The US Department of Justice has inadvertently opened Pandora's Box, and while the public and politicians alike have been calling for the full release of the Epstein files, the media wasn't braced for just what would be found inside.
After lawmakers voted almost unanimously to release the full Epstein files, and President Donald Trump vowed to make good on the promise, it looked like we were finally going to get it all when it came to the shadowy life of the shamed financier and convicted sex trafficker.
Still, there was disappointment as hundreds of pages were little more than black blocks of redacted text, while other files seemed to mysteriously go missing. The DOJ has since restored one MIA photo that included Donald Trump, while other big names snapped alongside the late Epstein include the likes of Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, and Kevin Spacey.
A spokesperson for Clinton was critical of the government's handling and called for a full release amid claims the former president had nothing to hide. There's been a continued trickle of files as some have threatened Attorney General Pam Bondi with legal action for failing to comply, while it turns out that even the redacted parts of the files might not be as redacted as you'd think.
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As you might remember, with the bizarre obsession over photographs of Epstein Island, some of the seemingly more mundane aspects of his life can turn out to be the most fascinating. Notably, Epstein's Amazon order list has proved to be a major talking point, with plenty of chatter about some disturbing items in his basket.
The New York Post reports on some 1,006 Amazon receipts, ordered to residences from 2014 to 2019. In particular, alarm bells have been ringing over a 2018 order for four regulation girls’ school outfits that come from a uniform company called Cherokee.
The order included two types of full-body dresses, twill girls’ shorts, and a designer adjustable girls' pleated skirt from Tommy Hilfiger.
Elsewhere, Epstein's Amazon basket included a $61.50 Sonic prostate massager by Prostate Health Center, bottles of Vagifirm all-natural vaginal tightening pills that cost $64.95, a pair of Israel Defense Force combat pants, toys and clothes for toddlers, and four books by Vladimir Nabokov. Records show this included the pedophilia-themed Lolita.
Relational trauma psychologist Desiree Nazarian told the outlet that Epstein's list isn't random, but instead, shows a 'map of power'. Nazarian explained: "The presence of these child-coded items alongside these sexual tools is so clinically alarming."
Representing "predatory dynamics 101", she continued: "Everything on this list is really common in predatory profiles. It’s marked by coercion, entitlement, dominance and control of narrative.”
Epstein had something of an obsession with binoculars, apparently ordering nine pairs of binoculars to homes in West Palm Beach, Manhattan, and the infamous Little Saint James Island.
He liked to indulge his sweet tooth, with orders for "Drake’s Coffee Cakes, Ring Dings, Twinkies, Devils Dogs, Apples Pies, Chocolate Tootsie Pops, Baby Ruth’s, Chunky Bars, chocolate covered raisins, and Nilla Wafers."
There's the somewhat ironic purchase of an FBI costume, as well as a mock prisoner outfit that he bought just 10 months before his July 6, 2019, arrest.
Nazarian thinks even this was planned: "It’s all about eroticized hierarchy, the FBI costume, the tuxedo. It’s role play around dominance, punishment, impunity, it’s like this oscillation between being the authority and staging the persecution."
Epstein's Amazon orders also give a window into potential health issues thanks to a $599 CPAP machine, an accompanying mask ($20), and a travel bag. There were numerous health supplements, with a pharmacy of stuff, including phosphatidylserine that's used for brain and cognitive function, magnesium threonate for memory and cognitive health, and Hyperbiotics prebiotic powder that's supposed to support digestive health.
Rounding off everything, he ordered five copies of James Patterson's Filthy Rich: The Jeffrey Epstein Story that documented Epstein's own crimes.