A “Jeffrey Epstein Walk of Shame” has been set up in Washington, D.C., not far from the White House, naming and shaming prominent public figures associated with the late pedophile and sex trafficker.
The display consists of stickers – mocked up in the style of the celebrated Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles – which name powerful friends of Epstein and carry QR codes linking to specific entries about them in the files recently released by the Department of Justice.
Being named in the DOJ documents published in December and January, in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, does not necessarily imply wrongdoing, but several well-known people have faced awkward questions about their friendship with the disgraced financier as a result of their publication.
Examples of people featured on the stars seen in D.C.’s Farragut Square include Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein’s jailed accomplice – as well as former president Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Bill Gates, ex-Harvard president Larry Summers, retail mogul Les Wexner, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, all of whom have denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Clinton and Wexner have both recently appeared before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee to answer questions about their respective friendships with Epstein.
Clinton told the panel Friday that he “did nothing wrong,” that he “saw nothing that ever gave me pause” regarding Epstein’s behavior, and that he cut ties with him long before his 2008 guilty plea.
“I was naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein,” Wexner told the committee last month. “At no time did I ever witness the side of Epstein’s life for which he is now infamous.”
Gates, meanwhile, has apologized to staff at his philanthropic foundation for his past dealings with Epstein; Summers has announced his resignation from his teaching role at Harvard; and Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested last month as part of a police investigation into allegations that he passed on market-sensitive information to the moneyman.
As for Lutnick, he has explained that he lived close to the financier in Manhattan and once visited his private Caribbean island with his family, but otherwise had nothing to do with him.
He has nevertheless faced calls to resign and could yet be asked to appear before the committee to clarify the situation.
A star for Tesla boss Elon Musk was also reportedly placed as part of the Walk of Shame, but was soon torn off.
The files contain a 2012 email from the tech entrepreneur in which he discussed the possibility of visiting Epstein’s island with his then-wife for a party.
The SpaceX founder tweeted in late January: “No one pushed harder than me to have the Epstein files released, and I’m glad that has finally happened.
“I had very little correspondence with Epstein and declined repeated invitations to go to his island or fly on his ‘Lolita Express,’ but was well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name.”
Given the advent of U.S. airstrikes on Iran over the weekend, the Epstein scandal has naturally dropped down the news agenda, but Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has wasted no time in warningTrump that action cannot be used as a smokescreen regarding the late sex offender’s social network.
“PSA: Bombing a country on the other side of the globe won’t make the Epstein files go away, any more than the Dow going above 50,000 will,” Massie wrote on X Sunday afternoon.
The accusation that Trump was using the strikes to shift the narrative away from the scandal was also made during the opening skit on Saturday Night Live.
The president has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, but has faced questions over his past friendship with a man who was a near-neighbor in Palm Beach, Florida, and whom he described to New York magazine in 2002 as a “terrific guy.”
He has previously explained that he ended their relationship in 2004 and has since dismissed him as a “creep.”
A satirical statue of Trump and Epstein holding hands nevertheless appeared on the National Mall in D.C. last year – and was later torn down by federal agents – with the group behind it, the Secret Handshake, revealing it was titled “Best Friends Forever.”
The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment about the Walk of Shame.
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