How did Jeffrey Epstein manage to keep his alleged and confirmed sexual abuse of young women out of the press for so long? NPR's David Folkenflik took a look, and what he found ranged from the banal to the creepy and downright sinister. There were prominent lawyers threatening lawsuits, there was largesse — a New York Times reporter exited the paper after disclosing he had solicited a $30,000 donation from Epstein, a source and subject of his profiles, for a favorite nonprofit — but also, Folkenflik found, there were some more mafia-like tactics. Epstein died by suicide in jail this month.

When he was editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter assigned Vicky Ward to write a profile of Epstein in 2002; in the winter of 2003, Epstein was waiting alone for Carter in Vanity Fair's office, where he pleaded with and prodded Carter to leave out any mention of Epstein's interest in very young women, according to John Connolly, then a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. "He was torturing Graydon," Connolly told NPR. Soon after the unflattering profile was published — without on-the-record accounts of abuse of an underage girl — Carter found a bullet outside his door. He and Connolly considered it a warning from Epstein.

In 2006, when Connolly started digging around for an article on Epstein's relationships with young women in Florida, Carter found a severed cat's head at his front door, Connolly and other Vanity Fair alumni tell Folkenflik. "It was done to intimidate," Connolly said. "No question about it." Carter was freaked out. Connolly dropped the story.

In the second part of his report, Folkenflik delved into an on-camera interview Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre gave to ABC News, which didn't run after getting a warning phone call from Epstein lawyer and friend Alan Dershowitz. Listen below. Peter Weber

Corey Lewandowski didn't even wait until the end of his congressional testimony Tuesday before launching a website for his potential 2020 Senate bid.

President Trump's former campaign manager appeared before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday for its first official impeachment hearing, mostly declining to answers Democrats' questions. During a break at one point, Lewandowski tweeted a link to a brand new website promoting the campaign for Senate he has been publicly mulling. Although Lewandowski asks his followers to "sign up now," the website he links to highlights no clear place to do so, which sort of defeats the purpose of the plug.

On the website right now is just a picture of Trump and Lewandowski with Trump's quote that Lewandowski "would be fantastic" in the Senate, a quote Trump gave in an interview last month, although the president has not actually officially offered an endorsement. Lewandowski would be running in New Hampshire against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). Along with the website, the Super PAC Stand with Corey has also been filed with the Federal Election Commission.

As the hearing resumed, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) slammed Lewandowski by reminding him that "this is not a Republican primary campaign" but a congressional hearing and he should "act like you know the difference." Still, later in the hearing, Lewandowski dropped a reference to "maybe someday" being in "the upper chamber" of Congress. Brendan Morrow

Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez was arrested in Pittsburgh on felony charges of pornography and soliciting, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Tuesday.

The FDLE's investigation reportedly began in August after the department obtained information that Vazquez allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl in Lee County, Florida, and that the pitcher continued the relationship by texting with the minor, who is now 15-years-old.

The police affidavit, obtained by ESPN, says the girl's mother found texts, photographs, and a graphic video sent by Vazquez on her daughter's phone.

Vasquez has been placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball, although ESPN reports that the league will not launch an immediate investigation into the matter because it plans to use the police's findings in pursuing discipline for Vazquez. Frank Coonelly, the Pirates' president, said the franchise is taking the matter "extremely seriously," but no one involved in the organization can comment any further since it's an ongoing legal proceeding.

The news comes at the end of what turned out to be a nightmare season for the Pirates, who have been dealing with numerous locker issues, including a fight between Vazquez and fellow reliever Kyle Crick, which, in light of the severity of Vazquez's charges, now seems trivial. Read more at ESPN. Tim O'Donnell

Edward Snowden's book, Permanent Record, was only released Tuesday, but it's already causing trouble for the author.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit the same day against Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked classified information from the NSA in 2013. The lawsuit is centered on Snowden publishing the memoir without approval, which the Justice Department is alleging violates non-disclosure agreements Snowden signed with the government.

The point of the lawsuit, however, is not to prevent the the publication or the distribution of the book; the Justice Department just wants to make sure Snowden doesn't get paid for it. Therefore, the department is seeking the proceeds Snowden earns from the book's sales. "Intelligence information should protect our nation, not provide personal profit," G. Zachary Terwilliger, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement. "This lawsuit will ensure that Edward Snowden receives no monetary benefits from breaching the trust placed in him."

Permanent Record reportedly reveals new details about Snowden's decision to steal files from the NSA's collection of phone and internet metadata and release them to journalists. Read more at The Washington Post and NBC News. Tim O'Donnell

Corey Lewandowski came to Capitol Hill Tuesday to passionately defend President Trump while dodging congressional Democrats' questions, and Trump appears to be loving it.

Trump's former campaign manager testified Tuesday as part of the House Judiciary Committee's first official impeachment hearing, in his opening statement nostalgically recalling the president's decision to "ride down the golden escalator" in 2015. Lewandowski said it was an "honor and a privilege" to be a part of Trump's "historic campaign," even getting in a dig at Hillary Clinton with a reference to deleted emails and claiming there has been "harassment of this president from the day he won the election."

As the hearing proceeded, Lewandowski frustrated Democrats like Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) by dodging basic questions, such as whether he met with Trump in the White House in June 2017, by asking for specific citations and quotes from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report. The White House had directed Lewandowski to not provide information outside of the Mueller report, although Lewandowski was never actually a White House employee. At one point, Lewandowski asked Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) to repeat a question because "I didn't hear it. Just a rant."

Much of what Lewandowski said sure seemed to be directed at Trump himself, who was indeed watching and tweeted his approval for the "beautiful" opening statement, which he subsequently posted a video of. Lewandowski is currently mulling a 2020 Senate run, which he used a pre-hearing tweet to plug Tuesday morning. Trump previously expressed his support for the potential campaign, saying Lewandowski is "terrific on television." Brendan Morrow

Bing Dwen Dwen is here, and he's surprisingly not frozen to death.

On Tuesday, Beijing unveiled its mascot for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Bing Dwen Dwen is a uncharacteristically round panda who, despite being encased in a transparent ice suit, can somehow move well enough to be expert at every winter Olympic sport out there.

Bing Dwen Dwen comes with a superhero-esque backstory, told through a wordless animated video. After plunging through a mysterious glowing orb that came from space, Bing Dwen Dwen emerges in his ice suit with the ability to fly, soars through some winter Olympic events, and shoots off into the galaxy to deliver what's presumably world peace to an astronaut.

Bing Dwen Dwen's introduction comes as the objectively boring mascots Miraitowa and Someity gear up for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Bing Dwen Dwen is undoubtedly an improvement, but no matter how bright his eyes sparkle, he only wishes he could be as adorable as PyeongChang 2018's mascot Soohorang. Kathryn Krawczyk

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio could really use one of those "special moments" in his 2020 campaign right about now.

The Democratic presidential candidate, who recently insisted that "an hour from now, one of those special moments could happen" that turns his entire campaign around, in a new Siena College poll released Tuesday earned zero percent support in New York City. He also did not crack 1 percent support across New York state in the poll, in which former Vice President Joe Biden leads.

This poll found de Blasio has a 58 percent unfavorable rating in New York City compared to 33 percent who say they have a favorable view of him.

De Blasio hasn't been faring much better nationally, with most polls showing him at either 0 percent or 1 percent. Qualifying for the next Democratic presidential debate requires a candidate to reach 2 percent in four qualifying polls, and so the New York City mayor is on pace to miss two debates in a row. Should that happen, de Blasio indicated earlier this month it would be "tough to conceive" of continuing the race.

Siena College's poll was conducted by speaking to 798 registered voters, including 359 registered Democrats, in New York state from Sept. 8 to Sept. 12. The margin of error among the sample of registered Democrats is 6.1 percentage points. Read the full results at Siena College. Brendan Morrow