“One of the big theories out there is that Epstein was collecting the secrets of powerful or wealthy contacts for blackmail or to gain other leverage.”

How The Times Is Digging Into Millions of Pages of Epstein Files

“In a memo, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department said its review of files regarding Mr. Epstein had “revealed no incriminating ‘client list’” or credible evidence that “Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.””

Judge Will Not Unseal Grand Jury Papers in Epstein and Maxwell Cases

“Some of Mr. Epstein’s victims have said they believed that he had an extensive network of hidden cameras in his homes in Florida, New York and possibly elsewhere, fueling speculation that he was compiling damaging information about the rich and powerful men with whom he associated.”

Epstein Files Include Grainy Videos From Inside His Florida Home

“If Mr. Epstein’s goal was to build a wall of protection around his abuse by surrounding himself with the well connected, he failed in the end. But both before and after he was first prosecuted for abusing girls, his correspondence described a network of people whose high-flying lives belied the struggles of ordinary Americans. And at the center of that network was a sexual predator seemingly on top of the world. ... While Mr. Epstein’s remarkable web of connections suggests to some that he was a puppet master calling the shots for a cabal of elites, that same web offers at least some proof to the contrary.”

The Epstein Files and the Hidden World of an Unaccountable Elite