Clinton! Epstein! Dubya! Ken Starr! Neocons! War!!

(Note: This is a long post; apologies. The bombshell material comes toward the end. Skim the rest if you must, but please read the part about the Mega Group.)

I have to confess that I didn't pay any real attention to the tale of Jeffrey "kidfucker" Epstein until yesterday. (See post below.) Even though the story has been roiling around the tabloids for a few years now, I wasn't interested. It all seemed so...so tabloid-y.

Most of the headlines focused on Prince Andrew, and I just don't give a damn one way the other about the royal family. Many of you probably think I should, but I don't.

The accusation against Alan Dershowitz forced me to pay attention. In recent times, Dershowitz has made himself so unlovable that schadenfreude became inevitable.

Clinton. Perhaps the most important figure in this escapade is Bill Clinton. So far, no-one has made a specific charge against him. Jane Doe #3 -- a.k.a. Virginia Roberts -- has not made any comments that can be interpreted as a specific accusation against Clinton. (At least, I saw none in the lawsuit.)

And yet...

And yet, even if he committed no criminal acts himself, Clinton certainly seems to have been far too chummy with this creepy guy.

Flight logs pinpoint Clinton's trips on Epstein's jet between the years 2002 and 2005, while he was working on his philanthropic post-presidential career and while his wife Hillary was a Senator for their adopted state of New York.

'I remember asking Jeffrey what's Bill Clinton doing here kind fo thing, and he laughed it off and said well he owes me a favor,' one unidentified woman said in the lawsuit, which was filed in Palm Beach Circuit Court.

The woman went on to say how orgies were a regular occurrence and she recalled two young girls from New York who were always seen around the five-house compound but their personal backstories were never revealed.

Clinton did cut ties when Epstein got into trouble with the law.

The lawsuit claims that Clinton was friends with an unnamed woman who 'kept images of naked underage children on her computer, helped to recruit underage children for Epstein... and photographed underage females in sexually explicit poses'.

While he cut off ties with Epstein, this woman's abuses apparently did not end their relationship as she was reportedly one of the 400 guests at Chelsea Clinton's 2010 wedding.

Hm. Why is this Daily Mail account so reticent to name this woman? Obviously, we are talking about Ghislaine Maxwell. She was Epstein's "helpmeet" and confidante, and she was at Chelsea's wedding.

Ghislaine was Robert Maxwell's favorite daughter. A 2007 Daily Mail story proclaims that Ghislaine is "just like her daddy."

Her daddy was a Mossad agent.

More on that in a bit. Much more.

Hey, Matt: Why no headline? The Drudge Report's coverage of this story has been revealing. Drudge gave the scandal prominent mention -- making sure to work in Clinton's name -- but did not headline the story. Neither did he mention Dershowitz. It is pretty clear that the right does not yet have a game plan: They haven't figured out a way to use this story against certain people while protecting certain other people.

The Warren retort. This scandal may also shed light on a mini-controversy that erupted in the middle of last month, when we saw a spate of stories asking why Elizabeth Warren would not absolutely, positively rule out a run for the presidency. Remember?

So, she isn't running for president. Right now. As of today. Present tense.

Yes, I am parsing Warren's words like crazy. But, also yes, Warren absolutely knew that Inskeep would ask her about running for president and had an answer -- or answers -- ready. And when given the opportunity to definitely rule out running for president -- past, present or future -- Warren didn't do it. That's on purpose. (Remember that Warren's Senate chief of staff is Mindy Myers, a very successful -- and very underrated -- campaign manager who knows the political world as well as anyone.)

Now, Warren's unwillingness to make a Sherman-esque declaration does not mean she is secretly plotting a presidential bid in 2016.

Maybe Mindy has been following the Epstein story. Maybe Warren's people have been readying themselves for the day when this scandal drives Hillary from the race.

The GOP is part of this. Big time. One of my readers has wondered why this scandal impacts only Democrats. Actually, there's a Bush connection that few have noticed:

Authorities in the United States apparently tried to protect the prince from scandal back in 2008, by giving Epstein a sweetheart plea deal according to a second report, in the Sunday Times of London.

“Please do whatever you can to keep this from becoming public,” a former senior counsel to then-President George W. Bush wrote in an e-mail to the US Attorney prosecuting Epstein.

Ooh. Just who is that senior counsel, and why does the New York Post refuse to divulge the name?

Here it is...

According to official documents, Epstein’s attorney Jay Lefkowitz – a former deputy director of domestic policy at the White House under George W Bush – sent a one-line email to the US Attorney’s Office on September 24, 2007: ‘Please do whatever you can to keep this from becoming public’.

On November 29, 2007, Lefkowitz called for more secrecy in a letter to the Florida state attorney: ‘We don’t understand the basis for your Office’s belief that it is appropriate for any letter to be sent to these individuals at this stage – before Mr Epstein has either entered a plea or been sentenced.’

Lefkowitz disputed the suggestion that the victims had the right to be heard at any plea or sentencing, adding: ‘Encouraging these individuals to participate in the state sentencing will have the effect of creating a media frenzy that will surely impact the sentence Mr Epstein received – precisely what your Office promised to avoid.’

That is a huge scandal right there. Dig it: President Bush's domestic policy-maker was telling a judge to make sure that a massively wealthy serial rapist of underaged women received a lenient sentence. Bush's counselor wanted to make sure that the victims remained legally voiceless.

There's more:

Critics claim the deal was a scandalous cover-up – supported by the political establishment – to protect Epstein and his influential circle of friends. R Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney for Southern Florida, who signed off on the non-prosecution agreement, has told of the aggressive tactics employed.

In an open letter on the case four years ago, Mr Acosta said Epstein had ‘hired an army legal superstars’, citing Lefkowitz and Kenneth Starr – lead prosecutor against President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He added: ‘The defence strategy was not limited to legal issues. Defence counsel investigated individual prosecutors and their families, looking for personal peccadilloes that might provide a basis for disqualification. Defence counsel tried to disqualify at least two prosecutors.’

Mr Acosta said that ‘some may feel that the prosecution should have been tougher, adding: ‘Evidence that has come to light since 2007 may encourage that view. Many victims have since spoken out, filing detailed statements in civil cases seeking damages. Physical evidence has since been discovered. Had these additional statements and evidence been known, the outcome may have been different.’

Epstein’s treatment during his year in prison, where he is reported to have had an easy ride, ‘undermined the purpose of a jail sentence’ and may ‘encourage the view’ that prosecutors should have been ‘tougher’ with him, Mr Acosta said.

That's right. Epstein's legal team included Ken Starr, who fought in the trenches alongside Alan Dershowitz, all to keep Kidfucker Epstein from facing the kind of jail time that a poorer man would have been forced to endure.

Epstein, the enigma. Here's another mystery: How did Kidfucker Epstein make his money?

Epstein breaks the mold. Most everyone on the Street has heard of him, but nobody seems to know what the hell he is up to. Which is just the way he likes it.

"My belief is that Jeff maintains some sort of money-management firm, though you won't get a straight answer from him," says one well-known investor. "He once told me he had 300 people working for him, and I've also heard that he manages Rockefeller money. But one never knows. It's like looking at the Wizard of Oz -- there may be less there than meets the eye."

Says another prominent Wall Streeter: "He is this mysterious, Gatsbyesque figure. He likes people to think that he is very rich, and he cultivates this air of aloofness. The whole thing is weird."

Before Clinton, Epstein's rare appearances in the gossip columns tended to be speculation as to the true nature of his relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell. While they are still friends, the English tabloids have postulated that Maxwell has longed for a more permanent pairing and that for undetermined reasons Epstein has not reciprocated in kind. "It's a mysterious relationship that they have," says society journalist David Patrick Columbia. "In one way, they are soul mates, yet they are hardly companions anymore. It's a nice conventional relationship, where they serve each other's purposes."

Sounds spooky to me. Remember this equation: Maxwell = Mossad.

The Mega Group. Back in 2003, when the Iraq war was Topic 1 on everyone's mind, Bob Fitrakis revealed that Epstein was the protegee of a strange individual named Leslie Wexner. And therein lies one hell of a tale.

I hope Fitrakis won't mind if this blog reprints his work. In light of current of events, his 2003 piece now has a weight it could not have carried when first published. In fact, this stuff is downright mind-boggling:

We can only imagine Limited founder and apparel magnate Leslie Wexner’s consternation over the leaking of a document entitled, Wexner Analysis: Israeli Communication Priorities 2003. The report was prepared for the Wexner Foundation and provides insight into Wexner’s relationship with the state of Israel. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted, Wexner keeps his personal life “under padlock.” But what has surfaced over the years simply adds to his mystery. In the Shapiro murder file, personally ordered destroyed by Columbus Chief of Police James Jackson, Wexner is listed as an alleged organized crime associate. A December 1995 Architectural Digest article and a follow-up 1996 New York Times report detailed the inner sanctum of Wexner’s former Manhattan townhouse, one of the largest in the city.

“Visitors described a bathroom reminiscent of James Bond movies: hidden beneath a stairway, lined with lead to provide shelter from attack and supplied with closed-circuit television screens and a telephone, both concealed in a cabinet beneath the sink,” wrote the Times. The townhouse is now reportedly owned by Wexner’s even more mysterious protégé, Jeffrey E. Epstein.

Epstein, who recently loaned his jet to President Clinton, is usually seen in the company of Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of deceased publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell. After Maxwell fell or was pushed off his yacht in 1991, it was revealed that he was working for the Israeli government and the Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence service. While Maxwell’s ties to the Mossad are well-documented, Epstein’s connections are less well known. The London Sunday Times quoted a New York social observer describing Epstein as follows: “He’s Mr. Enigmatic. Nobody knows whether he’s a concert pianist, property developer, a CIA agent, a math teacher or a member of Mossad.” New York Magazine claims Epstein is the man who moves Wexner’s billions around the globe.

Wexner’s philanthropic side is more public. In 1998, the Wall Street Journal reported that Wexner was part of the “‘Mega Group,’ a loosely organized club of 20 of the nation’s wealthiest and most influential Jewish businessmen.” The Mega Group meets purportedly to discuss “philanthropy,” but others have speculated that their charitable interests are often a cover for lobbying activities on behalf of Israel. The Wall Street Journal identified Max Fisher, a Detroit financier and billionaire, as a member of the Mega Group. Fisher was used as a private Middle East diplomat by President Gerald Ford during the 1970s and is considered Wexner’s mentor.

So, when the Wexner Analysis report was leaked, it caused a stir but no questioning of Wexner’s little-explored relationships with Epstein and Fisher. Frank Lutz, the Republican Party pollster and spin doctor, prepared the Wexner Analysis. Lutz’s report essentially outlines a political PR campaign “as the post-war dust settles over the Iraqi desert.”

The Wexner Analysis points out that “. . . many sympathize with the plight of the Palestinian people, [but] there is no love lost for Yassir Arafat.” The report complains that, “the emergence of Mahmoud Abbas as the new Palestinian Prime Minister comes exactly at the wrong time.”

Why? “His ascent to power seems legitimate. He is a fresh face, and a clean-shaven one at that. He speaks well and dresses in Western garb,” the report states. Lutz’s assessment is that “the Palestinians throw us this curve ball.”

Still, the Wexner Analysis emphasizes that “now is the time to link American success in dealing with terrorism and dictators from a position of strength to Israel’s ongoing efforts to eradicate terrorism on and within its borders.”

Lutz, realizing the value of an Arab bogeymen, stresses that “‘Saddam Hussein’ are the two words that tie Israel to America and are most likely to deliver support in Congress. The day we allow Saddam to take his eventual place in the trash heap of history is the day we lose our strongest weapon in the linguistic defense of Israel.

In the “Essential Conclusion” section of the report, Lutz offers 10 recommendations. The first is: “Iraq colors all. Saddam is your best defense, even if he is dead. For a year – a SOLID YEAR – you should be invoking the name of Saddam Hussein and how Israel was always behind American efforts to rid the world of this ruthless dictator and liberate their people.”

Now, as the occupation of Iraq begins to look like the dreaded quagmire, and American troops are dying at the rate of almost one a day, more scrutiny should come to the role of those who pushed for the attack on Iraq, since Saddam Hussein neither had links to Al Qaeda nor posed a threat to the United States.

The Project for the New American Century, the major ideological force behind the illegal attack on Iraq, are generally more concerned with Hussein’s threat to Israel than to the United States. Recent reports that Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, advised President Bush to include the bogus reference to uranium from Niger in the State of the Union address demonstrates a much bigger problem.

Lobbying groups like the Mega Group and government insiders like Wolfowitz and Richard Pearle are engaged in a systematic campaign to identify Israeli national security interests with U.S. military and security interests. The Wexner Analysis merely documents this extensive, often covert campaign, that deserves public debate and democratic discourse, not secret PR campaigns.

Folks, what we are seeing may be The Ultimate Neocon Scandal. Why are so many Dems so hawkish, in defiance of the wishes of the Democratic rank and file? We may now have an answer.