As Congress battles over the long-suppressed “Epstein Files,” explosive revelations of money laundering, elite cover-ups, and political fallout threaten to shake Washington.

8 November 2025

A Prince toppled, Washington crippled, MAGA and Marjorie Taylor Greene upset with Donald Trump, and lots of rich guys suffer from insomnia or night sweats as the release of all of the “Epstein Files” approaches.

This long-suppressed dossier will blow open more hidden networks of money, privilege, and predation.

The story has migrated from tabloids to Congress, and now to revelations about staggering amounts of laundered money. President Donald Trump campaigned to release the files, then changed his mind.

Now Democrats and a handful of Republicans want a bill compelling the Justice Department to release every document except victims’ names. But House Speaker Mike Johnson blocks this by delaying the swearing in of Arizona’s new Democratic congresswoman, Adelita Grijalva, elected three weeks ago.

Her vote would force complete disclosure, and the standoff has united unlikely allies. The Epstein case disgusts both left and right because it exposes how easily the rich buy immunity while the powerless are punished. MAGA supporter and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene leads the charge to release all the files and claims she’s received death threats. “This is not about politics,” she said. “This is a boiling point in American history.”

In February, the Justice Department described its partial release as “the first phase.”

This month, however, revelations surfaced that a money-laundering probe involving Epstein and the rich and famous in 2007 was also undertaken and then covered up. Bloomberg reported that when Epstein was being investigated in 2008 for molesting a 14-year-old girl in Florida, federal prosecutors noticed a “pattern of transactions” in which Epstein ordered employees to withdraw large sums of cash to distribute to women around the world he was suspected of abusing.

The plan was to charge him with money-laundering, but an indictment and prosecution memo were suppressed, and the prosecutor in charge was told to back off, according to a 2020 Justice Department report. Instead, a 2008 plea deal was forged that sentenced Epstein to 13 months in a local jail but allowed him out daily on a “work release.”

Not only did Epstein go unprosecuted for financial skullduggery, but so did the institutions and individuals. The prosecutor in charge of the US Attorney’s Office was Alex Acosta, who now claims he doesn’t “recall a financial aspect” to the case back in 2008.

Acosta was named US Secretary of Labor by Trump in 2017. Epstein proved that slime pays. He died a staggeringly wealthy man, worth $600 million. According to Forbes in 2025, the great majority of Epstein’s wealth between 1999 and 2018 came from $490 million in fees (most of that from two billionaires, Leslie Wexner, $200 million, and Leon Black, $170 million), with the remaining $310 million reported as income during that period by his companies as a result of successful investment returns.

His network included the Who’s Who list of tycoons, celebrities, and politicians, collected by himself and his partner in slime, well-connected British aristo-brat Ghislaine Maxwell, now in jail.

Her late father, Robert Maxwell, was also a fraudster and tax evader who moved money around for decades, then “died” mysteriously after stealing hundreds of millions from his workers’ pension funds in Britain. He began his career after the Second World War in Berlin, smuggling contraband between countries and then simultaneously spied for the KGB as well as Britain’s MI5. He became a press baron and networked among the rich and famous, just as his daughter and Epstein did.

Media outlets have had a field day examining Epstein’s appointment calendars and flight manifests that have been released, and have collectively culled lists that include Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, Bill Gates, Peter Thiel, Deepak Chopra, Steve Bannon, Barry Sternlicht, Ariane de Rothschild, Hyatt chairman Tom Pritzker, among others. Such meetups may have never happened or been strictly social. But being mentioned on such a list is toxic.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s name appears in unreleased documents, and the White House’s contradictory denials only fan suspicion. The president said the release of some documents is “only the beginning,” but Republican House leader Mike Johnson has blocked the release of all the tens of thousands of pages of Epstein documents. This week, the State of Arizona sued Johnson to force the swearing-in of its elected Congresswoman because she was duly elected.

The money laundering cover-up is scandalous. Massive cash transfers took place in and out of Epstein’s accounts, possibly involving hush money payments, extortion, blackmail, or tax evasion, as well as institutional complicity or non-compliance.

For instance, documents show that in 2002, JP Morgan Chase “red-flagged” Epstein accounts internally and reported to regulators many cash withdrawals from Epstein’s accounts. Another bank reported more than $1 billion in transactions connected to Epstein associates, including Victoria’s Secret billionaire Les Wexner and hedge-fund manager Glenn Dubin. Some Epstein clients said they paid Epstein for estate planning and tax advice. Wexner said he was defrauded by Epstein and cut him off in 2007. Dubin said he was unaware of Epstein’s alleged crimes.

Senator Ron Wyden told Congress that the US Treasury Department file on Epstein detailed that from one account, 4,725 wire transfers occurred, totaling $1.1 billion. There was also extensive correspondence with Russian banks. And Forbes reported that between four banks (JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Bank of New York Mellon, and Bank of America), transfers totaled more than $1.9 billion.

This scandal is not just about a few “pervs” ducking taxes or buying illicit sex from a sleazebag couple.

It looks like it may have national security implications because it resembles a classic “honey trap” set up by foreign agents – such as the late Robert Maxwell – to trap the rich and famous and powerful.

It also exposes inept or corrupt police and prosecutors, politicians, and banks. Already, the head of the former Prince Andrew in Britain has rolled, but others in Epstein’s rolodex must be investigated. Congress must release all information, quickly, or justice for victims and taxpayers will be denied.

Reprinted from dianefrancis@substack.com – Diane Francis on America and the World.

https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/63753