Is Jeffrey Epstein a blackmailer?
Back in 2015, a woman named Virginia Roberts alleged that U.S. authorities had footage of her having underage sex with powerful friends of billionaire Epstein, who was charged by federal prosecutors on Monday with sex trafficking, including trafficking minors. Roberts said Epstein "debriefed her" after she had sex with these "associates" so that he would possess "intimate and potentially embarrassing information" that could be used for blackmail. Epstein's allies dismissed Roberts as "a liar and a fantasist."
But after Epstein was arrested on Saturday, a law enforcement search of his Upper East Side apartment reportedly revealed compact discs in a locked safe labeled "Young [Name] + [Name]," which, as The Intercept's Ryan Grim points out, could buttress Roberts' allegations.
Famous men connected to Epstein include President Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Britain's Prince Andrew, with whom Roberts claims she was forced to have sex. The royal family "vehemently denied" the allegation to The Guardian back in 2015.