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Epstein Arrest Leaves Top Technology Figures Racing to Distance Themselves
- crb002 7y agoWhy? Unless they were in on the shenanigans he was just a well connected investor with lots of cash. Better taking his money for good than letting him use it for bad.
- gregoryexe 7y agoBecause the media turns everything into a witch hunt these days.
- johnp314 7y ago...Only if there is a connection to Trump. The media didn't care about this till the connection to a Trump cabinet secretary. Certainly if Hillary were president Epstein would be out and free as a bird and probably frequently visiting his pal the "first husband" Bill in the White House.
- jasonvorhe 7y agoDid they tag you that on 4chan?
- liability 7y agoYes, it's hard to imagine why somebody would get nervous about a predator like Epstein being taken off the streets.
- ozmodiar 7y agoBecause people will assume that they were his clients (in the ‘shenanigans’ sense) is exactly why. His clients were rich, well connected people, so all the rich, well connected people in his social circle can assume they’ll be given a second look.
- jayess 7y agoHe doesn't seem to have been an investor: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/hedge-funders-have-some-thoughts-on-what-epstein-was-doing.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/07/hedge-funders-have-s...
- pessimizer 7y agoI'm jealous of people who think that using money for themselves is synonymous with using it for good.
- itronitron 7y agoespecially when they are creating wealth for the people they are taking money from
- ghostbrainalpha 7y agoYou do realize if he invests in your business, and you don't fail you didn't TAKE money away from a bad person. You just made sure that a rich bad guy has even more money so he can build a roller coaster on pedophile island.
- yeehaw5002 7y agotop finance figures: "meh"
- binarymax 7y agoAn independent activist journalist has been digging into the case and has come up with some interesting and alarming connections and history. Worth a read: https://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2019/07/08/the-jeffrey-epstein-rabbit-hole-goes-a-lot-deeper-than-you-think/ https://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2019/07/08/the-jeffrey-epstein...
- bitxbitxbitcoin 7y agoI find it interesting that both the words independent and activist had to be brought out to qualify the wonderful journalism from Michael Krieger. Wasn't there a time when it was somewhat assumed that journalists were both independent and activists to some extent? Thanks for sharing the link!
- techntoke 7y agoNo, news and media companies use paywalls and still bombard you with ads. Activist and independent journalist likely just care about spreading truth for the betterment of humanity.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- IfOnlyYouKnew 7y agoThe example of an "independent" "journalist" linked above is choke-full with pleads for donations. They are far less likely to be unencumbered by the need to generate income than someone with a job at the Washington Post or the like.
- burkaman 7y agoNo? Independent is unusual, most journalists work for an organization. Activist is also unusual and probably somewhat controversial; I'm guessing many journalists would say their job is to be objective, not to be an activist.
- 7y ago
- lawlessone 7y agoQuestion to ask is why they're only distancing themselves now?
- save_ferris 7y agoProbably because Epstein thought he was in the clear after his sweetheart non-prosecution agreement. Let's be very clear here: anyone trying to distance themselves from him now isn't doing it out of principle, as numerous allegations against him have been rumored for many years. They're doing it for self-preservation.
- pessimizer 7y agoThere weren't rumors, there were convictions, a jail sentence, and numerous known victims.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- asdfman123 7y agoHonestly, while I feel there's probably a lot of foul play there's probably a lot of non-foul-play going on, too. I'm sure the billionaire's club is small. I mean, I imagine if someone in my local improv community (which I used to participate in) came out as a sex offender I could probably say, "Yeah, I met the guy, went to a few parties at his house. There were some rumors about him but I didn't pay much attention at the time." Not saying everything is squeakly clean, but many of these stories are at least plausible.
- mc32 7y agoIt’s sounding and looking like the plot from “The Firm”, but here to compromise and blackmail some wealthy of powerful figures...
- dangerbird2 7y agoTo give the most sympathetic explanation, Epstein's clearly shows sociopathic tendencies, or at least extreme talent as a conman, and probably lulled his billionaire buddies into a misguided sense of trust. it's very hard to justify remaining close to him after his first conviction, but there are plenty of examples of people remaining connected after other celebrities committed similarly heinous crimes, R Kelly for example. It may very well be that some people were complicit with Epstein, but none of us are in any way qualified to speculate on that end
- fromthestart 7y agoJust want to point out that a lot of this information has long been known in circles dismissed as conspiracy theory under the overly broad label "pizzagate." Suddenly the crazy connections among business magnates, past and present world leaders, and pedophile rings is not so crazy.
- jstewartmobile 7y agoWho knows? In another 10 years, pizzagate players may also end up spending a few hours in the slammer every week.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- cheez 7y agoYou're getting downvoted, but there was a similar issue in UK political circles. It's absolutely within the realm of possibility.
- khazhou 7y agoPizzagate was fiction and was easily debunked. The fact that there are actually bad people who do actual bad things doesn't suddenly validate made-up stories.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- gcbw2 7y agothe term "pizzagate" was part of the disinformation to throw the actual investigation under the bus. The press focused on a leaked report that it all happened in a small pizza place. While it effectively (for the leakers) killed progress of the investigation (the one which consequences are being talked now in this thread, so it was very much real) it also gave a catchy name for a while, that cause real investigative reports to jump in. fake news is a very interesting problem to follow.
- drak0n1c 7y ago
- camjohnson26 7y agoAccording to the article the list of prominent tech figures who socialized with Epstein includes: Sergey Brin Richard Branson Jason Calacanis Bill Gates Reid Hoffman Elon Musk Nathan Myhrvold Mark Zuckerberg That’s an impressive list.
- mc32 7y agoQuite interesting. Are most actual social friends or people who were coincidentally in the same place at the same time as him? Like both get invited to a gala or whatever versus they visit each other’s homes or businesses on a personal level.
- creddit 7y agoMost of the connections are in passing (if the article is to be believed) and would happen by the nature of being in such a class.
- dx87 7y agoNot all of those names belong together in your list. The article says Bill Gates talked to him once at a social event, and his representative claims they never worked together. Some of the others on the list were in Eptsein's "Black Book" that he kept.
- Balgair 7y ago.
- passivepinetree 7y agoYes. It's both mentioned and linked to in the article on which we are commenting.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Balgair 7y ago
- cafard 7y agoFrankly, a number of them sound as if they are already distanced. "Talked to the guy at a fundraiser" or "discussed investing" are pretty slim connections.
- eternalny1 7y agoAnyone he blackmailed to make his millions should be distancing themselves.
- inflatableDodo 7y agoWell, at least the US has finally jailed him. Here in the UK they don't even need to be billionaires to wield the kind of influence to escape the eye of the law. Just be the guy that reads out this week's government approved list of popular tunes, on behalf the state broadcaster, to get the full protection of the state, media and police. Saville was openly fingering underage girls on live primetime broadcasts of Top Of The Pops and nobody did a thing until after he died.
- rdtsc 7y ago> An active host, Epstein arranged a dinner in the early 2000s at his Upper East Side townhouse for former President Clinton, a no-show, according to New York magazine. It seems they are trying to distance Epstein from Bill Clinton. Bill flew to the island a dozen times, Epstein's girlfriend came to Chelsea's wedding... Ah! but Bill didn't show for a dinner once so he wasn't really connected with Epstein that much? If the reporter just left that part out completely it might have worked, but they are trying a little too hard. I bet there is a deeper connection there. The case, overall is just so strange. The plea deal he got before, his attempted suicide in his cell after(!) filing an appeal to post bail. Also, he went from stealing checks in the mail https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6962478/parties/united-states-v-epstein/ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6962478/parties/united-... to owning private islands, 7500 acre range in New Mexico, apartment in Paris, a Boeing 727, getting a multi-million dollar mansions for $1 as a "gift". It's just unbelievable stuff.
- microdrum 7y agoClinton also went on Epstein's private jet 27 times. He is by far the most connected to him. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/nyregion/bill-clinton-jeffrey-epstein.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/nyregion/bill-clinton-jef... It's weird how many articles say that Epstein was connected to "Clinton and Trump." No: he'd met Trump. He was connected to Clinton.
- rdtsc 7y ago> Clinton also went on Epstein's private jet 27 times Wonder how many of those flights were to the infamous island... I thought it was interesting to see if the reporter is somehow connected to the Clintons. It seems she was at least viewed as being favorable towards them: (from https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/33810 https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/33810) > - Reuters (Sarah McBride) is writing what should be a positive story on our campaign's efforts to attract the backing of young tech entrepreneurs. I guess the lesson for Brin, and others, is to "cultivate" a better relationship with the journalists so they can insert lines like these in their articles "there was this one time when Brin saw Epstein, but Sergey quickly crossed the street and didn't even say hello".
- TheCapn 7y agoThe one thing I sort of held as truth over my life about why international grand conspiracies would never be "real" was that there's just too many individuals involved to make a coverup possible. Surely there has to be some individual with morals to leak necessary evidence to the media right? The more that comes out about this Epstein case the more I question that truth. I'm sure there are people on the inside looking to call out and reveal things but if our sole source of coverage for these events are media companies owned by the very people guilty of such high crimes then what do we do? Surely the internet would enable these voices to come forward? The whole thing seems so weird and like a fiction novel. I'd love to see those horrible people charged for their crimes, but in the absolute bare minimum I'd like to see how such criminal empires operate without notice.
- rurban 7y agoWithout notice? Really everybody inside certain industries knew about Epstein and much more prominent figures whose names may not be mentioned. There's much more going on with pedo-related blackmailing, usually related to Intelligence services. New Orleans, Europe, Asia. As intelligence services are protected, you won't hear about it.
- scottlocklin 7y agoRemember Dennis Hastert? Remember how quiet the media was about that scuzzbucket? You notice how quiet they are about the fact that this convicted child molestor is now ... a respected congressional lobbyist? It's probably worse than we know.
- paganel 7y agoOne of the magazines that were indeed reporting on people like Epstein was Gawker, it’s actually mentioned in the article. We all know what happened to Gawker but people in the Valley are too afraid to speak up against pretty despicable guys like Thiel.
- eloff 7y agoI fail to see Thiel as the bad guy here. What Gawker does to people is pretty horrid, and they got what they had coming to them.
- spacegod 7y agoIt goes deeper than this. Both Victoria's Secret and Abercrombie are run by pedophiles. Both have been deeply connected to Epstein.
- subdane 7y agoEyes Wide Shut https://www.newsweek.com/eyes-wide-shut-missing-footage-epstein-kubrick-death-1449108 https://www.newsweek.com/eyes-wide-shut-missing-footage-epst...
- gumby 7y agoIt does seem likely that most of these contacts were trivial. Apart from the headline names in this Bloomberg piece, he often courted notable scientists who of course would respond as he funded research. 99% or even 100% of those were equally innocent. I have wondered how people with odd (or horrible in this case) fetishes that are looked down upon manage to meet. I imagine the number of people involved in the abuse must be pretty small.
- reitanqild 7y agoHere's another similar story from Belgium (underage victims, blackmail etc): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/05/dutroux.featuresreview https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/05/dutroux.featur... Edit: warning, the story above had me crying on public transit. It is worth knowing about but terribly terribly sad.