The Epstein files do more than revisit the crimes of a disgraced billionaire sex offender; they lay bare a web of power, money, and relationships among the Western elite centered on Jeffrey Epstein.

After Virginia Giuffre publicly accused Epstein of abuse and sex trafficking—drawing intense media and public scrutiny—Epstein reportedly reached out to Noam Chomsky, a prominent political thinker and former professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, seeking advice on how to handle the backlash.

“Stay silent,” Chomsky texted in February 2019. “The vultures want a public response, which would open the door to a sustained attack.”
The message, revealed in newly released U.S. Department of Justice records, suggested sympathy toward Epstein. Chomsky was not alone.

Months after Epstein’s 2006 arrest by Palm Beach police on allegations of unlawful sexual conduct with minors, New York attorney Stanley Pottinger—a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights—emailed Epstein to express support. In a September 2006 message, Pottinger criticized what he called police overreach and wrote that “small-minded people often resent those who dare to think and act—especially when they succeed,” adding that the controversy would pass and that he hoped to someday hear the “humorous side” of the episode.

In 2008, a Florida court convicted Epstein on prostitution-related charges. A plea deal spared him a potential life sentence, resulting instead in a 13-month jail term and financial compensation to victims.

Five months after receiving Chomsky’s advice to keep quiet, Epstein was arrested again. In August 2019, he died by suicide in a New York jail while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking minors. More than five years later, millions of pages detailing his conduct and connections have finally been made public.

Of particular interest among the roughly three million pages—along with photos and videos—released by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 31 are references to prominent politicians, members of royal families, and wealthy business figures.

“It’s not ordinary people—elites are far more deeply entangled in these stories,” said Alex Lo, an analyst with the South China Morning Post.

On Epstein’s sprawling private estate on Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a blue-and-white seaside compound stood as one of the locations where young victims—mostly girls—were allegedly brought to powerful and wealthy men, according to the files.