Former Harvard President Larry Summers has now lost virtually every professional association after a House committee released emails of his exchanges with child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Many of the correspondences are embarrassing.
There’s going to be little, if any, sympathy for a well-known elite who’s angered conservatives and liberals and befriends creeps. And perhaps Summers doesn’t deserve any.
Even so, there isn’t even a hint of illegality in those emails.
There’s nothing suggesting that Summers participated in any kind of impropriety or conspiracy.
The only purpose of the release was to destroy him.
Congress has voted to compel release of the so-called “Epstein files,” a trove of documents amassed during criminal investigations into the sex offender who committed suicide in 2019.
The contents are likely brimming with thousands of names of innocent people, many of whom have provided alibis or were never under any suspicion of sex trafficking or any other crime.
A significant portion of any criminal investigation consists of uncorroborated accusations that are floated by people on the periphery of the case, third-hand accounts, theories and rumors.
This is why grand jury files are almost always sealed.
We already know Epstein was a vile and depraved criminal. And no one should belittle the experience of his victims.
Anyone, however, can make allegations. Even victims don’t always remember correctly.
Things a braggart such as Epstein might have said may not be true.
That’s why we have procedures, the rule of law, statutes of limitations and trials.
Moreover, the Epstein files will be filled with information obtained by law enforcement using warrants based on probable cause signed off by a judge for a specific reason.
The warrants, which allow the use of government coercion, weren’t signed so that the public could have access to the emails of every person Epstein spoke with.
Americans caught up in criminal investigations have a presumption of privacy.
Those who continued their relationships with Epstein even after he was convicted of solicitation of prostitution from a minor are detestable — but fraternizing with criminals isn’t criminality itself.
What principle stops a future Congress from cracking open useful Justice Department files and releasing any embarrassing second-hand conversations that involve their political enemies?
Perhaps ask the people caught up in the “Russia Collusion” investigations.
There’s apparently a widespread public belief that Epstein was trafficking underage girls to a cabal of powerful people. Yet, as of now, there is only evidence that Epstein participated in sexual crimes himself.
It is perfectly plausible that the financier befriended celebrities and kingmakers on one hand, and trafficked women for himself on the other.
If journalists want to prove that Epstein was the kingpin of the New World Order pedo-ring, go for it.
If authorities believe that his prosecution in Florida was corrupt, they should launch an investigation into misconduct.
This isn’t an ancient case. Most of the victims are still alive.
Most of the powerful people involved with Epstein are still alive. His sidekick is still alive and in prison.
Investigate.
But much of this is driven by rank partisanship.
Democrats like to act as if Trump is engaged in some coverup.
Well, they had every chance to release the files during Joe Biden’s presidency. I’ve not seen a single Democrat explain why they didn’t.
One suspects that if there was anything implicating Trump of genuine wrongdoing, we’d have seen the files leaked long ago.
House Democrats couldn’t even muster the votes to censure Democratic Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett, who exchanged text messages with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.
The whole thing is a farce.
Republicans are no better: Attorney General Pam Bondi’s embarrassing press gaggle, featuring some of the world’s most vacuous “influencers” waving empty “Epstein Files: Phase 1” binders around, left the administration with a mess that’s now impossible to fix.
The files, of course, will never be enough. There will be hundreds of ghosts to chase.
If conspiracists don’t get what they’re after, they’ll simply claim other files are being hidden.
They’ll demand grand jury files, which are being protected, as they should be, by a judge.
If Americans want to speculate on Epstein, that’s their right. Maybe their theories will be proven correct.
But long-standing norms regarding privacy and the presumption of innocence shouldn’t be trashed by cowardly politicians every time the mob howls.
David Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner. X: @davidharsanyi
