'Distressing discussion' on withheld Epstein files reveals 'problems' for Trump: report

Veteran journalist Seymour Hersh says he and a “well-informed international source” had a “distressing discussion” about a trove of Jeffrey Epstein-related files currently being withheld by the Justice Department whose release “could cause problems for the past and present members of some in the Trump administration.”

Hersh wrote in his Substack Thursday about that conversation.

“I have been told that specific evidence about Epstein’s connections to foreign and domestic intelligence services, particularly [the Israeli intelligence agency the] Mossad and the FBI, though they do exist in government files, have yet to be the subject of materials made public by the Trump administration’s Justice Department and have not come under scrutiny by the Congress and the media,” he wrote.

“I had a distressing discussion of the Epstein affair with a well-informed international source I’ve known for a long time. He suddenly volunteered last fall to talk about what he knew about Epstein.”

Evidence exists to suggest that Epstein had worked on behalf of a number of different foreign governments, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and Israel, with Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) launching House Judiciary Committee probe into the matter last month.

Regarding Epstein’s ties to Israel, leaked emails reported on by Drop Site News have revealed the disgraced financier had deep ties to the Israeli government, having helped broker a defense agreement between Israel and the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire, established a backchannel for Israel-Russia communications during the Syrian civil war, and helped broker a security cooperation agreement between Israel and Mongolia.

Evidence also exists that Epstein’s home in New York City was fitted with "surveillance cameras,” per a 2019 FBI email documenting the agency’s raid on the townhouse conducted shortly after Epstein’s death. According to Hersh, a Mossad agent may have not only played a role in the installation of said surveillance cameras, but was “caught” by the FBI.

“He was explicitly told to purchase off-the-shelf camera equipment in New York for the risky mission, but, as he sadly related to his friends, he didn’t follow those instructions and instead relied on the high-end equipment on which he had trained for Mossad,” Hersh wrote.

“The young Israeli told his boyhood friends that his operation had been compromised and the FBI caught him and immediately realized — given his nationality and the use of expensive Israeli gear — that Israel was aware of Epstein’s client list and its obvious blackmail and extortion potential in the world of international trade and intelligence collection.”