Donald Trump, Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve, and Jeffrey Epstein attend the Victoria’s Secret “Angels” party in 1997. (Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images)
I’ve been struggling to write about the Epstein case — and the eponymous “files” — because, to be honest, I’ve been struggling to figure out what to think about them. I’m not a big conspiracy buff; my thoughts are far too complicated to say anything simple; and, well, sometimes life is too short to comb through acres of skeevy emails by many of the rich and powerful people I’ve spent the last 30 years desperately trying to avoid.
But here goes!
The following, it seems to me, is what really matters: an email from an Epstein friend in 2014 (long, long after Epstein’s conviction for sex with a minor):
Thank you for a fun night ...
Your littlest girl was a little naughty.
No proof of an actual crime here but, in the broader context of what we know about Epstein, the mind reels at the way so many in our elite were able to ignore the abuse of minors happening in the wings. Money, glamor, and connections easily trumped any moral qualms. I guess if Catholic Cardinals can look the other way, so can Larry Summers and Brad Karp.
There’s something darker here too. The abuse of minors turned into a joke — long after Epstein’s first conviction:
Redacted: Where are you? Jeffrey: Paris with Woody Allen Redacted: For les pedophile convention? Jeffrey: I think pedophilee is the plural Redacted: lol
Lovely. Then there’s the quite obvious inference from the entire dump: these people really do look after themselves first, don’t they? This is elite network heaven, the trading of favors, the mutual backslapping, with private planes and desert islands as lubricant: catnip for populists. I don’t see a vast pedophile conspiracy in these files. I see a status-seeking parvenu with a sex addiction to underage and barely legal girls, collecting the rich and powerful as a kind of insurance for his compulsive vice.
There are hints of blackmail — for example, reminding Leslie Wexner of their past “gang stuff” — but the overlap between the elite and the abuse is vague. There’s an invite to Israel from Deepak Chopra: “Your girls would love it as would you!” Girls? There’s the “harem” referred to by Richard Branson. How old?
Trump, of course, had the quintessential “I-Know-But-I-Don’t-Know” back in 2002 — in public:
I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.
When historians review this, they’ll see the historical context: our post-Cold War Gilded Age. So much money held by so few. That’s what keeps these people buzzing around Epstein, one senses: proximity to the new mega-rich. You wonder if the sense of utter impunity they all express would be possible in an era other than our own. Hirschorn is dead right on that score.
And of course all this was Trump’s circle too. His is a very, very gilded populism — as Plato foresaw. But Plato’s tyrant came from the elites and betrays them. Trump comes from them, betrays them only rhetorically, and still aspires to be their peer and chum, enriching himself among them. You see this dynamic even in Steve Bannon. Just watch his interview with Epstein. Here is the man of the “forgotten working classes” alternately challenging and then drooling over a mid-wit, insider-trading finance bro who epitomizes the very globalist super-rich Bannon says he loathes.
It’s all bound together by a bro-ish element common among the super-rich: they love to be on the inside for the newest shit, and share predictions and tips with faux-portentousness. They’re in the know. That’s what the scientists are for — bragging rights to the latest research. Peter Mandelson’s leaks of British cabinet meetings are really about impressing Epstein; and Epstein will do the same — bragging to Bannon, for example, that he’s sitting with Macron’s inner circle, in one aside from 2019:
Epstein: Now at the pyramid. With the entire govt. what are your plans Bannon: Macron govt?? Epstein: Yup. The ministers of the elite.
Baller. They’re all desperately trying to impress each other all the time. The insecurity is intense and exhausting.
And then there’s the incomprehensibly human. How on earth was Noam Chomsky not just an acquaintance but a truly close, longtime friend, who believed Epstein was the real victim of the trafficking scandal? What was Steven Pinker thinking? Was it really just about being at the cool kids table and smelling gobs of money? Or were these nerds just flattered to be around glamor and sex?
trump will be there. doesnt like black girls, calls them ‘boogers’, wont go w in 10 feet
And then the curveballs. Epstein and Bannon coo over taking down Pope Francis! You have to laugh. Jeffrey Epstein is worried the Catholic Church is going soft on sexual morality. In this endeavor, a crypto bro is offering an hour of Eucharistic devotion for Jeffrey’s soul so they can topple Francis together. The alliance between creepy, often gay, Catholic reactionaries and these crypto bros is, well, unusual!
Then there’s a Jewish element. Ted Frank puts the schtick this way: “He’s just a rogue getting one over on the high school jocks; stick with me because we Jews need to stick together.” Hence the occasional jokey reference to the dumb goyim. On the other hand, we have this Epstein gem:
I do not like israel. AT ALL.
Which brings me to the courageous anti-anti-Semite, Keir Starmer. Trump will survive all this, but Keir very well may not. The reason he made Peter Mandelson ambassador to the US is precisely because “Mandy” is a slimy, amoral, networking sleaze — and Keir thought that was a good match for Trump. Too good, it turned out. I watched Prime Ministers’ Questions on Wednesday and could feel the tides turning. Keir knew Mandy had kept in touch with Epstein long after his conviction and appointed him anyway. He says now he just didn’t know the extent of the bond. That’s almost certainly not good enough.
So far, the only people who have actually suffered serious consequences from this are Ghislaine Maxwell, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (former prince), Peter Mandelson — who now may face criminal charges for leaking classified material — and Keir Starmer, who might be forced to leave office entirely. All Brits. Quite a contrast with the American elite, no? If only there was a smidgen of similar accountability here.
(Note to readers: This is an excerpt of The Weekly Dish. If you’re already a paid subscriber, click here to read the full version. This week’s issue also includes: my reaction to the groundbreaking detrans lawsuit; a discussion with Jason Willick on the courts under Trump; reader dissents over my characterization of Pretti and Good; 10 notable quotes from the week in news, including an Yglesias Award and a Moore Award; 18 pieces on Substack we recommend on a variety of topics; a lip-dub throwback as a Mental Health Break; a haunting window in Bellevue; and, of course, the results of the View From Your Window contest — with a new challenge. Subscribe for the full Dish experience!)
A new subscriber calls the Dish “genuinely creative and thoughtful — and it challenges the right-left binary!” Another Dishhead writes:
This is just a short note to thank you for all the great writing and conversations in the last year — and to encourage the whole Dish team to continue! Your work is important for me and many others, I am sure. I’d happily pay the subscription even if you doubled it!
A Mistaken Mastectomy
The last week has seen two big developments in the debate over transing children. The first was a lawsuit that won $2 million in damages from a gender doctor for a rushed double mastectomy on a 16 year old. The second was the response to it: both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Medical Association came out formally against “gender-affirming” surgery for minors.
That removes yet another argument made repeatedly by the queer groups: that every American medical association supports what is “settled science.” They don’t. And the science is obviously not settled. The lawsuit deals with one of the less concerning procedures: a mastectomy for a 16 year old. That’s nowhere near as irreversible as puberty blockers and cross sex hormones that alter your endocrine system for good, and after puberty, where most “gender affirming care” is focused on those about to enter puberty. But it’s a start.
The silence from the TQ+ groups this past week — HRC, GLAAD, et al. — is also revealing. They hounded journalists who sought to pursue the story, and bullied countless others away from it. They called us bigots and transphobes for simple legitimate concerns about kids. And of course, they will never apologize or explain. Why should they? The one thing we know about the woke is they are never held accountable for the human wreckage they so blithely leave in their wake.
Jason is a columnist at the Washington Post who writes about law, politics, and foreign policy. He used to be an editorial writer and assistant editorial features editor for the Wall Street Journal, and before that he was a staff writer and associate editor at The American Interest. This week the young, sane, conservative writer talks to me about the courts during the Trump era.
Listen to the episode here. There you can find two clips of our convo — on whether SCOTUS has surrendered to Trump, and the failures of his own lawfare. That link also takes you to commentary on the pods with Jon Rauch on fascism and Kevin Williamson on the GOP’s downward spiral. Dishheads also discuss and debate the fallout of ICE in Minneapolis.
Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Zaid Jilani on the Dems, Derek Thompson on abundance, Matt Goodwin on the UK political earthquake, Kathryn Paige Harden on the genetics of vice, Tiffany Jenkins on privacy, and Michael Pollan on consciousness. Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.
Always a fan, will never cancel, but I am deeply troubled by how you characterized Pretti and Good. The video you linked to shows nothing about what led to Pretti’s reaction against the ICE vehicle. I completely agree that kicking out the tail-light was ill-advised — full stop. But to say that Pretti was “seriously radicalized” is wildly overstating what is seen in this video and the video of his murder.
You also say that Good was “irritatingly smug.” Really? Why would you even say such a thing? You know what, it makes you seem ... irritatingly smug. I’m trying to puzzle out why you would even go there. Indeed, it doesn’t change the “injustice of their deaths,” but does calling Good smug somehow ease that injustice?
What I see is two citizens reacting to masked thugs in unmarked vehicles invading their city. And what should be talked about a LOT more is the fact that Pretti cared for veterans, for Christ’s sake.
Fair enough. I didn’t see it that way. Good and Pretti were not random strangers, after all. They were activists attempting to disrupt immigration enforcement. They were also treated horrifyingly. Two things can be true at once.
Read more dissents here, for paid subscribers. A reader corrects us:
One of your Money Quotes was said to be from Rupert Murdoch. It was not. It was a quote from an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, owned by Murdoch.
Our apologies for the oversight. As always, please keep the dissents coming: dish@andrewsullivan.com. And follow more Dish debate in my Notes feed.
This is a feature in the paid version of the Dish spotlighting about 20 of our favorite pieces from other Substackers every week. This week’s selection covers subjects such as the big winter storm, Dark Woke, and the fraught midterms. Examples:
As software stocks plunge, AI is becoming the revenge on the nerds.
“The great climate climbdown is finally here,” writes Matt Ridley.
Here’s a list of the substacks we recommend in general — call it a blogroll. If you have any suggestions for “In the ‘Stacks,” especially ones from emerging writers, please let us know: dish@andrewsullivan.com.
The View From Your Window Contest
Where do you think it’s located? Email your guess to contest@andrewsullivan.com. Please put the location — city and/or state first, then country — in the subject line. Proximity counts if no one gets the exact spot. Bonus points for fun facts and stories. The deadline for entries is Wednesday at 11.59 pm (PST). The winner gets the choice of a VFYW book or two annual Dish subscriptions. If you are not a subscriber, please indicate that status in your entry and we will give you a free month sub if we select your entry for the contest results (example here if you’re new to the VFYW). Contest archive is here. Happy sleuthing!
To submit a photo for the contest view, also use contest@andrewsullivan.com. Horizontal photos are preferred, and make sure part of the window frame is showing. Please also send a photo of the building with the window circled, which makes the contest go much smoother. If we select your view, you’ll get a free six-month subscription to the Dish.
The results for this week’s window are coming in a separate email to paid subscribers later today. In last week’s contest, the VFYW’s architect replied to another sleuth:
Since Eagle Rock asked, here are a few photos of my carriage house:
It was built in 1895 for Charles Yerkes, the American financier and transit tycoon best known for controlling urban streetcar and subway systems. After involvement in an embezzlement scandal in Philadelphia that landed him in prison for a time, he moved to New York, where he learned the tactics that served him well for the rest of his career. He made his first fortune in Chicago by consolidating surface streetcar lines through aggressive financial tactics and political influence. Moving to London, he played a major role in financing and expanding the London Underground. Along the way, he went bankrupt and divorced twice.
Yerkes lived in a Gilded Age home on 5th Avenue, and his horses lived a few blocks east. In 1911, horses were banned from the streets, so the house was converted to a motorcar garage. It pretty much stayed that way until we renovated it. Now we live where Yerkes’ horse lived.
“Eagle-eyed sleuths will notice the book on the coffee table above is Highrise Art Deco by Mark Hauser. His image of the Power and Light Building in Kansas City was featured by several sleuths when the VFYW visited Kansas City. The photos are phenomenal, and I highly recommend the book.”
