‘Serious business': Author Michael Shellenberger pokes holes in Trump White House's claim there are no Epstein files

Sky News AU

17 hours ago

American author, journalist and endowed professor at the University of Austin, Michael Shellenberger, has poked holes in the Trump White House's claim there are no Epstein files, crediting the United States President's base for "demanding answers" after a joint investigation concluded the notorious sex predator was not murdered and did not blackmail anyone.
Jeffrey Epstein did not keep a "client list" and he was not murdered during his short-lived stay in a Manhattan lockup, the Justice Department and FBI reportedly concluded in a joint probe.
According to a memo, obtained by Axios, the FBI and the US Justice Department under President Donald Trump found no evidence to suggest Epstein had blackmailed powerful figures or kept a so-called "client list".
The memo states no further charges will be laid in connection with the Epstein case, apart from those already brought against the disgraced financier's former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and related offences.
As part of its findings, the Department of Justice also released hours of CCTV footage from Epstein's 2019 death in a Manhattan jail cell, concluding the disgraced financier died by suicide, despite the conspiracy theories which have swirled in the years since.
Mr Shellenberger said the White House's finding there were no Epstein files was at odds with the swathe of reporters and top officials who said there were 'truckloads full' and scores of videos.
'Epstein's victims have said that they were videotaping the sexual activity, the sexual abuse, the sex trafficking,' he told Sky News on Wednesday.
'Most people that have covered this, and by the way, it's left-wing, right-wing mainstream news media… (have said) that this was a sex blackmail operation with ties to the intelligence community.
'The former director of the Central Intelligence Agency was at Epstein's apartment multiple times that was reported by the Wall Street Journal. Bill Gates famously was there and his ex-wife told a reporter that it was a major reason for their divorce.'
Mr Shellenberger said the Epstein controversy was 'serious business', not only due to the sex trafficking, but because it led to the 'undermining of democracy' if politicians were being entrapped in sex blackmail operations.
The independent journalist said the US Attorney General, Director and Deputy Director of the FBI had said there was 'a lot here' in terms of an investigation into the Epstein scandal.
'Before Trump was elected, his director of the FBI, Kash Patel, said that there was a cover up occurring because of the people on the list,' he said.
Social media erupted in criticism for the Trump administration after it announced there was nothing new to see in the Epstein scandal, just weeks after X owner Elon Musk posted a pointed accusation at the US President, claiming he was named in the files.
'I will say, credit to Trump supporters. They have not taken what the Trump administration has said at face value. They're demanding answers,' Mr Shellenberger said.
'They've shown a lot of independence here, which I think is a positive sign for our democracy. It's sort of one of the side things that's come out of it.'
Mr Shellenberger said President Trump had a 'pretty well documented' relationship with Epstein. There were photos and videos of them together, and the US President has spoken on it.
'The best argument that there is nothing linking Trump to Epstein is that the people that tried to prevent Trump from becoming president tried to put them in prison… all in the so-called lawfare to prevent Trump from becoming president,' he said.
'If they had Trump tied to Epstein, I don't know why they wouldn't have used it.
'On the other hand, if there's a lot people implicated, maybe it's considered the nuclear option and there's just so many people implicated. I mean, again, the current FBI director last year said that there were people in Congress who were implicated by this.'
Mr Shellenberger said the Trump administration's update on the Epstein files had not coincided with other conspiracies being brought into the light, which was a major campaign promise from the US President.
' The reality is they just haven't delivered on this particular part of Trump's campaign promise, which was not just transparency, but also really reforming the intelligence community, which we haven't done for 50 years,' he said.