When Accountability Is a Foreign Concept
Resignations, firings, and investigations connected to Epstein abound abroad
There once was a time in this country when accountability mattered. The very thought of associating with, much less maintaining a close friendship with a known sex offender would be career ending — or something close to that. Politicians would have been embarrassed, even ashamed, of their actions.
Today? Not so much. Allegations are swept under an ever-growing rug. Names are redacted not for the victims, but for the victimizers.
But some governments do still care about common decency. We’re seeing from them what it was once like in the United States: significant repercussions for those with close ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The largest Epstein file drop to date on January 30 sent heads rolling across Europe.
On Sunday, Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, resigned because of his close ties to Peter Mandelson. Mandelson served as Britain’s U.S. ambassador until last September, when he was fired by longtime ally, Starmer, after the first batch of Epstein files disclosed a long association.
In one correspondence from Mandelson to Epstein, Mandelson hailed his friend’s release from jail after his conviction for procuring a child for prostitution as “liberation day.”
McSweeney recommended Mandelson for the diplomatic post. “The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself…. When asked, I advised the prime minister to make that appointment, and I take full responsibility for that advice,” McSweeney said in a statement.
McSweeney’s resignation came just days after the latest Epstein files showed that Mandelson may have shared sensitive British government documents with Epstein between 2009 and 2010. U.K. police are investigating Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office. Pressure is building for Starmer to resign over the scandal.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, once known as Prince Andrew and brother of King Charles, was recently stripped of his royal title because of his association with Epstein. He is now, once again, under scrutiny. London police are “assessing claims” that Andrew leaked official British trade documents to Epstein in 2010.
The British government isn’t the only one holding members of the Epstein cabal accountable.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his government is opening an investigation into possible links between Epstein and Russian intelligence. “More and more leads, more and more information, and more and more commentary in the global press all relate to the suspicion that this unprecedented pedophilia scandal was co-organized by Russian intelligence services,” Tusk said last week.
A national security adviser to the Slovakian prime minister resigned over texts he shared with Epstein about diplomatic issues, dinner dates, and inappropriate conversations about young women.
Joanna Rubinstein, a Swedish United Nations official who visited Epstein’s island in 2012, resigned last week.
Norway’s economic crimes unit is investigating former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland’s relationship with Epstein.
In France, Jack Lang, a former cultural minister, and his daughter are being investigated for their financial ties to Epstein. They are accused of “laundering of aggravated tax-fraud proceeds.”
The French are also looking into illegal activities at Elon Musk’s social media company X. Last week, French police raided X’s offices in Paris as part of an investigation into allegations that the platform is disseminating child pornography and deepfakes. But in the U.S., Musk’s ties to Epstein have been brushed aside.
Since the latest file dump, a few members of Congress seem to have finally located their spines.
Today, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik faced bipartisan calls for his resignation after multiple appearances in the files. “Lutnick’s lies about his business dealings with a convicted child sex offender, raise serious concerns about his judgement and ethics. Lutnick has no business being our Commerce Secretary, and he should resign immediately,” Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) said in a statement.
Also today, the House Oversight Committee deposed Ghislaine Maxwell, the only one of Epstein’s immediate associates to be convicted of a crime. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors. Unsurprisingly, she pleaded the Fifth.
Maxwell is a longtime friend of the president. After a July meeting with Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney and current Deputy Attorney General, she was moved to a minimum-security prison and reportedly given perks, such as access to a computer. Her silence today sent a message to Trump, one made clear by her attorney.
“Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump. Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters. For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing,” David Oscar Markus said in a statement.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) was present for the abbreviated deposition of Maxwell.
“We know that there are more than three dozen associates, family members and individuals directly associated with Donald Trump in those files… The United States government is engaged in an active cover-up of the largest sex-trafficking scandal and influence pedaling scandal in the history of the United States. And Donald Trump is right at the center of it,” Stansbury said.
Although Trump’s justice department did partially comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, they were late in doing so, not all files were released, and the ones that were have been heavily, and some likely erroneously, redacted.
One email to Epstein with the sender’s name redacted said, “Thank you for a fun night… Your littlest girl was a little naughty.” Only the victim’s names were supposed to be withheld.
When the files were made public the Department of Justice told Congress they would have access to the 3.5 million documents in their original, unredacted state. Today members of the House went to the DOJ to review a small portion of them. They were not allowed to bring recording devices, but they could take notes.
“What I saw today was that there were lots of examples of people’s names being redacted when they were not victims,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said, calling some of the redactions “suspicious and baffling.”
“I think that the DOJ has been in a cover-up mode for many months… There’s no way you run a billion-dollar international child sex trafficking ring with just two people committing crimes,” he continued.
Trump has long proclaimed his innocence in all things Epstein, despite his name appearing in the files 38,000 times, according to a review by The New York Times. This doesn’t mean the president is guilty of anything, but it does, to say the least, justify deep suspicion and further investigation.
The whole sordid saga of the Epstein files seems less about justice for the victims and more about how American men in power are able to manipulate the system to stay there.
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Ms. Maxwell’s proposal is just an attempt at extortion. It should be met with contempt.
Oh please. I think that the victims could give a more “complete” account than Maxwell ever could. She is a liar, and a felon, and a monster. Lock her up.