Yesterday at the Epstein Survivors Press Conference in front of the US Capitol, one of the organizers, Congressman Ro Khanna, announced a moratorium on journalistic inquiry.
Everyone on the internet claims to be an “independent truth-seeker exposing what the MSM won’t touch.” They’re lying, and you’re dumb if you believe them. Almost all of them are defending a team, a donor class, or at minimum their social calendar. Michael Tracey is the rare exception — partly out of principle, partly because he reads the room like a blind man in a power outage.
He has no stable in-group, no institutional pipeline, and no instinct for self-preservation. His autonomy is so extreme it borders on a personality disorder. He skipped finishing school in the sense that he never learned the basic human skill of calibrating his tone to avoid making everyone around him furious. It’s the only reason he can do journalism this way. If you’re on a team and he happens to validate you today, relax — he’ll betray you next week without blinking.
He applies skepticism with the same dead-eyed intensity whether it helps you, hurts you, or gets him banned from another press list. Ask him “Do I look fat?” and you’ll get a level of blunt honesty usually reserved for hostile cross-examination. That’s why every faction hates him and yet quietly relies on him: he doesn’t outsource his moral reasoning to the group, because he’s incapable of belonging to one.
There are louder brands and more polished operators, but nobody else manages to offend every camp while still being analytically useful to all of them. Like it or not, there’s only one Michael Tracey.
BINGO. Michael is refreshing. I DON'T believe ANY of Epstein's accusers in fact I don't believe ANY of Weinstein's accusers or Cosby's accusers either. 97% of rape claims are lies less than 3% are true.
One thing almost nobody talks about: Epstein’s death created a media no-risk zone. Once the central figure is dead — and therefore legally incapable of suing — the normal evidentiary constraints evaporate. You can print innuendo, inflate claims, imply criminality, and attach the word “rape” to anything adjacent to his name, because there’s no plaintiff who can challenge you in court. Combine that with political incentive, NGO incentive, and the cultural appetite for moral theater, and you get exactly what we’re seeing now: a story with the lowest evidentiary standards in American public life, performed with the highest level of moral certainty. The incentives all run in one direction — and that’s why the narrative keeps inflating even while the facts stay frozen.
From the perspective of the Epstein-industrial complex, there’s only one real threat to the gold rush — the guy who keeps insisting on facts.
No one seems to wonder why these survivors (most of them represented by Brad Edwards) are so passionate about releasing the files. I thought they're just so "traumatized" by it all?
Obviously they've been told by Brad Edwards that the Epstein Files will provide new extortion targets for them to go after for hundreds of millions more dollars.
Apparently the hundreds of millions the survivors and lawyers have already suckered out of the Epstein estate and various banks just isn't enough for these professional victims to survive off of.
Does anyone know how many millions of dollars your average rape or random shooting survivor gets? Spoiler: it's $0.
Funny you bring this up, I dont understand how they are too traumatized to relive all of this but as soon as the camera turns on, they're they are.
Also Bradley Edwards did an interview with ABC on 7/16/25. He stated in the interview there wasnt a list, none that he knew of. Stated that Epstein had no intent to black mail anyone either. And there he was in front of the capital in September. He has been involved in this Epstein thing since the sweetheart deal era. Seems without Epstein he wouldnt have much of a career.
Laudable journalism here, MT. Admire your tenacity in fronting-up to these type of events - more power to you! It’s a ‘survivor’ cult, so pesky questions like the ones you pose will be seen as harassment, at best, or ignored, at worst.
Have been free-loading for too long on your Substack, so have decided to pony-up for a sub - least I can do.
Everyone (rightly) thinks that the man who took action in response to the internet allegations that Comet Pizza (Comet Ping Pong) concealed a Democratic pedophile ring was crazy. But as I read this piece, I can't help but think this is the same sort of weird conspiracy theory-- only this time given explicit credence by most of the press and elected officials. (To be clear, I'm not saying Epstein did not engage in inappropriate behavior, but the rest...)
It's difficult to believe so many of us are falling for blatantly unfounded allegations, and "follow the money" doesn't occur to them.
I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I'm sorry - Ro and Tom are too smart to be this blind. They know how ridiculous this is, and are stuck playing the illusion.
They're all full of shit and this Epstein saga is being dragged out to extract maximum distraction.
Massie plays the role of the guy who pushes against the system but when he does it's usually half assed.
The COVID thing, he focused on Fauci like Rand Paul...
Fauci is just one pawn. They should be smart enough to know that the whole thing was coordinated on many levels.
As for Ro Khanna, he's always defended the machine like with the Ukraine war. It was hilarious to see him squirm when The Grayzone- Max Blumenthal confronted him.
The fact that the victims aren't saying even 1 name makes me believe that some of them might just be there for money and fame ( I'm sure some of them might be real victims)
I think it was just a feel-good anti-elite virtue signal one woman blurted out in the moment because Virginia was mentioned earlier, and a few went along with it but they had to drop it because they didn't really mean it
I think the rational behind this is they maybe looking for another head to put on the chopping block. They have exhausted all efforts with the Epstein thing. You have to understand, Guiffre created the idea of the trafficking thing. Now they're running with it. From day one of really looking into this, I knew it was a scam. Guiffre was performative
Keep it up Michael although I don’t know how you do it. There’s a lot of greed in this story which in my modest opinion probably has Epstein laughing from wherever he is! Thank you.
Driving the vehicle of mass hysteria about satanic child rape cults and using the leverage of her lunatic sister to gouge millions for herself only to pose as some sort of guru on TV.
At least VRG could plausibily plead insanity if she were alive but AF is just a malevolent feind.
Thank you fur your unorthodox approach. Everyone else seems to completely lose their heads in this mass psychosis. Our society is periodically affected by a bout of mass meltdown. Just like during the peak of Me Too movement, it was enough for a “survivor” to accuse and cancel a man, and nobody bothered with fact gathering, the obsession with Epstein’s alleged sex crimes has reached an unhealthy hysterical pitch. If it is considered reprehensible even to question so-called survivors or want to know their names, time to dial it all down. Though I doubt this prolonged state of out of control frenzy is going away easily. And while gullible public is foaming at the mouth in anger at the abusers, victims and their attorneys are getting filthy rich, possibly even on our dime. Could it t be that political careers and incredible wealth are being built on a flimsy mythical foundation? On lies? Will we ever know?
It's really very simple - they're frauds and people fall for their fraudulent claims. I have actually read the transcript of Haley Robson's police interview as well as the charging documents when Palm Beach police charged her with prostitution. She was 18 years old when she took the 14-year-old who got the investigation started to Epstein, and was paid for it. She told police she was taken to Epstein, but he saw that she was uncomfortable and told her he wouldn't call for her again, but she could bring other girls to him. She admitted to bringing 15. PBPD wanted to charge her along with Sarah Kellen as well as Epstein. She should thank God Acosta came up with the NPD or she'd have gone to jail if the PBPD had their way.
Annie Farmer has no grounds to be calling herself a survivor and she knows it. The incident in New Mexico was that she got a massage from Maxwell while topless, a massage she consented to. At 16, she was of legal age in New Mexico (and in 30 other states.) I'm surprised Comey even used her as a witness. In fact, the only one who actually said anything truly incriminating was Nadia Bjorlin. Carolyn Andriano should have never been called either, because of her history of mental illness.
As for Maria Farmer, who started it all, it's not that the woman is a crackpot; it's that she's sick. She has cancer that apparently started in her brain. As I understand it, she had a slow-growing tumor that was found a few years after she made her claims. As it turns out, I have experience with brain tumors. My 25-year-old son died with a slow-growing tumor in his brainstem. Before he was diagnosed, he made all kinds of wild claims.
As for being a "survivor," I am a "survivor" of child sexual abuse. My uncle married a woman who had a 13-year-old son. I was nine. We were buddies. He tried to butt-fuck me one night when I spent the night with them. Thankfully, he couldn't get it in. Do I go around calling myself a survivor? NOPE! I went on with my life. As for my step-cousin, I don't know if he forgot about it, I didn't. Soon after I told my parents what happened, my uncle moved to Chicago and I wasn't around him a lot but we did associate. I have little sympathy who are making a career out of victimhood - and collecting big bucks.
From what I understand Annie Farmer said Epstein and Maxwell were aggressive with her, but of course she does not explain what happened. I had no idea legal age in NM was 16, in that case there is another one that was not underage. Maria Farmer got evicted from the Ohio house, not too sure what happened. Again another story where you only get half of it. Les Wexner's security withheld her. Then her father had to picked her up.
Carolyn Andriano was an addict. She got hooked on drugs because of Guiffre. Carolyn was also on the stand at Maxwell's trial and was apparently nodding off. They took her testimony. Maxwell said she had no idea who she was and didn't understand why she was testifying against her. They took her testimony and it was rumored Guiffre paid her off to testify against Maxwell.
I read Annie Farmer and Carolyn Andriano's testimony. Annie testified that she went to the movies in New York with Epstein and her sister Maria and that Epstein held her hand. She said Maxwell gave her a topless massage and that Epstein got in bed with he to cuddle. She was 16 and the age of consent in New Mexico was 16 at the time. Something like 31 states in the US currently have age of consent laws of 16. The only one of the states Epstein had homes in with an age of consent of 18 was Florida. New York was seventeen - which made Roberts legal there - and New Mexico and the VI were sixteen. The UK was and is 16. Andriano was definitely an addict and she also had schizophrenia. She testified that her grandfather raped her when she was a little girl, I think age nine. She also said her mother basically let her run wild and that she dropped out of middle school.
As for Maria Farmer, it's questionable that she was ever in Ohio. If the incident occured as she claimed, why didn't she contact Ohio authorlities? She supposedly went to the New York PD who had no authority in Ohio. She also claims she went to the FBI but there were no Federal laws to apply. Personally, I thinl she made it up as a result of the brain tumor she had but didn't know about until a few years later. I understand it was slow-growing and wasn't diagnosed until several years after she claims Epstein and Maxwell "assaulted" here.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA_vs._Maxwell_jury_trial_transcript_-_volume_1.pdf This is a link to the Wiki Commons page where the entire trial transcript is posted. It looks like they haven't deleted it yet. Maria didn't go to the FBI and they basically ignored her. Not to mention that assault is only a Federal transgression if it's committed on Federal property.
Theoretically the judge’s instruction leaves room for the jury, if it wanted to, to place the handholding in a larger context with other evidence that may have been aired in that trial (I don’t know) of other “illegal sexual activity”. The jury could use the handholding as a sign, in other words, the tip of an iceberg, however plausible such an interpretation would be.
The judge was only telling the jury that it could not consider the handholding as character evidence suggesting something like, “we’ll if he did that then he probably did this too, because he’s that kind of person”. But as the judge said, the jury could consider the handholding if it believed it was “relevant” even if it was not illegal sexual activity.
So the idea that handholding is not illegal sexual activity does not necessarily absolve Epstein and Maxwell, depending on what the other evidence was at the trial and whether the jury could, based on that evidence and the handholding together, conclude that illegal sexual activity took place.
No, I don’t know what the other evidence is or is not. That’s why I pay Tracey. My point is about what the judge said. It’s a routine jury instruction about character evidence in a criminal case.
You need to read it. The instruction was not pertaining to the hand-holding, it was to Farrmer's allegations regarding Maxwell giving her a massage in New Mexico where the age of consent was 16. She also instructed the jury to ignore the testimony of the British actress who was 17 when she met Maxwell and 18 when she met Epstein. Her instructions were specific to their testimony they had given of events which had not broken any laws.
There's a link on one of my Substack articles. There may be a problem getting them. I got the transcripts from a Wikipedia page and I saw something that they were going to remove them because of information revealed by the attorneys in discussions with the judge. They should be available from other sources, though.
Everyone on the internet claims to be an “independent truth-seeker exposing what the MSM won’t touch.” They’re lying, and you’re dumb if you believe them. Almost all of them are defending a team, a donor class, or at minimum their social calendar. Michael Tracey is the rare exception — partly out of principle, partly because he reads the room like a blind man in a power outage.
He has no stable in-group, no institutional pipeline, and no instinct for self-preservation. His autonomy is so extreme it borders on a personality disorder. He skipped finishing school in the sense that he never learned the basic human skill of calibrating his tone to avoid making everyone around him furious. It’s the only reason he can do journalism this way. If you’re on a team and he happens to validate you today, relax — he’ll betray you next week without blinking.
He applies skepticism with the same dead-eyed intensity whether it helps you, hurts you, or gets him banned from another press list. Ask him “Do I look fat?” and you’ll get a level of blunt honesty usually reserved for hostile cross-examination. That’s why every faction hates him and yet quietly relies on him: he doesn’t outsource his moral reasoning to the group, because he’s incapable of belonging to one.
There are louder brands and more polished operators, but nobody else manages to offend every camp while still being analytically useful to all of them. Like it or not, there’s only one Michael Tracey.
BINGO. Michael is refreshing. I DON'T believe ANY of Epstein's accusers in fact I don't believe ANY of Weinstein's accusers or Cosby's accusers either. 97% of rape claims are lies less than 3% are true.
Wait. Are you Michael Tracey?
He has an unhealthy obsession with minimizing what Epstein did. That's his whole shtick. Makes some valid points tho
Michael is not minimizing anything; he's simply trying to find out what the truth is.
Starting to think the only woman with any credibility at all in this entire shitshow is Maxwell
I tend to agree. Yes, girls massaged Epstein for pay and he served time. Beyond that, it's all journalistic myth,
Yes. This.
One thing almost nobody talks about: Epstein’s death created a media no-risk zone. Once the central figure is dead — and therefore legally incapable of suing — the normal evidentiary constraints evaporate. You can print innuendo, inflate claims, imply criminality, and attach the word “rape” to anything adjacent to his name, because there’s no plaintiff who can challenge you in court. Combine that with political incentive, NGO incentive, and the cultural appetite for moral theater, and you get exactly what we’re seeing now: a story with the lowest evidentiary standards in American public life, performed with the highest level of moral certainty. The incentives all run in one direction — and that’s why the narrative keeps inflating even while the facts stay frozen.
From the perspective of the Epstein-industrial complex, there’s only one real threat to the gold rush — the guy who keeps insisting on facts.
BRILLIANT! I wish I could say it as well as you have. YOU GET IT. "Thou shall not bear false witnesses"
Bullseye!
No one seems to wonder why these survivors (most of them represented by Brad Edwards) are so passionate about releasing the files. I thought they're just so "traumatized" by it all?
Obviously they've been told by Brad Edwards that the Epstein Files will provide new extortion targets for them to go after for hundreds of millions more dollars.
Apparently the hundreds of millions the survivors and lawyers have already suckered out of the Epstein estate and various banks just isn't enough for these professional victims to survive off of.
Does anyone know how many millions of dollars your average rape or random shooting survivor gets? Spoiler: it's $0.
Funny you bring this up, I dont understand how they are too traumatized to relive all of this but as soon as the camera turns on, they're they are.
Also Bradley Edwards did an interview with ABC on 7/16/25. He stated in the interview there wasnt a list, none that he knew of. Stated that Epstein had no intent to black mail anyone either. And there he was in front of the capital in September. He has been involved in this Epstein thing since the sweetheart deal era. Seems without Epstein he wouldnt have much of a career.
You're doing the yeoman's work here Mike, keep it up
Laudable journalism here, MT. Admire your tenacity in fronting-up to these type of events - more power to you! It’s a ‘survivor’ cult, so pesky questions like the ones you pose will be seen as harassment, at best, or ignored, at worst.
Have been free-loading for too long on your Substack, so have decided to pony-up for a sub - least I can do.
Everyone (rightly) thinks that the man who took action in response to the internet allegations that Comet Pizza (Comet Ping Pong) concealed a Democratic pedophile ring was crazy. But as I read this piece, I can't help but think this is the same sort of weird conspiracy theory-- only this time given explicit credence by most of the press and elected officials. (To be clear, I'm not saying Epstein did not engage in inappropriate behavior, but the rest...)
It's difficult to believe so many of us are falling for blatantly unfounded allegations, and "follow the money" doesn't occur to them.
I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I'm sorry - Ro and Tom are too smart to be this blind. They know how ridiculous this is, and are stuck playing the illusion.
They're all full of shit and this Epstein saga is being dragged out to extract maximum distraction.
Massie plays the role of the guy who pushes against the system but when he does it's usually half assed.
The COVID thing, he focused on Fauci like Rand Paul...
Fauci is just one pawn. They should be smart enough to know that the whole thing was coordinated on many levels.
As for Ro Khanna, he's always defended the machine like with the Ukraine war. It was hilarious to see him squirm when The Grayzone- Max Blumenthal confronted him.
The fact that the victims aren't saying even 1 name makes me believe that some of them might just be there for money and fame ( I'm sure some of them might be real victims)
NOPE. They are ALL LYING for money the same way they did when they hooked for it
I think it was just a feel-good anti-elite virtue signal one woman blurted out in the moment because Virginia was mentioned earlier, and a few went along with it but they had to drop it because they didn't really mean it
I think the rational behind this is they maybe looking for another head to put on the chopping block. They have exhausted all efforts with the Epstein thing. You have to understand, Guiffre created the idea of the trafficking thing. Now they're running with it. From day one of really looking into this, I knew it was a scam. Guiffre was performative
Keep it up Michael although I don’t know how you do it. There’s a lot of greed in this story which in my modest opinion probably has Epstein laughing from wherever he is! Thank you.
Annie farmer, a true witch...
Driving the vehicle of mass hysteria about satanic child rape cults and using the leverage of her lunatic sister to gouge millions for herself only to pose as some sort of guru on TV.
At least VRG could plausibily plead insanity if she were alive but AF is just a malevolent feind.
OMG, what?
Annie and her sister are like a dark mass.
Thank you fur your unorthodox approach. Everyone else seems to completely lose their heads in this mass psychosis. Our society is periodically affected by a bout of mass meltdown. Just like during the peak of Me Too movement, it was enough for a “survivor” to accuse and cancel a man, and nobody bothered with fact gathering, the obsession with Epstein’s alleged sex crimes has reached an unhealthy hysterical pitch. If it is considered reprehensible even to question so-called survivors or want to know their names, time to dial it all down. Though I doubt this prolonged state of out of control frenzy is going away easily. And while gullible public is foaming at the mouth in anger at the abusers, victims and their attorneys are getting filthy rich, possibly even on our dime. Could it t be that political careers and incredible wealth are being built on a flimsy mythical foundation? On lies? Will we ever know?
I have long had trouble calling the Epstein girls "survivors ".
All went into this with open eyes and a clear quid pro quo.
None were coerced and some performed nothing beyond " hand holding".
The Me Too movement is not quite dead.
And, when necessary, they lied about their age.
It's really very simple - they're frauds and people fall for their fraudulent claims. I have actually read the transcript of Haley Robson's police interview as well as the charging documents when Palm Beach police charged her with prostitution. She was 18 years old when she took the 14-year-old who got the investigation started to Epstein, and was paid for it. She told police she was taken to Epstein, but he saw that she was uncomfortable and told her he wouldn't call for her again, but she could bring other girls to him. She admitted to bringing 15. PBPD wanted to charge her along with Sarah Kellen as well as Epstein. She should thank God Acosta came up with the NPD or she'd have gone to jail if the PBPD had their way.
Annie Farmer has no grounds to be calling herself a survivor and she knows it. The incident in New Mexico was that she got a massage from Maxwell while topless, a massage she consented to. At 16, she was of legal age in New Mexico (and in 30 other states.) I'm surprised Comey even used her as a witness. In fact, the only one who actually said anything truly incriminating was Nadia Bjorlin. Carolyn Andriano should have never been called either, because of her history of mental illness.
As for Maria Farmer, who started it all, it's not that the woman is a crackpot; it's that she's sick. She has cancer that apparently started in her brain. As I understand it, she had a slow-growing tumor that was found a few years after she made her claims. As it turns out, I have experience with brain tumors. My 25-year-old son died with a slow-growing tumor in his brainstem. Before he was diagnosed, he made all kinds of wild claims.
As for being a "survivor," I am a "survivor" of child sexual abuse. My uncle married a woman who had a 13-year-old son. I was nine. We were buddies. He tried to butt-fuck me one night when I spent the night with them. Thankfully, he couldn't get it in. Do I go around calling myself a survivor? NOPE! I went on with my life. As for my step-cousin, I don't know if he forgot about it, I didn't. Soon after I told my parents what happened, my uncle moved to Chicago and I wasn't around him a lot but we did associate. I have little sympathy who are making a career out of victimhood - and collecting big bucks.
From what I understand Annie Farmer said Epstein and Maxwell were aggressive with her, but of course she does not explain what happened. I had no idea legal age in NM was 16, in that case there is another one that was not underage. Maria Farmer got evicted from the Ohio house, not too sure what happened. Again another story where you only get half of it. Les Wexner's security withheld her. Then her father had to picked her up.
Carolyn Andriano was an addict. She got hooked on drugs because of Guiffre. Carolyn was also on the stand at Maxwell's trial and was apparently nodding off. They took her testimony. Maxwell said she had no idea who she was and didn't understand why she was testifying against her. They took her testimony and it was rumored Guiffre paid her off to testify against Maxwell.
I read Annie Farmer and Carolyn Andriano's testimony. Annie testified that she went to the movies in New York with Epstein and her sister Maria and that Epstein held her hand. She said Maxwell gave her a topless massage and that Epstein got in bed with he to cuddle. She was 16 and the age of consent in New Mexico was 16 at the time. Something like 31 states in the US currently have age of consent laws of 16. The only one of the states Epstein had homes in with an age of consent of 18 was Florida. New York was seventeen - which made Roberts legal there - and New Mexico and the VI were sixteen. The UK was and is 16. Andriano was definitely an addict and she also had schizophrenia. She testified that her grandfather raped her when she was a little girl, I think age nine. She also said her mother basically let her run wild and that she dropped out of middle school.
As for Maria Farmer, it's questionable that she was ever in Ohio. If the incident occured as she claimed, why didn't she contact Ohio authorlities? She supposedly went to the New York PD who had no authority in Ohio. She also claims she went to the FBI but there were no Federal laws to apply. Personally, I thinl she made it up as a result of the brain tumor she had but didn't know about until a few years later. I understand it was slow-growing and wasn't diagnosed until several years after she claims Epstein and Maxwell "assaulted" here.
Wow, thank you for the info. I think Maria also said she went to the FBI as well.
Where did you find Annie and Carolyns testimony?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA_vs._Maxwell_jury_trial_transcript_-_volume_1.pdf This is a link to the Wiki Commons page where the entire trial transcript is posted. It looks like they haven't deleted it yet. Maria didn't go to the FBI and they basically ignored her. Not to mention that assault is only a Federal transgression if it's committed on Federal property.
Thank you so much! :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
It's incredibly refreshing to see a journalist in 2025 actually engaging in honest-to-goodness journalism.
Theoretically the judge’s instruction leaves room for the jury, if it wanted to, to place the handholding in a larger context with other evidence that may have been aired in that trial (I don’t know) of other “illegal sexual activity”. The jury could use the handholding as a sign, in other words, the tip of an iceberg, however plausible such an interpretation would be.
The judge was only telling the jury that it could not consider the handholding as character evidence suggesting something like, “we’ll if he did that then he probably did this too, because he’s that kind of person”. But as the judge said, the jury could consider the handholding if it believed it was “relevant” even if it was not illegal sexual activity.
So the idea that handholding is not illegal sexual activity does not necessarily absolve Epstein and Maxwell, depending on what the other evidence was at the trial and whether the jury could, based on that evidence and the handholding together, conclude that illegal sexual activity took place.
Take a hike. Epstein's hoes are STILL hoes and still looking for money
Sure thing headshot
Have you read the trial transcripts?
No, I don’t know what the other evidence is or is not. That’s why I pay Tracey. My point is about what the judge said. It’s a routine jury instruction about character evidence in a criminal case.
BTW, don't take Tracey's or anyone else's word for anything. Find the transcripts and read them for yourself.
Thats where you get all the answers
Check
You need to read it. The instruction was not pertaining to the hand-holding, it was to Farrmer's allegations regarding Maxwell giving her a massage in New Mexico where the age of consent was 16. She also instructed the jury to ignore the testimony of the British actress who was 17 when she met Maxwell and 18 when she met Epstein. Her instructions were specific to their testimony they had given of events which had not broken any laws.
Do you have a link for this?
There's a link on one of my Substack articles. There may be a problem getting them. I got the transcripts from a Wikipedia page and I saw something that they were going to remove them because of information revealed by the attorneys in discussions with the judge. They should be available from other sources, though.