The discharge petition requiring 218 signatures to force these files to the floor sits close enough to that threshold that Speaker Mike Johnson can count the names in his sleep. He knows exactly how precarious his position has become, which explains why he’s still refusing to swear in Adelita Grijalva—one more member means one more potential signature, one more vote closer to ending his ability to control the calendar.
But understanding why these files generate such panic requires examining the network they document. A conversation with investigative journalist Vicky Ward, who first exposed Epstein in 2003, reveals an architecture spanning from Bear Stearns to JP Morgan, from Israeli intelligence to Silicon Valley, from British aristocracy to Saudi royalty. What’s in those files explains why Bondi, Patel, and Johnson are willing to risk obstruction charges to keep them buried.
Epstein Financial Network
Epstein’s 50th birthday book, compiled in January 2003, contains a reference suggesting he may have met Robert Maxwell and possibly Ghislaine in the 1970s when she was a teenager. Ward expressed skepticism about that early timeline, but confirmed that Robert Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, and Donald Trump all operated within the same Bear Stearns financial ecosystem.
Ace Greenberg ran the firm and maintained connections to Epstein that lasted decades. In 2003, as Ward investigated Epstein for Vanity Fair, Greenberg’s number two Jimmy Caine lobbied her hard, insisting Epstein was “a great guy” and “an important client.”
What my research for “The Greatest Heist” reveals: Epstein never really left Bear Stearns. He remained involved in offshore holdings including Liquid Funding, which held approximately $4.5 billion before the 2008 collapse which became a complicating factor for JP Morgan purchase of Bear Stearns.
Taxpayer money may have rescued an offshore vehicle run by a convicted sex offender.
’s New York Times investigation showed JP Morgan executives meeting with Epstein between 2014 and 2018, viewing him as essential access to Leon Black. Ward’s question cuts through: why would JP Morgan need a convicted sex offender as intermediary to one of America’s richest men?The answer isn’t financial expertise. It’s the intelligence network Epstein built over decades—and the compromising information he accumulated.
Epstein’s Used Politics, Power and Blackmail
Ari Ben-Menashe and Steven Hoffenberg claimed Epstein represented Israeli military intelligence in efforts to prevent Clinton from advancing Palestinian peace negotiations—blackmail operations targeting Democrats to blunt the peace process.
Ward discussed how Douglas Leese, a British arms dealer connected to the Al-Yamamah deal, mentored Epstein in the 1980s after he left Bear Stearns. This was Epstein’s “bounty hunter” period, operating between finance and intelligence. Ghislaine Maxwell, whose father Robert Maxwell had deep intelligence connections, would have understood these operations despite her claims of naivety.
The two paintings in Epstein’s townhouse—Bill Clinton in a blue dress, George W. Bush playing with World Trade Center dominoes—weren’t just provocative art. They were trophies. Could Monica Lewinsky have been an intelligence trap? It’s within established intelligence MO, and those paintings suggest Epstein believed he had leverage over presidents from both parties.
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