Epstein: The Narrative Shifts

 The new narrative is "Russia, Russia, Russia!" From the Daily Mail: "Epstein's sex empire was 'KGB honeytrap': Paedophile financier had multiple talks with Putin after conviction - with Russian girls flown in to harvest 'kompromat' on world-famous figures." And the bulk of the article attempts to convince you of that. Yet there are these couple of comments:

The release of more than three million new documents relating to the late sex offender gives credence to incendiary claims made by senior security officials: that Epstein was working on behalf of Moscow, and possibly Israel, when he facilitated assignations for some of the world's most powerful men.

And:

American intelligence experts believe Epstein was inducted into the world of espionage via business deals with Robert Maxwell, the disgraced media magnate who - like Epstein - died in murky circumstances; in Maxwell's case his body was found floating in the Atlantic in 1991, having apparently fallen overboard from his yacht.   

And:

    Security sources say Robert Maxwell was a Russian asset from the 1970s, when he worked to extradite Soviet Jews to Israel, with the involvement of Israeli intelligence service Mossad.

    In return, they say, Maxwell laundered Russian money into the West - with the help of Epstein.

    They think the financier was introduced to Maxwell and the KGB by an oil tycoon also in the pay of Russian intelligence. Probes into Robert Maxwell's business dealings have uncovered links not only to the KGB and Mossad - but also MI6. 

And we know what Israel thought of Maxwell: "Maxwell, Colossus Even in Death, Laid to Rest on Mount of Olives"--Jewish Telegraph Agency. That article notes that "President Chaim Herzog and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir headed a galaxy of dignitaries and politicians, both government and opposition, who attended the funeral."

    This new narrative raises a paradox, however.  Alexander Acosta, the Secretary of Labor during Trump's first term, was the former U.S. attorney in Miami who had cut Epstein a non-prosecution plea deal back in 2007. He was asked about this incident by Trump's transition team and whether it would be a problem:

“Is the Epstein case going to cause a problem [for confirmation hearings]?” Acosta had been asked. Acosta had explained, breezily, apparently, that back in the day he’d had just one meeting on the Epstein case. He’d cut the non-prosecution deal with one of Epstein’s attorneys because he had “been told” to back off, that Epstein was above his pay grade. “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone,” he told his interviewers in the Trump transition, who evidently thought that was a sufficient answer and went ahead and hired Acosta. (The Labor Department had no comment when asked about this.) 

The article from which I took this excerpt dismisses the comment, reasoning that the account was inaccurate or that Acosta was an unreliable witness. But why should we dismiss this account? Shaun King, in an article about this issue, points out:

    Acosta wasn’t a nobody. He wasn’t a blogger, or a journalist chasing a lead, or someone trying to sell a book.

    He was the top federal prosecutor in South Florida in 2007. His office had been building a massive case against Jeffrey Epstein — for trafficking and sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, some as young as 13. Acosta is now in the cabinet of the Trump administration.

    They had police reports. Witness statements. Physical evidence. Testimony from victims. Much of it is in the public record. Enough to end Epstein’s life as a free man — and likely the lives and careers of the powerful men around him.

    But instead of going to trial, Epstein got one of the most shocking plea deals in American legal history.

 So, accepting the Acosta account as true, it raises the issue of why Acosta would have been told to drop a case against Epstein if the "intelligence" he was with was Russian? It seems more likely that the "intelligence" that Epstein was with was the CIA and/or intelligence agencies of allies.  King's article notes:

     Jeffrey Epstein’s name didn’t come out of nowhere. This man was placed — early, quietly, and intentionally. And if you don’t understand just how long ago this all started, none of it will quite make sense.

    In the 1970s, Epstein — a college dropout with no formal credentials — was hired to teach math and physics at The Dalton School, one of the most elite private high schools in New York City. To this day it’s one of the most elite prep schools in the world.

    That hire should have been impossible. Dalton doesn’t hire people without degrees. Most of their hires have graduate degrees. But Epstein got in. Without a college degree and without any background in the subjects he was hired to teach.

    Why?

    Because the headmaster of Dalton at the time was Donald Barr — a former Office of Strategic Services (OSS) officer, who later became a federal education official. The OSS was the predecessor to the CIA — America’s original wartime intelligence agency, used to recruit assets, plant agents, and manipulate foreign and domestic targets during World War II and the early Cold War.

    Donald Barr was also the father of William Barr — who, decades later, would serve as Attorney General under Donald Trump, overseeing the federal prison system where Epstein died.

It seems more likely that Epstein was an asset of the CIA, perhaps managed indirectly through a foreign intelligence agency such as Mossad or MI6 for purposes of plausible deniability. Perhaps at the end he changed sides, but it seems extremely unlikely that he was working for the Russians in 2007.