The Wire - February 27, 2025

//The Wire//2200Z February 27, 2025//
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//BLUF: EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS RELEASED TO SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS, NOT THE PUBLIC AS PROMISED FOR WEEKS.//

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-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - Much anticipation has resulted from earlier promises made by the White House to expedite the release of various documents. The JFK and MLK Jr. assassination files, and the Jeffrey Epstein client list have all been claimed to be released soon. However, AG Pam Bondi stated that some of the files would be released today. This afternoon, it was revealed that the release of the Jeffrey Epstein Files would take place in stages, with only pre-approved journalists and influencers being given access to these documents. This afternoon select pro-Trump influencers were invited to the White House to receive the Phase 1 documents in the form of physical binders.

Also this afternoon, AG Bondi released a letter that was sent to new FBI Director Kash Patel, in which she accused the FBI of withholding critical documents from her regarding this case.

As of this report, not a single page of new Epstein documentation has been released to the American public directly, or uploaded to the FBI's portal (as the older documents were released years ago).

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Analyst Comments: Over the past few weeks of hype surrounding the declassification and publishing of Jeffrey Epstein's clients, patience is wearing thin as little has been done to release the files for public consumption. Congress has gotten involved to create various committees to add more bureaucracy between the declassification of documents and the public. Just as a reminder, Congress has nothing to do with the declassification of documents. Declassification is purely a task completed by various intelligence agencies and Original Classification Authorities (OCAs). Once the OCA decides what is cleared for release (guidance which in this case comes from the POTUS), there is absolutely nothing preventing the release of declassified documents. No document requires Congressional approval to declassify, so the involvement of Congress at all is being perceived as a move intended to intentionally delay the release of these documents.

Since the dawn of these highly-controversial incidents, many people with political power have been strong advocates of releasing the details pertaining to everything from JFK to Jeffrey Epstein...until they get access to the truth. Every single time the buck stops at a particular person, they start dragging their feet, and bringing the process of what is colloquially known as "the runaround". These delays have been so serious and obvious that various other groups and Congressional committees have formally filed complaints with the DoJ to pressure the executive branch to not go back on their promise. Attorney General Pam Bondi has by her own admission had the files "on her desk" for several days now but as of this afternoon, she claims that the FBI didn't send her all of the documents. Now, it is revealed that the release will take place in stages through influencers who will act as intermediaries. What has been released to these influencers is anyone's guess at this moment, though most of them are extremely unlikely to be trustworthy considering that many of the people seen at the closed-door disclosure even have direct ties to the same circle of friends that Jeffrey Epstein himself also had very close contact with.

In a broader sense, this is also exceptionally dangerous. Remembering the scale of this international blackmail and human trafficking network, it is already very publicly known that former Presidents, royalty, bankers, and the very top of the global elite were involved with Jeffrey Epstein in some form or another....and it would be very foolish to approach this topic with the naivety already displayed by the influencers at the core of this scandal. Anyone who understands the gravity and real-world danger would know that this isn't just another scoop that can be milked for a 3-hour podcast episode.

On the other hand, the access granted to these select group of influencers is also important in the context of privilege and control. Obviously, this information was shared with these influencers...but not all influencers. That access and preferential treatment alone is a powerful means of controlling these influencers. Due to this preferential treatment, if any one of these influencers were to have the desire to speak the truth, even if it hurts the Trump administration, they will probably be less likely to do so. Any time a negative story comes up, they'll be thinking back to the time that they got to see the Epstein files first...and they may want to rethink their truthful reporting so as to not bite the hand that fed them once. Considering this access was also granted to a select few, competition will abound between all of them...the influencer who pushes back and asks tough questions about the information they now know might not get such a warm welcome to the White House again.

Despite all of this, and despite all of Trump's supporters who will make ever concession to excuse this behavior, this is not only a complete betrayal of Trump's previous promises to release the documents, but this is also nearly identical to the practices of the previous administration which preferred to interact with journalists and influencers instead of releasing anything to the public directly. This is one of the most impactful events in recent history; this scandal involves the systemic blackmail of high-ranking politicians at the behest of powerful people with links to foreign intelligence agencies...and this is being entrusted to social media influencers instead of being released directly to the American people. Influencers and "journalists" who are loyal to the current White House (and other nations) being the middlemen, who in turn decide what details to release to maximize engagement farming and ad revenue, is not something that is meeting with the approval of the American people. Some might even consider the legal implications of such to be akin to a quid-pro-quo scheme, whereby public data that every taxpayer has the right to see is being selectively withheld to enhance the income of personal friends. This seemingly minor detail may shift the mood of this event from being a rather poor-taste political stunt, into what might actually be a crime. Even though there is nuance in the social implications of this, federal law is quite clear: Either it's still classified and was released illegally to a select group of people, or it's public data that is illegally being withheld from the American people in violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA).

Speaking more technically of the nature of declassifying information, anyone between the Original Classification Authority and the American people is an unnecessary barrier to the truth. Every other declassified document since the dawn of time has been posted on an online government portal (usually run by the declassifying agency) in it's entirety, usually with redactions here and there, but always in an online PDF format that anyone can see. Even if the document is 100% redacted, it's still there for the public to look at. In this case, this content is being milked for all it's worth and slowly being drip-fed to the American people solely through pro-Trump influencers...many of which have conflicts of interest in this case, or ties to Jeffrey Epstein himself. Consequently, expectations for the rest of the disclosures (whatever those docs might look like) are not particularly high; most people are expecting the files to be heavily redacted, or with all of the damning evidence having long-been destroyed, or manipulated by social media influencers who can pick and choose what details to disclose. Adding in unnecessary middlemen also muddies the water of what is true, and what isn't...now (just like the previous administration) we have to process information from secondary sources, instead of primary sources. If and/or when these documents are released to the public, the taxpayer will have questions as to whether or not the version that was disclosed to the public was the same that was trickled down through the entire behemoth of federal bureaucracy and social media influencers.

Though completely speculative, the general sentiment as to why the release of these files has been delayed by everyone who touches the project, pertains to who (or what entity) may be implicated in all of these scandals. Another theory is that this delay has been undertaken largely to use the federal bureaucracy to chip away at any real details, so that the final product that is released isn't helpful or illuminating at all. Or more likely, the details that will be released will only be partial, or intended to distract from other more serious crimes. There is also the rather significant detail of criminal investigations...as much as the American people want to know who Epstein's clients were, most people probably want arrests more than grifting from social media influencers. Releasing a list of names without simultaneous prosecutions of affecting any change whatsoever isn't really effective.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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