Frank Report reader and commenter AnonyMaker seems to be a voice of anti-cult reasoning and has made many notable comments on this site. Here are a few of his on the topic of Jeffrey Esptein and related topics.
By AnonyMaker
Speaking of “the right weight for Keith Raniere,” it turns out that Jeffrey Epstein had similar fixations and requirements – and also relied on enablers and co-perpetrators to help enforce them:
Lesley Goff helped Jeffrey Epstein with his plans and schemes.
According to the New York Times – Sarah Kellen, Lesley Groff, Adriana Ross and Nadia Marcinkova allegedly aided Epstein and then-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in recruiting victims and scheduling their abuse in a hierarchical scheme that put Epstein and Maxwell at the top and made “assistants” of the other four.
The assistants, some of whom were teenage victims of Epstein themselves, recruited underage friends, managed travel and lodging for the victims, and even policed their weight, according to a lawsuit filed by Sarah Ransome against Maxwell in 2017 and email correspondence.
“Ms. Ransome also alleged in her lawsuit that she was instructed by Mr. Epstein’s associates to go on a diet and to lose about 11 pounds to maintain her slim figure. In one email exchange reviewed by The Times, Ms. Ransome told Ms. Groff she was monitoring her weight for Mr. Epstein.
“’Please could you also let him know that I am now 57 kg and that everything is going well,’ Ms. Ransome emailed Ms. Groff in 2007.”
Marcinkova, who may have also been assaulted by Epstein as a teenager, is accused of participating in the sexual abuse by at least one victim, who was 16 at the time.
Jeffrey Epstein Allegedly Relied on a ‘Ring’ of Women to Recruit Victims
https://jezebel.com/jeffrey-epstein-allegedly-relied-on-a-ring-of-women- to-1837715504
Jeffrey Epstein liked them young and skinny.
That refers to a New York Times story:
How a Ring of Women Allegedly Recruited Girls for Jeffrey Epstein
* After Mr. Epstein’s suicide, his inner circle of girlfriends, employees and other associates is now under scrutiny by prosecutors.
* A Times investigation uncovered allegations about how a cadre of women helped lure girls into his orbit and managed the logistics of those encounters.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell.html
Ghislaine Maxwell Hit Hard Times & Joined Epstein
Although Ghislaine Maxwell may have been raised wealthy, her father was known for shady dealings and turned out to have sustained his business empire by fraudulently borrowing from employee pension funds; plus, he was suspected of being not merely a spy but one who played governments off against one another as a double or even triple agent, in ways that often furthered his business interests.
Edgar Bronfman Sr. seems to have been dismayed at the turn his younger daughters did and made futile efforts to do something about it, while Ghislaine Maxwell seems like a chip off the old block – though a couple of her siblings have distinguished themselves in legitimate endeavors.
According to the Daily Mail, “She said she’d hit hard times. She had no money to her name. She was disgraced. Jeffrey offered her a job and then, I guess, because of her ability to procure girls for him and to teach us what he liked, she became a vital asset to him. ”
Maxwell Could Be Prosecuted
I’m sure Maxwell’s family is embarrassed by her and would rather her dirty laundry not be aired, particularly the sister who had to go and clean up after her in Massachusetts, who has apparently achieved significant legitimate success and is a respected professional in her field.
Normally relatives would have something to say, particularly if she were missing and they were concerned about her, though I suppose in her rather unusual case that might not hold true.
Apparently, as far as the US Attorney for the SDNY knows, Maxwell is still available to be prosecuted:
New York prosecutors raise victims’ hopes that Ghislaine Maxwell could face charges
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/28/new-york-prosecutors-raise-victims-hopes-ghislaine-maxwell-could/
From what I could find about Ghislaine Maxwell’s citizenship, she was born in France to a French mother, and is a dual citizen of England and France (the latter potentially interesting for those who proposed she might flee there like Roman Polanski to avoid extradition, and those responded that wouldn’t work the same because she’s not a citizen – presumably):
https://www.foxnews.com/us/a-look-at-ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epsteins-alleged-recruiter
There’s no obvious evidence of Maxwell having any directions to Israel, including having traveled or spent any time there, much less being a citizen.
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Leslie Wexner & Jeffrey Epstein
Epstein and Wexner
I think the allegations of pedophilia and human trafficking should be pursued wherever they go – including Jeffrey Epstein’s various co-perpetrators and enablers, and associates such as Leslie Wexner.
Epstein and Wexner were apparently unusually close for many years, and those who were around Epstein said his penchant for underage girls if not outright pedophilia/ephebophilia was obviously on display, so that raises serious questions about what Wexner knew or was even involved in.
The logic of conspiracy theories themselves is that the devious actors involved would know enough about disinformation to work to plant false narratives to distract from the truth.
Wexner, for instance, was a powerful and very wealthy prominent Republican donor, so perhaps the question to ask is why various mostly anonymous accounts are frantically posting fanciful conspiracy theories, rather than asking hard questions about Wexner and others with actual connections to the case?
I believe Jeffrey Epstein’s very real and pivotal ties to Leslie Wexner – and Wexner himself – should be a focus of attention, along with, for instance, finding who in the White House really signed off on the infamous pedophilia Epstein plea deal.
Some commenters have said things which start off with “Hitler knew what he was doing” and make classic antisemitic slurs I won’t even quote.
The supposed “Mega Group” is such a fringe conspiracy theory that I can’t even find any objective information about it, though I’m sure that makes its adherents feel even more like they’re part of a select group in possession of special knowledge (another of the appeals of full-blown cults).
Keith Raniere had his Illuminati conspiracy theory and blamed Edgar Bronfman for somehow manipulating whole markets against him, and Scientology’s L. Ron Hubbard had “twelve men. They are members of the Bank of England and other higher financial circles. They own and control newspaper chains” which alludes to common antisemitic tropes.
Ramtha and most other groups have their conspiracy theories, too, because they go hand-in-hand with culty thinking, impaired critical reasoning combined with the primitive desire to be part of a tribal group set against others in the world.
If Epstein siphoned off even a portion of Wexner’s massive fortune, that could pretty well account for the source of his wealth; Wexner has cited a figure that is about 10% of Epstein’s wealth and implied further “vast sums of money” may be involved. If anyone knows differently, then let’s hear at least the general outlines of it.
Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion which he may have gotten as a gift from Leslie Wexner.
The seeming $0 sale of the townhouse is actually a relatively common subterfuge in high-end real estate transactions, similar to the old “$1 and valuable consideration” that was a standard of old-fashioned transaction recordings, with the actual details of the deal not publicly recorded; plus by some accounts that was just a later transfer between Epstein’s corporations, and he actually made a deal with Wexner for around $20 million about a decade earlier:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/07/25/victorias-secret-owner-retains-law-firm-review-companys-relationship-with-jeffrey-epstein/
https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-bought-nyc-townhouse-how-2019-7
Investigative journalists, including at the Wall Street Journal, who have reviewed the records report that Ossa properties actually belongs to Epstein’s brother, who is an important figure (and cited in Epstein’s will) not even mentioned:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/wealth-of-jeffrey-epsteins-brother-is-also-a-mystery-11565607148
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-nyc-building-at-the-center-of-jeffrey-epsteins-web-2019-8
It’s reported that Epstein’s will actually listed somewhat more assets than were even previously known, a total of $577 million; the will creates the trust, so it did not exist previously and its contents are known by what the will transfers to it, though the trust is private and so what it might do with those assets may be mysterious:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2019/08/20/jeffrey-epstein-put-his-assets-in-a-trustbut-heres-how-his-alleged-victims-can-go-after-his-estate/
https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/epsteins-600-million-will-mysteriously-signed-2-days-before-his-death
The Fox Business News article above has the full PDF of Epstein’s will, which lists the corporations that hold ownership of his various residences; he hasn’t owned the Ohio property since around the time of his initial disgrace, and split with Wexner:
“Epstein owned land in the New Albany development, including a home on King George Drive that he owned from 1994 until selling it for $0 to the Wexners in December 2007, shortly before he donated money to Abigail Wexner’s YLK foundation.”
https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190807/wexner-jeffrey-epstein-stole-tens-of-millions
Alex Acosta seems to have taken the fall for the notorious plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein. Was he truly responsible for it – or was he taking orders from someone above?
Acosta Approved It
Culty partisans will spin and spit in attempts to avoid facing possible uncomfortable truths that conflict with what they believe.
The truth may, indeed, not yet be fully known and settled, but the role of former US Attorney for Southern District of NY [later Trump’s labor secretary] Alex Acosta – reportedly under direction from the White House – in not only conceding to Epstein receiving a virtual slap on the wrist, but also illegally sweeping it under the rug, is actually very troubling.
Anyone with an open mind and a shred of decency ought to be asking for answers, not effectively perpetuating the political cover-up:
“After preparing a 53-page draft indictment that could have put away Epstein for life, Acosta shelved the charges, allowing Epstein to plead to relatively minor charges in state court in Palm Beach County and serve a short jail term….
“Acosta not only approved the unusual deal with Epstein but went along with the demands of Epstein’s powerful legal team that victims not be informed of the plea arrangement. A federal judge recently ruled that the secrecy violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.”
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article234555007.html
Jean Luc Brunel
Is Jean-Luc Brunel behind the procurement of some or most of Jeffrey Epstein’s teen world?
Relating to another, very real, thread that deserves to be unraveled, I ran across a very good piece in the Daily Beast about Jean-Luc Brunel.
When providing a list of my own ginned-up conspiracy theories to demonstrate the spurious nature of Paul Serran’s speculations about Epstein’s island including the mysterious temple-like structure (he puts an elevator mechanism under the dome, when in fact that was removed some time back and the recent drone footage shows a flat roof without such equipment), I suggested it’s where the shape-shifting reptilians sacrifice and eat human children, since there are accounts of lots of young women on the island all the time and yet none of them have ever been located alive.
That does, like any good conspiracy theory, get to a real and not satisfactorily answered question (though providing a typically fabulistic answer): Where did the young women reported to frequent Epstein’s island come from, since so far we have almost exclusively heard from and about girls lured to his New York and Florida lairs?
Based on what there have been at least hints of, I suspect that most of them may have come from Europe including Russia – and have yet to be heard from because they are scattered overseas, not because Epstein and the Mega Group dined on their flesh and organs.
Jean-Luc Brunel, himself long credibly accused of pedophilia and rape, is a likely candidate for having been the principal conduit:
My Night With Epstein Pal Jean-Luc Brunel and His Terrified Models
https://www.thedailybeast.com/my-night-with-jeffrey-epsteins-pal-jean-luc-brunel-and-his-terrified-models
This also means that the Paris-based investigations will be important to follow – much more so than fantasies about Maxwell and Epstein, Gilda Radner (“Roseanne Roseannadanna” in early SNL seasons) and Elvis getting together for laughs in Jerusalem, or whatever.
P.S. Fortune Magazine also covered more of the business angle in a recent piece, demonstrating that this is indeed a substantial angle that has had even executives at affected firms concerned for years:
“Several of the biggest retailers in the U.S., including Nordstrom, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Ave., and Neiman Marcus, were named as previous clients by the president of a modeling agency with deep ties to Jeffrey Epstein, as allegations of sex trafficking swirled around the financier and the firm.
“Additionally, store officials five years ago were worried about Epstein’s association with the agency, according to an internal agency letter.
“The agency, MC2 Model Management, is owned by industry veteran Jean-Luc Brunel. His relationship to Epstein – who committed suicide…– is documented at least as far back as 2002, when flight logs place Brunel on Epstein’s private plane for a flight from Florida to the Bahamas. Jail logs show Brunel visited Epstein while he was serving a 13-month sentence for procuring an underage girl for prostitution. Brunel also housed models in Epstein’s Manhattan apartments, according to a sworn deposition by a former company bookkeeper. ”
Major Retailers Had ‘Tremendous’ Concerns About Fashion Model Scout’s Ties to Jeffrey Epstein
https://fortune.com/2019/08/19/major-retailers-had-tremendous-concerns-about-fashion-model-scouts-ties-to-jeffrey-epstein-nordstrom-macys-neiman-marcus-saks-fifth-avenue-target/
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Patently Bogus Protocols of the Elders of Zion
That type of culty thinking really does have more in common with radical Islamists, than normal Americans. (note, below, that the Protocols also try to implicate the Freemasons, and thus are related in a certain way to Keith Raniere’s Illuminati conspiracy theory).
And I suppose I dare not ask about the flat earth….
It’s not just Wikipedia that points out that “Despite being shown to be a hoax as far back as 1921, it is still distributed and believed by people who swallow whatever fiction fits with their racist views.” (RationalWiki).
Protocols of the Elders of Zion – Encyclopedia Britannica
“Protocols of the Elders of Zion, also called Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, is a fraudulent document that served as a pretext and rationale for anti-Semitism mainly in the early 20th century. The document purported to be a report of a series of 24 (in other versions, 27) meetings held at Basel, Switzerland, in 1897, at the time of the first Zionist congress. There Jews and Freemasons were said to have made plans to disrupt Christian civilization and erect a world state under their joint rule. Liberalism and socialism were to be the means of subverting Christendom; if subversion failed, all the capitals of Europe were to be sabotaged.
“The Protocols were printed in Russia in abbreviated form in 1903 in the newspaper Znamia (“Banner”) and subsequently (1905) as an addendum to a religious tract by Serge Nilus, a Tsarist civil servant. They were translated into German, French, English, and other European languages and soon came to be a classic of anti-Semitic literature. In the United States Henry Ford’s private newspaper, Dearborn Independent, often cited them as evidence of a Jewish threat.
“The spurious character of the Protocols was first revealed in 1921 by Philip Graves of The Times (London), who demonstrated their obvious resemblance to a satire on Napoleon III by the French lawyer Maurice Joly, published in 1864 and entitled Dialogue aux enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu (“Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu”). Subsequent investigation, particularly by the Russian historian Vladimir Burtsev, revealed that the Protocols were forgeries compounded by officials of the Russian secret police out of the satire of Joly, a fantastic novel (Biarritz) by Hermann Goedsche (1868), and other sources.”
The Mega Group
The Mega Group, whatever it is – typically, it’s not really explained much less proven, and is so fringe that it’s almost unknown even as a conspiracy theory – sounds like a new take on old tropes like the Elders of Zion:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_Zion
That conspiracy theory, a long-debunked fabrication by the Russian secret police, besides contributing to the Holocaust, is not without negative consequence even today, as fundamentalist-leading Islamic regimes and radical Islamists use it as a teaching tool as if it were authentic and factual, stoking the sort of tainted cultural currents that fuel dangerous regimes like Iran, helping their leadership to use cult-like techniques to maintain the ideological loyalty of their followers even as they fail their people in important measures like the economy and job creation.
Thus, in a certain way, the people who post things like this, actually have more in common with radical Islamists, than they do with the decent everyday citizens of this country.
There’s a great paper at Harvard, the abstract of which addresses the issues around this:
Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures
Abstract
“Many millions of people hold conspiracy theories; they believe that powerful people have worked together in order to withhold the truth about some important practice or some terrible event. A recent example is the belief, widespread in some parts of the world, that the attacks of 9/11 were carried out not by Al Qaeda, but by Israel or the United States. Those who subscribe to conspiracy theories may create serious risks, including risks of violence, and the existence of such theories raises significant challenges for policy and law. The first challenge is to understand the mechanisms by which conspiracy theories prosper; the second challenge is to understand how such theories might be undermined. Such theories typically spread as a result of identifiable cognitive blunders, operating in conjunction with informational and reputational influences. A distinctive feature of conspiracy theories is their self-sealing quality. Conspiracy theorists are not likely to be persuaded by an attempt to dispel their theories; they may even characterize that very attempt as further proof of the conspiracy. Because those who hold conspiracy theories typically suffer from a crippled epistemology, in accordance with which it is rational to hold such theories, the best response consists in cognitive infiltration of extremist groups. Various policy dilemmas, such as the question whether it is better for government to rebut conspiracy theories or to ignore them, are explored in this light.”
