Undaunted Search for the Truth

Julie Brown’s essential reporting on Jeffrey Epstein must be commended

If not for Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, we might never have learned anything about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, its implication of wealthy, powerful, influential men, and the existence of massive files documenting all of it. Absent her reporting, we also would not be seeing the first significant break in the MAGA protection racket that has shielded Trump from consequences for his lies, misconduct, incompetence, and cruel policies.

This week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s former attorney, arranged for an unprecedented and utterly inappropriate meeting with convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. What possible legitimate purpose could this have served? Blowback was swift. Even more troubling for Trump: Before Republicans could get out of town, Democrats on a House Oversight subcommittee won an 8-2 vote, with 3 Republicans joining them, to subpoena Justice Department documents related to Epstein.

As this unfolds, do not forget who has been digging into the criminal enterprise for years. Brown’s dogged reporting into Epstein’s sex trafficking of minors paved the way for his rearrest in 2019 (a dozen years after his sweetheart plea deal in Florida was orchestrated by Alex Acosta, whom Donald Trump subsequently nominated for Labor Secretary). Most of what we know about Epstein can be traced back to her reporting and subsequent book, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story. To her great credit, she continues to demand full transparency and answers to a host of unresolved questions, including the identities of all the men who may have participated in criminal activity.

The freaked-out president’s legally dubious requests for grand jury information (which a Florida district court judge denied while a similar request remains pending in New York) will not get to the heart of the matter. There is much, much more potentially explosive material out there. The Wall Street Journal confirmed—no surprise here—that the unreleased files do in fact mention Trump. If Trump has nothing to hide, he would have absolved himself long ago by releasing the complete files within his control. And yet he and his enablers have perpetuated the conspiracy of silence that has protected rich and powerful men privy to or engaged in the systematic exploitation of children (i.e., statutory rape).

Brown ferociously persists in demanding the release of the Epstein documents. As she explained in March:

Sources also said that the files are voluminous. There are 22 files containing over 500 pages in the FBI vault, a portal on the FBI’s website accessible to the public. The bulk of those 11,000-plus pages are heavily redacted, and Justice Department prosecutors have fought their release for years…. One critical source of evidence against Epstein was in the discovery for a Florida civil case brought by Epstein’s victims against the FBI in 2008. That case spanned a decade and included tens of thousands of pages of material that sheds light on how federal prosecutors mishandled that early case. Not all the FBI documents connected to that case — or the federal criminal case — in Florida have been made public.

Belatedly, legacy or billionaire-owned media outlets (largely uninterested throughout three presidential campaigns) seem to have just realized that there is no justification for hiding documentation that could finally result in accountability for powerful people, just as Brown describes.

While we have yet to see a “client list,” Epstein’s phone directory of associates, colleagues, and other contacts has already been released. “It features contacts for a number of wealthy and famous people, like Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, while others on the list claim they never met Epstein,” the New York Times reported. “Ghislaine Maxwell compiled, updated, copied and distributed countless versions of the directory for use by Epstein and members of his household.” The Gawker website published a redacted version of it back in 2015. Today, we know Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump this May that his name appears throughout the mound of documents yet to be publicly released.

In an interview with the New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, Brown explained:

Epstein did not do this all by himself. He barely tied his shoes by himself. He had butlers and assistants doing everything for him, including the compiling of his contact lists, his musical playlists. He had people doing that for him. His computers — he had lots of people helping him. So, he did not do this alone. There were other people helping him. And there were other men who he sent some of these women to.

Brown emphasized that Epstein’s monstrous crimes were no “hoax.” The survivors, some whose identities have been revealed (unlike the men who abused them), will carry their unimaginable suffering to their graves. Brown pointed out that the government’s argument—“There’s nothing here. There’s nothing more to investigate. We’re done with this story”—is preposterous and unacceptable. Trump appears convinced that unleashing the worst political scandal of his career is less damaging than what is in those files. Brown asserted that “obviously the public has a lot of questions, and the victims still want justice, so we’re going to look at this a little further.” We trust she will do precisely that—and hope that others, both inside and outside of government, do not let this drop, either.

Full disclosure of Epstein-related materials would answer a host of questions (how Epstein paid for his exploits, how he finagled his Florida settlement, etc.) while pulling back the curtains on those who enabled him and/or sexually preyed on minors. We would finally know, for example, if videotapes, which Epstein reportedly made, exist and if so, whether they implicate other men. Other materials that we have yet to see include files from a civil racketeering case filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands against Epstein’s estate, which was settled for $105 Million; FAA and U.S. Marshal records concerning his planes; and files from Maxwell’s prosecution. In addition, the files concerning Epstein’s slap-on-the-wrist 2007 settlement have not been released.

Brown has been a tenacious truth-teller, keeping this story alive in a quest for full justice for the hundreds of girls (now women), most of whose lives have been destroyed by Epstein and his powerful crew. She sets a shining example for the media (and beyond). After recess, Democrats should call her to testify in an open hearing.

Today, we honor Brown for her perseverance and unwavering moral compass. She has forced politicians, judges, lawyers, and the public to choose: stand with survivors, or help the pedophiles who abused them avoid accountability. Thanks to her, we can still deny cover to rich, powerful men who presume they can escape accountability for heinous conduct.

But Julie Brown has remained undaunted in her refusal to let this recede from public view. May we all learn from her clear-eyed courage.