# Epstein Files Reveal Systemic Elite Network Failures

**Podcast:** The Journal.
**Published:** 2026-02-13

## Transcript

Do you remember when you first started reporting on Jeffrey Epstein?
I first started reporting on Jeffrey Epstein in 2019.
And at the time we were really interested in the sources of his wealth.
That's our colleague, investigative reporter Khadija Safdar.
She's been reporting on Epstein's network for years.
We set out to find out how did this guy get so much money?
And we found out that he had wormed his way into the lives of many wealthy clients, and that he was making his money through those connections.
And then over time, how did that reporting evolve?
There were always just unanswered questions about Epstein, and it just didn't feel like the reporting that was out there really answered the questions that the public had.
There were questions about his death, and then just people wanted to know like how deep do his connections go?
Who did he know?
And how is he able to get away with the what he was able to get away with.
For years, the public and the press have been asking these questions and more about Jeffrey Epstein.
And last month, a massive release of new Epstein files by the Justice Department started to give some answers.
Just a general sentiment that there's widespread systemic corruption and I guess in some ways, moral depravity in the upper echelons of our society.
There's been that sentiment for a while, and I think the Epstein case kind of ties into that.
Welcome to the journal, our show about money, business, and power.
I'm Jessica Mendoza.
It's Friday, February 13th.
Coming up on the show, the extraordinary breadth of Jeffrey Epstein's elite network.
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Epstein's public fall from Grace started in 2006, when he was charged with soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.
He pleaded guilty and became a registered sex offender in 2008.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and got out after serving 13.
What did Epstein do when he got out, according to the documents you've seen?
I mean, he did a lot of things when he got out, but basically he continued maintaining and growing his social network and tried to accumulate and gain additional clients beyond the ones he had originally.
He continued also networking with people in academia, in politics, in business, and was involving himself in all sorts of business deals, government affairs, you name it, he got himself involved.
Those reports triggered the federal investigation, which led to Epstein's second and final arrest in 2019.
Today we announced the unsealing of sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein.
The charges allege that Epstein sexually abused young girls by enticing them to engage in sex acts for money.
Epstein was arrested.
And so he was arrested, and then um he actually died in prison shortly thereafter.
The disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein is dead.
Epstein took his own life while he was behind bars here in New York.
Am I right to believe that that was basically when things really when the story really took hold in the public?
Yes.
The death and like the circumstances of his death have raised so many questions.
The government really hasn't been able to provide a response that has satisfied the public.
Since Epstein never went to trial for his crimes, much of the Justice Department's evidence wasn't made public as it would have been in court.
Although his longtime associate Ghane Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.
And so you could basically see the time, the date, and who he was meeting.
And then there were also some emails that I came across then.
Khadija's reporting in 2023 showed just how expansive Epstein's network continued to be even after he was a known and registered sex offender.
He maintained connections amongst like the top uh politics, business, academia.
He was a prized client of JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank.
We reported that Epstein had attempted to blackmail Bill Gates.
So we learned a little bit more about the tactics that he was using to get his, you know, tentacles into people.
And we reported into how he actually used his vast network to lure victims because he was promising them jobs and opportunities associated with the people that he was networking with.
Previously, a spokeswoman for Gates said that Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Gates.
Bill Gates also said it was a mistake to meet with Epstein, and he regrets it.
JP Morgan has said that it was a mistake to deal with Epstein and that the bank would never have associated with him if it knew about his alleged sex trafficking.
Some people did distance themselves, but I think what was most surprising was the astounding number of people who didn't distance themselves.
Right.
That the story was not just about Epstein and what he did, it was also about the network he built, the people, the connections.
Right.
And those connections actually helped him abuse women.
Because post 2008, he focused a lot on women in their late teens and 20s, and many of them from Europe and Russia.
He would broker visas and tell them that he was gonna set them up with famous people to help them get jobs and go further in their career, and many of those were just completely false.
Like there was no opportunities there for these women.
Although a significant number of documents had become public through reporting and through Maxwell's trial, there was a large trove of documents that were still private.
The Justice Department's Epstein files that it had collected as part of its criminal investigation into him, dating as far back as 2006.
Release the Epstein files became a rallying cry, especially on the right.
Yeah, we should probably see who's been to that island.
What we want is the client list.
Just give us the full list.
Give us the full video footage of what happened inside and outside the prison.
Last year, there was widespread expectation that President Trump's return to office would quickly trigger a release of the Epstein files.
But that wasn't the case.
Over the summer, the Justice Department announced that they would not release any further documents.
A memo on its website said that after an exhaustive review, the department had found no incriminating client list or additional documents that warrant public disclosure.
It also said, quote, We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.
The memo added that much of the material would have been sealed in a trial to protect victims and to block the dissemination of child pornography.
Soon after, Khadija reported on a 2003 book of letters Epstein had received for his 50th birthday.
We have some breaking news that we're following.
Epstein's alleged crimes.
There was a lot of pressure that was building on Trump.
Our story on the birthday book led to congressional oversight.
They subpoenaed the birthday book from the Epstein estate and released it.
That emboldened many of the Epstein victims to come forward and ask for the release of the files.
And then additionally, some Republicans bucked Trump on the issue and asked for the release of the files.
And then, despite Trump's initial resistance, he signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law, which has now contributed to the release of the DOJ files.
I just want to take a quick step back, Khadijah.
Releasing files like this to the public, is that a standard procedure?
The government does not normally release these types of files to the public.
And in this case, though, the many of the Trump officials had pressed for the release, but when those Trump officials didn't release them to the public, that raised questions.
And so that brings us to sort of more recent events.
You know, you're somebody who's looked through Epstein's calendar, his schedules.
You've looked through other documents in the past.
What struck you about what you were looking at this time?
What were some of the themes that emerged?
In some ways, it has confirmed our reporting from 2019 and 2023.
It shows that the ties he had with the people that we highlighted back then were actually in some ways deeper than what we reported.
And some new people have also emerged.
People not only maintained ties with him, but they consoled him and they advised him.
Can you say more about those ties?
What was the nature of those relationships?
There was like a lot of favor trading going on there.
Alpstein was cultivating relationships with powerful people.
Brad Carp, who's now resigned as chairman of law firm Paul Weiss, the files show that he asked Epstein to help his son get a job on a Woody Allen film.
Kathy Rumler, the Goldman Sachs General Counsel, she received gifts from Epstein, including boots and a handbag, and she referred to him as Uncle Jeffrey in their correspondence.
Then there's British politician Peter Mandelson.
He was forwarding sensitive government emails to Epstein.
From the UK.
Yeah, from the UK, and helping him navigate policy questions.
So there's just a lot of exchanging of introductions and favors and just a lot of that going on.
A Paul Weiss spokesman previously said, quote, Mr.
Carp never witnessed or participated in any misconduct.
Mr.
Carp attended two group dinners in New York City and had a small number of social interactions by email, all of which he regrets.
The firm also said it was adverse to Epstein, and that at no point did Carp or the firm represent him.
Rumler was a partner at a large law firm at the time of the gifts and correspondence.
A spokesperson for Rumler said, quote, Ms.
Rumler has done nothing wrong, has been transparent, and has nothing to hide.
Nothing in the record suggests otherwise.
Ms.
Rumler has deep sympathy for anyone victimized by Epstein and regrets ever knowing him.
And quote, it has been well reported that Epstein's MO was to provide unsolicited gifts and do unsolicited favors for people.
Last night, Goldman said Rumler would resign as of June 30th.
Mandelson hasn't publicly commented on the emails, but has apologized to Epstein's victims.
In 2023, Mandelson told the journal that he quote very much regrets ever having been introduced to Epstein.
Khadija, what about the people who consoled Epstein and advised him?
Can you tell me about them?
One example that surfaced recently is in 2019.
So this is after the Miami Herald series, the Professor Noam Chomsky was advising him on how to deal with press.
And Chomsky said, What the vultures dearly want is public response, which then provides a public opening for an onslaught of venomous attacks, many from just publicity seekers or cranks of all sorts.
So he's like attacking the media for paying attention to these, those abuse allegations.
And then there's Steve Bannon, who was in regular contact with Epstein about his strategy in early 2019.
And Epstein was asking him whether he should ignore or engage on the topics, and Bannon was counseling him restraint, warning that public engagement would only extend the new cycle.
Noam Chomsky's wife released a statement admitting a quote, serious error in judgment, and that they quote, recognized the gravity of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and the profound suffering of his victims.
Bannon, who hasn't commented on his communications with Epstein, didn't respond to requests for comment.
Khadija says that beyond favors and advice, there's a lot of talk about women in the Epstein connected Tish with at least three women whom he met between 2013 and 2014, according to emails Tish exchanged with Epstein and the women.
Tish declined to comment through a spokesman.
While some of the exchanges these people had with Epstein might seem distasteful, associating with Epstein in itself wasn't a crime.
Even so the fallout from the new batch of documents has been swift.
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I want to talk about the fallout now.
What have been some of the consequences for some of the people named in these files?
Can you give a few examples?
It's wide ranging.
Brad Carp resigned as chairman of Paul Weiss.
Peter Atia, who's the longevity expert.
He resigned as chief science officer of David Protein.
And then Larry Summers resigned from the Open AI board, stepped back from all his public engagements.
Peter Mandelson resigned from the labor Party.
And now there's a investigation into him.
Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal titles.
That's just a flavor of some of the consequences that people have faced.
Dr.
Peter Atia on a post on X apologized for his exchanges with Epstein and said that he wasn't involved in any of Epstein's criminal activity.
Larry Summers said, quote, I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused.
He continued, I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr.
Epstein.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in connection to Epstein.
Khadija says it's not just the famous rich and powerful who have faced consequences.
Some of Epstein's victims have too.
She and other colleagues started looking through the files right when the Justice Department released them at the end of last month.
And it quickly became clear that some of the victims' names were not redacted.
Just from what information we found, we did a review of 47 victims' full names.
We entered the first and last name into the DOJ search bar and found that 43 of them were left unredacted in the files out of the 47 that we searched.
And then several of the women's names that we searched, their full name appeared like more than a hundred times in the files.
And so that really raised some questions about, you know, the care that was taken with this process and whether the victims' names were redacted properly.
And, you know, I've heard from a lot of Epstein victims, and many of them have been facing devastating consequences for being exposed publicly.
Some of them, it's been years, and they've rebuilt their lives.
And just to be exposed like this and to be covered, there's a lot of press that isn't familiar with the Epstein case, so they're kind of writing about victims as if they're Epstein associates because they see like an email or two and then they write about it.
And this is traumatizing them.
This is forcing them to relive their abuse.
Um, and then they're just like on this race to try to prevent the spread of their identity online.
And it's so difficult because you mentioned earlier, you know, some of these victims actively advocated for the DOJ to release this files, but presumably on the condition that their that their information would be redacted and that it would be protected.
One of the stipulations of the law was that you had to redact the file, like the names of victims.
So that was part of the legislation.
The Justice Department said that it takes victim protection very seriously.
The department said that there's a team of 500 reviewers working around the clock to fix any mistakes, and that so far errors have appeared in 0.1% of all released pages.
You know, but I just want to point out that stat that they've included.
If you take 0.1% of 3.5 million, that leaves you with 3,500 pages not properly redacted.
I'm just saying, like if you take their own stat, and like if you look at the number of victims, that's devastating.
On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondy defended the DOJ's release of the Epstein files to the bipartisan House Judiciary Committee.
She traded barbs with Democrats, particularly over the unredacted victims' names, though she also clashed with Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey.
This cover-up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion of it.
And that's where the Bondi was dismissive of the Congressman.
This guy has Trump derangement syndrome.
He needs to get you're a failed politician.
Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to give sworn testimony to the House Oversight Committee later this month.
Meanwhile, members of Congress have been granted access to view the full unredacted Epstein files.
Are all the documents out now?
Not all the documents are out.
The government has released about 3.5 million documents, and we've heard that there are potentially six million documents.
Wow.
But um as of right now, there are no plans to release additional documents.
Khidija, where does this leave us now?
It's leaving journalists, you know, combing through more than three million pages.
That's a lot of work.
It's leaving us doing a lot of work.
Congress is continuing hearings, there's additional depositions, and the story is still like rippling outward even beyond the U.S.
There's other countries that are sort of grappling with what the fallout is there, um, whether they feel like they need to explore the connections that pertain to them.
You talked earlier about unanswered questions, which was in some ways the beginning of this of you reporting this out in the beginning of this whole saga.
What questions are still unanswered?
I mean, I don't know if we'll ever really get to this answer, but just how he was able to get away with this for this long and do what he was able to do and establish the network that he was able to establish.
I think that is gonna be really hard to just for anyone to wrap their head around.
How do you think the Epstein story will be remembered?
That institutions have continued to fail victims, you know, at every turn.
That wealth can buy you impunity.
Additional reporting in this episode by Josh Dossi, Sadie German, Jacqueline Jeffrey Woolenski, Hannah Kruger, Alex Leary, Annie Linsky, Neil Meta, and Brian Witten.
The journal is a co-production of Spotify and the Wall Street Journal.
The shows made by Catherine Brewer, Pia Gedkari, Isabella Japal, Sophie Codner, Ryan Kenitson, Matt Quang, Colin McNulty, Annie Minoff, Laura Morris, Enrique Perez de La Rosa, Sarah Platt, Alan Rodriguez Espinosa, Heather Rogers, Pierce Singhi, Giveka Verma, Lisa Wang, Catherine Whelan, Tatiana Zemis, and me, Jessica Mendoza.
Our engineers are Griffin Tanner, Nathan Singapak, and Peter Leonard.
Our theme music is by So Wiley.
Additional music this week from Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, Nathan Singapak, Griffin Tanner, and Blue Dot Sessions.
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Thanks for listening.
See you on Monday.
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