The recent release of three million documents pertaining to the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, by the justice department of the United States of America has sent ripples not just within the US but globally. In the US, the former president, Bill Clinton, who figures on multiple occasions in the files, will now undergo scrutiny at a Congressional hearing along with his wife and former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. Others, from business leaders and tech barons to wellness gurus, have been left embarrassed by the revelation of their relations with Epstein who died by suicide in 2019 while in custody. Outside the US, a former Australian prime minister, a Slovakian national security adviser, a Norwegian crown princess, a former Israeli prime minister, and a House of Lords member in Britain are among those who have been forced on the defensive. Peter Mandelson, the British MP, has now resigned, as has the Slovakian official named in the documents. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is under renewed scrutiny over not just his ties with Epstein but whether he actually participated in some of the late financier’s crimes.
While most headlines have focused on the individuals named in the files, the true significance of the documents runs much deeper. They expose how the global elite operates, through a web of connections where unelected, unaccountable but powerful individuals like Epstein serve as the nodes — setting up relationships, influencing decisions, and helping broker deals that are scrubbed clean and served to the world with far more palatable narratives than the true intent behind them. In this world, racism, misogyny, crime and sleaze coexist and are at ease with diplomacy, business and politics. Whether the individuals named in the Epstein files were participants in the nauseating sex-trafficking schemes and the abuse of underage girls would be determined by investigations and law. But their association with Epstein turned them into enablers: their power and influence were used by that disgraced, depraved individual as a shield to protect his nefarious deeds. Individuals and governments embarrassed by the files would like to dismiss it all as poor judgement on their part. But the revelations show that those who expect ordinary people to abide by laws and adhere to the principles of transparency and decency believe that the same rules and values do not apply to them. That is a sense of entitlement that must be demolished.