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Wait, is no one here talking about this? Did anyone hear that the Epstein list is gonna be revealed in January??
#jeffery epstein#Epstein#epstein list#epstein client list#epstein didn't kill himself#epstein client list revealed#donald trump#Trump#2024
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DONALD JR PUTS IT ALL IN PERSPECTIVE !
Donald Trump Jr:
"If you're in this room right now, you're probably on the FBI list. You're in good company. I am on every list except the Epstein list. We haven't heard anything about that one in a while⌠How is it that my father could be convicted of 34 crimes, but no one on Epstein's list has even been brought to light? It's almost like they're trying to protect those pedophiles.â
#the great awakening#wef#government corruption#world economic forum#fjb#democrats#joe biden#bill gates#epstein client list#epstein island#epstein island client list#God is with us#donald trump#the truth will be revealed#the truth is out there
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A Deep Dive into the Munson Marriage: Just Who is Steve Harrington?
By Fredricka Keith
The world has somehow been sleeping on the end of an era. The notorious bachelor Eddie Munson is married. But how did it happen? Who did he fall for? Surprisingly enough, those questions were very hard to answer, despite Munsonâs past predilection to be an open book.Â
He has been uncharacteristically tight-lipped about his new beau. Tight enough for the majority of his fans to be just as shocked as the general public at the new announcement. Even so, Steve Harrington hasnât managed to stay completely out of the public eye.
The thirty-three year old has a dismal social media presence, but lucky enough for us, his husband and sister are much more giving. Though Eddieâs Instagram and Twitter mentions of his husband were quickly found to be useless in getting to know the man, despite the number of posts associated with his name. It probably shouldnât have been surprising, considering how they were nearly all nonsensical compliments, written straight from his stream of consciousness.Â
His sister, Robin Buckley, was better, especially considering that sheâs been using the same Instagram account since 2012. Through her, we received a little more insight on the man. He had a penance for camping and exercise, often ready and able to drag both his sister and husband with him. According to a Birthday celebration post in 2017 it was mentioned his favorite movie is The Thing (1986) and his favorite cake flavor was southern caramel.Â
As for his own career, Robinâs BrotherBartender hashtag was of some use, at the least showing us that the man was capable of creating gorgeous drinks, with a long past career in bartending. But that was it, the only information that was up for grabs.
While the newly Steve Munson has been to a number of events with his husband, he still remains an enigma. The only thing his red carpet showings have proved was that the former Harrington was a master at directing attention away from himself, and his husband was incredibly protective of his privacy. There have been many interviews cut short due to questions he found unacceptable, which was a brand new behavior for the star. His days of being an open book are officially finished.Â
But the plot thickens.Â
While neither Steve nor Eddie are open for insight, a thorough background check did reveal some interesting information. Surprisingly enough, marrying a rockstar was not Mr. Buckley-Munsonâs first experience with the upper echelon.Â
Through anonymous inside sources we were able to find that the Harrington last name was familiar for a reason, outside of Steve. His parents, celebrity lawyer Richard Harrington, along with his estranged ex-wife, Adriana Harrington, made headlines in 2012 due to their contentious divorce.
For those not in the know, the two C-list celebrities are most well-known for their continued campaigns against the LGBTQ community, as well as Richard Harringtonâs unsavory choice of clients. Harvey Weinstein, Jeffery Epstein, Mitch McConnell, along with his earlier aid work on the OJ Simpson trial.Â
His mother, Adriana, while not directly working with some of the most despised men in the country, is famous in her own right. The fifty-one year old has nearly two hundred followers on Instagram, her posts consistently centering around the sanctity of marriage, pro-life advocacy, and bible quotes.Â
With this in mind, it is extremely hard to see how their son ended up in not only a gay marriage, but with someone who is flagantly against every single thing they stand for. Though after reaching out to his parents for comment, the picture of how they came together becomes more clear.Â
Richard Harrington initially denied all allegations of having any children with his previous wife, despite direct evidence to the contrary. That was until Adriana Harrington settled the score, posting a series of photos of what appeared to be a young Steve Harrington alongside his father. Along with a caption reading: It doesn't surprise me that a liar would lie about his own son. But unfortunately, yes, Steve Harrington was ours.Â
Though when asked for clarification on her own relationship with their son, she did not hesitate to reiterate that she had no regrets regarding how their relationship ended.Â
âWhile I wish Steven had taken the tough love he was given to improve himself, I can not say that Iâm surprised that he has turned out this way. Itâs unfortunate that his deviant behavior has escalated to the level of making a mockery out of the institution of marriage, but that is out of my control. All I can do is rest easy knowing I tried to give him the best life possible. Him throwing that chance away is not of my concern.â
It was an odd choice of phrasing, considering how âthrowingâ his life away equated to marrying a multi-millionaire. When asked just what tough love she was referring to, she clarified:Â
âSteven was given a choice to get help for his affliction or be completely on his own. He chose to be completely on his own. Whatever happened after that choice is a reflection on him. Not me.â
Though when further pressed on just when Steven was given this âchoiceâ she only mentioned that he was âof ageâ but admitted he was still a teenager at the time of his disownment.Â
When asked for comment after Adrianaâs claims, the Harrington firm provided the following information:
âRichard Harrington has not spoken to his alleged son, Steven Harrington, legal name Steve Buckley-Munson for nearly fifteen years. While his name is present on Mr. Munsonâs birth certificate, the biological relationship between the two has never been confirmed. Considering Adriana Harringtonâs past history of infidelity, it is quite likely that there is no actual relation between the two men.
With that acknowledged, Mr. Harrignton would like to reiterate that he has no ties to Steve Buckley-Munson, Edward Munson, Corroded Coffin, or their label Virgin Records. He is a dedicated family man whose loyalties lie with his new wife, his two beautiful young children, and his clients. Those areas are where his focus will always be, first and foremost.â
It is a wonder that such a well-matched duo could ever end in divorce. But their answers only led to more questions. How could Steve Buckley-Munson have a sister if he was disowned as a teenager?
From the last chapter of this (finished) fic!
#steddie#steddie fic#steve harrington#eddie munson#steddie ficlet#stranger things#damn your love damn your lies#shes officially over over yaaaay
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MAGA: "I can't wait for them to reveal the Epstein list! I can't wait for every liberal donor and celebrity to be revealed as a Epstein client!"
"We released the latest Epstein list. Here's all the right-wing donors and politicians on it."
MAGA: "Can't wait for them to release the real Epstein client list. Which is this one someone posted on Twitter that has red underlines under a bunch of words. That must mean they're especially bad!"
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The fact that Dick Durbin blocked talks of revealing the #Epstein client list to the public is an easy red pill to send a normie today:
The only reason #democrats and many #Republicans are hiding Epsteinâs #clientlist is because they and their puppet masters are complicit in Epsteinâs crimes. Itâs as simple as that.
Why donât we oust #DickDurbin for aiding #humantrafficking?
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Additional info on this settlement from the article:
âThe settlement means to stop the reputational damage that the bank is suffering, since among other disturbing revelations, it has been stated in court docs that one of its executive (later revealed to be Jes Staley) is accused of brutally raping the anonymous plaintiff âJane Doeâ in Epsteinâs Island.â
Need any more evidence why the client list has not been released? They all in on it.
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Location of the Epstein Client List REVEALED | Here is EXACTLY Who is Co...
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After weeks of speculation and anticipation, many of the names of former associates, employees, friends and victims of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released. ... Many of those whose names appear in the documents released Wednesday aren't accused of wrongdoing or have been mentioned previously in legal proceedings or news accounts. The documents released Wednesday are not an Epstein "client list." ... Nearly 90 names were included in the documents, with four redacted: 1. Ghislaine Maxwell 2. Virginia Lee Roberts Giuffre 3. Kathy Alexander 4. Miles Alexander 5. James Michael Austrich 6. Philip Barden 7. REDACTED 8. Cate Blanchett 9. David Boies 10. Laura Boothe 11. Evelyn Boulet 12. Rebecca Boylan 13. Joshua Bunner 14. Naomi Campbell 15. Carolyn Casey 16. Paul Cassell 17. Sharon Churcher 18. Bill Clinton 19. David Copperfield 20. Alexandra Cousteau 21. Cameron Diaz 22. Leonardo DiCaprio 23. Alan Dershowitz 24. Dr. Mona Devanesan 25. REDACTED 26. Bradley Edwards 27. Amanda Ellison 28. Cimberly Espinosa 29. Jeffrey Epstein 30. Annie Farmer 31. Marie Farmer 32. Alexandra Fekkai 33. Crystal Figueroa 34. Anthony Figueroa 35. Louis Freeh 36. Eric Gany 37. Meg Garvin 38. Sheridan Gibson-Butte 39. Robert Giuffre 40. Al Gore 41. Ross Gow 42. Fred Graff 43. Philip Guderyon 44. REDACTED 45. Shannon Harrison 46. Stephen Hawking 47. Victoria Hazel 48. Brittany Henderson 49. Brett Jaffe 50. Michael Jackson 51. Carol Roberts Kess 52. Dr. Karen Kutikoff 53. Peter Listerman 54. George Lucas 55. Tony Lyons 56. Bob Meister 57. Jamie A. Melanson 58. Lynn Miller 59. Marvin Minsky 60. REDACTED 61. David Mullen 62. Joe Pagano 63. Mary Paluga 64. J. Stanley Pottinger 65. Joseph Recarey 66. Michael Reiter 67. Jason Richards 68. Bill Richardson 69. Sky Roberts 70. Scott Rothstein 71. Forest Sawyer 72. Doug Schoetlle 73. Kevin Spacey 74. Cecilia Stein 75. Mark Tafoya 76. Brent Tindall 77. Kevin Thompson 78. Donald Trump 79. Ed Tuttle 80. Emma Vaghan 81. Kimberly Vaughan-Edwards 82. Cresenda Valdes 83. Anthony Valladares 84. Maritza Vazquez 85. Vicky Ward 86. Jarred Weisfeld 87. Courtney Wild 88. Bruce Willis 89. Daniel Wilson 90. Andrew Albert Christian Edwards, Duke of York
#i bolded some of the names i recognised - i wonder what the nature of their association with him was?#radblr
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Shadow of Ezra: Elon Musk Says the Long Epstein Client List will be Exposed if Trump Wins
Elon Musk revealed to Tucker Carlson that if Trump wins, the long-anticipated Epstein client list will finally be exposed, striking fear into the hearts of many billionaires, including Bill Gates.Shadow of Ezra: Elon Musk Says the Long Epstein Client List will be Exposed if Trump Wins
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Elon Musk Urges FBI Probe Into Epstein Connections of Bill Gates and Reid Hoffman
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has called for an FBI investigation into the connections between Jeffrey Epstein and prominent figures like Bill Gates and Reid Hoffman. Musk has been outspoken about what he perceives as a cover-up regarding the undisclosed list of celebrities linked to Epstein. âWhen is there not one â just one â even attempted prosecution of that Epstein (Bill Gates & Reid Hoffman come to mind) client list. Either FBI does their duty or the case for an entire departmental reset or abolishment is strong,â Musk wrote on X. Office of U.S. House Speaker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Gates' Denial of Close Ties With Epstein In 2019, Bill Gates addressed his "association" with Epstein, telling The Wall Street Journal, "I didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him." Despite this, Musk has continued to question the extent of Gates' interactions with Epstein. Epstein's Wide-Ranging Connections Recently released transcripts have shed more light on Epstein's activities and connections. Florida prosecutors knew about Jeffrey Epstein's sexual assaults on teenage girls two years before they agreed to a plea deal. The investigations revealed Epstein's close associations with several high-profile individuals, including former President Bill Clinton, Britain's Prince Andrew, and former President Donald Trump. All of these individuals have denied any criminal or improper actions and have not been charged. Details From the Transcripts The transcripts indicated that a grand jury heard testimony about Epstein raping teenage girls at his Palm Beach mansion. The teenagers testified that they were often given cash or rented cars if they brought more girls to Epstein. The call for an FBI probe by Musk aims to bring transparency and accountability to the unresolved issues surrounding Epstein's connections and client list. Read the full article
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Location of the Epstein Client List REVEALED | Here is EXACTLY Who is Co...
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Jeffrey Epstein list: New documents reveal paedophileâs responses to sex trafficking claims
Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #Epstein Client List
Jeffrey Epstein list: New documents reveal paedophileâs responses to sex trafficking claims She answered yes and, when asked how many times, she said, "I can only remember once." When asked if there were any girls on the island at that time, Maxwell claimed, "There were no girls on the island at all. No girls, no women, other than the staff who work at the house." https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/jeffrey-epstein-list-documents-latest-b2477302.html
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âHeâs Definitely On Itâ - Bill Clinton & Others Named As Jeffrey Epsteinâs Client List is Revealed
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Pizzagate, QAnon and the âEpstein Listâ: Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking
Aday before the so-called Epstein list was supposed to drop, far-right conspiracy theorists buzzed with excitement over the expectation that it would crucify prominent figures on the left for their involvement in sex trafficking. Itâs a wildly popular notion in that world, where Pizzagate and QAnon fantasies run rampant.
The truth, of course, was far different: The material made public in federal court last week, with more now being released, wasnât some kind of Jeffrey Epstein client list, as had been speculated online. It was actually documents from a court case filed by one of Epsteinâs victims that did include peopleâs names, but provided little new information on whether they knew of or participated in Epsteinâs heinous crimes.
To get a sense of why conspiracy theories centered on sex trafficking and pedophilia â and now the âEpstein listâ â are so buzzy in MAGA circles, POLITICO Magazine called up Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.
Rothschild pointed to a toxic stew of age-old antisemitism; the worst incentives of todayâs social media; and the rightâs unending obsession with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump pops up in the documents, including some released on Monday, but thatâs typically not a problem for his hard-core supporters. As with most conspiracy theories, adherents create their own reality.
âThereâs nothing Trump can do that will lose these peopleâs loyalty,â Rothschild said. âAnything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, theyâll just ignore it, or theyâll make up some bizarre justification for it.â
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Epstein list?
The conspiracy theories are that this new release of documents is going to finally be the thing that brings down the elite trafficking cabal thatâs been running the world for 6,000 years. Thereâs this perception that thereâs been information thatâs been held back by the courts or by politicians or the media, this is finally going to put everything out in the open.
And because Iâve studied these movements for so long, I know that these movements really revolve around this idea that there will be a document or a memo or a list or a recording. And that will finally be the thing that finally ends the evil grip of the New World Order, and it never does. They always move on to the next one.
A common misconception is that the list documented Epsteinâs clients who partook in sexual acts with minors, but thatâs not the case, right?
Itâs not the case at all. Itâs a dump of documents related to the case. Itâs not the smoking gun thatâs going to finally bring down all of these powerful ones. A lot of the information and many of the names that are being revealed in these documents have already been known. Some of them were redacted.
But so far, I donât really think thereâs much of anything that weâve learned that really changes our perception of what Epstein did and kind of who in his orbit knew what, because we know a lot of that already. We know it because of tenacious reporting, and the courage of the accusers who have faced him.
Then why was there so much excitement for the list within MAGA circles online â especially when the list itself wasnât even documentation of Epsteinâs clients?
I think it really ties back to this industry of conspiracy theories about the Clintons. I think they really feel like this will be the thing that brings down Bill and Hillary Clinton. Theyâre still obsessed with the Clintons. And so anything that can serve as the final nail in their coffin, theyâre going to rally around, even if, of course, Trump and a lot of the people around Trump are also implicated in all of these documents. They donât care about that at all. Itâs about the Clintons and the rest of the liberal establishment.
What is it about the Clintons that captivates far-right conspiracy theorists like this?
Part of it is that itâs already been three decades of this: The Clinton conspiracy industry started in the early 90s. It started with stuff like Whitewater, Travelgate, stuff that is ancient history now. But there was a really well-funded, very organized and popular effort to bring the Clintons down. And then of course, it resulted in the impeachment, it resulted in the dump truck full of conspiracies about Hillary Clinton when she ran for president. And even though theyâre not really in the public eye much anymore, itâs so prolific that conspiracy theorists have stuck with them because they know what works. Theyâre just like a classic rock band playing the hits.
You wrote a book on QAnon. Based on your research, why are conservatives so obsessed with the theory that prominent left-wing figures like the Clintons are running pedophile rings? Where does that conspiracy theory originate from?
Thereâs always been a certain amount of salaciousness in these conspiracy theories, and there are theories going back about the awful sexual depravity of the Catholics or later on of the Jews. So youâre always going to find a certain amount of attention paid to any kind of conspiracy theory involving sexual proclivity of trafficking. And if it involves children, people immediately just lose their mind â even if these children donât exist. There are no children who have been trafficked because of Pizzagate because Pizzgate isnât real.
But if you just put out the suggestion there, it grabs ahold in a way that is difficult to dislodge. I think a lot of it has to do with antisemitism. I think a lot of it has to do with fear of the occult and Satanic panic. So you get all of these things that are mixed together: the anti-Jewish sentiment, the fear of Satanism. And, of course, now it extends to social media. So you have these powerful figures, in media, in politics, in culture, academia. Itâs very easy to kind of put these people together as part of this vast conspiracy. And if thereâs a conspiracy of them, well, theyâre probably doing horrible things to children, too, because thatâs what evil people do.
Youâve mentioned that all these conspiracy theories are connected. How does the Epstein saga fit into the broader ecosystem of far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate? Particularly when Epstein was never even a figure on the left?
The QAnon and Pizzagate people â they really have embraced Epstein as the most obvious example of these sort of high-level traffickings. Of course, with Epstein, a lot of it was true. He was doing these things, he was connected to this absolutely abhorrent behavior.
But part of what happens is we lose the ability to discern noise from signal. So youâre tarring as a pedophile anybody who had any kind of association with Epstein. And of course, most of the people who were associated with Epstein had nothing to do with what he was doing. Some of them may have known about it, some of them may have looked the other way. And they certainly have a lot of hard questions to answer about their associations with Epstein and what they knew. But just because a person had a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein doesnât make them part of sex trafficking rings. But itâs very easy to point at all of these people and say, âTheyâre all working together. Theyâre all hiding the same things. Theyâre all doing the same horrible things. And weâre the only people who will talk about it.â
Do you think if the Clintons werenât involved, the âEpstein listâ wouldnât have blown up like this?
I really donât think it wouldâve. I donât think it would have gotten quite the attention. I think there would have been some attention; you do have people in that world who are really obsessed with the idea of trafficking and Pizzagate and all that other stuff, but I think the Clinton connection is really what vaulted it into the stratosphere.
How did these people use the âEpstein listâ as ammunition for their conspiracy theories, and how does the role of the internet factor into all this?
Internet is a huge part of it, and social media in particular. It spreads incredibly quickly, because it sounds believable and if you share it with some documents, it doesnât matter if theyâre real or not. The people who are passing this stuff around donât care.
Itâs very easy to spread these things around and very easy to ignore the parts of it that you donât find to be palatable to your worldview, such as Donald Trumpâs connections to it, and you play up the connections of people like Bill Clinton.
Do you see that misinformation about Epstein has been spreading more than other conspiracy theories?
I think itâs definitely spreading more. I think part of it is the fact that Twitter (now called X) has been so completely eviscerated as a source of truth. As soon as the documents came out, I started seeing fakes. And they were getting passed around by verified accounts with a million followers, who are making tons of ad money, because Elon Musk has completely eviscerated verification on Twitter. They have every incentive to pass fake documents along and if somebody says, âOh, thatâs not real,â who cares?
Disinformation and conspiracy theories spread so quickly and so readily on social media, while the rest of us are doing our research and writing our articles and doing our interviews, trying to figure out what this actually means. The people who believe this stuff have already decided what it means. And they donât want to be told differently.
Twitter and people like Alex Jones and people like Steve Bannon, they have an alternative media ecosystem. These are not fringe people anymore. This is not the guy standing outside the football stadium waving a sign about the end is coming. This is a massive industry. Youâve got billions of dollars being pumped into misinformation, into these products, into these podcasts, into these books. Itâs a job for a lot of these people, and theyâre very good at it. They spread this stuff very quickly. They know it doesnât matter whether itâs real or not, their audience doesnât care.
Trumpâs appearance in the documents unsettled some conservatives, like Alex Jones. Others like Jack Posobiec rushed to Trumpâs defense by posting screenshots from the released court documents, claiming that Trump was exonerated. How does Trumpâs presence here complicate the worldview of MAGA conspiracy theorists, especially those who thought Trump would save the nation from pedophiles?
It doesnât complicate it at all. They just sweep it away. Thereâs nothing Trump can do that will lose these peopleâs loyalty. Whatever his involvement is, they just pretend itâs not there. Or they say, âWell, he was only there because he was getting information on Epstein to give to the FBI.â I saw tons of that early on in QAnon. The idea that thereâs some sort of undercover sting operation. Iâm like, really? I donât think Donald Trump could stay quiet about that for five seconds. But you believe it, you talk yourself into it.
So itâs a lot like a lot of Trumpâs other associations, and I write about this in my book on the Rothschilds. The Trump Taj Mahal was actually saved from bankruptcy by Rothschild Inc. Their bankruptcy guy was Wilbur Ross, who helped structure the deal that got the Taj Mahal out of bankruptcy. And, of course, Wilbur Ross later became Trumpâs commerce secretary. Youâve never heard a peep about it from Trump believers, they just sweep it away. Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, theyâll just ignore it, or theyâll make up some bizarre justification for it.
With Epstein, we know how bad he was. And there may be some people who have a difficult time because they wind up in one of these documents. But ultimately, itâs not going to change that Epstein was a horrible person, and that it was people who were connected to Trump who helped him get out of prison the first time, that it was the incompetence of the jail that allowed him to take his own life. That is not going to change. Thereâs not going to be a document that completely alters our understanding of what happened.
What does it take to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, especially when it seems theyâll jump through all sorts of hoops in order to distort their reality for the sake of their own beliefs?
Most people will not change their mind. Most people will double down, they will show absolutely no interest in being wrong. For a lot of these people, thatâs the worst thing that can happen. They have to go back to their friends and family and say, âYou were right, I was wrong, and Iâm an idiot.â
Sometimes it does happen. You will find people who have gotten out of movements like QAnon or have broken away from the hardcore Trump worship because theyâll read something or theyâll hear something that they just canât reconcile with how they see the world. And once you find one thing that doesnât work for you and these movements, you start to find more of them. I liken it to a tapestry where if you pull on one thread, the whole thing immediately unravels. But you have to want to pull on that thread, you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of it all, and you being left with a view that is completely collapsed. For a lot of people, thatâs just too difficult. They just canât handle it. So they just burrow into it more, and the more things go wrong, and the more predictions fail, and the more things donât come true, the more they believe because they just have nowhere else to go.
#Epstein #EpsteinList #Epsteinadasi #EpsteinClientListÂ
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Pizzagate, QAnon and the âEpstein Listâ: Why the Far Right Is Obsessed with Sex Trafficking
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https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/09/why-maga-is-obsessed-with-jeffrey-epstein-00134394
Aday before the so-called Epstein list was supposed to drop, far-right conspiracy theorists buzzed with excitement over the expectation that it would crucify prominent figures on the left for their involvement in sex trafficking. Itâs a wildly popular notion in that world, where Pizzagate and QAnon fantasies run rampant.
The truth, of course, was far different: The material made public in federal court last week, with more now being released, wasnât some kind of Jeffrey Epstein client list, as had been speculated online. It was actually documents from a court case filed by one of Epsteinâs victims that did include peopleâs names, but provided little new information on whether they knew of or participated in Epsteinâs heinous crimes.
To get a sense of why conspiracy theories centered on sex trafficking and pedophilia â and now the âEpstein listâ â are so buzzy in MAGA circles, POLITICO Magazine called up Mike Rothschild, author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything and Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories.
Rothschild pointed to a toxic stew of age-old antisemitism; the worst incentives of todayâs social media; and the rightâs unending obsession with Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump pops up in the documents, including some released on Monday, but thatâs typically not a problem for his hard-core supporters. As with most conspiracy theories, adherents create their own reality.
âThereâs nothing Trump can do that will lose these peopleâs loyalty,â Rothschild said. âAnything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, theyâll just ignore it, or theyâll make up some bizarre justification for it.â
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Epstein list?
The conspiracy theories are that this new release of documents is going to finally be the thing that brings down the elite trafficking cabal thatâs been running the world for 6,000 years. Thereâs this perception that thereâs been information thatâs been held back by the courts or by politicians or the media, this is finally going to put everything out in the open.
And because Iâve studied these movements for so long, I know that these movements really revolve around this idea that there will be a document or a memo or a list or a recording. And that will finally be the thing that finally ends the evil grip of the New World Order, and it never does. They always move on to the next one.
A common misconception is that the list documented Epsteinâs clients who partook in sexual acts with minors, but thatâs not the case, right?
Itâs not the case at all. Itâs a dump of documents related to the case. Itâs not the smoking gun thatâs going to finally bring down all of these powerful ones. A lot of the information and many of the names that are being revealed in these documents have already been known. Some of them were redacted.
But so far, I donât really think thereâs much of anything that weâve learned that really changes our perception of what Epstein did and kind of who in his orbit knew what, because we know a lot of that already. We know it because of tenacious reporting, and the courage of the accusers who have faced him.
Then why was there so much excitement for the list within MAGA circles online â especially when the list itself wasnât even documentation of Epsteinâs clients?
I think it really ties back to this industry of conspiracy theories about the Clintons. I think they really feel like this will be the thing that brings down Bill and Hillary Clinton. Theyâre still obsessed with the Clintons. And so anything that can serve as the final nail in their coffin, theyâre going to rally around, even if, of course, Trump and a lot of the people around Trump are also implicated in all of these documents. They donât care about that at all. Itâs about the Clintons and the rest of the liberal establishment.
What is it about the Clintons that captivates far-right conspiracy theorists like this?
Part of it is that itâs already been three decades of this: The Clinton conspiracy industry started in the early 90s. It started with stuff like Whitewater, Travelgate, stuff that is ancient history now. But there was a really well-funded, very organized and popular effort to bring the Clintons down. And then of course, it resulted in the impeachment, it resulted in the dump truck full of conspiracies about Hillary Clinton when she ran for president. And even though theyâre not really in the public eye much anymore, itâs so prolific that conspiracy theorists have stuck with them because they know what works. Theyâre just like a classic rock band playing the hits.
You wrote a book on QAnon. Based on your research, why are conservatives so obsessed with the theory that prominent left-wing figures like the Clintons are running pedophile rings? Where does that conspiracy theory originate from?
Thereâs always been a certain amount of salaciousness in these conspiracy theories, and there are theories going back about the awful sexual depravity of the Catholics or later on of the Jews. So youâre always going to find a certain amount of attention paid to any kind of conspiracy theory involving sexual proclivity of trafficking. And if it involves children, people immediately just lose their mind â even if these children donât exist. There are no children who have been trafficked because of Pizzagate because Pizzgate isnât real.
But if you just put out the suggestion there, it grabs ahold in a way that is difficult to dislodge. I think a lot of it has to do with antisemitism. I think a lot of it has to do with fear of the occult and Satanic panic. So you get all of these things that are mixed together: the anti-Jewish sentiment, the fear of Satanism. And, of course, now it extends to social media. So you have these powerful figures, in media, in politics, in culture, academia. Itâs very easy to kind of put these people together as part of this vast conspiracy. And if thereâs a conspiracy of them, well, theyâre probably doing horrible things to children, too, because thatâs what evil people do.
Youâve mentioned that all these conspiracy theories are connected. How does the Epstein saga fit into the broader ecosystem of far-right conspiracy theories, including QAnon and Pizzagate? Particularly when Epstein was never even a figure on the left?
The QAnon and Pizzagate people â they really have embraced Epstein as the most obvious example of these sort of high-level traffickings. Of course, with Epstein, a lot of it was true. He was doing these things, he was connected to this absolutely abhorrent behavior.
But part of what happens is we lose the ability to discern noise from signal. So youâre tarring as a pedophile anybody who had any kind of association with Epstein. And of course, most of the people who were associated with Epstein had nothing to do with what he was doing. Some of them may have known about it, some of them may have looked the other way. And they certainly have a lot of hard questions to answer about their associations with Epstein and what they knew. But just because a person had a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein doesnât make them part of sex trafficking rings. But itâs very easy to point at all of these people and say, âTheyâre all working together. Theyâre all hiding the same things. Theyâre all doing the same horrible things. And weâre the only people who will talk about it.â
Do you think if the Clintons werenât involved, the âEpstein listâ wouldnât have blown up like this?
I really donât think it wouldâve. I donât think it would have gotten quite the attention. I think there would have been some attention; you do have people in that world who are really obsessed with the idea of trafficking and Pizzagate and all that other stuff, but I think the Clinton connection is really what vaulted it into the stratosphere.
How did these people use the âEpstein listâ as ammunition for their conspiracy theories, and how does the role of the internet factor into all this?
Internet is a huge part of it, and social media in particular. It spreads incredibly quickly, because it sounds believable and if you share it with some documents, it doesnât matter if theyâre real or not. The people who are passing this stuff around donât care.
Itâs very easy to spread these things around and very easy to ignore the parts of it that you donât find to be palatable to your worldview, such as Donald Trumpâs connections to it, and you play up the connections of people like Bill Clinton.
Do you see that misinformation about Epstein has been spreading more than other conspiracy theories?
I think itâs definitely spreading more. I think part of it is the fact that Twitter (now called X) has been so completely eviscerated as a source of truth. As soon as the documents came out, I started seeing fakes. And they were getting passed around by verified accounts with a million followers, who are making tons of ad money, because Elon Musk has completely eviscerated verification on Twitter. They have every incentive to pass fake documents along and if somebody says, âOh, thatâs not real,â who cares?
Disinformation and conspiracy theories spread so quickly and so readily on social media, while the rest of us are doing our research and writing our articles and doing our interviews, trying to figure out what this actually means. The people who believe this stuff have already decided what it means. And they donât want to be told differently.
Twitter and people like Alex Jones and people like Steve Bannon, they have an alternative media ecosystem. These are not fringe people anymore. This is not the guy standing outside the football stadium waving a sign about the end is coming. This is a massive industry. Youâve got billions of dollars being pumped into misinformation, into these products, into these podcasts, into these books. Itâs a job for a lot of these people, and theyâre very good at it. They spread this stuff very quickly. They know it doesnât matter whether itâs real or not, their audience doesnât care.
Trumpâs appearance in the documents unsettled some conservatives, like Alex Jones. Others like Jack Posobiec rushed to Trumpâs defense by posting screenshots from the released court documents, claiming that Trump was exonerated. How does Trumpâs presence here complicate the worldview of MAGA conspiracy theorists, especially those who thought Trump would save the nation from pedophiles?
It doesnât complicate it at all. They just sweep it away. Thereâs nothing Trump can do that will lose these peopleâs loyalty. Whatever his involvement is, they just pretend itâs not there. Or they say, âWell, he was only there because he was getting information on Epstein to give to the FBI.â I saw tons of that early on in QAnon. The idea that thereâs some sort of undercover sting operation. Iâm like, really? I donât think Donald Trump could stay quiet about that for five seconds. But you believe it, you talk yourself into it.
So itâs a lot like a lot of Trumpâs other associations, and I write about this in my book on the Rothschilds. The Trump Taj Mahal was actually saved from bankruptcy by Rothschild Inc. Their bankruptcy guy was Wilbur Ross, who helped structure the deal that got the Taj Mahal out of bankruptcy. And, of course, Wilbur Ross later became Trumpâs commerce secretary. Youâve never heard a peep about it from Trump believers, they just sweep it away. Anything that is inconvenient, that alters their worldview, theyâll just ignore it, or theyâll make up some bizarre justification for it.
With Epstein, we know how bad he was. And there may be some people who have a difficult time because they wind up in one of these documents. But ultimately, itâs not going to change that Epstein was a horrible person, and that it was people who were connected to Trump who helped him get out of prison the first time, that it was the incompetence of the jail that allowed him to take his own life. That is not going to change. Thereâs not going to be a document that completely alters our understanding of what happened.
What does it take to change the minds of conspiracy theorists, especially when it seems theyâll jump through all sorts of hoops in order to distort their reality for the sake of their own beliefs?
Most people will not change their mind. Most people will double down, they will show absolutely no interest in being wrong. For a lot of these people, thatâs the worst thing that can happen. They have to go back to their friends and family and say, âYou were right, I was wrong, and Iâm an idiot.â
Sometimes it does happen. You will find people who have gotten out of movements like QAnon or have broken away from the hardcore Trump worship because theyâll read something or theyâll hear something that they just canât reconcile with how they see the world. And once you find one thing that doesnât work for you and these movements, you start to find more of them. I liken it to a tapestry where if you pull on one thread, the whole thing immediately unravels. But you have to want to pull on that thread, you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of it all, and you being left with a view that is completely collapsed. For a lot of people, thatâs just too difficult. They just canât handle it. So they just burrow into it more, and the more things go wrong, and the more predictions fail, and the more things donât come true, the more they believe because they just have nowhere else to go.
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Tennessee Senator: 'American people have the right to know who flew on Epstein's plane'
WASHINGTON (WZTV) â Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has issued a release touting her bipartisan efforts to reveal those who took part in the alleged sex trafficking ring conducted by financier Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell while also calling for a full release of names in the duo's contact list.
In a media release on the matter, Sen. Blackburn says the recent decision by a judge to release documents revealing part of Epstein's client list is a step "in the right direction" but is "just the first step."
Sen. Blackburn says she has repeatedly requested a subpoena for the flight logs and an unredacted version of the "little black book" of contacts and addresses related to the allegations against Epstein and Maxwell. "The American people have the right to know who flew on Epsteinâs plane, who witnessed these crimes, and who potentially participated in his international sex trafficking ring," Sen. Blackburn writes.
RELATED:Â 5th batch of Jeffrey Epstein docs further detail allegations against prominent figures
The veteran senator also shares bipartisan legislation she is co-sponsoring, such as the SAVE Girls Act with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn), SALONS Stories Act with Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill), and the REPORT Act with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
Sen. Blackburn also pointed to trafficking in her state, noting Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) data showing sex trafficking of minors in the state grew from 66 in 2016 to nearly 700 as of November 2023.
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