By The Editorial Board
Jeffrey Epstein was first investigated by Palm Beach, Fla., police 21 years ago, and yet, many victims have yet to find justice. For 21 years, men and women have suffered from the exploitation, and closure still looks to be a long way off. Epstein is dead, but for 21 years, accomplices have continued to slip through the cracks.
In 2024, around 4,500 pages of “heavily redacted” information from Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit with Epstein were released, but it wasn’t enough. The call for the files grew louder. In February 2025, about 200 pages of additional documents were released, but after review, it became clear that they contained little new information. In July, the Department of Justice declared that no additional disclosure of files was necessary.
Finally, in November 2025, the House of Representatives passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. In December, hundreds of thousands of documents were released in compliance with the act and more followed in January. The battle was won.
But then came the unthinkable. The documents were rife with household names — Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Steven Tisch — and most got off without a scratch; not even a slap on the wrist.
Bill Clinton was subpoenaed at Republican request in December 2025. The Epstein files are riddled with mentions of the former Democratic president, yet he and Hillary Clinton testified before Congress in a private deposition. Bill left without an accusation, and Republican members of the House Oversight Committee declared they would turn their attention to other individuals, according to PBS.
In 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that there was “no credible information” proving Epstein was involved in trafficking underage girls to other individuals. The now-public files disprove this completely.
In February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi denied any credible evidence of Trump’s involvement with Epstein’s crimes. At the time of the January batch of files being released, Trump’s name was mentioned more than 38,000 times.
This information doesn’t prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; however, Epstein was convicted of child sex trafficking, and our president is mentioned in pages alongside him, pictured with him and a known friend and business partner of his. Trump even told the New York Magazine in 2022 that Epstein “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
We’re not saying he is guilty; we are saying that we have questions, and the American people have asked over and over for transparency and honesty from our leaders.
And yet, no action has been taken.
The evidence is before us. Countless criminals have yet to be convicted, and our highest form of government has begged us to turn a blind eye. We have been convinced to look away. We have allowed ourselves to be distracted by politics, war and drama.
When Britain’s former Prince Andrew was revealed to be involved with Epstein, he was stripped of his royal and military titles. But American leaders have yet to be convicted or punished. Victims of Epstein’s crimes are being forced to watch his accomplices go free.
This should outrage us.
There are over 6 million pages of files detailing relations between a convicted child sex offender and the most powerful in our country. There are photos, emails and videos revealing Epstein’s involvement with our leaders. The evil didn’t die with Epstein in his jail cell. It has permeated our Department of Justice, our presidency and our economy.
There are over 6 million pages of American CEOs, influencers, actors, public figures, politicians and more communicating, dining and negotiating with a man who committed heinous crimes.
And rather than calling for justice, our highest levels of government have asked us time and again to turn a blind eye. They’ve told us to look away while they redact, deflect and deny. We are in danger of allowing criminals to go free because we forgot our outrage.
For the average person, involvement with Epstein calls for an investigation. So why is it so different for this group of elite? How does the justice system suddenly break apart once it reaches men with power?
Immigrants are being jailed daily without due process, while countless leaders in our country stand blameless where that process is due. Where the law applies to one, it should apply to all. As long as we fail to hold accountable leaders and elites who are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, we perpetuate a lie and allow one’s status to disguise their guilt.
ICE, funded by $45 billion in Trump’s second term, had detained 66,000 people by the beginning of December, and that number is growing. ICE also stopped allowing discretionary releases as immigrants undergo trial, forcing them to petition judges for bond.
So, as immigrants on trial are denied bond and detained before being convicted, numerous notable figures who have control and influence in our country are walking free.
Before becoming Patel’s deputy at the FBI, Dan Bongino spoke on the All Things Considered podcast. In September 2024, Bongino was as outraged as the rest of the public about the lack of accountability, and he uttered words that would prove true 17 months later.
“Folks, the Epstein client list is a huge deal because it speaks to an enormous problem we have in this country,” Bongino said. “It is that there is a connected class of insiders that feel that they can get away with anything, because they can.”
Justice cannot be something that reaches the ordinary and collapses at the feet of the powerful. If we believe the law applies equally to all, then we must demand transparent investigations, refuse partisan deflection and loudly insist that accountability does not stop where inclusion begins.
Mackenzie Grizzard, while a member of The Editorial Board, had no involvement with the creation of this piece due to prior news coverage.
