Jeffrey Epstein: The World’s Best Friend
Last month, a flurry of European royals and lawmakers faced consequences for their ties to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince of Buckingham Palace, was stripped of his titles and evicted from his estate and now faces allegations of sharing confidential trade information with Epstein in 2010. 2,000 kilometers away, former Norwegian Prime Minister and chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjørn Jagland, was charged with “gross corruption” for his close links to Epstein; he could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Crown Princess Mette-Marit also gave a "profound apology" to Norwegians for her friendship with Epstein after it emerged that they had exchanged messages for three years. But that’s not all: Miroslav Lajcak, the national security advisor to Slovakia’s prime minister, stepped down after his frequent email exchanges with Epstein about young women were revealed. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the head of the Dubai-based ports giant DP World, resigned after documents showed business arrangements with Epstein and exchanges about women. Additionally, Joichi Ito, a Japanese entrepreneur and venture capitalist, is stepping down from a technology and entrepreneurship project led by the Japanese government after renewed scrutiny over his past ties to Mr. Epstein.
The widespread extent of Jeffrey Epstein’s connections on a global scale demonstrates a continued need for further scrutiny of world leaders. Epstein used everything possible—a science conference, tech companies, friendships with Customs and Border Protections—to bolster his self-image, wealth, and influence. Through further file dumps, the list of co-conspirators and the willfully ignorant just keeps getting longer.
In some cases, the links to Epstein are weaker than others. However, because of the extent to which these connections have been covered up, denials and lack of awareness cannot be accepted as statements of fact when the truth is still so obscure. Even if they could be, resignations, firings, and apologies are not enough to ease the damage that’s been done to Epstein’s victims or to rebuild the trust between the public and its leaders.
The simple reality is that when world leaders choose not to be aware of who they’re involved with, the general public must take actions to hold them accountable. Research. Know your leaders. Where does their money come from? Their power? Who do they know and why? Only then can we really decide who is worth the attention.