The 2008 plea deal is perhaps the most damning evidence of systemic protection. Alexander Acosta, then US Attorney for Southern Florida, agreed to terms that were unprecedented in their leniency.

What specifically made it unusual? Federal prosecutors don't typically handle cases like this directly.

Several factors: 1) It was negotiated in secret without victim notification, violating the Crime Victims Rights Act. 2) It granted immunity to "co-conspirators" who were never named. 3) Epstein served 13 months in a private wing with work release 6 days a week. 4) He was registered as a sex offender only at the lowest level.

The unnamed co-conspirators immunity is the key. Who were they protecting? The prosecutors knew the scale of the operation.

Acosta later told the Trump transition team he was told to back off because Epstein "belonged to intelligence." Whether that meant CIA, Mossad, or both remains unclear. But the implication is that Epstein was protected as an asset.

An intelligence asset whose operation involved compromising powerful people. The oldest game in the book. The question is: who was receiving the intelligence?