Elon Musk isn’t the only one who has some questions about the client list that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell accumulated — and it turns out there are a lot of forces at play in keeping it secret.
In a Twitter thread last week, NPR and New Yorker journalist Adam Davidson wrote that, “ALL the people who spent real time with Epstein were–at best!–witnesses to the almost certain rape of children” and that while “courts can presume innocence,” those of us looking on “all should presume guilt.”
“I knew that rich and powerful men can get away with a lot. I didn’t realize just how much they can get away with and just how much the entire system–courts, journalism, prosecutors–works inadvertently and deliberately, to reinforce their impunity,” said Davidson, who worked on the Epstein-themed podcast “Broken,” in a Friday tweet thread preceding his Saturday one.
TL;DR: I knew that rich and powerful men can get away with a lot. I didn't realize just how much they can get away with and just how much the entire system–courts, journalism, prosecutors–works inadvertently and deliberately, to reinforce their impunity.
2/
— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 3, 2022
“I wrote something provocative about how I know stuff about Jeffrey Epstein and can’t publish it,” his Saturday thread began, stating it was “a good lesson in why it is hard to publish stories about bad things done by the rich and powerful.”
I wrote something provocative about how I know stuff about Jeffrey Epstein and can't publish it.
I'll do my best to explain and reveal here. It provides, I think, a good lesson in why it is hard to publish stories about bad things done by the rich and powerful:
1/
— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
Later in the day, it’s worth noting, Musk went viral for a tweet about the case.
“Only thing more remarkable than DOJ not leaking the list is that no one in the media cares. Doesn’t that seem odd?” he said, followed by a comedic meme about “things I’ll never see in my life.”
Only thing more remarkable than DOJ not leaking the list is that no one in the media cares. Doesn’t that seem odd? pic.twitter.com/JEK4TErABB
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2022
“Sometimes I think my list of enemies is too short, so …” he added.
Davidson said there were numerous reasons why “there are things I believe, with good evidence, to be true that I feel I cannot publish.”
Many were obvious, including protecting the victims. Davidson also noted there were a number of them — including victims his team never spoke with.
But, yes, there are things I believe, with good evidence, to be true that I feel I cannot publish.
These fall into a few categories:
Category 1: Protecting the victims.
We spoke to dozens of Epstein's victims and dozens of their lawyers.3/
— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
The biggest issue is the victims we never spoke with.
Epstein reportedly raped up to 3 girls a day for years. Most came once or just a few times. Their names are not known by anyone.
That's thousands of victims who are invisible.
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— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
“Epstein reportedly raped up to 3 girls a day for years. Most came once or just a few times. Their names are not known by anyone,” he charged.
Then there were Epstein’s enablers — who would talk, but off the record.
The next circle of sources are the enablers. Over the decades of abuse, Epstein had hundreds of staffers–pilots, house staff, chefs, assistants–the vast majority will never speak or will offer weak denials or will only speak through lawyers.
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— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
Then there is a huge group of people–those who witnessed Epstein and fancy functions. They saw him with teenagers at scientific conferences or sitting on his knee at dinner parties.
There are countless people like this.
A few did talk to us–totally off the record.
9/
— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
And, “lastly, there are the people who (allegedly!) either had sex with children or were around when others were doing so. They are all rich and powerful and simply deny and refer to their lawyers often with clear insistence that they will sue,” he wrote.
“The result of all of this is that for most of the claims, there is one witness willing to go on record. That witness, more often than not, is @VRSVirginia,” he wrote, using the Twitter handle for alleged Epstein/Maxwell victim Virginia Giuffre.
“I have full confidence in her recollections. We spent ~two years checking every thing she said and never found a lie.”
lastly, there are the people who (allegedly!) either had sex with children or were around when others were doing so.
They are all rich and powerful and simply deny and refer to their lawyers often with clear insistence that they will sue.
10/
— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
“But courts and the public are not kind to single-source he-said/she-said cases,” he noted.
“Virginia has already faced down and won against some very powerful people. But this is an absurd amount of weight to put on one person’s shoulders.”
“So, I am not protecting the men who (I feel fairly confident) raped children or watched as others did so. F*** those guys,” he continued. “I am honoring their victims’ requests. Like all of you, I have hoped it would all come out by now. I’m shocked it hasn’t.”
But courts and the public are not kind to single-source he-said/she-said cases.
Virginia has already faced down and won against some very powerful people.
But this is an absurd amount of weight to put on one person's shoulders.
12/
— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
“But here is what I feel confident in saying: If someone spent any amount of time with Jeffrey Epstein, at a minimum they saw him physically touching girls in provocative ways and rather gleefully showing off his ability to do so,” Davidson continued.
“So, ALL the people who spent real time with Epstein were–at best!–witnesses to the almost certain rape of children. And had a high likelihood that they engaged in illegal sex acts.
“Courts can presume innocence,” he continued. “We all should presume guilt.”
And that included some very big names: “Donald Trump, Bills Clinton, Gates, and Richardson. Ehud Barak. George Mitchell. George Church, Ito–and a lot of others at MIT and Harvard. There is an enormous likelihood that — at the very best — they spent a lot of time with a man they knew to be raping children.”
More than likely, they were offered sex with whatever their preference was (Epstein did employ, abuse, and traffic women who weren't underage). And many did have sex with girls or women.
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— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
So, ALL the people who spent real time with Epstein were–at best!–witnesses to the almost certain rape of children.
And had a high likelihood that they engaged in illegal sex acts.
Courts can presume innocence.
We all should presume guilt.
16/
— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) June 4, 2022
Of course, it should go without saying that everyone that the media loves to give equal time to Donald Trump and Bill Clinton on the Friends of Epstein’s list as if to say both parties were equally enmeshed with the disgraced financier.
While the client list could certainly have its fair amount of shockers, it’s worth reminding everyone that, unlike Bill Clinton’s numerous trips on Epstein’s “Lolita Express” personal jet, Trump only flew with Epstein once and later had him thrown out of Mar-a-Lago.
That said, Davidson’s account is still a brutal wake-up call for those who believed the dominoes would start falling the moment that Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted.
It’s not just the convicted accomplice of the most infamous sex trafficker in modern history who doesn’t want that information getting out. There are a whole slew of other rich and powerful individuals who will do quite a bit to ensure Epstein’s client list remains off-limits and unpublished.
Story cited here.
