分析：斯蒂芬·科林森（Stephen Collinson），美国有线电视新闻网（CNN） | 发布于2026年2月4日，美国东部时间凌晨12:02
“美国民众需要明白，与爱泼斯坦先生一起参加派对并不构成犯罪。”
考虑到起诉所需的高证据门槛，司法部副部长托德·布兰奇（Todd Blanche）或许是对的。
但他周一在福克斯新闻上的这番言论，却残忍地无视了那些被诱骗进入爱泼斯坦肮脏圈子、留下终身创伤的受害者。
而且，这一言论未能充分体现美国司法部最新披露的海量文件所蕴含的更广泛影响。
数百万份文件揭开爱泼斯坦全球社交与商业网络的上层圈层
这些失宠的金融家曾是精英圈子的“策展人”和“连接纽带”，这个圈子向那些拥有财富、名气、权力和影响力的人开放。
多年来，他的联系人包括一位前美国总统和一位现任美国总统；一位王子、一位王储妃、内阁秘书和部长；以及商业、娱乐、法律、银行和外交界的巨头。
现在，那些威胁到欧洲王室王朝和政府的相关丑闻正愈演愈烈。
爱泼斯坦的前朋友、伙伴和宴会上的同伴们统治着我们，建立了一个让他们致富、却让许多人边缘化的经济体系。他们出现在我们的电视屏幕上，拥有运动队，或向我们推销消费品。他们编写了驱动现代生活的软件操作系统，并正在推动一个由人工智能主导的未来。
当20世纪向21世纪过渡的镀金时代，上流社会与爱泼斯坦一同狂欢时，许多不在这个圈子里的美国人却在海外战争中丧生，或在大衰退的肆虐下挣扎求生。
一个社交与人脉漩涡
F·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德（F. Scott Fitzgerald）关于“非常富有的人……与你我不同”的名言，在爱泼斯坦用于构建人脉网络的非凡社交活动、会议和会议中得到了印证。这是一个由游艇、悠闲午餐、晚宴和私人飞机构成的迷人圈子——以及热切的同路人。
“你们有一些最富有的人、科技领袖、金融领袖、政治家，都以某种方式牵涉其中，给爱泼斯坦发过邮件，想去他的岛屿，明知爱泼斯坦是恋童癖者。”帮助推动文件公开的民主党众议员罗·科哈尼（Ro Khanna）在接受全国广播公司（NBC）“与媒体见面”节目采访时表示。
包括前总统比尔·克林顿和现任总统唐纳德·特朗普在内的许多知名人士都表示，在他的罪行和未被证实的指控曝光数年前就已断绝与爱泼斯坦的联系，并声称对此一无所知。两人均未因爱泼斯坦案被刑事指控，当局也未提出任何不当行为的证据。
然而，与此同时，针对爱泼斯坦的起诉书和其同伙吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦（Ghislaine Maxwell）的审判，却描绘了一个堕落的世界：数十名女孩在他曼哈顿和佛罗里达州棕榈滩的家中被引诱、剥削和虐待。
认识爱泼斯坦的每个人都有自己的经历。但很难让人相信，他交往的一些世界上最精明的人对他的癖好毫无察觉。这是否是爱泼斯坦圈子里的人故意视而不见的情况？如果是这样，他们现在对那些生活永远改变的受害者负有什么责任？
有权势者对那些几乎没有权力的人——比如被胁迫为爱泼斯坦提供按摩和性行为的年轻女孩——负有什么义务？
这些问题尤为尖锐，因为新发布的文件显示，2009年爱泼斯坦从监狱获释后，他与一些朋友之间仍有大量社交和人脉往来。他在佛罗里达州因两项州级卖淫指控认罪后，以13个月监禁换取免于联邦起诉。
文件披露的影响在全球蔓延
“没有人知道任何事”的说法似乎难以令人置信。
毕竟，2002年特朗普告诉《纽约杂志》，他认识爱泼斯坦15年，称他是“一个非常棒的人”。特朗普补充道：“甚至有人说他和我一样喜欢美女，其中很多是年轻女性。毫无疑问——杰弗里享受他的社交生活。”
（特朗普称后来与爱泼斯坦闹翻。）
在2025年平安夜发布的一条奇怪的“真实社交”（Truth Social）消息中，特朗普似乎暗示他知道更多，特别指出“许多喜欢杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的卑鄙小人，给了他一大笔钱，去了他的岛屿，参加他的派对，认为他是世界上最棒的人，只有在事情变得太‘热’时才会‘像丢狗一样’抛弃他。”
周二，特朗普表示“国家真的该把注意力转向别的事情了”。他补充道：“你知道，现在除了是爱泼斯坦和其他人针对我的阴谋外，没有任何证据指向我。”
但总统在椭圆形办公室拒绝回答美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）记者凯特兰·柯林斯（Kaitlan Collins）关于爱泼斯坦受害者未获正义的问题。
新发布的文件显示，虽然一些爱泼斯坦的同伙似乎被与年轻女性见面和发生性关系的可能性所吸引，但他也是一个更广泛的影响和社交网络的中心。后者可能最终为这个案件的谜团之一提供答案：他是如何积累如此巨额财富的？
爱泼斯坦有意识地不断扩大他的圈子，寻求更多联系。
例如，2013年，他与特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）进行了多次交流中的一次。爱泼斯坦通过电子邮件询问他的熟人是否有2013年联合国大会的“任何计划”，并告诉他“有很多有趣的人会来家里”。马斯克回复称，他的公司SpaceX即将发射“可以说是历史上最先进的火箭”。他补充道：“飞往纽约参加联合国外交官的活动是不明智的时间浪费。”
爱泼斯坦回复，强烈暗示聚会是为了结识女性。马斯克似乎没有回复。
在另一封电子邮件中，马斯克表达了参加爱泼斯坦岛上“最疯狂”派对的愿望。马斯克否认曾去过该岛或参加过此类派对。
爱泼斯坦的人脉网络遍布全球。在海外，他的前同伙面临的清算比在美国更严重。
海外最新披露的最突出受害者是英国前内阁大臣彼得·曼德尔森（Peter Mandelson），他此前因与爱泼斯坦的关系被解雇为驻华盛顿大使。现在，他正面临刑事调查，据称在金融危机最严重时，他向朋友泄露了与市场敏感相关的政府信息——这对爱泼斯坦的华尔街联系人来说如同“黄金”。这一丑闻正威胁着英国首相基尔·斯塔默（Keir Starmer）领导的脆弱政府。
爱泼斯坦的“耻辱网络”也让挪威王室感到不安。爱泼斯坦与王储妃梅特-玛丽特（Crown Princess Mette-Marit）之间亲密甚至带有暗示性的电子邮件曝光后，两人关系紧张。
王妃在一份声明中告诉美国有线电视新闻网：“我展现了糟糕的判断力，为我的友谊感到后悔。我必须为没有更彻底地调查爱泼斯坦的背景，以及没有早点意识到他是个什么样的人负责……这是我必须承担的责任。”
一些爱泼斯坦的其他朋友和联系人是否应该进行一段时间的公开反思，这一问题正日益受到关注。这可能会产生政治影响，尽管懦弱的共和党国会不太可能向司法部施压要求进一步回答或公开数百万份仍在持有的文件。
爱泼斯坦文件引发的丑闻泛滥至少可能暂时帮助特朗普，因为他一直受到关于自己知情情况的严厉审查。
总统一直声称，美国被一个由卑鄙精英组成的腐败阴谋集团所领导，他们主宰着政治、金融和艺术界。如果选民越多地认为整个体制腐败，特朗普自己动荡的行为和有问题的道德就越不显得是异类。
而且，只要有几封罪证确凿的电子邮件，就能给那些已经认为国家被深陷性堕落的病态深层国家劫持的极右翼阴谋论者提供一些“验证”。
当然，大多数政治家、银行家、外交官和名人并没有与爱泼斯坦厮混。逻辑表明，许多名人看到他时一定是避之不及。
但任何加剧人们对富有的、道德败坏的、进行权力寻租的精英阶层的认知，都可能加剧对公共生活的愤世嫉俗和民粹主义——即使在特朗普卸任后，这种情绪仍在冲击美国民主。
爱泼斯坦现在早已在2019年监狱中自杀身亡，留下他的前著名同伙为其罪行负责。
那些与他一同狂欢的人可能不承担刑事责任，但他们中有多少人在道德上是同谋？
New files deepen a critical mystery about those who partied with Jeffrey Epstein
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN | Published Feb 4, 2026, 12:02 AM ET
“The American people need to understand that it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”
Perhaps Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is right, given the high evidentiary bar required for prosecution.
But his comment Monday on Fox News cruelly disregarded victims of Jeffrey Epstein left with lifelong trauma after being trafficked into his sordid orbit.
And it doesn’t fully capture the broader implications of a new mountain of disclosures from the Department of Justice.
Several million documents peel open the rarefied upper echelon of Epstein’s globe-spanning social and business network. The disgraced financier was the curator and connective tissue of an elite circle open to those with wealth, fame, power and influence.
His contacts over the years included a former US president and a current one; a prince, a crown princess, cabinet secretaries and ministers; and titans of business, entertainment, the law, banking and diplomacy. Related scandals that threaten royal dynasties and governments are now raging in Europe.
Epstein’s former friends, associates and dining companions have governed us and have built an economy that enriches them and sidelines many of us. They’ve appeared on our TV screens, owned sports teams or sold us consumer goods. They’ve written software operating systems that power modern life and are imposing a future dominated by artificial intelligence.
While the beau monde partied with Epstein in the gilded age when the 20th century flipped to the 21st, many Americans not in the club were dying in foreign wars or struggling to stay solvent through the ravages of the Great Recession.
A social and networking whirl
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s maxim that the “very rich … are different from you and me” is borne out by the extraordinary whirl of social events, meetings and conferences Epstein used to people his network. It was a charmed circle of yachts, leisurely lunches, dinner parties and private jets — and eager fellow travelers.
“You have some of the most wealthy individuals, tech leaders, finance leaders, politicians, all implicated in some way, having emailed him, wanting to go to Epstein’s island, knowing that Epstein was a pedophile,” Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who helped force the release of the files, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Many prominent figures, including former President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump, have said they cut off ties with Epstein years before his crimes and untried alleged offenses came to light and say they knew nothing about them. Neither has ever been criminally charged with relation to Epstein and authorities have lodged no evidence of wrongdoing.
At the same time, however, indictments filed against Epstein and the trial of his associate Ghislaine Maxwell painted a world of depravity; of dozens of girls enticed, exploited, abused, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.
Everyone who knew Epstein would have had their own experience. But it strains credulity to believe that some of the most sophisticated people in the world with whom he associated suspected nothing about his proclivities. Is this a case of people in Epstein’s circle adopting a position of willful blindness? And if that’s so, what debt do they now owe to victims whose lives were forever altered?
What obligation do the powerful have toward those with little or no power — like the young girls who were coerced into providing massages and sex acts for Epstein?
The questions are especially keen because the newly released files show plenty of socializing and networking between Epstein and some of his friends following Epstein’s release from jail in 2009. He had served 13 months after pleading guilty to two state prostitution charges in Florida in a deal that spared him federal prosecution.
Reverberations of file releases go global
The idea that no one knew anything seems hard to believe.
After all, in 2002 Trump told New York Magazine that he’d known Epstein for 15 years and he was a “terrific guy.” Trump added, “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
(Trump has said that he later had a falling-out with Epstein.)
In a bizarre Truth Social message posted on Christmas night 2025, Trump seemed to imply he knew more, singling out “the many Sleazebags who loved Jeffrey Epstein, gave him bundles of money, went to his Island, attended his parties, and thought he was the greatest guy on earth, only to ‘drop him like a dog’ when things got too HOT.”
On Tuesday, Trump declared it was “really time for the country to get onto something else, really.” He added: “You know, now that nothing came out about me, other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people.”
But the president declined to answer questions from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in the Oval Office about the absence of justice for Epstein victims.
Newly released files show that while some Epstein associates seemed attracted by the possibility of meeting young women and sex, he was also at the hub of a wider web of influencing and socializing. The latter fact might eventually suggest answers to one of the mysteries of the case: How did he build such a vast fortune?
Epstein was consciously and constantly widening his circle and seeking more connections.
In 2013, for example, he had one of many exchanges with Tesla chief Elon Musk. Epstein asked his acquaintance via email if he had “any plans” for the United Nations General Assembly in 2013, telling him of “many interesting people coming to the house.” Musk replied that his firm SpaceX was about to launch “arguably the most advanced rocket in history.” He added: “Flying to NY to see UN diplomats do nothing would be an unwise use of time.”
Epstein responded, strongly implying the get-together was to meet women. Musk appears to not have replied.
In another email, Musk had voiced an apparent wish to attend the “wildest” party on Epstein’s island. Musk has denied ever going to the island or attending such a party.
Epstein’s lattice of connections spread across the globe. And overseas, there’s currently a more serious reckoning for his former associates than in the US.
The most prominent casualty abroad of the latest set of releases is Peter Mandelson, the former British Cabinet minister who was previously fired as ambassador to Washington over his ties to Epstein. Now he’s facing a criminal investigation over claims that he leaked market-sensitive government information to his friend at the height of the financial crisis — which would have been like gold dust for Epstein’s Wall Street contacts. The scandal is threatening the weakened government of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The Epstein saga has also rocked the British royal family. The former Prince Andrew had already settled a sexual assault case with the late Virginia Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein. Continued revelations led King Charles III to strip his brother’s royal titles and to exile him to a remote royal estate. Starmer has said the now-Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should testify to the US Congress.
Epstein’s network of disgrace is also rattling royals in Norway after the release of chummy and sometimes suggestive emails between Epstein and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The princess told CNN in a statement that she showed poor judgment and regrets her friendship with him. “I must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was … it is a responsibility I must bear.”
That question of whether some of Epstein’s other friends and contacts should undergo a period of public reflection is coming into increasing focus. And it could have political implications, even if a supine Republican Congress is unlikely to press the DOJ for further answers or for the release of millions of files it is still holding.
The gusher of scandal unleashed by the Epstein files could at least temporarily help Trump, who has been under fierce scrutiny about what he knew.
The president always argued that America was led by a corrupt cabal of sleazy elites who dominate politics, finance and the arts. The more voters conclude that the entire establishment is corrupt, the less Trump’s own volatile conduct and questionable ethics seem to make him an outlier.
And it only takes a few incriminating emails to give a morsel of validation to far-right conspiracy theorists who already argued the country was hostage to a sick deep state mired in sexual deviancy.
Of course, most politicians, bankers, diplomats and celebrities didn’t pal around with Epstein. Logic suggests that many prominent people must have taken one look at him and run a mile.
But anything that fuels perceptions of a rich, morally corrupt and influence-peddling elite could fuel the cynicism about public life and populism already assailing American democracy — even after Trump leaves office.
Epstein is now long gone, after taking his own life in prison in 2019 and leaving his famous former associates to answer for his crimes.
Those who partied with him may not share criminal liability. But how many of them were morally complicit?
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