Trump, an indecent wish puts the Epstein case back in the spotlight

Many of the abuses allegedly took place inside Epstein's lavish residences, including his mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side (one of the largest mansions in the entire city), the so-called 'Little Saint James' - a private island in the Caribbean nicknamed 'the island of perversion' -, a residence in Palm Beach, a ranch in New Mexico and a penthouse in Paris.

Testimonies speak of lavish parties, where very young girls were presented to the most influential guests, in contexts that oscillated between ambiguity and obvious illegality. Some statements made at Maxwell's trial, or in subsequent documents, speak of 'massages' requested by Epstein from girls aged 14 and 15, of flights on private jets in the company of powerful people, of rooms equipped with hidden cameras to document the guests' behaviour - perhaps for future blackmail activities.

One of the most reputational compromised names is Prince Andrew, Duke of York, son of Queen Elizabeth II. Andrew was accused by Virginia Giuffre (née Roberts), one of Epstein's victims, of having sexual relations with her when she was a minor on at least three occasions, between London, New York and the island in the Caribbean. In one of these incidents, Giuffre recounted that Maxwell introduced her to the prince during an evening at Epstein's house. The 2001 photo of Andrea embracing Virginia, with Maxwell in the background, has become a symbol of this scandal. The prince has always denied any charges, but in 2022 he settled out of court for a sum never officially declared, but estimated at around £12 million.

The first charges against Epstein emerged in 2005 in Florida, where he was investigated for sexual exploitation of minors. Despite the overwhelming evidence, in 2008 Epstein signed a controversial 'plea deal' with prosecutor Alexander Acosta (Trump's future labour minister), obtaining a reduced sentence and the possibility of being released from prison six days out of seven for 'work-related reasons'. The deal also granted him immunity for any future crimes committed by him or his 'associates'.

In July 2019, Epstein is arrested in New York on new federal charges of sex trafficking of minors. A few weeks later, on 10 August, he is found hanged in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Cameras are found to be turned off or malfunctioning, guards were asleep or absent, and surveillance video is found to have been cut by at least three minutes during the time slot when Epstein allegedly died.

In July 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI publish an official memorandum: there is no credible 'client list', no evidence that Epstein blackmailed powerful people, and no indication of murder. At the same time, a full video (in 'raw' and 'enhanced' versions) from the Metropolitan Correctional Center cameras is released.

The footage shows Epstein in the hours before his death, but is missing a portion of about three minutes - exactly between 4:15 and 4:18 - in the blind area adjacent to the cell. Conspiracy theorists read a cover-up attempt there. The DOJ claims that the loss is due to a technical error, but the explanation is not convincing.

The expression 'Epstein didn't kill himself' became a viral slogan, especially among supporters of the MAGA movement. Commentators such as Dan Bongino, Kash Patel and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who were initially critical, began to align themselves with the official version after the release of the video. But this was not the case for everyone: a substantial part of the right-wing public still believes that Epstein was eliminated.

In 2025, the clash becomes explosive when Elon Musk, now distant from Trump, accuses the former president of a cover-up. In a long series of posts on X, Musk, cnfirms via the Grok AI - an artificial intelligence developed by him to analyse large amounts of data - that 'the government has flight logs and manifests with names and ages'.

In December 2021, Ghislaine Maxwell, then aged 59, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking of minors, marking the only significant and public sentence against the so-called 'Epstein network'. She is currently being held in the FMC Carswell Federal Women's Prison in Texas, a maximum security facility.

Despite the numerous allegations and testimonies that have emerged over the years, no other high-profile individuals - be they politicians, businessmen, diplomats or influential figures - have ever been formally charged or convicted in connection with the case.

This situation created a climate of strong suspicion and frustration in public opinion and among the victims, especially since no official 'client list', i.e. a documented and confirmed list of people involved in or attending Epstein's circle, was ever made public. The absence of public evidence against powerful figures has fuelled theories of cover-ups and cover-ups, keeping the debate and disquiet surrounding the affair alive.

Trump had promised during the 2024 campaign to release all the case files as a symbol of his crusade against the 'corrupt elite', but nothing was released. The vote in Congress to make the documents public was blocked by a few votes. Some Trumpian docs - from Thomas Massie to Matt Gaetz - called for an independent commission, but the GOP establishment put on the brakes.

Pam Bondi, a former Florida prosecutor close to Trump, said in a 2024 interview that 'the client list is on my desk', only to retract after the DOJ memo was published that no such list exists.

Despite videos, official memos and investigations, suspicion does not subside. The conspiracy culture survives, fuelled by the lack of retrials and the 'three lost minutes' that have become symbolic of an opacity that has never dissipated. With a new congressional committee on the horizon, the Epstein case remains open: a mystery that seems destined to endure. Perhaps because some truths are too inconvenient to be revealed.