Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK government

What happened

Repercussions from the Justice Department’s recent dump of millions of Jeffrey Epstein files continue to mount outside the U.S., and on Wednesday they also prompted the ouster of Brad Karp as chair of Paul Weiss, one of America’s top corporate law firms. In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced challenges to his leadership from both his Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. last year. London’s Metropolitan Police earlier this week opened a criminal inquiry into files suggesting Mandelson accepted money from Epstein and passed him confidential financial information while serving as a government minister 15 years ago.

Who said what

Karp said he was stepping down as chair, though not leaving Paul Weiss, after “recent reporting” had “placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm.” In one newly released email, Karp asked Epstein to help get his son a job on a Woody Allen film. After a July 2015 dinner at Epstein’s New York mansion, Karp thanked his “extraordinary host” for “an evening I’ll never forget,” adding, “You’re amazing.” In 2019, Epstein asked Steve Bannon to help him secure Karp a membership at the exclusive Augusta National Golf Club.

Even before these “series of embarrassing emails” came out, Karp “faced intense scrutiny” for making Paul Weiss the first law firm to reach a deal with President Donald Trump to avoid sanctions, said The New York Times. The deal was “widely seen” as “capitulation” to extortive demands, and “criticism of his decision only grew” after the “handful of law firms” that challenged Trump’s executive order “easily prevailed in court.”

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What next?

Trump, who appears more than 6,000 times in the Epstein files, absolved himself on Tuesday and told reporters it was “time now for the country to maybe get on to something else.”