(Washington) The arrest of ex-Prince Andrew highlighted the stark contrast between Europe, where influential figures face accountability for their dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, and the United States, where repercussions have been limited.
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Only Ghislaine Maxwell, the former companion and accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested and convicted for her links with the sex criminal.
She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 of providing minors to the wealthy financier, who died in a New York prison cell in 2019 before his trial for sex trafficking.
Jeffrey Epstein cultivated a vast network of politicians, business leaders, academics and celebrities, who were accused of associating with him.
Several prominent American personalities, from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates, have seen their reputation tarnished by their friendship with the New Yorker, without suffering legal consequences.
PHOTO OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, PROVIDED BY ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Photos of former US President Bill Clinton, Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson and Ghislaine Maxwell.
And that shouldn’t change. “In July, the Department of Justice said that we had examined the Epstein file and that there was nothing that would allow us to prosecute anyone,” assured the number two of the department, Todd Blanche to CNN.
“We will leave it at that regarding what we have seen and published,” added the former personal lawyer of US President Donald Trump.
A justification which has not satisfied a large number of American legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, who accuse the Department of Justice of dragging its feet.
“Exceptions”
“The UK has officially done more to prosecute Epstein’s predators than our own government. This is shameful,” South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace wrote on X.
“A country that allows the powerful to escape justice is not a rule of law,” she added. It is a country of exceptions. And the exceptions always seem to apply to the same people. »
Another Republican lawmaker, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, welcomed the arrest of ex-Prince Andrew, but said he “needs justice in the United States.”
Arizona Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego blamed Donald Trump, a former friend of Jeffrey Epstein with whom he shared many social circles, for the lack of transparency around the affair in the United States.
“Countries all over the world are holding Epstein’s relatives accountable,” he wrote on
Donald Trump, who has never been accused of criminal acts in connection with the former financier, tried in vain to prevent the publication of the documents, arousing the incomprehension of many supporters of his “MAGA” movement.
Asked Thursday by journalists whether American relatives of Jeffrey Epstein “would end up handcuffed,” the Republican president reiterated that he had been personally “totally cleared.” He also described the arrest of ex-Prince Andrew as “very sad”.
Wave of resignations
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week, 53% of Americans surveyed say the Epstein affair has “reduced their confidence in the country’s political and economic leaders.”
According to the poll, 69% of respondents said the Epstein dossier shows that “influential people in the United States are rarely held accountable for their actions.”
If Ghislaine Maxwell was the only one to be prosecuted, several high-ranking Americans resigned, such as Larry Summers, Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton, and the billionaire Thomas Pritzker, director of the Hyatt hotel group.
Goldman Sachs’ chief legal officer, Kathryn Ruemmler, also left her post.
The mere mention of a person’s name in the Epstein file does not imply any a priori wrongdoing on the part of that person. But the documents made public at the very least show links between the sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein or his entourage and certain personalities who have often minimized, or even denied, the existence of such relationships.
