Across the country, even right here in Northern Michigan, controversy over whether the government should release its files on deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his friendship and interactions with Donald Trump, continues to attract attention. This February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Epstein files, including a “client list,” were “on her desk” and would be made available to the public shortly. They weren’t. More recently, the Administration claimed there is no “client list” and that the files contain no incriminating information after all. Trump now says that the whole matter is a “hoax” promoted by “radical left-wing lunatics.” This, despite the fact that members of his Administration stoked it with wild conspiracy theories in the first place and his own MAGA supporters have been particularly vocal in demanding that the government release the supposed files. There are several aspects of this mess that warrant sober reflection: Epstein’s and his associates’ widely reported interactions with young girls and women initiated, among other places, at the Interlochen Music Camp in Northern Michigan in the mid ‘90s. Epstein donated funds to it, and was permitted to build a “scholarship lodge” on the premises. A former camper testified in a criminal trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell that, when she was 14 years old, Epstein and Maxwell approached her at the camp and began a relationship culminating with grooming and repeated acts of sexual abuse over half a decade. The lodge is still on the Interlochen campus, although its name was changed in 2007, after Epstein was arrested on child pornography charges. The camp has conducted several investigations, and has said it has found no record of complaints against Epstein during times when he was present at the camp. As for Trump, he was undeniably close to Epstein and Maxwell for at least 15 years. He said in an article published in 2002 that Epstein was: “A terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” More troubling are allegations, set forth in a federal court lawsuit filed in 2016, that in the summer of 1994 Epstein and Trump sexually abused the Plaintiff, a woman who was then 13 years old, at Epstein’s home in New York: The papers in this lawsuit included sworn statements attesting to the allegations against Epstein and Trump. The suit was later withdrawn reportedly because of threats of violence directed at the Plaintiff and her family. Trump now calls Epstein a “creep” and complains that anyone is still asking questions about their 15-year relationship. And then, this past week, The Wall Street Journal published an article concerning a letter it said that Trump authored in 2003 as part of a celebration of Epstein’s 50th birthday. The article said the letter included a hand-drawn depiction of a naked woman adorned with Trump’s signature and various bawdy comments. Trump and some of his supporters obviously would like everyone to just look away from all of this. Regardless of politics, I refuse to just look away, nor should anyone else who cares about the safety and security of young girls and women. About the author: Brad Raymond, of Frankfort, has been an attorney in Michigan since 1977. Prior to retiring in Spring 2022, he practiced law in the Detroit area and, later, in the District of Columbia.
EPSTEIN CASE Don’t look away from this controversy
Across the country, even right here in Northern Michigan, controversy over whether the government should release its files on deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his friendship and interactions with Donald Trump, continues to attract attention.
This February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Epstein files, including a “client list,” were “on her desk” and would be made available to the public shortly. They weren’t.
More recently, the Administration claimed there is no “client list” and that the files contain no incriminating information after all. Trump now says that the whole matter is a “hoax” promoted by “radical left-wing lunatics.” This, despite the fact that members of his Administration stoked it with wild conspiracy theories in the first place and his own MAGA supporters have been particularly vocal in demanding that the government release the supposed files.
There are several aspects of this mess that warrant sober reflection:
Epstein’s and his associates’ widely reported interactions with young girls and women initiated, among other places, at the Interlochen Music Camp in Northern Michigan in the mid ‘90s.
Epstein donated funds to it, and was permitted to build a “scholarship lodge” on the premises. A former camper testified in a criminal trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell that, when she was 14 years old, Epstein and Maxwell approached her at the camp and began a relationship culminating with grooming and repeated acts of sexual abuse over half a decade. The lodge is still on the Interlochen campus, although its name was changed in 2007, after Epstein was arrested on child pornography charges. The camp has conducted several investigations, and has said it has found no record of complaints against Epstein during times when he was present at the camp.
As for Trump, he was undeniably close to Epstein and Maxwell for at least 15 years. He said in an article published in 2002 that Epstein was: “A terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
More troubling are allegations, set forth in a federal court lawsuit filed in 2016, that in the summer of 1994 Epstein and Trump sexually abused the Plaintiff, a woman who was then 13 years old, at Epstein’s home in New York: The papers in this lawsuit included sworn statements attesting to the allegations against Epstein and Trump. The suit was later withdrawn reportedly because of threats of violence directed at the Plaintiff and her family. Trump now calls Epstein a “creep” and complains that anyone is still asking questions about their 15-year relationship.
And then, this past week, The Wall Street Journal published an article concerning a letter it said that Trump authored in 2003 as part of a celebration of Epstein’s 50th birthday. The article said the letter included a hand-drawn depiction of a naked woman adorned with Trump’s signature and various bawdy comments.
Trump and some of his supporters obviously would like everyone to just look away from all of this.
Regardless of politics, I refuse to just look away, nor should anyone else who cares about the safety and security of young girls and women.