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The Epstein files did not land like a bomb like everyone had expected. Instead, they are more like an unending flood. Since the Department of Justice (DOJ) began releasing 6 million pages under the Epstein Files Transparency Act—3.5 million of which have been released so far—new names surface week after week as journalists, lawmakers, and internet sleuths mine a vast keyword searchable database.
Maryland Democrat Representative Jamie Raskin claimed Donald Trump's name came up "more than a million times" when he searched the unredacted files at the DOJ. From Downing Street to the Norwegian royal palace to a dinosaur convention in Birmingham, the files are mapping the full social network of a convicted sex predator who cultivated the powerful like an industry.
Ro Khanna & Thomas Massie ⬆
The California Democrat and Kentucky Republican walked into the DOJ reading room, and two hours later, found six improperly redacted names, including Epstein's patron Leslie Wexner. The next day Khanna went onto the House floor to read them into the Congressional Record—using the Speech and Debate Clause to shield himself from defamation suits.
Read More on Opinion
In a Congress that can barely agree on lunch, the most productive bipartisan partnership in Washington is between a Silicon Valley progressive and a libertarian engineer Trump is now calling "moron."
The DOJ Reading Room ⬆
Four computers, no phones, no staff, and 3.5 million pages about the world's most infamous sex trafficker. Raskin estimated it would take seven years for members to review the entire release this way. A DOJ satellite office is now the hottest reservation in Washington—the only reading room in America with a longer wait than the French Laundry.
Keir Starmer ⬇
The British prime minister never met Epstein, but appointed Epstein's friend Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington despite knowing about the friendship. The furor over the latest revelations—as a cabinet minister, Mandelson allegedly leaked market-sensitive information to Epstein; police searched his homes—has already led Starmer's chief of staff and communications director to resign. Many are now calling on Starmer to follow suit.
The Labour leader elected on a promise of grown-up government is neck-deep in a political crisis over a hire that any moderately cautious HR department would have flagged.
Kimbal Musk ⬇
The younger brother of Elon appears 140 times in the Epstein files, including in emails where Musk thanked Epstein "for connecting me with" a woman. Kimbal expressed his gratitude by inviting Epstein to his 40th birthday at the Four Seasons.
Throughout the six-month relationship, the woman then forwarded Kimbal's private messages back to Epstein for coaching on staying close to Musk—a relationship Epstein's circle saw as a pathway to the bigger brother. Musk's defense: His names showed up a lot because Epstein subscribed to his restaurant newsletter.
Mona Juul ⬇
The Norwegian diplomat who helped broker the Oslo Accords now faces a gross corruption investigation after the files revealed Epstein left $10 million to her children, that her family vacationed on his island, and that her husband wrote to Epstein afterward: "We all loved it!" Norway consistently ranks as the world's least corrupt nation.
The fine print on that distinction apparently doesn't cover the diplomatic corps.
DinoCon ⬆
A U.K. paleontology convention banned all scientists named in the Epstein files from its July event, and then banned executive committee members of any paleontological organization that fails to do the same.
When a dinosaur conference in Birmingham has a more robust Epstein accountability policy than the U.S. Department of Justice, the asteroid has already hit.
Originally a staple of Newsweek's print edition, Conventional Wisdom used arrows to track whose stock was rising or falling in the political circus. We're reviving it in the digital age because the problem it lampooned—hyperbole and partisan certainty masquerading as insight—has only intensified.
CW assigns arrows—up, down, or sideways—to the figures and forces shaping current events. The arrows don't predict the future or claim special insight. They capture the prevailing winds of the moment, uncluttered by tribal howling. In an era when partisan media reinforces rather than questions assumptions, CW operates from the center—skeptical of left and right alike, committed to puncturing inflated reputations and recognizing overlooked truths.
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