Normally I tend to agree with you but this time I think you’ve gone out on a limb and sawed it off behind you. There is no way Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad, CIA or any other intelligence agency asset. He was too high profile, too undisciplined and too clearly a creep to most who met him. He was a typical pedophile with the wealth to make his disgusting perversions a reality. So he had recording and surveillance equipment in his house? That is not very costly or sophisticated. Also, the Mossad has a policy against using Diaspora Jews for espionage because of potential blowback, like what happened with Jonathan Pollard. Look at what is happening to Jews in Iran and not a single one of them was asked to or did anything to help the IDF in the 12 day war. So no, Epstein was not a spy or even a common variety blackmailer.
As for the Maxwells, Robert did help the fledgling Jewish state during its infancy. But after that? All talk, no action. Robert Maxwell was a blowhard who made up a lot of things including his company’s finances which is why he took a dive off his yacht in the middle of the ocean. His grifts were catching up to him so he killed himself.
As for Ghislaine, she hasn’t talked because she has nothing to say. And just like the overwhelming majority of federal criminal defendants she took the Fifth because there is more to lose than gain by testifying. A bad cross examination will prove the prosecutor‘s case. If you testify, a lot of bad stuff can be introduced against you. And if you testified and are convicted, this can be used under the guidelines to enhance your sentence, holding you liable for perjury.
I am somewhat disappointed that you are building on a bullshit conspiracy theory being advanced by a charlatan like Tucker Carlson. He is clearly taking his marching orders from his financiers in Qatar who fear Mossad and would love nothing more than seeing a divide between the US and this very successful intelligence agency. He has no evidence for this, it is all baseless speculation and, as I have shown above, the concept is absolutely ridiculous.
I don’t know where you got the idea that I claimed this was a Mossad operation or that I’m echoing Tucker Carlson’s conspiracy theories. It seems to me that you read something critical of Israel and flew off the handle.
Look, sorry: this isn’t going away. Even Trump, in his own whacky way, just commented on it—saying that the Epstein files were created by spymasters under Democratic administrations. I find that detail quite interesting. It dovetails with my point: we don’t know the whole story, and we probably can’t.
I didn’t say Epstein was Mossad. In fact, I made the hierarchy clear: Epstein started as a money-launderer for the CIA, something virtually always excluded by the Carlson crowd. I don’t even claim to know exactly who ran him, because the entire point of such operations is plausible deniability.
What I argue is that the sheer scale, protection, and infrastructure surrounding Epstein point unmistakably to intelligence involvement. Given his origins, I conjecture that Langley was at the center. At some point, Mossad likely got involved—whether to co-run, exploit, or piggyback. That’s not conspiracy theory. That’s deductive reasoning.
You say he was “too obviously creepy” to be an asset. First of all, the CIA has a long history of working with “creeps”: Noriega, Chalabi, Luis Posada Carriles, to name just a few. In real life, assets aren’t clean-cut James Bond types. They’re often compromised, erratic, and blackmailable—precisely what makes them useful.
And Epstein wasn’t “obviously creepy” at the time. That’s a retrospective judgment. For years he passed as a mysterious financier, rubbing elbows with presidents, royals, and Ivy League brain trusts. He donated to Harvard, had an office at MIT, and moved comfortably among the elite. He was an attractive man with a well-groomed, Oxford-educated lady-friend. She had connections with British aristocrats and politicians and even the royals. After moving to NYC in 1991, she hung around with the A-list crowd. Pretty good catch for a creep.
It’s also strange that you’d cite Pollard to claim that Israel would never use a Diaspora Jew when that’s exactly what they did, in May 1984, right around the time Epstein was allegedly laundering money for Adnan Khashoggi. As you surely know, in the intelligence world, “policy” and “practice” often diverge when the returns are high. I’d point you to Ronen Bergman’s Rise and Kill First for more on that.
As for Tucker Carlson—again, I’m confused by the accusation. I mentioned him not as an authority, but as a bellwether. His sudden focus on Epstein reflects a new attitude on the right: one where cutting Israel loose is thinkable. That’s what concerns me. Not Carlson himself, but the strategic shift he embodies. The more I think about this latest Epstein flare-up, the more I suspect he’s behind it. If the pro-Israel community wants to defend Israel, it has to get ahead of this narrative—not pretend it doesn’t exist.
You think that by doing this I’m slurring Israel. Our mileage clearly varies. Am I slurring the US for saying that the CIA has committed crimes? It has. Tough.
A few final points and I’m not apologizing for repetition.
I didn’t write this because I care about spy gossip. I wrote it because it just won't go away. Because I’m sickened by what happens when powerful men exploit vulnerable girls and everyone looks the other way. I don’t believe Epstein was just a rogue creep who magically eluded the world’s top intelligence services. I believe he was used—and then buried—because the truth became too radioactive.
I also wrote it to critique how Carlson & Co. are weaponizing Israel’s vulnerability while ignoring the rot within our own systems. That’s what your comment misses.
That said, there’s one point you made that I agree with, although we draw opposite conclusions from it. You said Epstein was “too high-profile, too undisciplined.” I think that’s correct. But history is full of examples of intelligence services, including Mossad, using volatile, flamboyant, even corrupt men—until they became inconvenient. Then they were cut loose. Literally.
Your reference to Iranian Jews is, frankly, a desperate attempt to deflect. In the early ’60s, Israel did successfully plant a Syrian-born Jew inside Syria, Eli Cohen, who was later hanged. Using Iranian Jews would be a combination of useless given what they are trying to do (stop the nuclear program) and next-level insane in that it would bring down repercussions on Iranian Jews too horrible to contemplate. I don’t consider Israel’s spymasters insane, just cold-blooded.
About Maxwell, I don’t even think he was especially effective as an asset, but he clearly tried to be one, if Seymour Hersh and the duo of Gordon Thomas and Martin Dillon are to be believed. The state funeral Israel gave him, the only state funeral for a foreign businessman, wasn’t for services to journalism. At this funeral, which was attended by numerous Israeli intelligence figures, Shamir declared that Maxwell “has done more for Israel than can today be said.” Amen.
Finally, telling the author of the post—on her own Substack, no less—that she’s pushing a “bullshit conspiracy theory” is rude. Don’t do that again. If you have a case, make it with facts.
Normally I tend to agree with you but this time I think you’ve gone out on a limb and sawed it off behind you. There is no way Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad, CIA or any other intelligence agency asset. He was too high profile, too undisciplined and too clearly a creep to most who met him. He was a typical pedophile with the wealth to make his disgusting perversions a reality. So he had recording and surveillance equipment in his house? That is not very costly or sophisticated. Also, the Mossad has a policy against using Diaspora Jews for espionage because of potential blowback, like what happened with Jonathan Pollard. Look at what is happening to Jews in Iran and not a single one of them was asked to or did anything to help the IDF in the 12 day war. So no, Epstein was not a spy or even a common variety blackmailer.
As for the Maxwells, Robert did help the fledgling Jewish state during its infancy. But after that? All talk, no action. Robert Maxwell was a blowhard who made up a lot of things including his company’s finances which is why he took a dive off his yacht in the middle of the ocean. His grifts were catching up to him so he killed himself.
As for Ghislaine, she hasn’t talked because she has nothing to say. And just like the overwhelming majority of federal criminal defendants she took the Fifth because there is more to lose than gain by testifying. A bad cross examination will prove the prosecutor‘s case. If you testify, a lot of bad stuff can be introduced against you. And if you testified and are convicted, this can be used under the guidelines to enhance your sentence, holding you liable for perjury.
I am somewhat disappointed that you are building on a bullshit conspiracy theory being advanced by a charlatan like Tucker Carlson. He is clearly taking his marching orders from his financiers in Qatar who fear Mossad and would love nothing more than seeing a divide between the US and this very successful intelligence agency. He has no evidence for this, it is all baseless speculation and, as I have shown above, the concept is absolutely ridiculous.
I don’t know where you got the idea that I claimed this was a Mossad operation or that I’m echoing Tucker Carlson’s conspiracy theories. It seems to me that you read something critical of Israel and flew off the handle.
Look, sorry: this isn’t going away. Even Trump, in his own whacky way, just commented on it—saying that the Epstein files were created by spymasters under Democratic administrations. I find that detail quite interesting. It dovetails with my point: we don’t know the whole story, and we probably can’t.
I didn’t say Epstein was Mossad. In fact, I made the hierarchy clear: Epstein started as a money-launderer for the CIA, something virtually always excluded by the Carlson crowd. I don’t even claim to know exactly who ran him, because the entire point of such operations is plausible deniability.
What I argue is that the sheer scale, protection, and infrastructure surrounding Epstein point unmistakably to intelligence involvement. Given his origins, I conjecture that Langley was at the center. At some point, Mossad likely got involved—whether to co-run, exploit, or piggyback. That’s not conspiracy theory. That’s deductive reasoning.
You say he was “too obviously creepy” to be an asset. First of all, the CIA has a long history of working with “creeps”: Noriega, Chalabi, Luis Posada Carriles, to name just a few. In real life, assets aren’t clean-cut James Bond types. They’re often compromised, erratic, and blackmailable—precisely what makes them useful.
And Epstein wasn’t “obviously creepy” at the time. That’s a retrospective judgment. For years he passed as a mysterious financier, rubbing elbows with presidents, royals, and Ivy League brain trusts. He donated to Harvard, had an office at MIT, and moved comfortably among the elite. He was an attractive man with a well-groomed, Oxford-educated lady-friend. She had connections with British aristocrats and politicians and even the royals. After moving to NYC in 1991, she hung around with the A-list crowd. Pretty good catch for a creep.
It’s also strange that you’d cite Pollard to claim that Israel would never use a Diaspora Jew when that’s exactly what they did, in May 1984, right around the time Epstein was allegedly laundering money for Adnan Khashoggi. As you surely know, in the intelligence world, “policy” and “practice” often diverge when the returns are high. I’d point you to Ronen Bergman’s Rise and Kill First for more on that.
As for Tucker Carlson—again, I’m confused by the accusation. I mentioned him not as an authority, but as a bellwether. His sudden focus on Epstein reflects a new attitude on the right: one where cutting Israel loose is thinkable. That’s what concerns me. Not Carlson himself, but the strategic shift he embodies. The more I think about this latest Epstein flare-up, the more I suspect he’s behind it. If the pro-Israel community wants to defend Israel, it has to get ahead of this narrative—not pretend it doesn’t exist.
You think that by doing this I’m slurring Israel. Our mileage clearly varies. Am I slurring the US for saying that the CIA has committed crimes? It has. Tough.
A few final points and I’m not apologizing for repetition.
I didn’t write this because I care about spy gossip. I wrote it because it just won't go away. Because I’m sickened by what happens when powerful men exploit vulnerable girls and everyone looks the other way. I don’t believe Epstein was just a rogue creep who magically eluded the world’s top intelligence services. I believe he was used—and then buried—because the truth became too radioactive.
I also wrote it to critique how Carlson & Co. are weaponizing Israel’s vulnerability while ignoring the rot within our own systems. That’s what your comment misses.
That said, there’s one point you made that I agree with, although we draw opposite conclusions from it. You said Epstein was “too high-profile, too undisciplined.” I think that’s correct. But history is full of examples of intelligence services, including Mossad, using volatile, flamboyant, even corrupt men—until they became inconvenient. Then they were cut loose. Literally.
Your reference to Iranian Jews is, frankly, a desperate attempt to deflect. In the early ’60s, Israel did successfully plant a Syrian-born Jew inside Syria, Eli Cohen, who was later hanged. Using Iranian Jews would be a combination of useless given what they are trying to do (stop the nuclear program) and next-level insane in that it would bring down repercussions on Iranian Jews too horrible to contemplate. I don’t consider Israel’s spymasters insane, just cold-blooded.
About Maxwell, I don’t even think he was especially effective as an asset, but he clearly tried to be one, if Seymour Hersh and the duo of Gordon Thomas and Martin Dillon are to be believed. The state funeral Israel gave him, the only state funeral for a foreign businessman, wasn’t for services to journalism. At this funeral, which was attended by numerous Israeli intelligence figures, Shamir declared that Maxwell “has done more for Israel than can today be said.” Amen.
Finally, telling the author of the post—on her own Substack, no less—that she’s pushing a “bullshit conspiracy theory” is rude. Don’t do that again. If you have a case, make it with facts.
To the best of my poor understanding you are right over the target.
If the CIA and military intelligence are not brought to heel and punished. All the seeming gains made in the U.S. are for naught.
There is a righteous judge coming. Meanwhile, there is also plenty of plenty of pain to go around. Protect the children.