Hours before Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address, the Epstein case detonated on multiple fronts — and the FiveStack brought Denver Riggleman and Lev Parnas along for a special prime time broadcast to cover it all live. NPR confirmed what Roger Sollenberger first reported on Substack: the Trump Justice Department has withheld or removed 53 pages of FBI interviews with women who accused Trump of sexually assaulting them as minors. One woman was interviewed by the FBI four times — credible enough for four separate sit-downs — and only the first interview, the one that doesn’t mention Trump, made it into the public database. A second woman described being taken to Mar-a-Lago as a minor, where Epstein introduced her to Trump and said, according to the FBI document, “This is a good one, huh.” That interview was removed from the database after publication and restored only after Sollenberger flagged it. “They basically covered up for the president of the United States,” Zev said. “And they have no interest in giving us the truth.”
Meanwhile, Ryan Goodman at Just Security documented a bombshell buried in the newly released files: five days after Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, the FBI directed NYPD’s Special Victims Unit to stand down on all Epstein investigations. The email in the files reads: “SVU has been directed to stand down and that all Epstein stuff needs to go to and through us.” By January 2020, an FBI agent wrote that after the order, “our assumption was obviously that they closed anything they had after his death.” New York was ground zero for Epstein’s crimes, and the FBI shut down the investigators best positioned to reach co-conspirators. “This is a pattern of shutting down parallel investigations,” Zev noted, pointing out that New Mexico’s investigation into Zorro Ranch was also closed in 2019 at the request of SDNY.
Congressman Thomas Massie went to the House floor and named three men from the Epstein files that the DOJ should investigate: Leon Black, the billionaire former CEO of Apollo Global Management; Jes Staley, the former head of JP Morgan’s investment bank; and Leslie Wexner, the founder of L Brands whom the FBI internally labeled a co-conspirator in 2019. “Those aren’t the first people that come to mind in terms of rape, although they are associated with rape,” Zev observed. “But those are the first people that come to mind when you come to think of financial crimes related to Jeffrey Epstein. Leon Black, very connected to Russia. Les Wexner, very connected to Israel. Jes Staley was Jeffrey Epstein’s best friend while he was in charge of the private wealth bank at JP Morgan, who funded this huge organization. And guess who else they funded? They funded this man who’s giving the speech right now.”
As Trump spoke, Epstein survivor Annie Farmer sat in the gallery as a guest of Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia. She had told CBS earlier in the day: “We’re not going away until the law is followed.” Her sister Maria Farmer, the first person to report Epstein and Maxwell to law enforcement in 1996, sent a statement read on air: “I’m so proud of my sister Annie for representing us both since I’m unable to fly. We are all deeply honored to be part of the awakening Virginia’s cause. Thanks to all whose minds are recognizing the significance of her sacrifices.” Dean drove the point home throughout the broadcast: “That man on our screen right now, the president of the United States, has been credibly accused of or settled 31 different rape and sexual assault suits. And as a man, I have a problem with that.”
The show closed with the hosts refusing to watch another minute. “I’d much rather listen to Annie Farmer than to Donald Trump,” Zev said. “This is the night for the survivors,” Dean said. This is a night for the people who have fought so hard to bring this man to justice.” Zev’s final message was direct: “Reply to everybody, everywhere — Jeffrey Epstein, Jeffrey Epstein, Jeffrey Epstein — because that is the only story here tonight.”
The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.
Thank you John Liccione, ESBC NFL And SportsBetting, Robin Payes, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, Elaine Cimino, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell and Lev Parnas! Join me for my next live video in the app.
