The mistaken belief that the sex offender’s vast network of connections explains all that is wrong or evil in the world fits easily into the way antisemitism is spread.
The federal government’s release of the latest tranche of files related to the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein set off another surge in interest in a case that continues to possess a hold on the imaginations of growing numbers of people. The new batch of Epstein files this week consists of 3 million pages of documents, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. Going through it is providing work for an army of journalists and a hobby for a horde of amateur sleuths and other obsessives.
Given the sheer volume of material, the files seem to provide something for everyone. But it’s not likely to satisfy most or really any of the people who are taking deep dives into the files and those who are mentioned in them. That’s not because it isn’t filled with juicy tidbits of information about a great many celebrities. It’s due to the fact that the case has become more than just an investigation into the horrible deeds of a wealthy hedonist and his clique. Ever since Epstein’s suicide in a New York City jail (an event which is itself a subject of controversy), it has morphed into something far more than a particularly vile example of true crime or a tale of sexual perversion.
A collection of theories