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NJCher

(40,724 posts)
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 10:15 AM Friday

Oregon Senator uncovers Epstein financial records

as Trump calls case a ‘hoax’

snip

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is pushing back hard after President Donald Trump dismissed renewed interest in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes as a “hoax” and a “scam.”

The Oregon Democrat revealed Thursday that a detailed Treasury Department file shows Epstein moved nearly $1.1 billion through just one of his bank accounts, including thousands of wire transfers possibly tied to sex trafficking.

snip

He said investigators found links between Epstein and sanctioned Russian banks, and payments tied to women and girls from countries like Russia, Belarus, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.

“These are not conspiracy theories,” Wyden said. “These are real leads pointing to an international sex trafficking operation.”

snip

Note: these records are not in what is called "the Epstein files." Wyden is referring to a U.S. Treasury Dept. file.

Not much more at link (very short story), but a follow the money remark, which might find a cnx to trump?
58 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Oregon Senator uncovers Epstein financial records (Original Post) NJCher Friday OP
I'd like to know why Maxwell & Epstein were tried & convicted & men weren't? SheltieLover Friday #1
Epstein never had a trial; he was unalived before that could happen. I wonder why. OMGWTF Friday #19
This message was self-deleted by its author Dave says Friday #20
He was tried with regard to one girl early 2000s. A deal was cut and he walked. Dave says Friday #21
And that's a whole other major scandal. yardwork Friday #24
Yup Dave says Friday #26
Do he continued his illegal activities... SheltieLover Friday #31
Dave says............ Upthevibe Friday #48
Still, he should've had a lot of company in prison awaiting trial SheltieLover Friday #30
Maybe 1,000 (seems like a reasonable number) very wealthy men wanted him dead wolfie001 Friday #36
Robert Parry UpInArms Friday #2
You reminded me of the website he founded ... cliffside Friday #4
This message was self-deleted by its author MrWowWow Friday #43
Parry broke the story in 1985 UpInArms Friday #47
Sheldon Whitehouse, who knows Wyden's work, revealed that yesterday on Lawrence. Whitehouse says that 'following the ancianita Friday #3
It's always been my belief that the reason AG Garland took so long to appoint a SC was because once he reviewed the in2herbs Friday #5
Even the possibility that the stolen documents are a minor part of a conspiracy.., harumph Friday #9
It is more probable kiri Friday #18
kiri ............. Upthevibe Friday #49
John Kerry was investigating an international criminal syndicate. yardwork Friday #25
Well yeah...... that Swift Boat bullshit did the trick. groundloop Friday #38
So did changing the votes in Ohio. yardwork Friday #39
Remember DENVERPOPS Friday #44
Makes a lot of sense to me. Joinfortmill Friday #27
So let's hear from all the AG's (state and Fed) involved at every step. Transparency y'know... Evolve Dammit Friday #40
And, why wasn't all of this brought to light during Biden's 4 years? Escape Friday #6
Yet another simple answer.... reACTIONary Friday #41
Escape........ Upthevibe Friday #50
Pam Bondi has released the Jeffrey Epstein list! Ray Bruns Friday #7
Oh, damn, the plot thickens. republianmushroom Friday #8
Why is it never enough? Marthe48 Friday #13
Follow the money! peggysue2 Friday #10
Blackmail money? High class brothels seem to always have been used for blackmail. LiberalArkie Friday #11
Elon??? JCMach1 Friday #12
Sorry Ron. progressoid Friday #14
He's NO damned "Dear Leader" to me! calimary Friday #15
I would pay to watch that fugly mop sheared off. 3catwoman3 Saturday #53
At least Romney had some dignity. calimary Saturday #57
so much , i cant even find any verbs to describe what is going on with out AllaN01Bear Friday #16
Russia and republicons - not a hoax. A treasonous ripoff of America BoRaGard Friday #17
TickTock Joinfortmill Friday #22
"Follow the money" - ALWAYS high priority in any legit investigation. snot Friday #23
I believe the townhouse was a gift.. Hope22 Friday #33
International sex trafficking based in Russia and Eastern Europe. yardwork Friday #28
It was for the likes of Trump and Epstein that bitcoin and others were invented usonian Friday #29
JP Morgan Bank settled a lawsuit re: Epstein's operation with the US Virgin Islands... AntiFascist Friday #32
This is how the filthy-rich get rich off the poor. Farmer-Rick Friday #34
The Soviet Union had amassed enormous wealth prior to its breakup, probably due to its oil and other deposits... AntiFascist Friday #35
PLEASE stop referring to this as a sex scandal or a sex trafficking operation Bluetus Friday #37
Let's add a slash mark NJCher Saturday #54
Exactly the case. It is hard to imagine Trump having the self-restraint Bluetus Saturday #55
yep, that's it NJCher Saturday #56
It is probably useful to recall how things were when Epstein was putting this together Bluetus Saturday #58
I'm lucky to have two good senators, Wyden and Merkley Hassler Friday #42
I have daughters and granddaughters, not to mention a precious little great grandniece. PatrickforB Friday #45
Kick orangecrush Friday #46
Kick. N/T Upthevibe Friday #51
I hope Wyden has bodyguards Warpy Saturday #52

SheltieLover

(71,769 posts)
1. I'd like to know why Maxwell & Epstein were tried & convicted & men weren't?
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 10:23 AM
Friday

Why has this info been rotting in a drawer?

It should ALL be publicly released & whoever abused those girls should be immediately remanded to custody, tried, & punished to the fullest extent of the law!

How many fucking years have the rest of the perps been enjoying their sick lives & how many more kids have been raped as the direct result of our fucking government's golden rule: never hold a rich, white person with a penis accountable for their actions.



Response to OMGWTF (Reply #19)

Upthevibe

(9,649 posts)
48. Dave says............
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 10:42 PM
Friday

Did he walk or was that the "sweetheart deal" he received from Alex Acosta?

If we're talking about the same charge, he didn't walk but he had a ridiculously light and lenient sentence (It was horrible that this is all that happened to him): "June 2008: Epstein pleads guilty to state charges: one count of solicitating prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. He is sentenced to 18 months in jail. Under a secret arrangement, the U.S. attorney’s office agrees not to prosecute Epstein for federal crimes. Epstein serves most of his sentence in a work-release program that allows him to leave jail during the day to go to his office, then return at night." (AP, A Timeline of the Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell scandal. Published 12:05 PM PDT, June 28, 2022).

UpInArms

(53,131 posts)
2. Robert Parry
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 10:47 AM
Friday

told me:

Always follow the money

(And for those wondering who Robert Parry was, he was the Newsweek reporter who broke the Iran Contra affair

https://www.alternet.org/2018/01/bob-parry-rip-reporter-who-broke-iran-contra-story

Past the paywall https://archive.ph/BG795

Response to UpInArms (Reply #2)

UpInArms

(53,131 posts)
47. Parry broke the story in 1985
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 10:05 PM
Friday
https://clippermedia.org/obituary-robert-parry-reporter-broke-the-iran-contra-story-68-2018/

In 1985, Mr. Parry broke news of the involvement of Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and the covert operation to support the contras with proceeds from clandestine arms sales to Iran.

Photo: The investigative reporter Robert Parry in an undated photograph. His work on the Iran-contra scandal of the 1980s brought him a George Polk Award.Credit…Diane Duston, via Associated Press

Mr. Parry won the George Polk Award for national reporting in 1984 for his disclosures that the Central Intelligence Agency had provided an assassination manual to the so-called contras, the right-wing insurgents who were seeking to topple the socialist government in Nicaragua. Mr. Parry was part of an Associated Press investigative team based in Washington when he broke the story.

For that reporting, he was also named a finalist for the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.

In 1985, Mr. Parry broke news of the involvement of Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, a deputy director of the National Security Council, in a covert operation to support the contras with proceeds from clandestine arms sales to Iran. Congress had banned such support. The weapons had been sold to Iran to speed the release of American hostages in Lebanon.

ancianita

(41,087 posts)
3. Sheldon Whitehouse, who knows Wyden's work, revealed that yesterday on Lawrence. Whitehouse says that 'following the
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 11:11 AM
Friday

money' will reveal names and bank accounts connected to those wire transfers, which alone can serve as major evidence, whether the felon's Blondi releases the total Epstein court files or not.

in2herbs

(3,839 posts)
5. It's always been my belief that the reason AG Garland took so long to appoint a SC was because once he reviewed the
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 11:19 AM
Friday

documents from Mar A Lago he realized the US was dealing with an international criminal syndicate, not just a few stolen top secret documents sold to foreign countries. Garland could have appointed any lawyer in the US as special prosecutor if a few stolen documents was all it was. Instead he chose to appoint a special counsel from The Hague ICC because of what those documents contained and because he understood that the ICC was more equipped to investigate an international crime syndicate that was the US. The delay was because the ICC had to get up to speed.

If its always been about the theft of top secret documents why is no one talking about that theft anymore?

harumph

(2,852 posts)
9. Even the possibility that the stolen documents are a minor part of a conspiracy..,
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 11:27 AM
Friday

and I'm not sure I buy that... but if so, demonstrates how far we've fallen.

Upthevibe

(9,649 posts)
49. kiri .............
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 10:58 PM
Friday

Saying he was a mouse is being generous.............He was an effing flea...........

yardwork

(67,249 posts)
25. John Kerry was investigating an international criminal syndicate.
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 01:11 PM
Friday

It's one reason he could not be allowed to be president. I am certain the 2004 election was stolen from him.

DENVERPOPS

(13,003 posts)
44. Remember
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 09:48 PM
Friday

when the CEO of EIS Voting machines, a month before the election, promised that W would be winning re-election???????????????

Evolve Dammit

(21,024 posts)
40. So let's hear from all the AG's (state and Fed) involved at every step. Transparency y'know...
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 05:59 PM
Friday

Escape

(247 posts)
6. And, why wasn't all of this brought to light during Biden's 4 years?
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 11:20 AM
Friday

Simple answer in 2 words:

Merrick Garland

peggysue2

(12,025 posts)
10. Follow the money!
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 11:29 AM
Friday

It's usually the breadcrumb trail that brings the ugly details home.

Good one on Wyden.

progressoid

(51,624 posts)
14. Sorry Ron.
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 12:17 PM
Friday

Don't cha know that the Epstein thing is soooo 2024. Dear Leader has declared it fake so it is time to move on!

calimary

(87,086 posts)
15. He's NO damned "Dear Leader" to me!
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 12:34 PM
Friday

He’s no “Dear” ANYTHING to me.

Of course, once incarcerated, he’d be the “Sheared” leader because he’d have to have that yellow hair buzzed off for prison.



Hey, I can dream, can’t I?

calimary

(87,086 posts)
57. At least Romney had some dignity.
Sat Jul 19, 2025, 01:44 PM
Saturday

I guess acting like a grownup is out of fashion with this crowd, these days.

AllaN01Bear

(26,505 posts)
16. so much , i cant even find any verbs to describe what is going on with out
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 12:37 PM
Friday

getting a hit. but in emoticon s i can i have been wating for years for some of the rich to go down and in flames .

snot

(11,207 posts)
23. "Follow the money" - ALWAYS high priority in any legit investigation.
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 01:08 PM
Friday

Why wasn't this work completed long ago? (We still don't know where Epstein got most of his money. Remember, he went from teaching high school to becoming a wildly wealthy, owning among his other homes a 19,000 s.f. townhouse in Manhattan – without even a college degree.)

usonian

(19,164 posts)
29. It was for the likes of Trump and Epstein that bitcoin and others were invented
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 02:18 PM
Friday

by God Satoshi Nakamoto


AntiFascist

(13,532 posts)
32. JP Morgan Bank settled a lawsuit re: Epstein's operation with the US Virgin Islands...
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 03:26 PM
Friday
Terms of the bank’s settlement with Staley are confidential.
...
Ariel Smith, the attorney general of the Virgin Islands, said: “This settlement is an historic victory for survivors and for state enforcement, and it should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks’ responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking.”
...
Deutsche Bank, where Epstein was a client from 2013 to 2018, in May reached a $75m settlement with women who said Epstein sexually abused them.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/sep/26/jpmorgan-jeffrey-epstein-lawsuit-settlement-us-virgin-islands


Meanwhile, I notice that guests on Katy Tur's show are still framing the whole controversy as a "conspiracy theory". Is it a conspiracy theory to assume that Epstein and Maxwell had clients in their human trafficking operation?

Farmer-Rick

(11,875 posts)
34. This is how the filthy-rich get rich off the poor.
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 03:46 PM
Friday

By selling and trading the children of the middle class and poor. Since they don't want to pay them for their work, they can just sell and trade them out right.

I was wondering how Russia was getting their wealth. Ever since the USSR, Russia has been too poor to even provide adequate housing for their citizens let alone have enough to buy up American politicians.

AntiFascist

(13,532 posts)
35. The Soviet Union had amassed enormous wealth prior to its breakup, probably due to its oil and other deposits...
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 03:54 PM
Friday

Former KGB Putin then suicided certain communist banker who controlled the wealth and was able to share it amongst his oligarchs. They were then able to use part of this wealth to corrupt American politics in various ways, launder some of the money through Trump's real estate, and to participate in Epstein's and others' operations.

Bluetus

(1,309 posts)
37. PLEASE stop referring to this as a sex scandal or a sex trafficking operation
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 05:13 PM
Friday

Last edited Fri Jul 18, 2025, 09:38 PM - Edit history (1)

It is MUCH bigger than that.

Do some simple arithmetic. How many girls did Epstein recruit, and how many acts did they perform for how many years? Those numbers don't add up by a long shot.

OK, let's say this really was nothing but a sex trafficking case. How much would each "client" pay for each encounter? These were powerful, wealthy people, so let's say each act was worth $2000 on average. The girls would have been paid something, so let's say each act netted Epstein/Maxwell/Trump $1000.

If this were principally a sex trafficking operation, that tells us that in order to generate over a billion dollars of international wire transfers, there would have been over a million paid sex acts.

Come on now. I know that Trump and Epstein were at it for many years, but a million sex acts? No way.

This was a Kompromat operation. I doubt that most of the big shots even paid anything for the sex. The money came from selling the Kompromat. That is absolutely the only way this thing makes any sense, and that is why Trump is in panic mode.

NJCher

(40,724 posts)
54. Let's add a slash mark
Sat Jul 19, 2025, 05:10 AM
Saturday

Such as:

Sex trafficking/blackmail

Or

Blackmail/sex trafficking.

People have not yet wrapped their heads around what this crime really is and also what trump’s role in it was.

For example, there was a thread yesterday where a poster was insistent on saying trump himself had not been linked to an underage girl. This poster quoted trump as saying to Howard Stern that he had been “good.”

First off, one cannot believe a thing that trump says, ever.

But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt for the sake of seeing where it takes us.

It would still leave him with his own 14 year old daughter sitting on his lap. To see this pic, go to The Guardian’s lengthy article on the topic, which came out 5 years ago. LaRaven originally posted this link a few days ago.

Trump’s role was to orchestrate events that made it appear that the girls were up for modeling contracts when in fact they were bait for the old leches that attended them to choose girls.

But who was really the bait? Answer: the old lecherous shoppers.

Bluetus

(1,309 posts)
55. Exactly the case. It is hard to imagine Trump having the self-restraint
Sat Jul 19, 2025, 10:30 AM
Saturday

that he has NEVER shown throughout his life. But he has been very careful to cover up evidence of his sex crimes with NDAs, threats, payoffs, and blackmail. So we may never see clear evidence of Trump raping a 14-year-old. Anybody who is following the Epstein story with such a hope is likely to be as disappointed as they were with Mueller, Smith, Comey and everyone else who succumbed to Trump's pressure.

The point, and it seems we both agree on this, is that the crime is much bigger than that. Clearly Trump had a direct involvement in recruiting and grooming prostitutes for Epstein. And it is highly likely that Trump had a major role in drawing lecherous, powerful old men into Epstein's Kompromat machine. It is that Kompromat machine, either through direct extortion, or more likely by selling the Kompromat to other governments, that made the big bucks. Sex was the bait, not the financial engine.

NJCher

(40,724 posts)
56. yep, that's it
Sat Jul 19, 2025, 11:59 AM
Saturday

You pulled this operation together succinctly. We need to keep repeating this wherever it's appropriate so we get a base of people who understand it.

I'm wondering how Wyden thinks about it. I'm betting he's on the same track we're on.

on edit: I'd like to add that I can barely imagine the scope of this. All the governments who participated. I'm just beginning to get a feel for how it's going to fall out.

Bluetus

(1,309 posts)
58. It is probably useful to recall how things were when Epstein was putting this together
Sat Jul 19, 2025, 04:07 PM
Saturday

Last edited Sat Jul 19, 2025, 05:11 PM - Edit history (1)

It was still very much a "man's world". Sexual abuse was generally regarded as "What are you gonna do? Boys will be boys." If somebody offered you a private jet to a private island and all the sex you could ever want today, I think most people would be rather suspicious. But this was the tail end of the Mad Men era. It was a lot easier to entrap men back then, I suppose.

As this was getting started, the Cold War was supposedly ending (although it is debatable whether it ever ended). The KGB was morphing into the FSB and SVR. They would have been looking for new ways to exert influence following the collapse of the USSR. And of course, the KGB had already targeted Trump (code name Krasnov) years earlier. They started grooming Trump in 1987 and Epstein's operation took shape about 4 years later.

People talk like Trump was a minor bystander. Trump built his business and power base on extortion. That was one game he understood well. It is entirely possible that the KGB used Trump to influence Epstein to build this Kompromat operation. I have seen no evidence either way, but it is certainly possible that they recruited Trump before they recruited Epstein, and used Trump to help with the grooming of Epstein. If this scenario is even partially true, that makes it much more understandable why Trump is having a freak-out. Trump may have had no involvement in Epstein's death. But Trump certainly thought he was out of the woods when Epstein died. He is having nightmares now -- well beyond what an innocent person would have.

PatrickforB

(15,252 posts)
45. I have daughters and granddaughters, not to mention a precious little great grandniece.
Fri Jul 18, 2025, 09:49 PM
Friday

Every time I hear about this I want to be sick because what if it was any of our daughters? Granddaughters?

I suspect that there are many very powerful men in these files, which is why they have been suppressed for so long.

But here's the thing folks - NO ONE in these files and I mean NO ONE, no matter who they are or how much we might like them, should get a pass. They ALL need to be held to account for these crimes against young girls. Sex trafficking is unspeakably evil. It is.

You know, I've done everything right in my life - graduated high school, went to college, kept my nose clean, got a good job, grew in the job, paid into Social Security, Medicare and a pension fund for nearly forty years.

WHY IN THE FUCK DO I HAVE NEARLY $10k IN HEALTHCARE DEBT, AND MY SOCIAL SECURITY IS IN DANGER BUT THESE RICH BILLIONAIRE FUCKS HAVE A BIG TAX CUT???????????????????????????

AND WHY ARE THE ONES ON THIS LIST STILL RUNNING FREE?????????????????

AND WHY HAS THE US GOVERNMENT SUDDENLY BECOME UNRESPONSIVE TO ITS PEOPLE. WE ARE BEING TAXED WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

They need to clean house on these sick fucks, regulate the hell out of Wall Street, change corporate governance rules to require truth in news reporting and other consumer interests, worker interests and the environment EQUAL to shareholder profits.

Because I am done. I'm fucking done. NO MORE donations for anyone until this government gets back in our corner. I'm not cooperating, not anymore. I'll follow the laws but that's it. All this donation machine is doing is enriching already-rich billionaire parasites and shareholders because they are the ones who end up with the profits from the expensive ads. We spent over ONE FUCKING BILLION donating to Harris in 2024 and 65 billionaire parasites matched us and Wall Street glutted itself on that massive influx of ad revenue. It makes me fucking sick.

I just talked to an arborist today - a Tea Party guy and he accuses US of being paid demonstrators. That's what Fox fucking 'news' is telling its people, OAN, AM hate-radio talk show jocks. They get paid really well to LIE to us and we need to pull their teeth otherwise nothing will change.

OK rant over.

Warpy

(113,703 posts)
52. I hope Wyden has bodyguards
Sat Jul 19, 2025, 12:39 AM
Saturday

and that he's doubled them. I also hope the originals are with a lawyer, copies set to go ot to every major paper in this country if something nasty happens.

And I hope a lot of guilty men are crapping themselves right now.

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