What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Josquius]

Most of the photos of famous people released from the Epstein files haven't been much of a surprise, but I wasn't expecting Michael Jackson or Diana Ross:



Young girls don't seem on brand for either one of them.

I have seen claims on reddit that that particular photo has already been public domain and the hidden-children were their own.

The kid with Diana Ross does look very like her.

[Duque de Bragança]

Most of the photos of famous people released from the Epstein files haven't been much of a surprise, but I wasn't expecting Michael Jackson or Diana Ross:



Young girls don't seem on brand for either one of them.

You were expecting Noam Chomsky?! I am impressed. 



I really doubt they were discussing linguistics or automated translation.

[Razgovory]

The commies seem upset by that one.

"No one who shilled for Pol Pot could be a bad man!"

[Zoupa]

The Venn diagram for pedos and tankies remains a single circle.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

While the majority of the victims were girls, there were also boys.

I'm still wondering what those parents were thinking given the age of some of those children

[Savonarola]

The Ross photo was not taken by Epstein.  It was taken by photographer Jonathan Exley at a DNC event, and is accessible to the public through Getty images: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/singer-songwriter-michael-jackson-his-children-children-news-photo/102505979?adppopup=true

Not clear how this ended up in the Epstein files.

Ah, okay, that makes more sense.  I expected Dianna Ross to have a good deal of savoir-faire about predators players "Alpha males" having been (one of) Berry Gordy's (many) side pieces.  It looks there are other photos of Michael Jackson and Epstein, but Jacko hasn't always shown the best judgement.

[Savonarola]

You were expecting Noam Chomsky?! I am impressed. 



I really doubt they were discussing linguistics or automated translation.

I think we already knew about Chomsky.  I wasn't expecting Walter Cronkite, but there was always something suspicious about that mustache.

(From a certain point of view I guess we should be surprised by Mick Jagger.  What could Epstein have provided that Mick hasn't already had a dozen times before?  But that's like asking why Elon Musk needs a trillion dollars, for some people too much is never enough.)

The bigger question, (and I'm sure everyone is asking this,) is why the Justice Department hasn't released the Trump pictures?  What could be so bad that is worse than we're already imagining?  Everyone already knows that Trump and Epstein were besties and they partied together.

[Josquius]

I wouldn't read too much into photos like the chomsky one which I believe is quite a one off (if they are sex party photos why aren't those ones being shared. Three way with trump?) .
When you don't know the kind of shit epstein gets up to, which most didn't, and he invites you to his private resort or offers you a lift on his plane or whatever...
Then why not.
It's when people start appearing multiple times and/or obviously  very definitely in dodgy situations that someone becomes suspicious.
Was jagger there a lot?

With chomsky I do recall reading a piece before these photos came out that he was a weird but nice guy and would say yes to anything. Replying to absolutely every email that reached him, Ali G, etc...

[Zoupa]

That's the mother of all cope takes, Josq.

[Sophie Scholl]

Chomsky didn't start hanging out and conversing with Epstein till *after* Epstein first ran into his legal issues, so he almost had to know. Chomsky has had huge areas where he's been weird or awful for years. I'm not overly surprised, though I am disappointed. If he hangs with the rest, so be it. He deserves it for being involved.

[Razgovory]

I wouldn't read too much into photos like the chomsky one which I believe is quite a one off (if they are sex party photos why aren't those ones being shared. Three way with trump?) .
When you don't know the kind of shit epstein gets up to, which most didn't, and he invites you to his private resort or offers you a lift on his plane or whatever...
Then why not.
It's when people start appearing multiple times and/or obviously  very definitely in dodgy situations that someone becomes suspicious.
Was jagger there a lot?

With chomsky I do recall reading a piece before these photos came out that he was a weird but nice guy and would say yes to anything. Replying to absolutely every email that reached him, Ali G, etc...

The prominent linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky called it a "most valuable experience" to have maintained "regular contact" with Jeffrey Epstein, who by then had long been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, according to emails released earlier in November by US lawmakers.

Such comments from Chomsky, or attributed to him, suggest his association with Epstein – who officials concluded killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges – went deeper than the occasional political and academic discussions the former had previously claimed to have with the latter.

Chomsky, 96, had also reportedly acknowledged receiving about $270,000 from an account linked to Epstein while sorting the disbursement of common funds relating to the first of his two marriages, though the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor has insisted not "one penny" came directly from the infamous financier.

The banality of evil: how Epstein's powerful friends normalised him
Read more
The emails disclosed on 12 November by the Republican members of the US House oversight committee generally detailed the correspondence Epstein had with political, academic and business luminaries, including the Bill Clinton White House's treasury secretary Larry Summers and Steve Bannon, the longtime ally of Donald Trump. Further, they reveal Epstein and Chomsky were close enough to discuss musical interests and even potential vacations.

Perhaps the most telling of the Chomsky-related documents in question was a letter of support for Epstein attributed to Chomsky with the salutation "to whom it may concern". It is not dated, but it contains a typed signature with Chomsky's name and citing his position as a University of Arizona laureate professor, a role he began in 2017, as first reported by the Massachusetts news outlet WBUR.


Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence and was released in July 2009.

"I met Jeffrey Epstein half a dozen years ago," read the letter of support from Chomsky that was reviewed by the Guardian after its Republican House oversight committee release. "We have been in regular contact since, with many long and often in-depth discussions about a very wide range of topics, including our own specialties and professional work, but a host of others where we have shared interests. It has been a most valuable experience for me."

It is unclear whether Chomsky sent the letter to anyone. Nonetheless, it exalts Epstein for teaching Chomsky "about the intricacies of the global financial system" in a way "the business press and professional journals" had not been able to do. It boasted about how well connected Epstein was.

"Once, when we were discussing the Oslo agreements, Jeffrey picked up the phone and called the Norwegian diplomat who supervised them, leading to a lively interchange," the letter read. The letter recounted how Epstein had arranged for Chomsky – a political activist, too – to meet with someone he had "studied carefully and written about": the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak.


Epstein had – "with limited success" – aided efforts from Chomsky's second wife, Valeria, to introduce him "to the world of jazz and its wonders", the letter continued.

It concluded, "The impact of Jeffrey's limitless curiosity, extensive knowledge, penetrating insights and thoughtful appraisals is only heightened by his easy informality, without a trace of pretentiousness. He quickly became a highly valued friend and regular source of intellectual exchange and stimulation."

Another notable communication involving Chomsky and Epstein is a 2015 email in which the latter offers the former use of his residences in New York and New Mexico.

The emails don't indicate whether Chomsky took advantage of the offer, whose particulars surfaced as certain officials are striving to investigate allegations of crimes by Epstein at a ranch compound he owned outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Interest in the Epstein case has surged in recent months after Trump – a former friend of his – pledged to release a full list of the late financier's clients while successfully running for a second presidency in 2024. However, after he took office in January, Trump's justice department declared no such list existed and said that it would not be releasing any additional files related to Epstein's prosecution, igniting a bipartisan furor that the president sought to dismiss as a Democratic "hoax".

Yet the pressure was enough that Trump on Wednesday signed a legislative bill directing his justice department to release more of what has come to be collectively known as the Epstein files.

Chomsky is not the only renowned Massachusetts academic to be ensnared in the Epstein scandal. On Wednesday, Larry Summers relinquished a teaching role at Harvard University – where he was once president – after his email correspondence with Epstein revived questions about their relationship.

A statement that MIT provided to WBUR and the Guardian declined to comment on Chomsky but said the university in 2020 had reviewed its contacts with Epstein. "Following that review, MIT took a number of steps, including enhancements to our gift acceptance processes and donating to four nonprofits supporting survivors of sexual abuse," the statement said.

The University of Arizona did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Chomsky. Neither did Chomsky. Nor did Valeria Wasserman Chomsky, who is a spokesperson for her husband – and in January 2017 sent an email to Epstein apologizing for not wishing him a happy birthday a couple of days earlier.

"Hope you had a good celebration!" she wrote to Epstein, according to the emails released by House oversight committee Republicans. "Noam and I hope to see you again soon and have a toast for your birthday."

Chomsky hasn't spoken publicly since he was reported in 2024 to be convalescing in Brazil after a stroke.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/22/noam-chomsky-jeffrey-epstein-ties-emails

In fairness, Chomsky probably hung out with Epstein more because Epstein was fabulously wealthy rather than because Epstein was rapist.  And really compared to some of the people that Chomsky defended, Epstein might one of the better ones.

[DGuller]

Something I still don't get about the whole Epstein story is, why did so many powerful men want to hang around him?  Is pedophilia really that common of an interest, and Esptein was a high-end dealer?  Or was Epstein running a honeypot operation where the powerful men didn't know how young the women really were, until they got trapped and had to become regulars?

[Oexmelin]

Impunity seems to be a hell of a drug.

Interestingly enough, and somewhat unsurprisingly, a lot of good thought about it from 18th century moralists and abolitionists.

[HVC]

Something I still don't get about the whole Epstein story is, why did so many powerful men want to hang around him?  Is pedophilia really that common of an interest, and Esptein was a high-end dealer?  Or was Epstein running a honeypot operation where the powerful men didn't know how young the women really were, until they got trapped and had to become regulars?

My assumption is many were there for the girls, a smaller portion were there because they knew they were young but most were there for the cool trips and island. Part of all the cool kids are doing it so I want to do be there too to be in the in group. The new money trap. I mean if you're rich getting pretty girls can't be that hard, can it?

But you know what they say about assumptions.

[DGuller]

Impunity seems to be a hell of a drug.

Interestingly enough, and somewhat unsurprisingly, a lot of good thought about it from 18th century moralists and abolitionists.

I have a hard time believing that even people of Bill Gates level of power would expect impunity for underage sex, it's just such a nuclear topic that is totally binary, and they know that it is.  What does seem very plausible is expecting impunity for legal-age trafficking.