid publicity. No one in the responsible office in New Mexico can provide details on why the State allowed Epstein to avoid having to register as a sexual offender..... These are only the beginning of the obfuscation that is apparent to all of us who have been following this story. The strong implication is that up until now there's been undue influence which has perverted the legal process put in place to protect the innocent and shield the victims of a crime from being pressured or intimidated. Epstein himself is finished but the system and the people who allowed Epstein to continue his nefarious and sordid behavior are - at this very moment - slipping out the back door, their shoes carrying the stench of what they stepped in into their grand homes and Park Avenue apartments where we can hope, when they have a free moment after worrying about only themselves, they have a tinge of regret or compassion for the innocent girls their actions have harmed.
188
@Daniel K. Statnekov perfect commentary!
9
@Daniel K. Statnekov
Agreed completely.
Now disbarment proceedings should commence against Acosta for breaking the law willfully by refusing to inform the victims of events in their cases, which included perfunctory dismissal of their accusations.
Then play it up the ladder.
What this shows, and is corroborated by the failure to prosecute Ivanka and Don Junior for fraud regarding Trump SoHo is that Cy Vance is an evil hack and needs to be replaced as Manhattan DA.
8
@Daniel K. Statnekov Perfect points except for the NM registry. Epstein did not have to register in NM because he was not a resident or didn’t occupy the property for the required number of aggregate days that the NM requires out of state sex offenders to register. Epstein’s primary residence is in the USVI. Although Megan’s Law & SORNA requires sex offender registries in every state & US territory, these laws still give states & their AGs some autonomy into how they administer the registries.
1
This article illustrates that money does not build moral character.
It is rather sad to see so many of the rich and powerful and many reputed people in their fields do not care about the people they associate with as long as they are rich.
Do the rich in our society do not have a moral compass?
27
We still have a real problem with the worship of wealth in America. Wealth, even if obtained by illegal means and fraud, seems to excuse all behavior, grant intelligence, and make you qualified for all things, despite all evidence to the contrary. You'd think we were regressing back to the medieval days of absolute monarchies run by fools who claim it's a God-given right to exploit the poor. I thought we figured out that these guys were deplorable parasites about 300 years ago? I guess not.
68
Why so much ink on Epstein and not on his victims, in general and perhaps even specifically since they may be willing to talk openly.
Second, this situation happens in the US and all over the world. Minor sexual abuse is common is there are people getting married in the US and abroad at the age of 12, etc. Some are forced into prostitution, and there are all kinds of weirder doings involving teenagers and older men (usually) and sometimes older women.
Look at the age of consent in Canada. Perhaps Epstein should've stuck there.
5
The public starting point was the trash presidency(Camelot!) of JFK and his wife who got either a positive or a blind eye from the press despite disgusting behavior - and mainly because they were wealthy. The press has been complicit in ignoring and therefore condoning and excusing unacceptable behavior in those who are rich, glamorous or who court the press. But if the press dislikes you or sees no reason to curry favor or fawn over you, that same press can destroy you.
Not only is the press, written or broadcast etc, more often complicit, but they have created precedents that help to disguise and enable monsters like Epstein.
11
Gives me a new appreciation for the Russian Revolution.
19
I know of a convicted sex offender whose crime was an ongoing, consenting relationship with a minor close to legal age. He is not allowed to live near schools and cannot spend time alone with children of his own relations. Is he rich? Of course not. And who passes up the chance to rub shoulders with the elite in the Upper East Side mansion, even if it's all paid for with blood money? Ugh.
13
Consenting minor close to legal age?
5
The rich are not like you and me.
11
The power of Julie Brown's pen has made him radioactive. His money will be tainted even for Harvard. I would now like to see the power of the penetentiary.
49
@Sophocles - yes, Julie Brown should be awarded a Pulitzer. But also--- why did the the Miami Herald need to dig up the facts and join the dots? Answer: the federal prosecutors in Florida did not do their job. They helped a powerful man escape justice. That's why we need the press.
32
@Mark Lai. The salaries of the Florida prosecutors ought to be clawed back and given to Julie Brown and the Miami Herald.
3
Imagine trying to get a minimum wage job as a sex offender. Impossible!
26
No but evidently you are welcomed by high paying firms no matter your rep when you have recommendations from the rich and famous. Even sex offender.
2
Where did his money come from?
To be a billionaire trader you need someone on the other side of the transactions.
Why doesn’t anyone remember his trades?
231
@Zywacz elsewhere it is being reported that the most plausible explanation of Epstein's wealth is that he bribed billionaires to allow him to passively manage their money after getting them to participate with his sex parties. The NYTimes is apparently reticent to report this until there is more evidence. I read elsewhere (New Yorker article I believe?) that during last week's raid of his house the blackmail CDs where likely found, with titles along the lines of "[name] + [name]"
6
I never heard of Epstein until the sex scandal made public. So, I can only remember him in the future as a sex offender. His influence apparently bought by donations and thus limited to that circle. The creation of appearance of rich and famous is an essential ingredient for success in business and thus the donations is part of investment for success.
9
There's no such thing as "sex crime" if you're rich. Just look at the White House.
208
@Ryan— you’re referring to which White House . . . Clinton’s or Trump’s or both?
11
Clinton didn’t commit a sex crime. Morally it was wrong, but not illegal.
7
@Stephen W. Clinton has been credibly accused of several rapes.
3
I can't say I am surprised about the Epstein-Botstein connection. Early on, Botstein tapped into the wealth of Bard College graduate Asher Edelman who was the inspiration for Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street".
17
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t black, he hadn’t troubled beginnings and a hard life in the inner city only to fall prey to its temptations, but he’d still “done time” and was looking turn his life around. Who better for elite liberals to be seen socializing with in public to prove to others that they could walk the talk.
11
@John Doe Your redemption-loving elite liberal theory falls apart when you acknowledge his friendship with Donald Trump. They shared a common interest in money and sexually exploiting women.
3
@maxie, honestly, what does Donald Trump have to do with any of this? Liberals just can’t accept that they’re as flawed as anyone else and shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Redemption is not for liberals to try and achieve by their own acts as they often pretend, which is why they find themselves in this mess right now with some of their own.
1
OK, now *this* I really respect the Times for doing. Not that I think anyone pays much attention to what I comment here, but, trust me, I'm very hard on the NYT.
Here they are going against their class, their cohorts. True, on something that doesn't affect actual economic power; true, true. But it's still taking on "your own," and that's always admirable, however limited.
19
@Doug Tarnopol, face it, there’s only just so much dirt one can sweep under the rug before the seam splits and then being caught trying to sew it back up with all the dirt still under it only a fool would try. At least we know they’re not fools, or just maybe not sure how to thread the needle?
12
Is this guy a registered sex offender? If not, why not?
9
Is anyone surprised that his criminal conviction as an abuser didn't deter the glitterati from breaking bread and rubbing elbows?
Did anyone who had known the truth for years squeal on Harvey Weinstein when doing so could have kept him from ravishing new victims?
Who else is out there that is being protected by hypocrites who will give nothing but lip service until the tipping point comes and the next despicable cad trips over his (or her) own perversions and plunges into the abyss where fair weather friends never follow?
41
To represent that a “tween” isn’t a child isn’t the tip of the iceberg. It is the entire iceberg.
328
What is it lately with all these high profile men that are being accused of sex crimes? Kraft,Kelly,Epstein?Is it that they feel empowered by their wealth? That they are above the law?That in the legal system Justice for money is their get out jail free card? They should be held to the same standards as everyone else. Guilt or innocence should be determined by the evidence and not by how much $ you have. The rights of the victims are just as equally important as the defendants.And the criminal justice system should not re-victimize them again.They deserve their day in court regardless of wealth,status.Liberty and justice for all.
7
@Charles
You forgot to mention Trump. I know, he's not that rich. But still.
33
With this article, the NYT finally begins to burrow down into the swamp to illuminate how criminals like Epstein manage to move easily in the highest levels of high society (with British royalty no less) although they are nothing more than con men or criminals with little actual skill or education. I would have appreciated an honest opinion of Epstein's purported mathematical genius from one of those Harvard scientists.
Given what we've learned recently about Epstein, as well as the Sackler, Doud, and Pearson families, maybe prestigious academic institutions like Harvard and Duke should start looking gift horses in the mouth.
152
And how many in his circle of friends and acquaintances knew and how many participated? What secrets have been left at Epstein's private residences and his private island?
When he goes to trial, will any on his list of buds go down with him? What truth lurks?
It's money. It's power. It's arrogance. It's being connected to the right people. If Epstein is guilty and gets off the hook again, don't ever expect the justice system to treat you fairly.
45
@wihiker - I will take the bet this never goes to trial. There are too many moving parts who have a vested interest in not letting any more information become public. He will plead guilty and spend many years in jail without parole. And the people who enabled him and participated in his crimes will walk free.
The whole notion of celebrity is much more fitting for an oligarchy than it is for a democracy.
24
In addition to the women who were assaulted the level of hypocrisy of the wealthy class should not surprise anyone. The rich and powerful feel they do not need to abide by the law or any social norms since they know more and are "better" than the rest of us. The irony is that so many people in the world, and especially conservative Americans, idolize these individuals because of their wealth and their "success". They too are hypocrites as they idolize these unethical individuals and encourage their politicians to deny assistance to the poor, minorities and especially immigrants looking for a better life. I would prefer to have an immigrant in my neighborhood than one of these wealthy morons. Tax their wealth until they are wealthy no more!
89
@Ron Gugliotti
You do realize they weren't women back then? Many were underage minors, which makes them, in the eyes of the law, children.
5
@Ron Gugliotti You're conveniently leaving out mention of Harvard and its multi-faceted relationships with Epstein. That's about as liberal elite as you can get.
3
@george eliot Nothing Ron said was political. Why try to insert “Liberal elites” into the conversation? This is about Epstein and his crimes against children. Are you implying that Epstein wanting to ingratiate himself with and try to be associated with Harvard means “liberal elites” committed his crimes? That’s a bit of a stretch.
2
Do not believe that the public cares what Epstein did or did not do. If 1 took a sondage on folks on the streets of New York, hunch that at least half could not tell you who he is, of what he is accused! Recall interviews conducted at random about O.J. Simpson and vast majority did not know he was and what the story behind the white bronco was!One thing for sure is that Alan Dershowitz will not be appearing on FN or any other cable news station if the story about his having had intercourse with 2 under age victims of Mr. Epstein at the latter's invitation turns out to be true.
14
Follow Epstein’s money. You will mightily be rewarded.
84
This story is really not that significant unless there is more to it. I've read theories that Epstein is really a blackmail artist who has all sorts of other powerful and rich people under this thumb (there is a New York Magazine article about it).
This could explain why Acosta understood that the Epstein matter was "above his pay grade" and that Epstein was some sort of "intelligence asset".
I was curios why this one case of sexual assault (out of how many grotesque rape and murder trials pending today) is national front page news every day this week (while it's currently not even among the top headlines in the Palm Beach Post).
I'm wondering if there is something more to come out of this whole thing and the media knows it and are sniffing blood. Like some bombshell stuff. And not just Alan Dershowitz. But like Princes and Senators and the like .
Because otherwise it's sort of just a sensationalized crime.
Or maybe just a slow news week?
17
The rich and powerful boycotted Saudi Arabia soon after the MBS sawed and diluted with acid Jamal Khashukji, their so called morality and humanity didn't last for long. Soon they were back doing business with him and this paper exposed them. Don't forget guys.. 53% of American white women, voted for a person who brags about grabbing women from their gentiles, and he claims that they like it. According to him when you are star... women allow you to do it.
I am no star... May be he is right. 53% of American white women voted for Trump? This has to be studied guys.
27
F. Scott Fitzgerald just emailed me an update to his old observation about the rich. Here's what it said:
"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we
are. They are different. And if they get caught molesting underage girls, you need not worry about them. They'll get a slap on the wrist before moving on to partying as usual."
119
Epstein appears to be very much like Donald Trump in that he is overly and unrealistically concerned about his image, press, what other people think of him. He also seems to realize that the truth is not an impediment to what it is you wish to project to the world.
Both men know that their money - what people think they have - will 'buy' them whatever they want including secrecy when they need that.
America needs to stop with the whole worship of money. The Prosperity Gospel of if you have attained great wealth (not how) you are to be admired and deferred to. If wealth is THE defining aspect of character then no wonder liars, cheats and fools can become the 'elite'.
34
What, like Trump, Woody Allen, Weinstein and countless others? It’s clear that a system and culture shaped by white rich men is meant to protect white rich men, from basically, anything. Hopefully times are changing.
24
Then put Clinton in your list too.
We need non-partisan reckonings.
6
@Lily: yes, zeroing in on Woody Allen and Weinstein, these stalwart Republicans, Show objectionable liberal bias. Why it is that, the moment Trump’s unsavory or dishonest ways are mentioned, Republicans feel obliged to point out that some Democrats are “just as bad”.
3
@AcuFem
How about R. Kelly?
1
Nothing flatters the American ego more than hobnobbing with wealthy people who feign substance. Just you all wait, when Trump is removed from office, all these “elites” will be knocking themselves over to socialize with him.
10
The information provided by this article is very detailed and illuminating. However, the article also makes it clear that most, if not all the details related to the years 2004-2012 were known, or could easily have been known, at the time. I've been a subscriber and daily reader for almost three decades, so I cannot but wonder: where was the New York Times during these last fifteen years?
258
@EM Same place as they are today. Propaganda for the wealthy, while selling it as enlightened reporting.
14
@EM - I have been wondering the same thing all week.
10
“For someone purported to have vast resources at his disposal, Mr. Epstein’s early endeavors to improve his image were oddly unpolished.”
Seems comparable to the endeavors of the current president to do the same about his own “image”. A failure.
12
Says a lot about the state of things. It's all about the money.
6
What money? Where did Epstein get all this money for a fleet of aircraft, the largest townhouse in Manhattan, the largest estate with airport in Santa Fe New Mexico, and much much more. Yet he had practically no footprint in Wall Street. Where did he get his money? And how much did he cheat the tax collector? And how much is stashed in offshore accounts?
207
The ignominious case of child predator and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein highlights the deliberate obscuring bof the principal cause of the decline of our Republic; the guerrilla war the top 10% of our society continues to wage on all fronts; political, economic and social, against the bottom 90%.
Jeffery Epstein made a mockery of criminal justice and used his "platinum trifecta" of being white, rich and male to camouflage his heinous sexual predilection for children by leveraging the endemic attitudes of America's plutocracy ranging from depraved indifference to dismissive contempt among the financial and professional elite.
16
It will take a lot of courage, to be sure, but now is the time for any one of those children in the sex trafficking scheme to come forward and tell us who else was there. Heads of rich and well-connected men are going to roll. Epstein and Trump were buddies for 20 years saying in 2002 “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Does anyone think for one second that Trump was not involved in some way with this?
And now he's back pedaling saying "I don't like him, that i can tell you." Typical lies. Epstein was Trump's Palm Beach neighbor at Mar A Lago at the time they had 28 "Calendar Girls" flown in to a VIP party at Trumps Club, where only he and Epstein were the other invited guests, and no one witnessed anything ? Not even the staff? I can't believe this cover up can last for much longer. If there is justice in the world, let these poor abused girls come forward to the FBI as witnesses to finally bring Trump down to meet the over-due fate he deserves.
77
@disgusted— don’t forget to mention that Clinton also had a close relationship with Epstein and is documented to have taken trips on his private jet many more times than did Trump. Perhaps they spent their mile hi time playing cards?
4
@disgusted
Absolutely - a man who attacks and rapes a 50 year old professional woman in Bloomingdales would have no qualms about raping young models in his mansion with another sexual predator.
8
Epstein made campaign donations to many Democrats and very few Republicans. Apparently Trump never got a penny. I think that it would be appropriate to publish the names and amounts. I hope that Epstein kept good records and perhaps even has some videos of the participants in his illegal behavior. But maybe if the information mainly implicates Democrats, it isn’t newsworthy.
6
Epstein told the potential publicist that the conviction did not constitute pedophilia. The girls he had sex with were "tweens and teens".
Merriam-Webster definition of a tween: "a boy or girl not yet 13 years old"
Has anyone asked Epstein how he defines "pedophilia"?
61
@Beth S
Yes, I was also taken aback by the concluding sentence of this article. I can see people perhaps thinking that the publicly acknowledged act with the 17 year old was questionable but Epstein served time and supposedly changed his ways. I don't see how anyone can think that a grown man having sexual interactions with "tweens" is anything other than irredeemable. Definitely not the equivalent of stealing a bagel! Hopefully this admission of Epstein's was not widely known by these people who accepted him back into their society. Although I do remember these charges (sex with 13 year olds) hitting the news back then..
14
Epstein sounds every bit the con man that Trump is without the ability successfully to deny wrongdoing. The falling out with Trump was likely due to Epstein being so uncontrollably deviant that even someone as deviant as Trump had to absent himself.
12
I actually think the difference had between them had to do with Trump not being the one in charge or getting the most attention. We know his sensitivity when it comes to his ego.
3
This is why I never made a point of telling anyone I was a lawyer, and I went to Yale Law School.
And that is why I was always repulsed by parents telling me that their son/daughter was at my alma mater.
The higher you go, the more corrupt you become.
The people mentioned in this article are the equivalent of pimps and drug dealers.
184
@george eliot No, George, worse.
8
Let's hope that some of the 'models' who attended the party arranged by Epstein for himself and Trump at Mar-A-Lago come forward to tell their stories.
73
This talk about Trump "not being a fan": why? It surely wasn't because of his molestation of young girls. That is no problem for people like Trump.
19
"The extent of the power of money is the extent of my power. Money’s properties are my – the possessor’s – properties and essential powers. Thus, what I am and am capable of is by no means determined by my individuality. I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women. Therefore I am not ugly, for the effect of ugliness – its deterrent power – is nullified by money...I am bad, dishonest, unscrupulous, stupid; but money is honoured, and hence its possessor. Money is the supreme good, therefore its possessor is good. Money, besides, saves me the trouble of being dishonest: I am therefore presumed honest.
--Marx riffing on Goethe
16
Now, if Epstein had only been invited to the Met Gala, we'd know his rehabilitation had been complete, and he would have been covered breathlessly in these pages.
13
I'm ashamed to see that many physicists of note participated in the social enabling of this man, even after sexual misconduct charges had been reported against him. There was sexual misconduct going on in physics departments back then, directed at adult women. But one would hope that this would harder to ignore when the targets are teenage girls.
12
Enough of Epstein. Devote space to something good in this world.
7
Harvard is receiving its just rewards now for not being more diligent in vetting this “generous” contributor.Every other picture of this pedophile shows him wearing a Harvard sweatshirt.He has not given up the prestige of Harvard although they now may have in hindsight given up on him.Epstein is exhibit one for how to win friends and influence people while all the while committing heinous crimes.It is sobering that money and the right acquaintances can garner so much respectability for someone who is a depraved villain.
40
Money talks, truth walks.
6
Do people have to be all bad or all good? Maybe he really did support the causes and institutions he gave money to. Are they all going to give it back now?
3
@Daphne
There's good and bad ... and then there's good and criminal. Sex criminal/pedophile.
Big difference.
Now that they're more fully aware ... of course they should offload the money to a worthy charity. With interest.
1
Larry Summers appears on the flight logs for Epstein's private jet, as does Pinker. Maybe a bit more of a connection then they are comfortable admitting.
29
@Cloudy— as does Clinton. Dozens of flights.
1
Money talks and the perp walks.
5
These associations with Epstein seem really awful.....but understandable.
People, i.e., normal people, cannot grasp psychopathy. There is something in the manner, the style, of a psychopath that draws you in. Only astute psychologists familiar with psychopathy and other psychopaths can recognize it, and be appropriately afraid.
7
Does not surprise me at all. Sex offenders and powerful elites share the same sociopathic character traits.
7
How does the CIA get involved in a child trafficking case inside the United States where they are banned from operating?
Why does Epstein share an airplane N-number with the State Department and the CIA?
Why are the files sealed and Epstein's accomplices shielded from prosecution?
Who told Acosta to back off and that Epstein was above his pay grade?
Why didn't FBI raid Epstein's island estate?
Did Epstein traffic women across state lines, a federal crime?
If so, why wasn't he prosecuted?
302
It was 2008, and a different Administration was in charge. Trump bashing was years away. The rich, the politicians, and the media, ignored what was happening to protect themselves and their friends.
4
@Richard Winchester. What does “Trump bashing” have anything to do with this? Who cares what administration it was - Epstein got a sweetheart deal and basically walked away to continue his horrific crimes. Asking “who, what, where, why?” as Max is doing, is where we need to be.
8
@Richard Winchester
Yeah, in 2008, Junior Bush was trying to crash the entire world economy, so nobody noticed. That was who was in charge in 2008, sir.
Maybe it’s too bad that Bush didn’t succeed in cratering the world economy; then Epstein and his apologists might all have been ruined...
8
>Ms. Siegal had not emphasized who was hosting, several guests recalled. “The invitation was positioned as, ‘Do you want to have dinner with Prince Andrew?’” Ms. Siegal said.<
Wow. Seems like an invitation from Ms. Siegal requires vetting by one's own publicist.
9
Ms. Siegal said she wasn't paid to help Epstein regain acceptance in high society - as if another reason to enable a pedophile and child rapist would be acceptable!
Siegal deserves to get more than 15 minutes of fame right now.
4
Kantor, McIntire, anbd Friedman, you guys mention Mr. Epstein's former plea to a count a prostitution as "a reason to dismiss his wrongdoing" which may be true in regard to his social status, but no small legal issue. In light of the multiple counts he faces now, these make him essentially a pimp for his billionaire buddies, involving federal charges under the Mann Act. If convicted, Epstein could be incarcerated for the remainder of his [un]natural life. Best of all, an investigation could round up the Johns (his rich friends). What a perp walk that would make!!!
12
Okay, so the Rich protect the Rich, Men protect Men, who protects girls and women? I have a mental image of Katie Couric yukking it up with Prince Andrew and Epstein. Katie the mother of two daughters, George, and I guess his wife Ali, the parents of two girls. But, no one cares, the Rich always rebound because no one cares. Very strange existence.
13
Hmmmm........Katie Couric.
Well, Epstein makes Matt Lauer look insignificant, doesn’t he?
Her investigative reporting work failed for the rich Jeffery. Or didn’t it matter?
11
In this article, Epstein does what all psychopaths (explanation for use of psychopath below) — he plays a game of semantics to manipulate, deflect, gaslight, confuse, and redirect the narrative so he can minimize, soften and normalize his crimes.
For example, he states: “I’m not a sexual predator, I’m an ‘offender,’... It’s the difference between a murderer and a person who steals a bagel.” That’s false equivalency, another tactic they use. A better analogy would be: A serial killer is like a sexual predator. A murderer is like a sexual offender. The former both kill people. The latter both rape people.
This false equivalency is where the general public seem to be most naive and confused.
Epstein says he has sex with girls who are “tweens and teens”, so he’s not a pedophile. Tweens and teens are children. Let’s call these things what they are instead of pretending they fall into some gray area.
Epstein, his twin friend Trump, and far too many men in the pathological “Billionaire’s Club” are men who are also psychopaths. You can call them disordered, sociopaths, Machiavellian, malignant narcissists or anti-social whatever. But let’s be plain. They are psychopaths, ie, devoid of the ability to feel shame, remorse, regret, empathy, compassion or sympathy. They are driven by relentless aggressive base impulses and narcissistic behaviors. Their actions are malignant, destructive and do profound harm to individuals and societies.
211
@Misplaced Modifier Great. Thanks for the clarification. Great comment!
19
@Misplaced Modifier
The older I become, the more I am convinced that people who have a lot of money are psychopaths. The do not feel a thing, when their employees are working at 1/1000th of their income. That there are modern slave workers who are helping the rich to amass the unbelievable amount of money.
7
Apparently Mr. Epstein has no qualms about having sex with 12-year-olds, whom are tweens, as a 30, 40, 50, or 60 year old man. Yes, pedophilia is correct, the act of manipulating the innocent for sexual gratification and taking no responsibility for one's actions. Clearly a deluded narcissist. More jail time please.
43
So much fakery. It's nauseating.
Call them 'Veneer Vermeil People.' All that gold and glitter ... meant to distract, and all of it fake, fake, fake.
And dangerous.
They are hiding something, many somethings, and the reality isn't pretty.
5
Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class is as fresh today as it was in 1899. Not much has changed. It's a great read.
7
Is anyone surprised?
320
@David Henry. We are all becoming conditioned, welcome to the new America.
18
@Kat This country is all about money. But we prefer to be self-delusional about that. Along with the myth of American exceptionalism. All in all, America is better than alot of other countries. Can't we just leave it at that?
17
@Kat Nope. I think what we are finally seeing, is that people who pattern their lives on gross overreaches in business -- financial greed, the need to dominate others -- and the tendency to exploit just about any situation for one's own economic and social benefit, translates right down to how people carry themselves sexually. This pattern of rich men getting away with abuse is not surprising.
40
Here is a universal truth about the nouveau rich, and I don't mean it unkindly. It’s an observation: Having risen to a height previously unimagined, they fail to notice that all that glitters isn’t gold.
I’ve been around many different kinds of people, mostly around NYC. Once people emerge in the lofty halls of the “richie-rich” they don’t want to be cast aside socially. They begin to equate wealth with worth. This person has a penthouse here—I probably need to know them. That person owns that yacht. Or that company. Or some other shiny object.
I’ve seen previously decent humans cop to behavior that is rather appalling once they’ve reached the top. They remind me of the popular strata in a high school: they begin to behave as though their sole aim is to not get kicked off the platform.
I am not excusing just explaining.
My plea to all humans is this: never stop working on your moral code. Never allow your ego to get so full you lose sight of things like integrity, ethics, inclusivity, charity and public service.
.....and don’t assume that because someone is introducing you to so and so who owns xyz that that person has been vetted. Get to know your new companions and judge them not for how they look on the outside but by the content of their character.
1239
@Gwe I agree with you - yet I have maintained my moral code and lived as an engaged citizen (which cost time and money) and my reward?
Basically, a kick in the teeth.
At this stage, I'd personally like a $ billion or two....or even a measly million. Donating to causes and caring about the world around me while everyone was running off to Walmart to buy the cheapest junk made in China kept me poor and got China (and the likes of Epstein) stinkin' rich.
64
@Gwe "Charity and public service" easily serve as hollow ornaments and fig leaves. Does anyone hear the word "foundation" anymore without reflexive side-eye? And it's hard to work on a "moral code" that was always flexible and transactional. Throw in the conflation of "fame" and "infamy" and the rise of "celebrity" as its own justification, and it's not hard to understand why there's no floor for some people.
90
@m. k. jaks So who would you rather be: Who you are now, who buys from companies that pay a living wage and recirculates the money within the local community or buys cheap at Walmart? Donates to causes or skims from those who can least afford it? Respects others and protects children or acts like Epstein and associates taking advantage of whomever, whenever and wherever they can? Maybe you will never be rich in $$ but you sure will be rich in your heart.
122
It’s examples such as this where it’s important to remember that the real battle in America is NOT left versus right it’s up versus down.
No working class or middle class American would EVER have the ability to rehabilitate their reputation in the manner that Jeffrey Epstein has done. None.
1692
@Matt Townsend
Good point. And, no average American could put up a $56 million mansion and a private jet to stay out of jail.
If a judge accepts that, it will make mockery of equal justice for all.
481
@B
Exactly -- that is why the bail bond system is so unjust.
115
@Matt Townsend
Unfortunately this is also part of the America that we are so proud about, the shining beacon of hope for the free world.Maybe we need to be more humble and less proud.
88
We knew that Trump had been accused of assault by multiple women and yet he was elected president. Heck, we even heard him brag about it in his own voice. That didn’t stop us. So why are we surprised that Epstein was welcomed back by the elite after his time in prison? Wealthy people appear to live by a whole different set of morals. Or lack thereof.
1750
@Pigenfrafyn, to be accurate, that didn’t stop Trump’s “base”, nor the Electoral College. I’m tired of reading how “we” are responsible for the Trump presidency.
No, “we” are not.
334
I agree with Karen Lee. Tired of reading in comments sweeping statements about how "we" elected Trump or how his assault bragging didn’t stop "us." It stopped a lot of us--probably everyone reading this--and hopefully will have stopped even more of "us" by 2020.
189
@Pigenfrafyn - wealthy people did not elect Trump - 77,000 blue-collar voters in the midwest did
109
Socially we need to stop equating money with other good qualities like intelligence and morality.
1475
That's America!
11
@Foxrepublican
Prosperity Christianity and Calvinism say otherwise.
36
@MD No it is not America, it (money) is unfortunately what Americans are focused on !
17
The rich are truly different from the rest of us. I must admit that I’m feeling fortunate that is the case.
521
@Ash, agreed. Thank goodness the extremely rich are just the 1%or so.
22
@Ash Yup - at the heart of evil is, indeed, greed.
27
@Ash
"The rich are truly different from the rest of us. I must admit that I’m feeling fortunate that is the case."
My grandparents and parents have donated millions of dollars to charity, ( and were / are not billionaires, by any stretch )and more importantly, donated thousands of hours of their time helping those in need.
I feel fortunate to be the granddaughter and daughter of those who taught by example.
My grandparents, parents, and the other wealthy individuals whom I know bear no resemblance to Mr.Epstein or anyone reference in this article.
I'm chuckling as I think of my brother ,who drives a 1986 Bonneville, and my multi-millionaire mother who drove a Mercury Sable until she gave up driving. I have owned three cars in my life : A 1990 Ford Taurus ,1999 Accord,
and the 2012 Accord which is my current car. I intend to drive it until one of us dies.
I would be up to my second car if the 1999 Accord hadn't been drowned by the ocean during Superstorm Sandy.
I donated the drowned car to a charity that sells the scrap metal to help sick children.
I picked up extra flyers from the FEMA trailer that was offering assistance and posted them around the neighborhood in the hopes that the information might be helpful to my fellow Sandy victims.
If you feel fortunate to be different from a Sandy victim who did as much as she could to help other Sandy victims despite her own trauma and losses , so be it.
I feel fortunate that I didn't drown.
I
I
15
I am so tired of the rich. There seems to be nothing they’re forbidden, when most of the rest of us can’t afford shelter, medicines, a decent retirement....So very tired of these entitled criminals.
1755
@Akalea I went to a private school in Colorado in the 60s&70s and I guess I would have been considered a rich kid right up until my dad lost everything by not paying attention to shell oil and their corporate theft of his rotational molding process that he hadn’t patented. During my time in school there was a group of kids that robbed the wealthy in their neighborhood because they knew that their parents would be at a party for hours on Friday and Saturday night and as such those homes were empty during those times. There weren’t many alarms installed then and I never heard of them getting caught. I wasn’t invited on the robbery team because I liked to smoke dope and they didn’t like it. Most of them are now upstanding citizens and all got scholarship offers and lucrative jobs after college. I’ll bet none of them are willing to admit to what they did even to the mirror. The rich are different and I’m kinda glad dad lost it all and I had to grow up and attend the school of hard knocks.
199
@Akalea
I am tired of ignorant individuals who bash wealthy people and assume that all rich people are bad.
In fact, I'm so sick and tired of these comments such that I wish that my grandparents and parents hadn't donated so much of their time and money to people who refer to people like my parents and grandparents as "entitled criminals. "
My grandfather was a founder & trustee of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, President of U.J.A Federation childcare, and more. I have come across notes from those U.J.A. Federation meetings from the 1940s online .My grandfather and those whom you view as "entitled criminals " were hard at work trying to help Holocaust Survivors in D.P. camps in any way that they could.
My rich next door neighbors adopted orphaned child survivor twins had been subjects of Josef Mengele's sadistic twin and raised them as their own along with their one biological child.
They felt so entitled such that they took in traumatized, orphaned concentration camp survivors and raised them as their own.
What have you done to help others?
43
@Akalea
Thank you for saying this... I am also. So very tired.
21
Revolting, nauseating and disheartening. The judicial system, the entertainment industry, the science community, the elite higher education system, the political system, the press, medicine and probably some I've forgotten. All are implicated in this disgusting subculture of rich powerful reprobates and their wannabe supplicants. No wonder we've grown so cynical about our institutions. It's like reading about the fall of Rome.
1928
Yes you are right. But it’s always been this way. So what’s different now? The good old NYT exposing this on mutual-faceted levels. Long may they continue! They and those like them are our beacon of hope so don’t give up!
97
@Margaret
Not only reading about it, living it in real time.....
40
@Margaret
Shades of the way society accepted Alfred Taubman after he got out of the slammer.
21
Nothing about the people mentioned in the story and the "society" in which they strive to "live," passes the smell test. Yet, almost every article about Epstein uses the word "billionaire' in the sense that a billionaire is someone to venerate.
104
@John
I don't think "billionaire" is used to foster veneration so much as it's used to imply where he gets his power from.
21
@Margaret
Good point. Power is venerated.
12
Why should we be surprised ?
Since I worked at some length for/with the
rich/powerful/influential/popular
I have become convinced that they will always gravitate to and admire the
rich/powerful/influential/popular.
And this goes double when in New York City.
77
I'm being a little nit picky here, but Mr. Epstein was never in prison. I would hope an NYT reporter would understand that. He was in a county jail....not prison. And the victim was 17, not 14. That is what the outside world knew and frankly, having worked in this system a long long time, the minimal sentence in a county jail certainly gave credence to the lack of seriousness of the underlying behaviors that were not publicly known. It isn't at all surprising that people didn't shun him then. He'd 'paid his dues.' Now, the truth is everywhere and he is probably head to a prison for a very long time. What we know now is much different than what all those mentioned in this article knew then, with few exceptions.
50
@zizzi - you forget the 51-page indictment which was shelved? Together with his attys and the federal prosecutor Acosta, a deal was struck to plead to one count in state court.
Incarceration is incarceration, whether prison or jail.
29
@zizzi
"I'm being a little nit picky here, but Mr. Epstein was never in prison. I would hope an NYT reporter would understand that. He was in a county jail....not prison "
Potato.PotATo.
Epstein was locked up.
" And the victim was 17, not 14."
Your point is________?
15
@Lynn0 obviously you have never spent a night in jail let alone a penitentiary. I’m not advocating that you do but please don’t comment about something in such a cavalier way when you obviously don’t have the knowledge. It’s why I never comment on physics
9
It’s the tip of the ice berg. Would not be surprised to see many different characters from lawyers, English aristocrats politicians all involved in abusing children. The rats worldwide congregate together. This is the top of the iceberg. Look for his collection of photos to include Bill Clinton. Possibly the Donald. He will make a deal to sink the other parasites
61
@Ralph Petrillo
what's the hang up with Clinton? He liked adult women. The Donald is known to have been at a "party" with 24 women (girls included) and Epstein. No other guests. Get over your obsession with a flawed person (aren't we all?) who had an extramarital affair with an adult.
32
@Ralph Petrillo, I think it is a strong possibility what you say is true. I also believe they will never be outed and will be protected by the FBI or someone else. They, who ever they are, the oligarchs, the CIA, will never let two presidents be hung out to dry. And England will not let a royal family member be accused of such an unpopular crime. Will They allow the victims to identify these august men? I wonder, I really wonder. I know I used to read what were considered conspiracy theories about Epstein and his important guest who joined him in his terrible deeds. Are there pay offs now being offered to these victims? I feel as if Epstein is the chosen fall guy. Not that he does not deserve to go to jail and never get out. Let us hope NYC does their job no matter how high up it takes them.
5
@cheerful dramatist. I share your concerns, but think it is terribly important not to jump to conclusions at this stage. Are Presidents and a member of the Royal family guilty by association? Or were they being used to bolster Epstein’s sham image? Trust the NYC and FBI to do their jobs and do it right. Then we will know who else was involved. Personally I suspect Epstein made a lot of money by setting up and then blackmailing a few wealthy perps - but that is pure conjecture on my part. Time will tell and we shall see.
1
Through tattered clothes great vices do appear;
Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks.
Arm it in rags, a pigmy’s straw does pierce it.
LEAR 4.6
344
@Rey Buono. Great. Thanks.
8
This article made me learn two new vocabulary words. Mr. Epstein is not a pedophile because, by his own admission, he “has sex with tweens and teens”. He is a hebophile (sexual interest in early teens)/ ephebophile (mid to late teens), coincidently the same ages as his students at Dalton (13/14 to 18/19).
79
Acosta had explained, breezily, apparently, that back in the day he’d had just one meeting on the Epstein case. He’d cut the non-prosecution deal with one of Epstein’s attorneys because he had “been told” to back off, that Epstein was above his pay grade. “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone,”
With considerable protection for a very long time I can't help suspect Jeffrey Epstein was always a CIA intel-gathering / blackmail op, specifically designed to compromise the very wealthy and foreign or domestic heads of state. Until now, he certainly seems to have enjoyed the last four war criminal presidents just looking the other way -- or even being his regular guest.
27
@Max
"...he certainly seems to have enjoyed the last four war criminal presidents just looking the other way..."
Four? Clinton perhaps. He might not have known the full extent, although he must have heard something. Trump certainly. I don't see Bush, for all his bumbling faults, being an Epstein friend. Obama, no way. Never would have.
11
@Max
Interesting take. So was Epstein gathering kompromat on our elites, and for what purpose? If he did, he certainly has dirt on Trump.
7
@stan continople
Lolita Island has been an issue for 20 years. Bill Clinton was someone that frequented the Island often. This corruption has been going on for years. Our system is rotten to the core and we have a segment of the population that thinks it is above the law. They may be right about that, so far at least.
1
Lots of convenient excuses about rubbing shoulders with or embracing this creep.
Not one “hey, I messed up. I knew better and should’ve never had anything to do with him”.
Lots of claims of ignorance about Epstein from the rich, the famous and even academics. Stunning and difficult to believe.
176
@John Adams
It seems his long well known sexual exploitation of children, pedophilia, sex trafficking weren’t of any concern to the millionaires and billionaires he socialized with - as long as no one talked about the elephant in the room. Now they all claim ignorance.
13
@John Adams Actually, near the end of the article, Mr Stephanopolis expressed regret for attending the party (with Royalty) at Epstein’s house. He said he should have checked up on Epstein and that it was a mistake to go.
6
@John Adams The rich and famous need to be seen with the “right” people and academia needs access to people with capital. Epstein provided everything that these people needed.
2
As Thucydides so meaningfully said “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” I'm afraid it will always be this way (unfortunately).
55