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From Wall Street to DEF CON: How Epstein Sought Access to Cybersecurity’s Inner Circle · The Epstein Chronicles

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. Whenever the topic of Jeffrey Epstein comes up,
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obviously the first thing people think about is the horrible
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sexual abuse and the human trafficking, and rightfully so, but
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you have to understand that there are levels to this,
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and Jeffrey Epstein in his circle were not only engaging
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in human trafficking crimes, they were engaging in a whole
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host of financial crimes as well. And at Jeffrey Epstein's core,
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that's what he was. A bundler, a middleman, a guy
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that knew how to get things from A to B
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and knew the exact people to talk to to get
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that done. And that's why you see Epstein with all
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these relationships and all these connections to very powerful people.
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And what's one of the best ways to collect information
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on people digitally? Right? Well, Jeffrey Epstein had a fascination
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with cybersecurity and hacking, and in this episode we have
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an article from Politico and the headline Jeffrey Epstein spent
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years building ties to well known hackers. This article was
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authored by Maggie Miller, convicted sex offender. Jeffrey Epstein for years,
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communicated with experts in the cybersecurity community, and expressed interest
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in attending two of the largest hacker conventions in the world.
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According to documents released by the Justice Department, Well, we
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knew that he had all kinds of shit in the works,
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and we know that he had al Seckel, who was
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married to one of Maxwell's sisters, working on scrubbing his
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profile from the internet. Oh and by the way, al
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secl had a very unfortunate fall off of a cliff.
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But I'm sure that's just a coincidence, right, like every
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other death surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. It's unclear of Epstein ever
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attended either Defcon or black Hat, where thousands of hackers
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and researchers gather annually in Las Vegas to discuss the
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latest cyber vulnerabilities and trends. According to his emails with
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several prominent researchers and business people, his interest in cybersecurity
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and cryptography appeared to be widespread, ranging from discussions about
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removing information about himself from online search engines to network security. Well, yeah,
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if you want to move in the shadows, you want
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to be opaque, then controlling your online profile seems like
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a pretty good way to go. I mean, look at
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the shooter from Las Vegas, right Paddock no social media
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profile whatsoever or footprint at least according to the government.
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But if you're going to do something crazy and you're
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going to get involved in something like, oh, I don't know,
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human trafficking and gun running and bundling money for the
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most powerful people in the world, probably a good idea
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to have some hackers involved at the very least have
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access to them so that you can get their help
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for whatever kind of crazy bullshit you're up to. So
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it certainly makes sense that Jeffrey Epstein would want to
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attend def Con and maybe meet some new hackers or
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people that he could add to the fold. We all
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know that he loved to collect people. Jeff Moss, founder
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of both the black Cat and def Con conferences, told
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Political in his statement that it's unlikely Epstein actually made
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it to the conference. As far as we can tell,
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he wanted to attend, but never did. Moss set of Epstein,
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it looks like there were a lot of plans and
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I'm just waiting for some sort of evidence that he
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followed through on them. All Right, Well, I don't know
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one way or the other if he went a black
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hat or def Con. I mean, but it definitely tracks,
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and it wouldn't be shocking to me if he didn't
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go there, that he was recruiting people anyway who might
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have been attending, certainly within his capacity and certainly within
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his sphere, right And when you understand that information acts
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like currency to people like this, then it certainly shouldn't
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be a shock to anybody that they'd be looking to
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add some hackers to their team. According to the released emails,
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Epstein first made plans to attend Defcon for a few
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hours in August of twenty thirteen to meet with Pablos Holman,
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who at the time worked on various tech and cyber
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projects at private equity company Intellectual Ventures. It's unclear whether
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Epstein and almost a dozen of his guests obtained tickets
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for Defcon, or if Epstein attended. It appears that Epstein
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and Holman had been in touch since twenty ten, according
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to emails. Epstein in twenty ten emailed cryptography researcher Ian
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Goldberg and said Holman suggested we speak. Holman also planned
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to stay in Epstein's apartment while visiting New York City
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in twenty thirteen and advised Epstein on how to bury
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negative stuff online. A hell of a guy. Huh, let's
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help a convicted child abuser bury stuff online? What kind
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of disgusting, degenerate derelict do you have to be? Oh,
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I'll help somebody like Jeffrey Epstein directly into a helicopter
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for a trip to a volcano to throw his ass in.
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That's about as far as that help goes. A spokesperson
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for the University of Waterloo, where Goldberg works within the
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School of Computer Science, confirmed to Politico that Goldberg turned
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down the offer from Epstein in twenty ten to fund
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his work at the university. Holman, who currently serves as
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a general partner at venture capital group Deep Future, did
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not respond to multiple requests for comment. And that's what
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they're gonna do. They're going to try and wait it
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out once again, because that's the tried and true strategy
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for these people, just way for the next disaster to
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roll in. If we just keep our head down, if
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we just ignore people asking questions, Oh, we'll be fine,
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everything will be great. That's how they think. And it's unfortunate,
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but that strategy has worked time and time again for
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these people since the beginning of time. Joi Ito, the
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current president of Japan's Chiba Institute of Technology and former
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director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technologies Media Lab, appears
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to have introduced entrepreneur and researcher Vincenzo Iazo via email
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to Epstein in twenty fourteen. According to emails, Itto stepped
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down from his role at MIT in twenty nineteen, when
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previous disclosures revealed Ito had accepted about one point seven
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million from Epstein for the lab and his own investment funds.
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Spokespersons for a Chiba Institute of Technology did not respond
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to a request for comment on Ito's connections to Epstein.
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Edo previously apologized for his association with Epstein and stress
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that he was never involved, never heard him talk about,
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and never saw any evidence of the horrific acts that
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he was accused of. Well, no no idea, no idea
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that a convicted sex offender is a sex offender. The
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smartest people in the room, sure are fucking stupid, aren't they?
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All these MIT people, all these high IQ individuals. What
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a bunch of jerkofs. Either your liars or you're not
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as smart as you make yourselves out to be, which
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one is it? According to the emails, Iazo, who currently
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serves as CEO of identity management company slash Id, discussed
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obtenning tickets for Epstein to attend Defcon conferences in Vegas
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in twenty sixteen and twenty eighteen. Iazzo previously served in
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roles at cybersecurity company CrowdStrike and as a board member
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for the annual black Hat Conference. Now, CrowdStrike is interesting,
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especially considering their role when it comes to the whole
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entire Russia Gate. So when you see these tentacles connect,
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it really starts to make sense. Right, all of this
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is connected, and all these people they're all connected too.
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And so we know that the tentacles are there. The
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only question is how far do they reach and where
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do they go? He also planned to meet with Epstein
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at his New York City home on at least five
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occasions in twenty fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen. Remember
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in the Sopranos when Veto got caught at the gay
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bar and he says to sal what it was a joke.
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I was here. I'm waiting for that excuse from these
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people that were around Epstein what it was a joke.
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I was here. I mean, come on, or maybe they'll
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just show up with a doctor's note. Remember when Vito
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said to Tony, I can I had a note from
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my doctor. I mean, that's the kind of absurdity we're
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dealing with here. Oh, I had no idea. I never
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met the guy. What are you talking about, bro? You
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were scheduled to go there five separate times. You mean
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to tell me you never went, not once. So if
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you're lying about the little things, I automatically assume that
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you're lying about the big things. And I try to
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give everybody the benefit of the doubt. Notice I haven't
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been talking about people's names that have been revealed, like
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by ro Conna and Thomas Massey. That's because I couldn't
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verify those names. So I only talk about the things
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that I feel like we can verify. But I find
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it very hard to believe, very hard to believe that
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Jeffrey Epstein and mister Iazo hardly knew each other. One
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email sent by Epstein's IASO ahead of the twenty sixteen
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conference noted he wanted to bring guests, including former Israeli
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Prime Minister at Wwood Barrock, American billionaire Tom Pritzker, and four.
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It's not clear if Epstein attended the conference that year
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or met with Barack, Pritzker, or Iazzo. Well, we all
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know that Pritzker was credibly accused by Virginia Roberts of
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abusing her. So not only hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein,
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you're hanging out with somebody that's allegedly taking part in
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the abuse. Hell of a squad. Huh oh. And by
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the way, we're gonna bring four girls. Oh and also,
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by the way, I'll be bringing Prime Minister at who
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Barock with me? Another person who was credibly accused of
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abusing Virginia Roberts. Hell of a conference, you guys got here.
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A spokesperson for Barrock told Politico that the former Prime
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Minister did not attend def Con in twenty sixteen, and
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further noted that Epstein never asked him to attend. The
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spokesperson stress that Barack has repeatedly and publicly stated that
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he deeply regrets having any association with jeff Epstein. Oh,
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shut the fuck up, save the bullshit. Did you deeply
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regret it? When you were making dough with carbine? Software,
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or how about promised software, or how about any of
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the other nonsense the two of you were up to.
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Did you profit from that? Pretty sure you did. Separate
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spokespersons for Hyatt Hotel, where Pritzker serves as executive chairman
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of the board of directors, and for the Pritzker Organization
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did not respond to a request for comment. Epstein again
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discussed attending Defcon in twenty eighteen, which Iaso also offered
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to procure tickets for. According to the emails, ahead of
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the twenty eighteen convention, Epstein requested to meet with founder
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of Black Hat, but Iaso wrote in an email that
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this person turned down the meeting due to what's out
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there online about Epstein. Whoever that person is, kudos to them.
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Imagine Epstein trying to show up to any adventure at
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no matter who you are, and try and cozy up
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to you, talk about fucking gross and talk about catching
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a charge because I'm punching them directly in the face
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without a question, not even a question, not a discussion,
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not a question on site. It's all fun in games
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until you get punched directly in the mouth. The founder, however,
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was happy to provide Epstein with tickets to the event,
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Iazo wrote, it's unclear if Epstein was referring to Moss
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or someone else. Moss told Politico in a statement that
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he turned down Vincenzo's badge request for Epstein and advised
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Vincenzo to stay clear of the disgraced financier. Moss noted
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that it's possible Isaso bought passes to the conference. Everly,
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you know, like everything else, it's opaque, right, it's ambiguous.
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All we have is circumstantial evidence, and we have to
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try and put the pieces together. Did he go or
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didn't he go? An FBI file released by the Justice Department,
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first reported by tech Crunch, suggested that Epstein had a
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personal hacker who developed offensive cyber tools that were sold
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to several unnamed governments. It's unclear if the information provided
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by the unnamed informant to the FBI is accurate. Look,
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take everything with a grain of salt. There's a lot
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of wild accusations right now, a lot of things that
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I've never even heard. Now, does that mean they're not true?
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Of course not. I'm not the be all end all.
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I'm still learning every day. There's a lot to you know,
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dive into and there's a lot of pieces to put together,
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but there's certainly a lot of claims out there that
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I had never heard ever. And like I said from
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the jump, a lot of that is by design. Remember
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the way they dump those documents. They wanted it to
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be confusing. They know the vast majority of people don't
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know what to look for, they don't know what to
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key in on, so they're gonna look for salacious information.
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And when that information starts becoming popular or starts getting shared,
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you'll have people like Todd Blanche point at it and say, look,
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it's all a big conspiracy theory. This is all crazy,
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and that was by design. And that's why I told you,
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don't fall for the salacious bullshit the side quests, and
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instead stay focused on what we know, or at least
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what the circumstantial evidence is showing us. And there's plenty
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of people to pursue. How about we start with Sarah
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Kelln Vickers and Leslie Groff and Adriana Ross and Nadia
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marson Kova and anybody else who might have been recruiting
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and procuring girls for Jeffrey Epstein that was over the
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age of eighteen. Pretty simple right, doesn't seem hard to me. Now,
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of course, there's always circumstances. If somebody was groomed as
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a child, you have to look at the whole entire
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picture right now. If you came in and you were
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over eighteen, and you were bringing other girls to Jeffrey Epstein,
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especially underage girls, there's a dark pit in hell for
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you too. But we have to be be very careful
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when we're talking about that. There's a lot of confusion
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and a lot of inflation about who's what and who
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isn't what. And that's why it's crucial that these emails
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are all unsealed. Anyone that was sending emails to Jeffrey Epstein, anybody,
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that email should be unsealed. If there were over eighteen,
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that email should be unsealed. That way, we can get
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rid of the confusion, right, get rid of the confusion,
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because there's sure is a lot of it, and it's
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rather obvious that there's a ham fisted attempt as we speak,
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to try and reframe this story and gaslight people into
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thinking that these women, the vast majority of them, were involved,
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and that is certainly not the case. And that's why
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I'm saying unsealed the emails. Do you really think girls
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that were fourteen from Florida kept a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?
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I highly doubted folks. And what about the girls with
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no names? Should we forget about them? Girls from South America,
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girls from Russia, girls from Ukraine? What because are not American?
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I shouldn't give a fuck. Sorry, I give a fuck.
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And every last person that was preyed upon by Jeffrey
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Epstein and his disgusting friends, they all deserve justice and
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there's no amount of gaslighting that's ever going to change that.
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Ayazo said that he did not provide Epstein with exclusive
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access to the Defcon and Black Hat conferences and did
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not know if Epstein actually attended either event. I unfortunately
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knew Epstein for professional reasons. Iazo said, I wish I
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did not. We were introduced by people whom I trusted
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and admired when I was twenty five fundraising from my
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startup in twenty fourteen. Because of this, I failed to
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ask the right questions, questions that in retrospect seem obvious.
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I foolishly accepted the narrative that was presented to me
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by others that greatly minimized the magnitude of his horrific crimes.
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That's bullshit. He went in with his eyes wide open.
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All these people did. Oh, I had no idea the
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magnitude of his crime. Yo, procuring a miner for prostitution
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is a small crime. Now listen, if he got a
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regular prostitution charge solicitation, I'd be like, look, degenerate dude,
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but nothing to see here. That's not what this is.
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And the people that try to make this into that
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are some of the most devious pieces of shit out there. Look.
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I have no problem with people digging for the truth.
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That's what we should all be doing. But I do
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have a problem with people who are intentionally trying to
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muddy the waters. I regret the past association and take
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full responsibility for not exercising greater judgment at the time,
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he added. Epstein's interest in black hat and defcon conventions
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began years after he had been convicted of and jailed
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for soliciting sex from miners in two thousand and eight.
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Following his incarceration, Epstein reportedly took steps to scrub references
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to his conviction from the Internet with the help of
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cyber professionals. Yeah, I'll secle who is now dead by
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the way, like I was saying earlier, an unfortunate fall
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from a cliff. Ah, no big deal, just another coincidence, folks,
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It's time to move on. Like do these people even
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listen to themselves? Epstein was again arrested and charged with
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sex trafficking miners in twenty nineteen, though the federal case
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was formally dismissed in August twenty nineteen following his death
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by suicide, allegedly in jail while awaiting trial. I love
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how they're just like by suicide. Oh okay, cool, you
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got those facts for us, let's see them. And I
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don't mean the OIG report. And what's wild is you
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have people who spent the last eight years, last six
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years complaining about the government being corrupt, who all of
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a sudden, well, now they believe the FBI and they
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believe the government. The government can do no wrong. Folks,
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be very, very cautious of people who only rage against
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the machine when the other quote on quote team is
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in power. Because I got news for you. The machine
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doesn't give a shit about you, your kids, or your life,
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no matter who the president is. And the sooner that
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we all understand that nobody's coming to save us. The
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better off we're all gonna be. All of the information
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that goes with this episode can be found in the
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description box.