Since the last DOJ release of materials under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, many celebrities has been engaged in a newly popular parlor game that could only be called, “Six Degrees of Separation from Jeffrey Epstein.” Largely due to the number of irrelevant newspaper and magazine articles included in the January 30 dump, individuals who did nothing more than mention Epstein by name or irritated legitimate persons of interest including Donald Trump are now infamous. One example is Stephanie Miller, Progress SiriusXM radio host and the daughter of the late William Miller, Barry Goldwater’s 1964 running mate. Expecting she would come up with zero hits, Miller searched her name on the DOJ website only to find a review of a live performance in Madison, Wisconsin, a stop on “The Sexy Liberal Tour” she hosts with other progressive radio personalities and pundits. That newspaper review, which contained a single reference to Epstein, now shares space with the notorious predator’s now famous birthday card from Trump.
Even more ridiculous is the appearance of Marilyn Monroe’s name on Pam Bondi’s list of originally redacted names. Monroe died on August 4, 1962, which means Epstein was nine-years-old at the time of her death. Surely, in what would have been the most outrageous case of what-aboutism, DOJ did not have evidence Norma Jean was a pedophile who took advantage of a pre-pubescent Epstein. One then needs to ask, “What was the purpose of opening this floodgate of irrelevancy?” Was it simply to wear down Congressional investigators and amateur sleuths before they came upon more consequential material? Fortunately, Pam Bondi, et. al., underestimated the staying power of those willing to go the extra mile to ensure Epstein’s victims get the truth and, hopefully, their day in court.
I think it is fair to say, any individual whose name appears in the files can claim to be one degree of separation from Jeffrey Epstein. CNN legal analyst and former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York Elie Honig suggested, “It’s a wonder Bondi didn’t include Thomas Jefferson. After all, he too is ‘named’ in Epstein files dozens of times (by people referencing his constitutional and political writings, of course).” And I confess. I too searched my own name just in case my August 21, 2016 Deprogramming101 post “How to Build a Conspiracy,” in which I referenced a civil suit in which a then 13-year-old girl claimed she had attended a underage sex party at Epstein’s NYC townhouse, made the cut. No luck or all luck, depending on your perspective.
Was this new parlor game only for those mentioned in the files? What about the rest of us? Fear not, even without any mention in the publicly available three million documents, I find I have not one, but three ways in which I have less than six degrees of separation with Epstein, as follow:
Four Degrees of Separation/J.T. Thompkins, a friend and former partner at “ImagineIt Today,” a business I co-founded and ran for six years, introduced me to Mike Jaffee, a friend of his who had worked at Cantor-Fitzgerald. Mike left Cantor-Fitzgerald after 9/11 and built a consulting firm around value-based leadership. On a couple of occasions, Mike and I combined content from our two training programs to better serve our respective clients. During the time he was employed at Cantor-Fitzgerald, now Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick was chairman of the board and managing partner. I need not waste your time with details of the direct link between Lutnick and Epstein. To summarize this path of widest separation: Thompkins-Jaffee-Lutnick-Epstein.
Three Degrees of Separation/During my tenure as a policy director at the National Governors Association, one project for which I was lead staff was the National Rural Development Partnership, a joint effort by NGA and the George H. W. Bush administration. My contact in the New Mexico governor’s office was Anita Hisenberg, director of state planning. During a visit to Santa Fe, Anita introduced me to Governor Bruce King. Per my previous blog entry, “F*** the Epstein Files,” then Governor King owned Zorro Ranch, the 7,560 acre property he sold to Epstein in 1993. This shorter path: Hisenberg-King-Epstein.
One Degree of Separation/Much to my dismay, Jeffrey Epstein and I share the same birthday, January 20. Fortunately there were many less notorious folks with whom to celebrate the occasion including the late George Burns, Rainn Wilson, and Joan River’s daughter Melissa. For the record, I was not hurt that the Donald did not send me a birthday card last month. (I did not send him a card on his birthday either.)
POSTSCRIPT: I hope you enjoyed this foolishness as a respite from the more serious issues ahead. Feel free to share your own “six degrees of separation from Jeffrey Epstein” in the comment section. But, of course. redact any self-incriminating information since no one in the Trump administration seems to understand the meaning of “satire.”
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP