On January 30, the Department of Justice released its latest tranche of 3.5 million documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Years of emails, texts, and images were suddenly in the public domain.
Epstein, a serial rapist, masterminded a global human trafficking and sexual abuse network, and could count princes, professors, and politicians among his closest friends and accomplices.
MintPress News has been at the forefront of covering the Epstein saga, revealing his extremely close links to American and Israeli intelligence groups – a discovery that perhaps sheds light on why it took so long for the world’s most notorious pedophile to face accountability for his crimes.
Many of the DOJ files have been heavily redacted in order to protect Epstein’s powerful clients. Still, they have exposed a massive elite nexus revolving around the New York billionaire, implicating presidents, diplomats, and plutocrats in his crimes, and imply that Epstein was significantly more powerful than first thought, shaping modern politics in ways never previously understood.
With shocking new details emerging on a near-hourly basis, here are ten Epstein-related stories that have flown relatively under the radar.
The Israeli Government Installed Surveillance Cameras at Epstein’s New York Apartment
The Israeli government installed and maintained a hi-tech surveillance system at Epstein’s Manhattan apartment complex, including a network of alarms and cameras, emails show. Starting in 2016, the director of protective service at the Israeli mission to the United Nations controlled guests’ access to the Manhattan residence, and even performed background checks on prospective cleaners and other Epstein employees.
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak admitted visiting the apartment up to 100 times, and stayed there for long periods of time. While Barak’s security may have been a concern, Epstein is known to have housed underage girls at the apartment, and many of his worst sexual crimes and most sordid parties were held there, raising questions as to what sort of images and data the Israeli government had access to.
Epstein Plotted War With Iran
Ehud Barak became one of Epstein’s closest associates, staying for extended periods of time at the billionaire’s residences. The pair would email, text, call, and meet constantly. A search for
“Ehud Barak” elicits more than 3500 results in the latest file dump alone.
The pair would talk politics, and shared a vision of the United States attacking Iran. In 2013, with negotiations between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran stalling, Epstein emailed Barak stating, in typically poor spelling and grammar: “hopefully somone suggests getting authorization now for Iran. the congress woudl do it.”
Epstein would get his wish in 2025, when his close associate Donald Trump began bombing the country.
Noam Chomsky Considered Epstein His “Best Friend”
Epstein arranged a meeting between Barak and renowned leftist academic (and vehement critic of the U.S. and Israel) Noam Chomsky. An unlikely friendship between the notorious pedophile and star professor blossomed, with the pair regularly meeting up at each other’s houses for dinner. Chomsky flew on Epstein’s “Lolita Express” jet to attend a dinner with Woody Allen in New York. He also expressed his desire to visit Little St. James Island, Epstein’s notorious Caribbean hideaway, and the center of his trafficking operation.
Chomsky considered Epstein his “best friend” according to an email sent by his wife, Valeria. The usually curt and matter-of-fact academic signed off his emails to Epstein with unexpectedly flowery language, such as “Like real friendship, deep and sincere and everlasting from both of us, Noam and Valeria.”
Chomsky strongly supported Epstein until his dying day in a Manhattan prison cell, taking it upon himself to act as his unofficial crisis manager, describing his accusers as “publicity seekers or cranks of all sorts,” and denouncing the media as a “culture of gossip-mongers” destroying his stellar character.
“Ive watched the horrible way you are being treated in the press and public,” he wrote, advising Epstein on tactics to fight the supposed smears against him.
For a full rundown of the Chomsky-Epstein relationship, see the MintPress News investigation: “The Chomsky-Epstein Files: Unravelling a Web of Connections Between a Star Leftist Academic and a Notorious Pedophile.”
Steve Bannon Developed a Plan to Help Epstein “Crush the Pedo Narrative”
A second public figure running defense for Epstein was Steve Bannon. In public, the far-right strategist claimed that he was working on a documentary exposing Epstein. In private messaging, however, Bannon, like Chomsky, was advising Epstein on how best to repair his image.
Just weeks before Epstein’s arrest and subsequent death, Bannon was messaging him, devising a complex media strategy to clear his name. “First we need to push back on the lies; then crush the pedo/trafficking narrative; then rebuild your image as philanthropist,” he wrote.
While Epstein publicly aligned himself more with the Clintonite wing of the Democratic Party, he was also deeply drawn toward much of the philosophy of the modern alt-right, led by Bannon.
Epstein and Maxwell’s Influence on Internet Culture and the Modern Alt-Right
Indeed, there is significant circumstantial evidence to suggest that Jeffrey Epstein had far more of an effect on modern far-right politics than previously thought. In fact, he could have been among its creators.
In 2011, Epstein met with Christopher “Moot” Poole, the founder of infamous internet message board, 4chan. At the time of his meeting with Poole, Epstein and Bill Gates advisor Boris Nikolic were sharing articles and discussing via email how 4chan could be used to alter public opinion and whip up the masses into hysteria. “This article describes why I find moot interesting. The potential for manipulation is huge,” Nikolic wrote Epstein.
On the same day as the Epstein/Poole meeting, the latter created Politically Incorrect (/pol/), a political message board on 4chan that would serve as the birthplace and incubator for the modern alt-right, as well as a number of the most outlandish conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate.
Gaining prominence during Trump’s first term in office, Pizzagate was an elaborate conspiracy theory claiming that global elites partook in satanic rituals around trafficking, raping, killing and eating children in the basement of a Washington D.C. pizzeria.
Given the timing of the meeting and the emails surrounding it, there is the very real possibility that Epstein himself influenced the creation of many outlandish theories about global pedophile rings, perhaps in order to discredit the notion in the first place.
Epstein’s partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, may have been, if anything, even more influential in shaping online culture. Maxwell is rumored to be Reddit power user MaxwellHill, moderator of a number of gigantic Subreddits, including, /r/WorldNews, /r/Technology, /r/Politics, /r/Science, /r/Travel, /r/Health, and /r/Environment. MaxwellHill was at one point the most popular Redditor on the platform, being the first to reach one million karma (akin to likes on other platforms).
Believers point to the account’s use of British English, its admission that they were born in December (like Ghislaine), and the fact that it vanished from the platform forever at exactly the time she was arrested and imprisoned.
If true, it would mean that Epstein and Maxwell were crucial in shaping online politics and internet culture more generally.
Bill Gates’ Affairs and Sexually Transmitted Infection
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates contracted a sexually transmitted infection from sex with “Russian girls,” then asked Epstein to provide him with antibiotics to “surreptitiously” give to his wife, Melinda, so that she not find out about his infidelity. That is according to 2013 emails Epstein wrote, but did not send.
Gates initially vehemently denied the claims. “Jeffrey wrote an email to himself, that email was never sent. That email is, you know, false” he said, adding, “It just reminds me, you know, every minute I spent with regret and I, you know, apologize that I did that.” Later, however, he admitted to having affairs with two Russian women.
When Melinda was asked about the claims, however, she did not refute them, saying she felt “unbelievable sadness” being reminded of a “painful time” in her life. In 2021, she divorced Bill, citing his friendship with Epstein as among the factors in the breakdown of their marriage.
Jeffrey Epstein Bankrolled the pro-Israel Lobby
Documents reveal that Epstein was one of the Israel Lobby’s most generous funders, the billionaire donating to a wide range of pro-Israel groups, including the Hillel Foundation, The United Jewish Association of New York, and Yeshiva.
In 2005 alone, Epstein donated $25,000 to the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces, a group that purchases equipment for the Israeli military. That same year, he gave $15,000 to the Jewish National Fund, an organization that builds illegal Jewish settlements in occupied Palestine. Even years after his conviction for sex crimes, Harvard Hillel was soliciting donations from Epstein.
Epstein was a vocal and committed Zionist, a 2012 email he sent insists that “Palestine has never historically existed.”
MintPress News was at the forefront of uncovering the connections between Epstein and Israeli intelligence, publishing a series of investigations into their links. The new tranche of documents also hints at this relationship. In 2018, Epstein sent Barack an email stating “you should make clear that I don’t work for Mossad,” followed by a smiley face.
A Dalai Lama/Epstein Connection?
The Dalai Lama is mentioned over 150 times in the new Epstein files, the emails showing that the billionaire was keen to associate himself with the Tibetan spiritual leader.
If journalist Michael Wolff is to be believed, he got his wish. Wolff noted that he met the Dalai Lama at a soirée at Epstein’s infamous New York mansion. The Central Tibetan Administration has categorically denied Wolff’s assertion.
Epstein did, however, meet with Tenzin Priyadarshi, a Tibetan monk and director of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at M.I.T. in Boston.
For more on this story, see the MintPress News investigation: “The Dalai Lama – Epstein Connection.”
U.S. Ambassador May Have Raped, Impregnated 11-Year-Old Child
One of the most explosive documents shows an FBI informant linking the U.S. Embassy to Epstein’s worldwide trafficking network. Kenneth Darrell Turner told the FBI that, in 2014, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Earl Anthony Wayne impregnated an 11-year-old Mexican child while at a U.S. Consulate-controlled building in Ciudad Juárez. The mother gave birth to a child and received a positive DNA match with Wayne.
The allegations have been largely ignored in corporate press. One outlet covering the story, however, was The Eagle, a student newspaper at American University in Washington, D.C., where Wayne now teaches. The news led to protests on campus, with students calling for authorities to review the allegations.
Wayne has categorically rejected the assertions against him, pointing out inconsistencies in Turner’s story. “The claims originate from a disjointed email chain that makes outlandish claims, including international conspiracies and other events that demonstrably never happened, as they would have been matters of public record or reported in the media at the time they occurred, and they were not,” he said.
Trump “Authorized” Epstein Murder – Epstein’s Brother
Jeffrey Epstein’s family do not believe that he killed himself in prison. “I have reason to believe he was killed because he was about to name names,” his brother, Mark, told the FBI in 2023, concluding that “I believe President Trump authorized his murder.”
Epstein was found dead in his cell in July 2019. Although officially labeled a suicide, many have suspected foul play, given the billionaire’s extensive connections that could compromise the rich and powerful.
The Trump administration has repeatedly denied any involvement in Epstein’s death. “The claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” the Department of Justice wrote.
The Epstein Files has shocked the world, leading to political scandals on both sides of the Atlantic. While a number of senior figures in Europe, including the former prime minister of Norway, have been arrested, the U.S. Department of Justice appears to be unwilling to do the same. And with their announcement that they do not intend to release any more of the Epstein Files still in their possession, it appears that the DOJ is attempting to kill the Epstein story itself. With so much interest in the story, however, it seems unlikely that they will be able to dampen public’s demands to know just how far this scandal goes.
