The prosecution of Maxwell and Epstein was a disturbing politicization of the criminal justice system. Epstein entered a plea regarding his conduct in 2008. That plea stood for 10 years, until incendiary presidential politics made it newly relevant. Everything that President Trump touched became the target of establishment vitriol. He appointed Acosta, so Acosta of course became the focus of Trump derangement syndrome, and as a result Acosta’s Epstein plea — dormant for 10 years — became the target of new scrutiny, feeding the narrative of monsters, appointing monsters, excusing monsters. It was a wonderful case to re-litigate to score political points. Often overlooked, is that despite Epstein’s alleged continuing sexual perversions, his 2019 indictment was based entirely on conduct that allegedly occurred between 2002 and 2005. And Maxwell’s 2020 indictment concerned conduct occurring only between 1994 and 1997 - more than 20 years prior to the indictment and an extraordinary passage of time for this type of case. Somewhat odd that recidivist sexual predators — especially ones with global profiles — engaged in no alleged illegal conduct for several decades.
Epstein and Maxwell are easy to demonize — and may actually be demons — but anybody caring about the politicization of our criminal justice system should be concerned that acrimonious Presidential politics led directly to jettisoning a prior plea deal, which led to new charges based on ancient evidence that had been in the public realm for decades. It is troubling that all available evidence suggests that if Hillary had won in 2016, or if Trump had appointed Eugene Scalia to Labor in the first place, Epstein and Maxwell would likely still be alive and free.
The prosecution of Maxwell and Epstein was a disturbing politicization of the criminal justice system. Epstein entered a plea regarding his conduct in 2008. That plea stood for 10 years, until incendiary presidential politics made it newly relevant. Everything that President Trump touched became the target of establishment vitriol. He appointed Acosta, so Acosta of course became the focus of Trump derangement syndrome, and as a result Acosta’s Epstein plea — dormant for 10 years — became the target of new scrutiny, feeding the narrative of monsters, appointing monsters, excusing monsters. It was a wonderful case to re-litigate to score political points. Often overlooked, is that despite Epstein’s alleged continuing sexual perversions, his 2019 indictment was based entirely on conduct that allegedly occurred between 2002 and 2005. And Maxwell’s 2020 indictment concerned conduct occurring only between 1994 and 1997 - more than 20 years prior to the indictment and an extraordinary passage of time for this type of case. Somewhat odd that recidivist sexual predators — especially ones with global profiles — engaged in no alleged illegal conduct for several decades.
Epstein and Maxwell are easy to demonize — and may actually be demons — but anybody caring about the politicization of our criminal justice system should be concerned that acrimonious Presidential politics led directly to jettisoning a prior plea deal, which led to new charges based on ancient evidence that had been in the public realm for decades. It is troubling that all available evidence suggests that if Hillary had won in 2016, or if Trump had appointed Eugene Scalia to Labor in the first place, Epstein and Maxwell would likely still be alive and free.