Epstein Files Trigger Political Crises Around the World
Ghislaine Maxwell's pardon strategy. About that suicide. Dr. Oz versus RFK on the measles vaccine. Guthrie family pleads for tips. And Bad Bunny's halftime show, decoded.
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In the US, the scant few people paying a price for their association with Jeffrey Epstein aren’t paying much of one. The head of Paul Weiss was demoted to partner. In LA, Casey Wasserman is facing calls to step down as head of the 2028 Olympics, and there’s unrest at his sports management firm. Notably, neither man is accused of illegal behavior.
Maybe the fallout has been limited because it appears the DOJ redacted the names of most of the people involved in what could be sex trafficking and pedophilia. The co-author of the Epstein Transparency Act, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), is frustrated enough to warn that he will release the names of men implicated, if he gets them — and if the government fails to release them first.
While few are paying a price in the US, governments overseas are reeling. Poland is investigating whether Epstein was a Russian asset. The governments in the UK and Norway are launching their own inquiries, and inside Israel a former PM’s Epstein ties are being weaponized by Netanyahu to attack the country’s left. Even the Nobel Committee is implicated. We get into those developments below.
Also in today’s newsletter: New questions about Epstein’s death; a measles outbreak has one Trump administration official sound a new tone on the vaccine; the Guthrie family faces a deadline for the return of their mother; the DOJ faces a court deadline over their raid of the Fulton County elections office. And breaking down the symbolism in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Here Are Your Headlines
Damning Silence: Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted sex trafficker and associate of Jeffrey Epstein, invoked her 5th Amendment rights and refused to answer a single question during a closed door deposition with the House Oversight Committee, Monday. Instead her lawyer had a message for Trump: Maxwell is “prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.” He went on to say she would make clear “both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing.” (Is she offering to trade silence for a pardon?) Lawmakers from both parties left the deposition furious. After the fruitless deposition, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) told reporters, “The United States government is engaged in an active cover-up of the largest sex trafficking scandal and influence peddling scandal in the history of the United States and Donald Trump is right at the center of it.”
Suspicious: Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who co-authored the Epstein Transparency Act, noted the inconsistency that Maxwell “did not plead the fifth” when Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche visited her in prison in July — but is doing so now “about things that don’t implicate her but may implicate many of the other powerful people in the Epstein class.” Blanche offered Maxwell limited immunity for their conversation, in which she claimed to have not witnessed inappropriate behavior from Presidents Trump or Clinton, and denied the existence of a client list. Maxwell offered to testify before Congress in return for immunity, but was denied. Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said she is a bad person who does “not deserve any type of immunity.” A group of Epstein survivors sent lawmakers a letter warning them not to trust Maxwell, citing her refusal to identify “the many powerful men” involved in Epstein’s schemes. “All the perpetrators and all the co-conspirators who think that this is the end,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) said, “this is only the beginning.”
Into the Reading Room: As of Monday, lawmakers can review the unredacted Epstein files in dedicated rooms in the DOJ. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MA) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) were among the lawmakers to review the files; they said some of the documents remained redacted — and that some of the redactions seemed “suspicious and baffling.” Raskin said Trump’s name was redacted “in a number of different places.” Rep. Subramanyam said on Monday that he’s looking for evidence that Epstein’s co-conspirators were redacted, which would be illegal.
About That Suicide: The newly released Epstein files include several versions of a draft statement announcing Epstein’s death, attributed to Trump’s DOJ. The press releases were dated August 9, 2019 — the day before Epstein was found dead. So to be clear: the DOJ was preparing to announce Epstein’s suicide, in advance of the alleged suicide. The files also include multiple graphic photos of his body, including signs of visible injuries on his neck, and an FBI report into his death. According to that FBI report, Epstein also attempted suicide on July 23. But Epstein later accused his cell mate, a former police officer, of attempting to kill him, and told a psychologist he had “no interest in killing myself.” Other newly released documents reveal that investigators reviewing surveillance footage from the night of Epstein’s death saw “a flash [of] orange” going up the stairs. Some investigators concluded it was a corrections officer, others an inmate. But the mysterious figure was not mentioned in the official investigation into Epstein’s death, nor was it visible in the video released by the DOJ showing the exterior of Epstein’s part of the jail the night of his death. The Trump administration has maintained that no one entered Epstein’s section of the prison on the night of his death.
UK Government in Crisis: While revelations in the files haven’t cost any US government officials their job, they are driving consequences across Europe. They may cause the collapse of the UK’s government. As of Monday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is still holding on to power and told his colleagues he will not resign — but two members of his cabinet have resigned and at least six members of his party have called for his resignation, including the leader of Scotland’s Labour Party. The scandal centers on Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US in 2024. Mandelson is an influential Labour Party politician who has served in senior government roles under many prime ministers; his ruthlessness earned him the nickname “Prince of Darkness.” The new files show that he may have tipped off Epstein with confidential government information Epstein could use to trade on. For example, he appears to have given Epstein a heads up that the EU was preparing a a massive financial bailout in 2010, information Epstein could have used to his financial benefit. Epstein also apparently paid Mandelson tens of thousands of dollars; was that in exchange for sharing insider information? British police are investigating, and over the weekend they searched two of Mandelson’s properties.
Flush This Royal: Meanwhile, British police have launched a separate investigation into former Prince Andrew, who allegedly shared confidential reports with Epstein while serving as a UK trade envoy. A spokesperson for King Charles said on Monday the palace is “ready to support” police. A spokesperson for Prince William said he and Kate are “deeply concerned” about the new revelations. The statement came from Riyadh, where William is meeting Saudi Arabia’s crown prince as part of his first diplomatic trip to the country.
Scandal-navia: Norwegian police on Monday have launched a corruption probe into a diplomatic couple over their ties to Epstein. Mona Juul on Sunday was suspended and then resigned as ambassador to Jordan; she was involved in the Oslo accords, significant peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Her husband, former government minister Terje Roed-Larsen, in 2017 called Epstein his “best friend.” The newly released files reveal that Epstein helped the couple buy an apartment and left their children $10 million in a will he drafted shortly before his death. Norwegian police are also investigating the New-York-based International Peace Institute; Roed-Larsen resigned as CEO in 2020 after his ties to Epstein were first revealed.
More Ties: Norwegian police are also investigating former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland for corruption, over his links to Epstein while he served as secretary general of the Council of Europe and chair of the Nobel Committee. The files also reveal that Norway’s Crown Princess maintained a yearslong relationship with Epstein. Meanwhile, her stepson is currently on trial for a litany of offences, including the rape of four women.
Partisan Interpretation: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting that Epstein’s “unusual close relationship” with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak — detailed in the newly released files — proves that Epstein did not work for Israel. Instead, Netanyahu used the new revelations to attack left-leaning Barak for “obsessively” attempting “to undermine Israeli democracy by working with the anti-Zionist radical left.” Barak and Epstein’s relationship was already public knowledge. In 2020, Barak said he “knew [Epstein] in the same way Trump knew him and the way Clinton knew him.” (Is that exonerating?) The newly released files suggest Barak and Epstein’s relationship went far deeper than previously known. Epstein seems to take credit for helping Barak return to Israeli politics in the late 2010s. He tried to arrange a meeting between Barak and a former prime minister of Qatar in 2018; in the email exchange, he jokingly told the former PM to “make it clear that i don’t work for mossad. :) [sic]” (That’s Israel’s version of the CIA). During this time, it seems Barak stayed in Epstein’s New York apartment so frequently that Epstein’s staff appear to have called it “Ehud’s apartment.” In 2019, Barak formally came out of retirement and challenged Netanyahu’s rule, and at the time Epstein implied to Steve Bannon that he was involved. Bannon approved, calling it a “brilliant move.” “Thx. Only the first step,” Epstein responded. “Now you can understand why Trump wakes up in the middle of the night sweating when he hears you and I are friends.”
Antisocial Media: One of the first major trials against Meta began on Monday, and the outcome could determine the future of social media platforms as a whole. New Mexico’s Attorney General is accusing Meta of designing its algorithms to entice and addict young people, and of allowing its social media platforms — including Facebook and Instagram — to become a “breeding ground” for sexual exploitation of minors. Over 40 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against Meta; this is the first to reach trial. According to the lawsuit, “Meta knowingly exposes children to the twin dangers of sexual exploitation and mental health harm. Meta’s motive for doing so is profit.” The company dismissed these claims as “sensationalist, irrelevant, and distracting.” Another major trial is set to begin this week in LA, this one arguing that social media companies deliberately design their platforms to addict young people. The suit accuses Meta and Google of “borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry” and “deliberately [embedding] in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue.” (Tiktok and Snap, the owner of Snapchat, settled for undisclosed sums.) The outcome could determine the fate of roughly 1,500 similar lawsuits.
Shut Your Gab(bard): New details have emerged on the mysterious whistleblower complaint that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is accused of attempting to cover up. The complaint reportedly references an intercepted call between two foreign nationals, who were discussing a person close to Trump. It’s unclear whether the discussion was truthful, but it reportedly involved Iran. The complaint was filed in May 2025, as the Trump administration was debating whether to strike Iran; Trump ordered a strike weeks later. According to the whistleblower’s attorney, Gabbard did not allow officials to distribute the intercepted information to the appropriate members of Congress, as per normal protocol. Instead, she allegedly delivered a paper copy of the intercepted call to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and directed the NSA to send classified details to only herself.
It’s Who You Know: The complaint was initially assessed by acting intelligence community watchdog Tamara Johnson, a career official who served in the Biden administration. She reportedly dismissed one of the complaint’s allegations as noncredible, and was unable to assess the second. Johnson was then replaced by Christopher Fox, a former aide to Gabbard, who claimed the complaint had been “administratively closed” — despite Johnson in fact issuing a ruling of urgency. “The fact that this sat out there for six, seven, eight months, and we are only seeing it now, raises huge concerns in and of itself,” Sen. Mark Warner said on Sunday. “I do not believe that Director Gabbard is competent for her position. I don’t believe that she is making America safer by not following the rules and procedures.”
Heartbreaking: Savannah Guthrie on Monday asked the public for help locating her mother, Nancy, who is thought to have been kidnapped from her home on February 1. Monday is the final deadline listed in a ransom note. Guthrie on Saturday told the possible kidnapper that her family is willing to pay for Nancy’s safe return. If you have information you can leave a tip at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or by submitting a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
Keep reading to find out… Why someone in the Trump administration likes vaccines now. How a Trump-appointed judge ruled in the lawsuit over the FBI’s controversial election center raid. And the symbolism behind Bad Bunny’s historic Super Bowl halftime performance.
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