The Paranoid Style of Jeffrey Epstein Has Come for Us All

The pedophile plutocrat had some peculiar predilections—especially for academics and thinkers who showed a potential to further his grand experiments in inhumanity.

The scope of Jeffrey Epstein’s reach into the byways of global power has been revealed to be so thorough and dark that it presents a real challenge for even seasoned conspiracy theorists to keep up. Spanning borders both geographic and partisan, his web of intrigue is a seamless garment. Figures on the right and the left all find purchase on it for their arguments. Partisans in all directions have also found themselves implicated in the unraveling sordid story.

Recently, I heard a conservative podcaster note that the word “pizza” is mentioned in the files over 800 times. My immediate thought was not, “Well, that’s a coincidence, even pedophiles get hungry.” No, I just wondered if the “Pizzagate” of urban legend—and very real urban mayhem—had been adopted to lived reality. Think of the cheeky Satanists turning the ravings of paranoid Christians into ugly statues.

I’ve still not been able to completely let go of the idea that Epstein and his cohort transformed the fanciful into the unspeakable. When Epstein’s assistant says, Jeffrey wants pizza from Patsy’s after he comes back from visiting Woody Allen, is there such a thing as an innocent explanation?

Every new file drop brings at least a whisper of validation to QAnon’s core contentions. Even the absurd grotesque of financial vampires leaching adrenachrome from young bodies acquires grounding upon the news that Epstein cast about for “life extension” techniques and had lively and lascivious communications with Peter Attia, “longevity craze” influencer and newly minted CBS contributor. (A keto diet enthusiast, Attia once confirmed to Epstein, “Pussy is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten content, though.”)

Epstein has few defenders. But his penpals and dinner guests have minimized their contacts as incidental, as though they too were as tangential to Epstein’s life as popular........

© New Republic