• calliope@retrolemmy.com
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    2 days ago

    Honest question: am I the only person who sees the “Epstein files” as an obvious and extremely valuable distraction?

    He was literally a financial advisor with clients. The files everyone wants to see are a financial advisor’s client list.

    Do you really think he wrote down a bunch of evidence about assaulting women?

    Of course not. But It gets headlines better than anything despite it being utterly meaningless. Epstein is 100% clickbait, but everyone is too angry to admit it.

    • P00ptart@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      He was not a financial advisor. That was his cover and his money laundering operation. That’s like saying al Capone had a security company.

    • CouldntCareBear@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      Me too mate. We don’t know what’s in these files so overstating their importance could backfire.

      It also sets some unreasonably high threshold for condemning the man, as if there is not enough information out in public yet for people to make up their minds and the missing piece we really need is some list with his name on it titled ‘underage sex trafficking clients’, and nothing else will meet expectations.

      That doesn’t exist and when they’re released it’ll be a damp Squibb and it’ll be framed by friendly media as if he’s been exonerated and a bunch of people will buy that. Like the Muller report.

      Keeping his association with Epstein in the public mind is good but leaning specifically on the files too much is gifting them an opportunity for them to flip it around.