Thread by @themarketswork

1) My latest @EpochTimes - Jeffrey Epstein’s Ties to Clinton, and His Questionable Source of Wealth

While msm focus on Trump, larger questions remain about Epstein’s finances and ties to Bill Clinton.
theepochtimes.com/jeffrey-epstei…

2) Questions surrounding Epstein have existed for a long time, including the source of his wealth, and his relationship to former President Bill Clinton, who, according to flight logs, flew on Epstein’s personal jet 26 times.

3) Much of the mainstream media has chosen to focus on President Trump's past social ties to Epstein.

In particular, a 2002 quote from an article in New York Magazine.

4) This quote, along with a plane flight that Trump took on one of Epstein’s planes has been used to portray the president as close to Epstein.

But a closer examination highlights how this characterization is likely inaccurate.

5) In a Sept. 2009 deposition Mark Epstein, the brother of Jeffrey, discussed the plane flight that involved Trump.

Epstein was asked if he had ever met Donald Trump and allowed that he had one time—on a flight from Florida to New York aboard the smaller of Epstein’s planes:

6) As mentioned, the flight took place on Epstein’s smaller plane—not the larger 727 that has been dubbed the “Lolita Express”:

7) It appears that Trump hitched a ride back to New York on Epstein’s smaller plane following a stay at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

It also appears that this may be the only time that Trump flew on one of Epstein’s planes.

8) Bradley Edwards, an attorney who represented some of Epstein’s victims in a Palm Beach civil case, discussed how Trump was the only one willing to help him on the case against Epstein.

9) [Trump] is the only person who picked up the phone and said, let’s just talk. I’ll give you as much time as you want. I’ll tell you what you need to know, ” Edwards recalled.

Edwards added that Trump “was very helpful, in the information that he gave.

10) Trump reportedly banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.

Patterson said, “There were some complaints about Epstein at Mar-a-Lago. I spoke to the head of the spa there. ... She said she went to Trump and he threw [Epstein] out of the club.”

https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1148729807531720704

11) A Dec 2018 Washington Post article noted that all sides agreed that President Trump’s involvement in the Epstein case was only tangential and would not even require his testimony:
washingtonpost.com/national/palm-…

12) President Trump on Epstein:

“I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn’t a fan..I was not a fan of his. That I can tell you. I was not a fan of his.”
foxnews.com/politics/trump…

13) Despite President Trump having been under close investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for nearly two years, no information relating to Epstein was brought up.

14) The Washington Times reported that Glenn Simpson and Fusion GPS had tried to push “the idea of a close relationship between Mr. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein,” but failed to find any actual issues or events relating to the president.
washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/…

15) “The Trump-Epstein link appears purely social, far short of Mr. Clinton’s 20-plus plane rides on Epstein’s “Lolita Express” private jet around the globe in the early 2000s,” reported The Washington Times.

16) President Trump is one of, if not the most vetted presidential candidates in US history.

It seems almost certain that if there had been an untoward associate with Epstein’s activities, it would have been unearthed long ago.

17) In response to Epstein’s arrest, a Clinton spokesperson issued a short statement saying the former president "knows nothing" about the "terrible crimes" Epstein had been charged with:

18) Clinton’s statement may be factually correct but it also appears to be a potential lie by omission.

Clinton’s statement only addresses flights on Epstein’s jet that took place in 2002 and 2003.

19) In a 2016 article, Fox News reported that, based on a review of flight logs,Clinton had made “at least 26 trips” aboard Epstein’s private jet.

The Fox article specifically mentions 2001, a year not covered by Clinton’s statement.
foxnews.com/us/flight-logs…

20) It’s possible that Clinton is correct in his assertion that he has never been to Little St. James Island—Epstein’s private island.

Fox reported that flight logs do not show Clinton aboard any flights to St. Thomas, the nearest airport to Little St. James.

21) Regardless, Clinton was a frequent traveler on Epstein’s 727 jet.

Per Fox, flight logs “show Clinton flying aboard Epstein’s plane to such destinations as Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, China, Brunei, London, New York, the Azores, Belgium, Norway, Russia and Africa.”

22) The article also notes that those regularly traveling with Clinton included Ghislaine Maxwell and Sarah Kellen, "both of whom were investigated by the FBI and Palm Beach Police for recruiting girls for Epstein and his friends.”

23) Clinton’s repeated presence on Epstein’s plane is also noted during an Oct. 15, 2009 deposition of Epstein pilot Larry Visosky:

Q: You had Bill Clinton on the airplane ten or twenty times, right?

Visosky: Yeah. He’s my main focus. I remember him being on the aircraft, sure.

24) At the Feb. 2015 CPAC conference Trump indicated that Bill Clinton’s connections to Epstein would prove problematic:

“Nice guy - got a lot of problems coming up, in my opinion, with the famous island, with Jeffrey Epstein. A lot of problems.”

25) Epstein has been described as both a billionaire and a money manager for billionaires. It’s likely that both descriptions are wrong.

26) Epstein’s status as a billionaire evolved from court statements that came from an earlier civil case in West Palm Beach, FL.

Despite a judicial order, Epstein had initially refused to “divulge any information about his net worth other than to say its upwards of $50 million.”

27) The judge in the case threatened Epstein with the forced disclosure of his tax returns unless he provided a more definitive accounting of his net worth.

In papers filed with the U.S. District Court, Epstein’s attorneys stated he was worth “more than nine figures.”

28) Epstein has never been listed on Forbes 400 list.

Forbes reporters noted that, “Forbes has never included Epstein, 66, in its rankings of the World’s Billionaires, since there is scant proof he holds a ten-figure fortune.”
forbes.com/sites/noahkirs…

29) Equally nebulous is Epstein's stature as a money manager for billionaires.

The reported source for Epstein’s wealth is his money management firm but no records from the firm have ever been made public and nor has any client list been released.

30) In the 2003 Vanity Fair article, Vicky Ward pointed to some early signals that Epstein might not be what he seemed:

vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/j…

31) For a man reputed to have been managing at least $15 billion—all for billionaires—it would seem all but impossible that Epstein would not be known to the Wall Street trading desks.

Additionally, Epstein reportedly employed no portfolio managers or analysts.

32) Epstein was also reported to be unusually selective when it came to his "clients".

M&A lawyer, Dennis Block said that he once sent Epstein a $500 million client only to have Epstein turn the client down.

Block noted, “Both the client and I were amazed.”

33) Vanity Fair reported that “Epstein had several meetings with Harold Levin, then head of Wexner Investments, in which he enunciated ideas about currencies that Levin found incomprehensible.”

34) Epstein reportedly got his start in the financial world while working for investment bank Bear Stearns but abruptly left the firm in 1981 under less than clear circumstances.

35) Miami Herald reported "Epstein was a key federal witness in the criminal prosecution of two prominent executives with Bear Stearns."

That Epstein was “one of the largest investors” in the fund runs contrary to his portrayal as the sole, direct manager of his clients’ funds.

36) Rumors of blackmail have surrounded Epstein for years.

In a 2015 court filing, Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre said that “Epstein required me to describe the sexual events that I had with these men presumably so that he could potentially blackmail them.”

/End