There was another Epstein files dump on Friday, which is good because this definitely should not fall out of the headlines and be memory-holed forever. With each document drop, it gets worse and worse, and we are not even halfway through. My thought was to point out some things that I have seen and think should get more attention.

For starters, there is one of the most disturbing documents in the entire drop, where Epstein tells someone that he “loved the torture vide0.” Yes, it is real.

Let’s find out who the redacted person is. Perhaps an enterprising reporter can gather something from the timelines and travel mentioned in that email.

Next, as someone who works in academia, Penn State to be precise, the number of academic leaders in the files, given the whole Sandusky thing, was rather concerning to me. This interview in The New York Times with Bard College President Leon Botstein made me wonder. 

In defending his pursuit of Mr. Epstein and candidly describing the burden of raising money, Dr. Botstein gave insight into how the need to attract dollars can appear to run headlong into an academic institution’s stated values.

Mr. Epstein gave prolifically to many charities and universities, including Harvard and M.I.T., and the Wall Street Journal report showed that his network of contacts was wider than had been thought, including prominent figures like the linguist Noam Chomsky and Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury secretary and president of Harvard. Dr. Summers sought money for a poetry foundation, led by his wife, Elisa New, a Harvard literature professor. Mr. Summers declined to comment.

“Would we accept money from Jeffrey Epstein today? No,” Dr. Botstein said, describing the former donor as a “monster” and “truly evil man.” “We had no idea, the public record had no indication, that he was anything more than an ordinary — if you could say such a thing — sex offender who had been convicted and went to jail.”

As with everything else in the Trump era, any “what are we expected to do” excuse made by elites is actually a point of reform. Perhaps our Brightest Minds in Academia and Government should come up with a better funding plan for something as important as higher education that does not involve having to deal with extremely shady characters.

That leads us to the many connections the Warriors Against Woke seemed to have with Epstein. Here’s a good one to transition with, given his links to Trump’s battle against higher education.

This is the U Penn donor who helped push the President out, pushed to eliminate arts & science offerings, and drafted Trumps "compact" with universities.People like Rowan repeatedly claimed the moral high ground to impose their agenda on students and faculty.

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn.bsky.social) 2026-02-01T20:53:06.925Z

Speaking of which, Worst Democrat Larry Summers is once again in the Epstein files, and once again complaining about the left with his buddy Jeffrey:

Larry Summers complaining to Epstein that his kids admire Bernie Sanders too much

— Jake Grumbach (@jakemgrumbach.bsky.social) 2026-02-01T17:54:11.233Z

The links to the worst impulses of Reactinary Centrists to Epstein are a non-stop flow:

btw the civility panic a few years ago was about precisely this: the ability to have polite conversations about how black people are racially inferior in public without criticism or backlash bsky.app/profile/hann…

— Adam Serwer (@adamserwer.bsky.social) 2026-01-31T12:33:13.468Z

The claims that these people connected to Epstein didn’t really know who Epstein was, a pedophile preying on countless girls, fall flat, given the timing. His first arrest occurred in 2008, following a 2005 investigation into allegations that he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl. He ultimately pleaded guilty to soliciting a prostitute and procuring a child for prostitution, resulting in a 13-month jail sentence with extensive work release. So, there is actually more evidence that they kept in contact with him because they shared many of the same awful ideas. 

And Epstein was an explicit eugenicist! Even in the (unlikely) scenario that the academics writing him chummy emails didn't know about the pedophilia charges, they were seeking funding because they thought their work aligned with his interests, which were monstrous.

— Michael Hobbes (@michaelhobbes.bsky.social) 2026-02-01T02:14:44.729Z

So, a lot of the worst thinkers in our society were involved with Epstein. But hey, at least there’s no Bari Weiss connection, right? That would be ridiculous.

We regret to inform you…

2. Let's lay out the connections. Weiss' partner and ideological collaborator Nelli Bowles was on very familiar terms with Epstein.

— Jeet Heer (@jeetheer.bsky.social) 2026-01-31T20:36:22.699Z

Okay, so you might be tempted to think, hey, maybe all those QAnon weirdos had a point! Well, it happens to be a little bit more complicated than that.

Every accusation is a confession.

— LisaLisa (@lisalisa42.bsky.social) 2026-02-02T05:45:36.242Z

This timeline often demonstrates new ways of being the absolute worst. This is one example of it. So the guy who created the hellsite that launched the QAnon pedophile conspiracy was himself a friend of Epstein. Good Lord.

Countless young women have had their lives ruined, and a lot of people either participated or looked the other way. We shouldn’t look away now. Justice must prevail, no matter how many powerful people go down.

The last word goes to Joe Jackson.