the jeffrey epstein memorial poll and conspiracy-mongering thread

the one thing that could be interesting and not just mortifying is if some of the associates in this list don't make any sense given the narrative that Epstein was just a money manager who had some side hustle of connecting influential people for charitable and political purposes

nothing in his bio makes sense unless it's pure "hey, this guy acts like my buddy so I'll help him out" junk up until he's actually controlling money and then is the extremely creepy guy doing the same buddy-buddy crap to hobnob with celebrity and influence. maybe that was it! who the hell knows

pedo stuff aside epstein was doing things normal rich and famous people things i think is part of what made it work, theres a bunch of vague influence brokers out there, like ftx invested hundreds of million in this fund that wasnt really a fund it was more a collection of celebrities, sam bankman fried was super stoked that they could get him in the room with katy perry and bill clinton

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/23/technology/sam-bankman-fried-celebrity-friends.html

all these big name harvard and mit professors being bewildered by the fact that anyone cares that they were on epsteins jet speaks to the fact that theyre always being flown around to various vanity conferences and whatnot by rich guys who they dont know or really care about prob

the only really on-the-record thing that's weird, other than a lot of innuendo (although still kind of just innuendo) involving all the really high-profile people who were tied to prior shady shit would be

In 2017 "a former senior White House official" reported that Alexander Acosta, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida who had handled Epstein's criminal case in 2008, had stated to Trump transition interviewers, that "I was told Epstein 'belonged to intelligence' and to 'leave it alone'", and that Epstein was "above his pay grade".

xp yeah, exactly. I think he was mostly seen as a somewhat creepy influence peddler and wasn't doing blatant crimes unless he thought people in the room were also gross

the fact that he always had young women around him and had been convicted of sex crimes and no one cared is somewhat troubling

Acosta was the dean of my university's law school ftr

security footage of his last prison visitors luckily no longer "on the record"

ditto his hard drives

Iirc Chomsky also claimed that he sought financial advice from Epstein. If he’s such an intellectual genius, why wouldn’t he use a less clownish more businesslike financial advisor?

I get that they’re flown to vanity conferences by unknown entities and that they don’t care. To me there is no excuse for not knowing who you’re dealing with when you’re in a public facing role. Not caring is a sign of bad character. Therefore you cannot squeak away unscathed sir. The excuses are astonishing to me.

having heard from a friend who nearly got a job working for a small-time financial advisor and some other anecdotal evidence, I don't think that is a job that lends well to being businesslike and low drama

either you know what the market knows and you're just spending time to stay on top of things and make deals intelligently, or you're doing shady stuff. people with tons of money don't want to spend time delving into things and having a goofy guy who shmoozes you (again, gross) while ensuring money goes up is basically where the bar is set

it sounds like Epstein was actually pretty good at the finance bit, for all that entails

fwiw I'm plagiarizing some sentiments there from the If Books Could Kill podcast re: finance

I get that they’re flown to vanity conferences by unknown entities and that they don’t care. To me there is no excuse for not knowing who you’re dealing with when you’re in a public facing role. Not caring is a sign of bad character. Therefore you cannot squeak away unscathed sir. The excuses are astonishing to me.

― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Tuesday, January 2, 2024 12:17 PM (twenty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

to be clear im of this opinion too, the whole situation is completely corrupt

it sounds like Epstein was actually pretty good at the finance bit, for all that entails

― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Tuesday, January 2, 2024 12:25 PM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

my understanding is that he wasnt actually doing finance, like he didnt have any finance people working for him, they havent been able to find anyone who did trades with him

using woody allen as your alibi for being involved in a pedo ring is, pretty dubious lol

yeah this is the bit that made me think we're living in a simulation

i don't know if "they're not a paedophile they just enjoyed the company of paedophiles" would've been thought of as a great defence of character once upon a time

Is this list actually out?

that list in full:

https://i.imgur.com/KJJOKTS.jpeg

I guess what I mean by “good at finance” is that people let him manage money and paid him to do so to be clear

I concur re: LL’s sentiment, just don’t associate with gross people

im sayin theres no evidence he actually managed money, he mightve just been acting as the victorias secret guys very highly paid pimp, or blackmailing him or something in between

Epstein arranged several meetings in 2015 and 2016 with the author and political activist, while he was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

When asked about his relationship with Epstein, Chomsky replied in an email: “First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone’s. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally.”

In 2015, Epstein planned to fly with Chomsky and his wife to have dinner with them and movie director Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, the documents show.

“If there was a flight, which I doubt, it would have been from Boston to New York, 30 minutes,” Chomsky said. “I’m unaware of the principle that requires that I inform you about an evening spent with a great artist.”

In response to questions from the Journal, Chomsky confirmed that he received a March 2018 transfer of roughly $270,000 from an Epstein-linked account. He said it was “restricted to rearrangement of my own funds, and did not involve one penny from Epstein.”

Chomsky explained that he asked Epstein for help with a “technical matter” that he said involved “a simple, quick, transfer of funds.”

that's the full WSJ thing that i read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DT7pzJPybM“I’m unaware of the principle that requires that I inform you about an evening spent with a great artist.”

I didn't know Soon-Yi painted!

lol not sure what happened there -- were Plant and Krauss on the plane too?

the bill gates thing:

In 2013, Epstein met a Russian woman Gates was having a consensual affair with and later paid for her to attend software-coding school, according to people familiar with the matter.

After Epstein had failed to persuade Gates to participate in a multibillion-dollar charitable fund that Epstein tried to establish with JPMorgan, Epstein asked Gates to reimburse him for the cost of the woman’s course, according to the people familiar with the matter.

The implication behind the message, according to people who have viewed it, was that Epstein could reveal the affair if Gates didn’t keep up an association between the two men. The spokeswoman for Gates said he didn’t make a payment.

this is some sort of netflix movie:

Terje Rød-Larsen
Epstein made plans for the Norwegian diplomat to visit his private island in 2012. Rød-Larsen was scheduled to visit so frequently to Epstein’s townhouse—dozens of times from 2013 to 2017—that the staff knew to have cucumbers on hand for his gin, the documents show.

In 2013, Rød-Larsen wrote an email inviting a Polish model to Norway, which she used to obtain a visa to travel with Epstein to Norway. The model said she also accompanied an IPI team to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in 2014.

In October 2014, he was on the guest list when Epstein planned for Woody Allen to give lessons on film editing at Epstein’s townhouse to a group watching Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” the documents show.

Rød-Larsen said in a written statement that he met Epstein because of his philanthropic connections. “At no point did I suspect, let alone know, that Mr. Epstein was involved in criminal conduct, including the abhorrent crime of sex trafficking,” he said.

Rød-Larsen resigned in 2020 as president of the International Peace Institute after a Norwegian newspaper reported he visited the townhouse frequently, had received a $130,000 personal loan from Epstein, and had accepted about $650,000 in donations from Epstein foundations for the nonprofit.

The IPI, which said it was unaware of the Epstein donations and the loan, said that it has new leadership and that it finds the revelations in the Journal’s reporting to be “utterly shocking and shameful.”

and just so the old school conspiracy buffs don't go home empty-handed:

Ariane de Rothschild

A member of the famous banking family had more than a dozen meetings with Epstein. He sought her advice with staffing and furnishings as well as discussed business deals with her, according to the documents.

De Rothschild, CEO of the Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild Group, negotiated a $25 million contract with Epstein in 2015 for one of Epstein’s companies to provide risk analysis and other services to the bank, the documents show.

In 2019, after Epstein was arrested, the bank denied that de Rothschild met with Epstein and said it had no business links with him.

The bank acknowledged to the Journal that its earlier statement wasn’t accurate. It said de Rothschild met with Epstein as part of her normal duties at the bank between 2013 and 2019, and Epstein introduced the bank to U.S. finance leaders, recommended law firms and provided tax and risk consulting.

ah nice

the number one piece of financial advice you can give is "figure out how to not pay taxes"

because your wealth is way more important than the society you live in. you can always buy into a gated community. social breakdown problem solved!

I’m unaware of the principle that requires that I inform you about an evening spent with a great artist.

https://www.supportkevinspacey.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ksold2.jpg

i'm surprised there hasn't been a film or docudrama on epstein yet.

I forgot Xeni Jardin somehow cropped up upthread

From the Where are they now? file.

i'm surprised there hasn't been a film or docudrama on epstein yet.

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm)

There is an Epstein doc (and a Ghislaine Maxwell doc) on Netflix.

xxp someone we probably shouldn’t investigate further imo

yeah the doc is good but I was thinking docudrama or film. Have to assume one is coming at some point but maybe not for a while.

I forgot Xeni Jardin somehow cropped up upthread

ugh I forgot she existed

I watched both the Netflix docs (there may be 3?) and they were mostly centering the survivors, which was good. The one that stuck w me was the one where Virginia Giuffre was interviewed extensively.

I didn’t learn much about his business practices or his associates tho — which is good, he can rot — but I’m still waiting for a reckoning for his associates.

Friend told me CNN reported that names might begin leaking as early as this afternoon??!!

lets have the names shall we

Ready to see which of my faves went to sicko island

who wants popcorn

From what I've read, these are mostly already known names, aren't they? Is anyone expecting any surprises?

there are 200 names that haven't been released -- how could there not be surprises?

i am still in "apology analysis" phase. This person offers a particularly weak example:

“If I had known who (Epstein) really was, there is absolutely no doubt that I wouldn’t be in the position I am in today,” Staley said in a statement shared with CNN at the time.

I think boygenius is going to top the list.

They should announce it like the NFL draft.

lmao

They should do a montage on the next Academy Awards show with the Hollywood people, like the In Memoriam segment.

anti vaxxers trying to get in on the action

Dear Aasshole: for the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any “list” other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckless… https://t.co/p8eug12uiS

— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 2, 2024

This from the Guardian is what I've also seen elsewhere about the names: Many on the list will already be publicly known as associates, employees of Epstein and Maxwell, or people who had flown on his planes.

So I don't think this is quite the bonanza some people are hoping for. But I guess we'll see!

2-3 big names is enough for a media/twitter frenzy