Epstein's corrupt bankers

Senator Ron Wyden "followed the money" on Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein's bankers knew something was very wrong: money laundering and cash for very suspicious behavior with very young people. There were "red flags" everywhere. The banks broke the law by doing nothing.

This week Wyden issued a 67 page report.

Wyden's report showed that the largest, most "respectable" financial institutions in the world --  bent the rules, broke the law, and tolerated the intolerable to accommodate a very large and profitable client. Jeffrey Epstein was such a client. He kept hundreds of millions of dollars in the banks, and he was a connection to other big clients. 

Wyden's report names names: JPMorganChase, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of America. The banks didn't pretend not to see what they saw. They saw "red flag" behavior. The banks internal compliance officers, up to the highest levels, knew that Epstein was a legal and reputational risk. They discussed it, weighed it, and decided the money was worth the risk. Eventually they were caught and paid fines and settlements (p. 56).

Wyden's  report shows that bank officials were aware that the unusually large cash withdrawals were likely for the purpose of paying for "massages" with underage girls. Epstein had already been adjudicated as a sex offender and the presence of very young models -- "nymphettes" -- was openly acknowledged in JPMorgan's internal emails (pp. 27-28).

The large cash withdrawals week after week, presumed to be for paying for these massages, needed a pretext. Epstein and JPMorgan's bankers settled on withdrawals from an "Aviation Account," as if jet fuel for Epstein's plane would be paid for with U.S. currency (p.38). 

The White House, the Treasury Department, and the GOP-majority Senate did not assist this investigation. They obstructed it. Wyden persevered. (pp.54-57).

Wyden's report is important as a stand-alone document revealing a dimension of the Epstein matter: the fact that this was not just a failure involving the unique and private character of Jeffrey Epstein. The "Epstein crime" involved a large group of people and institutions who knew something transgressive was happening. These powerful people tolerated it, snickered over it, were put off by it, and some participated in it directly or indirectly. These people included Donald Trump. Wyden published what is purportedly Trump's birthday greeting to Epstein, which references their shared secrets. (Trump denies he created it.)

Trump is doing more than changing our constitutional practice with a dramatic reset of the balance between executive and congressional power. He has also reset our norms regarding financial and sexual corruption. Wyden is doing what James Madison thought senators would do. "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."  Wyden is doing what Democratic voters are demonstrating in primary election that they want. They want a fighter, someone who names names, calls out lawlessness and corruption, and points an accusing finger at the financial and political elites who have been consolidating power in Trump's second term. 

I will repeat an assertion I made yesterday in my comment about Wyden and Democrats. Wyden's busy week advanced policies that have widespread popular support. It is not clear to me that the median Democratic voter has shifted "left." Maybe they have. I am confident, though, that Democrats want to see some results, some change of a tangible kind to deal with the top-heavy distribution of national incomes. I also think Democrats are still unhappy with the inarticulate and weak leadership they got from President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. They want a narrative of a better Democratic future. Wyden comes across as willing to confront Trump in a smart, aggressive way. I think Wyden is in the sweet spot of what works for a Democrat.

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