The Epstein Conspiracy Boomerang – WSJ

Government investigators ruled years ago that the sex offender killed himself in prison, but many on the political right don t want to believe it. The skeptics included Kash Patel and Dan Bongino before President Trump chose them to run the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But after what DOJ calls an exhaustive review, they turned up no evidence of murder or a coverup to protect Epstein s clients.

There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions, the Justice Department and FBI wrote in a memo released Monday. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.

Fair enough, except this isn t good enough for the social-media fever swamps. Laura Loomer, Alex Jones and other conspiracy theorists think Messrs. Patel and Bongino, as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi, must be lying, or have been co-opted, or who knows what. Ms. Bondi needs to resign, said Ms. Loomer, who is a pal of President Trump.

There s a lesson here for partisans who think they can ride conspiracies to power. They can easily boomerang on you once you re in a position to see the real evidence and then have to convince a public that doesn t trust anyone in power. Welcome to the rotten establishment, Mr. Patel and Mr. Bongino.

via www.wsj.com

Well in my view the only reasonable position is that we don’t really know anything. I thought AG Bondi said there was a ton, “tens of thousands” of records of big names engaging with underage women. What happened to all that? Is that just a big never mind? Did not Bill Gates’s wife give him the heave ho because of his activities on the Isle of Sin? And Bill Clinton definitely went to the island at least once, correct? And isn’t saying there was no blackmail like saying, the bank robbers gave all that money back or are planning to, and we may or may not have any information about where the money is now? How naive are we supposed to be exactly? So were just supposed to take it that AG Bondi was lying when she said she’d seen a lot of evidence then but she’s not lying about the evidence or lack thereof now? I’m just trying to get the overall story straight here, not concoct some big conspiracy theory.

Also, as this conspiracy theory or fact would benefit the left more than the right, or might do so, depending on who is on the list, why is wanting this out the exclusive domain of right wing conspiracy theorists? Moreover, how can anyone in good faith expect a skeptical public to believe a story that takes the form of AG Bondi saying — “I’ve seen the evidence and it’s really, really bad!”, followed a few months later by “I’ve seen the evidence, and there’s nothing to see there, really”? Confusion seems to be the only honest response to this. Confusion and suspicion. The often nuts-so but occasionally correct Laura Loomer and Alex Jones may be nuts in this case, or they may be right. They seem to me like theyd are just among the few who are willing to be vociferous about their suspicions and treat them as facts. They may not be verified facts yet but there are plentiful grounds for suspicion surely.

I never would have believed in a thousand years stories of a far-flung international conspiracy to concoct a deadly virus in Wuhan, China, which then got released and ended up killing millions of people, including my sister’s father in law and possibly my brother. So yeah, no, I’m not going to buy this story just yet.