The recent release of Epstein files—though partial, not complete—is yet another illustration of how anti-elite populism is structuring American politics today. Few issues this year have generated as much interest and passion. What is the politics of the Epstein files all about? How far might it go?
Jeffrey Epstein, a deceased New York financier, was arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking minors in July 2019. Before he could be convicted, he died in his prison cell in August 2019. His death was officially certified as a suicide by hanging.
He had faced criminal charges earlier as well. In 2008, after a parent filed a complaint alleging that Epstein sexually abused their 14-year-old daughter, he was convicted of sex crimes. But through a “plea bargain”, which allows the defendant a lighter sentence for pleading guilty to a lesser charge instead of continuing a lengthy and expensive trial, he managed to serve only 13 months in jail. Upon his release, he returned to sex trafficking until his July 2019 arrest on federal charges and his subsequent death about a month later.
Why did Epstein become so central to politics? Why weren’t his conduct and crimes left entirely to the legal process?
The Epstein circle
The key political issue is the circle of elites associated with Epstein. To the populist “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement, which had unwaveringly supported US President Donald Trump’s rise to power, Epstein was an embodiment of the culture of impunity that the coastal elites enjoyed in politics and society, despite their moral turpitude and legal crimes.
During his presidential campaign in 2024, Trump had vowed to open up Epstein files in possession of America’s top law enforcement authorities—the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). However, a few months after taking charge of the office, Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi vacillated. In May 2025, she claimed that the files contain Epstein’s client list, but in July, the DOJ stated that there was no client list in the files.
It was argued that to make America great again, a series of urgent tasks, not Epstein files, required full concentration. These included an attack on the so-called deep state and a restructuring of government; reviving the economy, especially manufacturing through tariffs and a return to domestic investment; closing the southern border to end unwanted immigration from Latin America; and a substantial, if not full, withdrawal from the resource-consuming and self-defeating international involvement of the US, calling for a redirection of American foreign policy on selective issues and in selective theatres.
MAGA, the movement fueling the Republican Party today, was not persuaded. Tens of Epstein’s victims – out of several hundred, it seems – were mobilised by various organisations. MAGA wanted to catch the “corrupt Democratic elites” and their globally networked collaborators, based on the two coasts, especially New York and California, who had enriched themselves and lived a life of luxury, while Middle America was hollowed out. Epstein, they reasoned, could not have prospered without the patronage of the Democratic Party, which runs these states and especially America’s largest cities, such as New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
On their part, the Democrats were convinced that Epstein’s network would include Republicans, too, including Trump, who had said that he had socialised with Epstein but stopped after he was convicted. Democrats were not so sure. Given the logic of America’s adversarial politics, they found it in their interest to probe Trump’s links and thereby possibly weaken him.
In the end, a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation, which is rather inconceivable in these polarised times, emerged in the House of Representatives. Nearly unanimous legislation was passed requiring the US Department of Justice to release Epstein files within 30 days of enactment, by 19 December. Bowing to MAGA pressure, Trump signed the bill into law.
The emails and photographs released thus far have provided revealing insights into how power and wealth intersect in America, with perhaps more to emerge in the coming weeks. Epstein’s circle scaled the summits of politics, business, popular culture, journalism, and academia, and also touched British royalty.
It is important to underline what the claim above entails. It does not imply that these elites from different walks of life associated with Epstein necessarily participated in criminal activity, although some—for example, Ghislaine Maxwell, the now-convicted daughter of a deceased British media proprietor – certainly did.
The larger claim is that this elite circle befriended Epstein, received or sought his hospitality, solicited or accepted his financial contributions. In some cases, all of this appeared to have happened even after his 2008 conviction as a child sex offender. At the very least, a serious level of socialisation with, before or after his conviction, is beyond doubt.
Consider the galaxy of stars associated with Epstein. In politics, we have the 42nd US President, Bill Clinton, Trump and Steve Bannon, a leading MAGA figure. In business, we have Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men in the world, and Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn. In pop culture, we have Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, Woody Allen, and Kevin Spacey. In journalism, we have David Brook, a well-known New York Times columnist.
Also read: The Chomsky–Epstein link exposes a blind spot in intellectual hero worship
Dark academia
It is Epstein’s friends and associates in American universities that have attracted disproportionate attention in recent days. That has, in part, to do with how powerful America’s universities are and what status they enjoy in the country.
At two of the most prestigious academic institutions, Epstein cultivated influential figures. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he was associated with the internationally famous Media Lab; its director, Joi Ito, resigned in 2019 after the financial link was discovered.
This year, we also came to know about his association with Noam Chomsky, a legendary linguist who taught at MIT till 2002. In addition to his linguistics research, Chomsky is internationally famous for his left-wing critiques of American foreign policy.
But of all academic institutions, it is at Harvard, the richest and perhaps the most powerful academic institution in the world, that Epstein’s ties appear to have flourished most. He gave millions of dollars for research. He came close to former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, who also served as his lawyer in 2008.
Epstein’s friendship with former United States Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers has also stood out. Apart from being an internationally famous professor of economics for many years, Summers also served important roles, both at Harvard and in Washington. He was also President of Harvard University. After resigning from the latter position in 2006, he became a University Professor, the highest title Harvard gives to a faculty member.
Summers stayed in touch with Epstein even after his conviction, flying in Epstein’s private plane to visit him on his private island. He reportedly requested funds for his wife’s poetry project at Harvard and also sought Epstein’s advice on how to advance a romantic relationship with a former student, whose mentor he had been.
These revelations were so damaging that Summers had to withdraw from teaching at Harvard and also resign from highly lucrative corporate board positions.
But the larger question remains. In the US, the wealthy have often sought interaction with private universities – to support research and teaching or to seek intellectual respectability—not always with good intentions. America’s private universities cannot function without private funds. But why would so many academic stars, who can get resources from multiple other sources, be drawn to a convicted child sex offender? This is something only psychologists can fully answer. To those outside that field, however, it is a huge ethical lapse. Financial support may be sought for scholarly work, but one can’t ignore who is providing the support.
Overall, the Epstein episode has exposed the dark underbelly of America’s elite politics, business and society. More evidence is likely to be released in the next few weeks. It is not clear how far such materials would go and who might fall from grace as a result of revelations. Equally if not more important, whether MAGA would remain committed to uncovering elite corruption, if some of its own stars get tainted, also remains unclear.
Ashutosh Varshney is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Brown University. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)