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<\/p>\nDylan is a senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, where she leads RDP\u2019s Economic Media Project.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
With each successive<\/span> trove of documents from the Epstein files the Department of Justice releases, we\u2019re treated to rare insight into how our ruling class behaves in private, and how connected many of them were to the late sex trafficker.\u00a0<\/p>\n The list of elites who maintained close relationships with Epstein is long and includes prominent politicians, media figures, academics, and business leaders. In contrast, the list of people who have faced any meaningful consequences, at least in the United States, is so far quite short. Recently, Brad Karp, a top Democratic Party fundraising \u201cbundler<\/a>,\u201d was removed as chair of the white-shoe law firm Paul Weiss after his extensive ties to Epstein were revealed. Peter Attia, the celebrity doctor and a new hire at Bari Weiss\u2019 CBS News, resigned<\/a> from a protein bar company after emails showed him making dirty jokes with Epstein. The economist Larry Summers was deemed<\/a> toxic<\/a> after a previous DOJ disclosure, and despite his intention to continue teaching, was put on leave by Harvard and unceremoniously dropped by numerous institutions. So far, that\u2019s about the extent of it.<\/p>\n To be very explicit, this lack of serious consequences is a choice that powerful people in the United States are making. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom<\/a>, Prince Andrew is prince no more, reduced to merely Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after King Charles removed all of his remaining royal titles; the former CEO of Barclays has been barred from the finance industry<\/a>; the British ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, has been forced out<\/a>; Morgan McSweeney, Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s chief of staff and a Mandelson protege, was forced to resign under pressure; and Starmer risks<\/a> losing<\/a> his post<\/a> over the Mandelson appointment. In Slovakia<\/a>, the national security adviser to the prime minister has resigned. Accountability, if you care to enforce it, is in fact possible.<\/p>\n But on this side of the pond, elites have moved to protect powerful people with Epstein connections (themselves included). Donald Trump is the most obvious example; for any other president, the relationship between the two men would have been a fast track to impeachment. The documents also reveal how many powerful people maintained relationships with Epstein years after he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008: Among them are former presidential adviser and current podcast bro Steve Bannon, Trump\u2019s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick<\/a>, Tesla et al. CEO and \u201cMechaHitler<\/a>\u201d progenitor Elon Musk, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman<\/a>, Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel<\/a>, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates<\/a>. Extensive redactions to the documents by the Justice Department have slow-walked matters even further, but on Tuesday, Rep. Ro Khanna took aim <\/a>by reading off the names of \u201csix wealthy, powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason\u201d on the floor of Congress.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s to be any measure of accountability, the powerful people who palled around with Epstein, asked his advice, or otherwise provided cover for him need to be cast out of polite society forever.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n To make matters worse, many figures who appear in the files have reacted to the ongoing Epstein disclosures in ways that merit aggressive eyebrow raising. After the threat of being held in contempt of Congress, former President Bill Clinton, who for years had a close relationship with Epstein, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have finally, under pressure<\/a>, agreed<\/a> to testify before the House Oversight Committee. The Clintons resisted subpoenas, even calling<\/a> them \u201cinvalid and legally unenforceable,\u201d until a bipartisan majority of the House Oversight Committee voted to move the measure to hold them in contempt to the full House. Before that inflection point, they apparently expected Democrats to close ranks around them, as they always have in the past. Republican maneuvering aside, the presumption that noncompliance with a legitimate subpoena from Congress is somehow permissible, or even noble, reflects the air of impunity that ruling elites have toward basic functions of the rule of law.<\/p>\n But make no mistake: If there\u2019s to be any measure of real accountability, the powerful people who palled around with Epstein, asked his advice, or otherwise provided cover for him need to be cast out of polite society forever.<\/p>\n Beyond being packed<\/span> with salacious gossip and more than enough material for months more of investigative journalism<\/a>, the newly released documents are striking in how they reveal elites\u2019 widespread casual disdain for us commoners. Perhaps more than anything, the Epstein files are jarring for how transparently they communicate that members of our elite believe that norms, consequences, and even laws don\u2019t apply to them. There seems to be no end to the number of emails from powerful people seeking out Epstein\u2019s advice for how to handle controversies<\/a> ranging from sexual assault allegations to formal human resources investigations to media scrutiny. (Former Arizona State University professor Lawrence Krauss is probably the clearest example; as Grace Panetta wrote for The 19th<\/a>, \u201cKrauss turned to Epstein for public relations advice and strategy, sent him possible cross-examination questions for his accusers, forwarded an article on the dos and don\u2019ts for apologizing, and fielded Epstein\u2019s edits and feedback on draft statements.\u201d)\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n