From Wall Street to Washington: The Push to Investigate Jes Staley's Epstein Ties In The U.S. (10/28/25)

Right after her arrest in July 2020, Ghislaine Maxwell went into survival mode — and behind the polished courtroom façade, she began quietly fishing for a pardon. Her legal team and inner circle floated the idea that she could “name names” connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking network if she were granted immunity or clemency. At the time, Donald Trump was still in office, and Maxwell’s camp appeared to believe they could leverage his public comments — particularly his infamous “I wish her well” remark — into something more substantial. Rumors circulated through legal and political channels that Maxwell’s attorneys were probing whether a preemptive pardon could be arranged before trial, suggesting she might have valuable information to trade. It was a desperate gambit, driven by the awareness that the evidence against her was overwhelming and that Epstein’s death had made her the last major target standing.But the pardon never came. Trump, already under scrutiny for the Epstein connection, backed away publicly, saying he hadn’t considered it and that “no one had asked.” Inside the White House, advisers reportedly warned that granting clemency to Maxwell — a woman accused of grooming and trafficking minors — would be political suicide. As a result, her quiet lobbying efforts died on the vine. When the administration’s final list of pardons was released in January 2021, her name was nowhere to be found. Instead, she was left to face the full weight of the justice system alone — a would-be power player turned prisoner, watching the man she once might have counted on to save her walk away without lifting a finger.to contact me:[email protected] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

The three-part docuseries produced by Blue Ant Studios and premiered June 24, 2021, examines the life of Ghislaine Maxwell, tracing her upbringing as the daughter of media tycoon Robert Maxwell, her socialite years, her relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the lead-up to her arrest on sex-trafficking charges. It features interviews (with people willing to speak) and previously unseen footage of the Maxwell family, seeking to show how she became part of a network of power, money, and abuse.While ably charting Maxwell’s trajectory, the series has been critiqued for being more character study than legal deconstruction—highlighting her dynamics with father, lovers and society, rather than deeply probing the broader institutional failures that enabled Epstein’s crimes. One reviewer noted that although it offers “plenty of potential answers,” it still frames Maxwell as a “fascinating villain” rather than focusing first and foremost on systemic accountability.to contact me:[email protected] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

A woman named Sarah Kellen (also known in some reports as Sarah Kellen Vickers) is widely described in legal filings and media accounts as Maxwell’s principal assistant or “lieutenant.” She is alleged to have managed recruitment logistics, scheduled “appointments,” arranged travel between properties owned by Epstein and Maxwell, and served as a gatekeeper for young women entering that circle. For example, an Economic Times profile says Kellen “has long been described as one of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s closest lieutenants, playing a role that survivors say went far beyond that of an assistant.”But while Kellen is regularly labelled as the lieutenant, her status remains strikingly unsettled from a criminal-justice perspective: despite repeated naming in civil suits, depositions and media coverage, she has not been criminally charged (at least publicly) to the same extent as Maxwell. That gap raises major questions: either law-enforcement chose not to pursue her, or the evidence against her has been insufficient (or suppressed) for prosecution. As one commentary in The Telegraph put it, “The name Sarah Kellen came up time and time again … yet she is still walking free.”to contact me:[email protected] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

When Alex Acosta sat before Congress to explain himself, what unfolded was less an act of accountability and more a masterclass in bureaucratic self-preservation. He painted the 2008 Epstein plea deal as a “strategic compromise,” claiming a federal trial might have been too risky because victims were “unreliable” and evidence was “thin.” In reality, federal prosecutors had a mountain of corroborating witness statements, corroborative travel logs, and sworn victim testimony—yet Acosta gave Epstein the deal of the century. The so-called non-prosecution agreement wasn’t justice; it was a backroom surrender, executed in secrecy, without even notifying the victims. When pressed on this, Acosta spun excuses about legal precedent and “jurisdictional confusion,” never once admitting the obvious: his office protected a rich, politically connected predator at the expense of dozens of trafficked girls.Even more damning was Acosta’s insistence that he acted out of pragmatism, not pressure. He denied that anyone “higher up” told him to back off—even though he once told reporters that he’d been informed Epstein “belonged to intelligence.” Under oath, he downplayed that statement, twisting it into bureaucratic double-speak. He even claimed the deal achieved “some level of justice” because Epstein registered as a sex offender—a hollow justification that only exposed how insulated from reality he remains. Acosta never showed remorse for the irreparable damage caused by his cowardice. His congressional testimony reeked of moral rot, the same rot that let a billionaire pedophile walk free while survivors were left to pick up the pieces.to contact me:[email protected]:Acosta Transcript.pdf - Google DriveBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

Jeffrey Epstein built his empire on manipulation—preying on vulnerable girls who society would later dismiss as “unreliable.” His entire scheme was designed so that when the truth came out, the victims’ credibility could be attacked and the public would fall for it. Even after his death, that same defense is still being used by his allies, lawyers, and media sympathizers. The people who demand “proof” and mock survivors are doing Epstein’s work for him, playing right into the strategy he set in motion decades ago. And the worst part? Many of the powerful figures who partied, traveled, and did business with him refuse to sit for questioning or hand over records. If they were innocent, they’d welcome an investigation—but their silence screams otherwise.The truth is simple: the system protected Epstein, and it’s still protecting those who enabled him. The survivors deserve a full reckoning, not another PR cleanup for the rich. Every politician, banker, and celebrity who covered for Epstein shares his guilt, and no amount of spin can change that. The public doesn’t owe them the benefit of the doubt anymore. Justice means dragging every last enabler into the light.to contact me:[email protected] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

In Washington, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has officially urged the nation’s top banking regulators — the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) — to launch public and private investigations into Staley’s conduct while he was at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and later Barclays PLC. Warren’s letter alleges that Staley helped shield Epstein’s access to the banking system by intervening when internal red flags about Epstein’s transactions were raised and that despite the banks settling for large sums in sister cases, Staley has so far avoided U.S. accountabilityAt the same time, U.S. lawsuits are advancing against Barclays and Staley over alleged investor mis-representation. A judge in Los Angeles denied Staley’s request to dismiss a class-action claim that the bank and Staley misled investors about the true nature of his ties to Epstein after his arrest in 2019. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier found that Staley misled regulators by approving a letter stating his relationship with Epstein was not “close,” whereas email evidence showed they were in contact well beyond what the letter claimed.to contact  me:[email protected] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

The fact that Prince Andrew hosted Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Harvey Weinstein together at a shooting party at his Royal Lodge estate is nothing short of grotesque. You’ve got a convicted pedophile, his notorious fixer, and one of Hollywood’s most infamous sexual predators all rubbing shoulders with a royal — and this wasn’t some random social accident. It was a deliberate gathering of privilege, power, and moral decay. The timing makes it even worse: Epstein would be arrested just eight days later. The entire event reeks of the entitled arrogance that has defined Andrew’s downfall — a man so insulated by his own delusion that he thought nothing of entertaining predators under the Queen’s roof.What this shooting weekend really exposes is how the elite operate in their own lawless orbit, where accountability doesn’t exist and reputation is protected at all costs. These weren’t just casual acquaintances; they were connected through networks of money, influence, and shared secrecy. The absurdity of it — a prince firing shotguns with the architects of modern depravity — shows that the rot wasn’t just within Epstein’s world, but in every institution that gave him cover. It’s not a scandal of association anymore; it’s evidence of a cultural sickness where power shields the wicked and mocks justice itself.to contact me:[email protected] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s unpublished memoir The Billionaire’s Playboy Club recounts her recruitment into Jeffrey Epstein’s world as a 16-year-old working at Mar-a-Lago, where she says Ghislaine Maxwell lured her in with promises of opportunity and travel. The manuscript describes how she became trapped in Epstein’s orbit, allegedly forced into sexual encounters with powerful men, including Prince Andrew, and ferried across his properties in New York, Florida, and the Virgin Islands. Giuffre paints a detailed picture of coercion, psychological manipulation, and the disturbing normalization of exploitation within Epstein’s high-society circle.In this episode, we begin our journey through that memoir.   to contact me:[email protected]:Virgina Giuffre Billionaire's Playboy Club | DocumentCloudBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

In 2021, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York allowed Virginia Giuffre’s civil lawsuit against Prince Andrew to proceed, rejecting the Duke’s attempts to have the case dismissed. Andrew’s legal team had argued that Giuffre’s 2009 settlement agreement with Jeffrey Epstein protected him from liability, but Kaplan ruled that the document’s language was too vague to guarantee immunity for the prince. The judge also rejected efforts by Andrew’s attorneys to delay proceedings or challenge jurisdiction, stating that service had been properly carried out and that the court had the authority to move forward.Throughout the pretrial stages, Judge Kaplan issued several pointed warnings to Andrew’s legal team, cautioning them against what he saw as stalling and procedural gamesmanship. At one point, he rebuked their reliance on “technical arguments” instead of addressing the substantive claims, making it clear he would not tolerate obstruction. His firm handling of the case underscored that no one, royal or otherwise, was above the law. Ultimately, the case never went to trial—Prince Andrew settled with Giuffre in early 2022—but Kaplan’s rulings were pivotal in ensuring that the lawsuit could not be quietly swept aside.to contact me:[email protected] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

In December 2023, Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered a massive unsealing of Jeffrey Epstein–related documents from the Ghislaine Maxwell defamation case. These files, long kept under seal, contained names of associates, depositions, and exhibits that had been hidden for years. Preska ruled that the public interest outweighed any remaining privacy concerns, emphasizing that secrecy was no longer justified except for information identifying minor victims. The decision paved the way for one of the largest Epstein document releases yet—revealing hundreds of pages that shed light on how Epstein and Maxwell operated their network and who may have been connected to it.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit later affirmed the underlying principle behind Preska’s ruling, upholding that the presumption of public access applies to judicial records in Epstein-related litigation. This affirmation followed the precedent set in Brown v. Maxwell (2019), where the court found that lower courts must provide a “particularized review” before keeping such documents sealed. By affirming the transparency mandate, the Second Circuit reinforced the public’s right to know and ensured that future attempts to hide materials related to Epstein’s crimes would face steep judicial resistance. Together, these rulings represent a rare and decisive push toward accountability in a case long plagued by secrecy and institutional protection.to contact me:[email protected] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.