In mid-2025, when the Trump administration all of the sudden felt compelled to downplay the Jeffrey Epstein files, officers mentioned they didn’t have sufficient proof to immediate any extra investigations of third events.
The memo didn’t simply say there wasn’t proof to cost anybody else, thoughts you; it mentioned there wasn’t even proof to examine “uncharged third parties.”
That broad assertion in an unsigned FBI memo has proved to be a somewhat rash conclusion — most lately and emphatically by Thursday’s arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew, in the UK.
While we solely know at this stage that Andrew was arrested on suspicion of “misconduct in public office,” the Thames Valley Police beforehand mentioned they have been claims that Andrew shared delicate info with Epstein whereas serving as the UK’s commerce envoy in the early 2000s. Andrew has denied all allegations of misconduct associated to Epstein, and his identify showing in the files will not be proof of wrongdoing.
And there’s extra than simply Andrew’s arrest on the worldwide stage. The Epstein files that the administration have been in the end compelled to launch have confirmed to be of nice curiosity in Europe, the place we’ve seen a legal cost towards one other high-profile determine and investigations in at the least three other nations apart from the UK.
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Norway’s former prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland was charged final week with “aggravated corruption” after investigators mentioned they have been probing “whether gifts, travel and loans were received in connection with his position.” Jagland has denied “all charges.”
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UK police have additionally searched two properties linked to former ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, amid accusations of Mandelson sharing market-sensitive authorities info with Epstein whereas he was enterprise secretary of the UK.
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Norwegian police are additionally investigating a prominent diplomat.
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Prosecutors in Paris opened two new investigations into potential intercourse abuse and monetary wrongdoing associated to Epstein on Wednesday, in line with the Associated Press.
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Latvia has additionally opened a human trafficking investigation linked to the files’ launch.
We have but to see the place these investigations lead. The legal guidelines in European nations are additionally completely different than in the United States. And in some instances, the investigation will not be essentially linked to sexual misconduct — allegations that may be notoriously tough to show.
But it’s grow to be clear that authorities in other nations see a lot of potential misconduct unearthed by the files in a manner American authorities initially claimed they didn’t, and it’s resulting in a reckoning across the pond.
It’s additionally price noting that the FBI memo’s assurance has wobbled even domestically.
Despite the assurance that nothing warranted additional investigation, Attorney General Pam Bondi nonetheless introduced in November that the Justice Department would investigate Epstein’s relationships with prominent Democrats like Bill Clinton. The announcement got here after Trump referred to as for such probes. Bill Clinton has repeatedly denied wrongdoing associated to Epstein.
Fast ahead to final week, when Bondi signaled throughout testimony to the House Judiciary Committee that extra investigations have been occurring.
Asked “whether another individual will be indicted and prosecuted,” Bondi replied: “We have pending investigations in our office.”
Jay Clayton, the US lawyer for the Southern District of New York, appeared to throw some cold water on Bondi’s feedback Wednesday, suggesting there have been no lively investigations. But Bondi has now mentioned there have been Epstein-related investigations twice since the FBI assured the public that there was no proof to warrant them.
Those assurances went past the memo, too. In testimony to the House in September, FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned DOJ had launched “all credible information.”
Patel added that there have been “no investigative leads that were credible to prosecute and investigate any others.” And he recommended the Obama and Biden administrations had agreed with that evaluation.
It’s honest to level out that Bondi and Patel are solely accountable for imposing home regulation, and that might have been what the FBI assertion was referencing.
Still, Bondi’s confirmations of additional home investigations are awkward in that context. She’s additionally repeatedly mentioned issues about the Epstein files that seemed convenient in the moment, regardless of how true they have been. (Think: supposedly having the Epstein consumer checklist on her desk.) There is little proof of strong investigations involving Bill Clinton or anybody else.
At the very least, the developments of the previous few weeks betray the very completely different views on Epstein accountability between the US and Europe. Prosecutors in the UK and Norway particularly appear to really feel compelled to carry the highly effective accountable, whereas the Trump administration’s animating precept since the center of 2025 has been “time to move on” — a view most bluntly conveyed by the president himself, who retains calling the Epstein files a “hoax.”
The downside with that latter method is that, in your haste to guarantee there’s nothing to see right here, you may miss one thing fairly substantial. And once you’re compelled to launch the files you tried so exhausting to not launch, that proof can undermine your hard-and-fast claims about what it mentioned.
That breeds mistrust concerning any future assertions you make about the files — a persistent downside the Trump administration hasn’t been capable of shake.
The contrasting levels of accountability throughout the Atlantic threatens so as to add to these difficulties.