In the immediate wake of news from New York City officials Saturday morning that disgraced billionaire and high-profile political donor Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his Manhattan jail cell overnight, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez indicated it will be up to lawmakers and others to demand a full accounting of what happened to the man accused of operating a sophisticated sex trafficking ring that catered to the nation’s rich and powerful.
“We need answers,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Lots of them.”
Shortly after her tweet, Ocasio-Cortez re-tweeted a comment by former prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Renato Mariotti—an indication of some of her concerns.
“Epstein’s suicide,” noted Mariotti, “ends the criminal case against him because no one else was charged in the indictment.”
With many high-powered men—including President Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom, and Harvard attorney Alan Dershowitz—implicated or accused over the years of having ties to Epstein, attending his parties, or even participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring, news of his death immediately sparked conspiracy theories about his demise.
Questions surrounding both the manner of Epstein’s death and the looming questions about the reach of his alleged sex trafficking operation immediately swirled as the news of the apparent suicide broke.
Even those wary of conspiracy theories, however, couldn’t help but note the troubling implications of Epstein’s death—especially given reports of a previous suicide attempt and that he had been placed on suicide watch at the jail.
Unfounded or outlandish conspiracy theories aside—and that does not include very provocative pieces written about the quite plausible money-laundering or possible blackmail operation that Epstein might have had going—it was clear on Saturday that by his untimely death, Epstein’s name has likely just entered the political pantheon.
According to Esquire political columnist Charles P. Pierce, “absolutely nobody is going to believe” whatever official version of Epstein’s death that authorities put forth. Pierce writes:
How in the hell do they let this happen? The guy was incarcerated in the Manhattan Correctional Center. He already had made one try. He had to be on suicide watch. And the suicide happens the day after a massive document dump in which a woman who said she was one of Epstein’s victims implicates an entire brigade of celebrity “clients,” up to an including some European royalty? There almost can’t be a dog more reluctant to hunt than this one.
A whole bunch of Somebodies need to get fired behind this. Beyond it, of course, a thousand conspiracy theories will now bloom across all the Intertoobz. The other people involved have to be nervous. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s alleged accomplice who has yet to be charged, has to be looking over her shoulder. Is she looking over her shoulder to see if the FBI is back there, or to see if something darker is closing in? This country is losing what’s left of its mind.
And as Vicky Ward, a senior reporter for CNN put it Saturday morning, “Let me assure you: Jeffrey Epstein’s death is not the end of this story. There is more yet to come. Stay tuned…”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today during our fundraiser. We have until midnight tonight to add 153 new monthly donors. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.