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→Jeffrey Epstein
[[Fusion GPS]] and the [[2016 Clinton campaign]] tried unsuccessfully to link Donald Trump to Epstein's sex crimes as part of their opposition research and campaign strategy.<ref>https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-12/fusion-gps-tried-and-failed-link-trump-jeffrey-epstein</ref> When that failed they focused instead on the manufactured [[Russia collusion hoax]]. After Epstein's death, [[David Brock]]'s organization again through [[mainstream media]] tried to link Epstein to Russia and Trump.
[[Fusion GPS]] and the [[2016 Clinton campaign]] tried unsuccessfully to link Donald Trump to Epstein's sex crimes as part of their opposition research and campaign strategy.<ref>https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-12/fusion-gps-tried-and-failed-link-trump-jeffrey-epstein</ref> When that failed they focused instead on the manufactured [[Russia collusion hoax]]. After Epstein's death, [[David Brock]]'s organization again through [[mainstream media]] tried to link Epstein to Russia and Trump.
[[File:ClMDpKE.jpg|500px|right]]
==Mainstream media coverage==
:{{Main article|Mainstream media}}
===Vanity Fair===
:{{See also|Liberal bias}}
In 2002, ''[[Vanity Fair]]'' assigned reporter Vicky Ward to find who exactly was Jeffrey Epstein and why was he flying former President Bill Clinton and other celebrities around on his jet. Ward interviewed two sisters, Maria and Annie Farmer. They alleged Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, lured them into his orbit for sexual exploitation. Maria alleged Epstein and Maxwell sexually assaulted her in an [[Ohio]] apartment. Annie, who was just 15 years old, alleged Epstein sexually assaulted her at his New Mexico ranch.
In 2003 Epstein visited the magazine's offices. Epstein denied any misconduct. In March 2003, ''Vanity Fair'' published Ward's piece. Titled "The Talented Mr. Epstein," it took a tough look at Epstein's lavish lifestyle and questioned the origins of his fortune. It did not report the Farmers' accusations of abuse. After the publication, Carter found a bullet hole outside the door of his residence.
In 2006, federal authorities compiled accusations against Epstein in Florida. John Connolly, a ''Vanity Fair'' contributing editor, pursued interviews with women who had worked for Epstein. Connolly says Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter told him he found the severed head of a dead cat in the front yard of his home. "It was done to intimidate. No question about it." Connolly stopped pursuing the story.<ref>https://nypost.com/2019/08/23/vanity-fairs-graydon-carter-found-severed-cat-head-outside-home-amid-jeffrey-epstein-reporting/</ref>
In 2011 Ward posted an essay about Epstein and his circle. Ward wrote about Ghislaine Maxwell in glowing terms as "always the most interesting, the most vivacious, the most unusual person in any room. I've spent hours talking to her about the [[Third World]] at a bar until two a.m. She is as passionate as she is knowledgeable."<ref>https://vickyward.com/article/jeffrey-and-ghislaine-notes-on-new-yorks-oddest-alliance/</ref>
In March 2014, a photographer captured a picture of Maxwell hugging Graydon Carter at a party sponsored by ''Vanity Fair'' and hosted by Carter after the Motion Picture Academy Awards in Hollywood.
===ABC News===
:{{See also|Liberal hypocrisy}}
In 2015, the [[ABC News]] team of Amy Robach and Jim Hill secured an interview with Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Giuffre wanted a shine a spotlight on Epstein and the others who acted with him. "I viewed the ABC interview as a potential game-changer. Appearing on ABC with its wide viewership would have been the first time for me to speak out against the government for basically looking the other way and to describe the anger and betrayal victims felt." ABC never aired the story or gave a reason for doubting the word of accusers.
In October 2017, more than two years after the Giuffre interview, ABC's [[Diane Sawyer]] interviewed Ashley Judd about her accusations against Hollywood producer [[Harvey Weinstein]]. At that time, Judd had not yet filed a lawsuit against Weinstein and he did not yet face criminal charges. Yet ABC viewers heard Judd's accusations in full.
Investigative reporter [[James O'Keefe]] of ''[[Project Veritas]]'' posted a video of ABC News anchor Amy Rohrbach stating that she had the whole Jeffrey Epstein story three years earlier, with video evidence and personal testimony that only came out in 2019. ABC News spiked the story of the most prolific pedophile in American history,<ref>https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2019/11/05/must-watch-james-okeefe-posts-video-of-abc-news-anchor-saying-network-spiked-her-epstein-story-3-years-ago-epsteincoverup/</ref> raising legitimate questions about where the responsibility of a supposed "mainstream" news organization, that operates on publicly licensed airwaves, to protect child victims begins and ends. ABC responded by beginning an investigation to find the [[whistleblower]] who [[leak]]ed the video evidence.<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/07/requiring-the-bidens-to-testify-would-help-determine-if-they-thought-america-was-for-sale/</ref>
[[Republican]] Congressmen [[Kevin McCarthy]], [[Doug Collins]], and [[Mike T. McCaul]] wrote to ABC demanding to know about the decision to kill the
story and questioning if it had enabled Epstein, preventing additional victims from coming forward. In a coverup, ABC contacted [[CBS]] after the leaked video, believing that a person who had access to the video was working at CBS. CBS then fired the former ABC producer.<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2019/11/17/kevin-mccarthy-letter-abc-jeffrey-epstein/</ref>
===New York Times===
:{{Main article|Fake news}}
In August 2018, reporters at ''[[The New York Times]]'' and other publications received word Tesla founder [[Elon Musk]] was relying on Epstein to advise him on whom to consider hiring as board chair or chief executive. Editors at the ''Times'' sent business columnist James Stewart to talk to Epstein. "I wondered why would Musk, if this is true, be using a registered sex offender to recruit new members to the board," Stewart told ''The Kicker'', a podcast from the Columbia Journalism Review.
Stewart was not the editors' first choice to interview Epstein further. Initially, they had asked Landon Thomas Jr., a veteran financial correspondent who had been at the ''Times'' for 16 years. Thomas knew Epstein fairly well — having first written about him in 2002. For a 2008 profile, Thomas had traveled to Epstein's private isle in the U.S. [[Virgin Islands]]. The article largely presented Epstein as someone who solicited prostitutes, not committed sex crimes against minors. Federal agents had by then identified several dozen possible victims. The piece ran just before Epstein submitted to authorities in Florida for incarceration. It included this passage: "As his legal troubles deepened, Mr. Epstein gazed at the azure sea and the lush hills of St. Thomas in the distance, poked at a lunch of crab and rare steak prepared by his personal chef, and tried to explain how his life had taken such a turn," Thomas wrote. "He likened himself to Gulliver shipwrecked among the diminutive denizens of Lilliput."<ref>https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/274719/new-york-times-ties-jeffrey-epstein-deepen-daniel-greenfield</ref>
[[File:Andrew and Epstein (2).jpg|right|350px|thumb|[[UK]]'s Prince Andrew with Epstein. Andrew, who was not a client of Epstein in any legal business relationship, struggled to explain his longterm relationship with Epstein which extended past Epstein's 2008 conviction as a sex offender. Andrew had several extended stays at Epstein properties throughout the world.]]
After Epstein's death the paper reported on a public apology by one of its corporate directors, Joichi Ito, who had landed millions of dollars from Epstein for the institute he leads, the [[MIT]] Media Lab.<ref>https://nypost.com/2019/08/17/new-york-times-board-member-apologizes-for-jeffrey-epstein-ties/</ref> In a tweet, the paper's media editor, Jim Windolf, said that Ito had sought funds from Epstein "a few years after Epstein got out of the Palm Beach County Jail."
==Comet Ping Pong==
==Comet Ping Pong==
On December 5, 2016, Edgar M. Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., traveled to Comet Ping Pong to rescue the victims imprisoned in the basement of the restaurant. He entered the restaurant shortly before 3 p.m. with a rifle and fired it at least once inside, the [[police]] said. Welch demanded access to the basement, which does not exist. Welch was apprehended by the police and charged.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/pizzagate-comet-ping-pong-edgar-maddison-welch.html?_r=0|title=Man Motivated by ‘Pizzagate’ Conspiracy Theory Arrested in Washington Gunfire|first=Eric|last=Lipton|work=New York Times|date=Dec. 5, 2016 |accessdate=}}</ref> On June 22, 2017, he was sentenced to four years in prison.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pizzagate-gunman-edgar-maddison-welch-sentenced-four-years-prison-n775621|title=‘Pizzagate’ Gunman Edgar Maddison Welch Sentenced to Four Years in Prison|work=NBC News|date=Jun. 22, 2017|accessdate=}}</ref>
On December 5, 2016, Edgar M. Welch, 28, of Salisbury, N.C., traveled to Comet Ping Pong to rescue the victims imprisoned in the basement of the restaurant. He entered the restaurant shortly before 3 p.m. with a rifle and fired it at least once inside, the [[police]] said. Welch demanded access to the basement, which does not exist. Welch was apprehended by the police and charged.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/pizzagate-comet-ping-pong-edgar-maddison-welch.html?_r=0|title=Man Motivated by ‘Pizzagate’ Conspiracy Theory Arrested in Washington Gunfire|first=Eric|last=Lipton|work=New York Times|date=Dec. 5, 2016 |accessdate=}}</ref> On June 22, 2017, he was sentenced to four years in prison.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pizzagate-gunman-edgar-maddison-welch-sentenced-four-years-prison-n775621|title=‘Pizzagate’ Gunman Edgar Maddison Welch Sentenced to Four Years in Prison|work=NBC News|date=Jun. 22, 2017|accessdate=}}</ref>