NJ CRIMINAL PODCAST - EPISODE 2: THE EPSTEIN COVER-UP
"Current Media Coverage and the Expanding Web"
Target Runtime: 75-90 minutes
COLD OPEN
[Audio clip from Dave Smith podcast - polling section available]
NJCP (00:30)
Welcome back to the New Jersey Criminal Podcast. I'm Tom, and if you listened to our first episode on Jeffrey Epstein three weeks ago, you heard me lay out the documented evidence that Epstein was an intelligence asset - trained in arms trafficking and money laundering by figures like Adnan Khashoggi, protected by powerful people, and operating what prosecutors called a "sexual pyramid scheme" that was actually a blackmail operation targeting the world's most powerful individuals.
[Reference to Episode 1 - Khashoggi training section available]
Well, the story didn't end there. In fact, it's exploding right now.
Since our last episode, new information has emerged from investigative journalist Whitney Webb connecting Epstein's network to Sean "Diddy" Combs and a web of organized crime figures. Comedian-turned-political commentator Dave Smith is documenting the Trump administration's fumbling of the Epstein files in real time. And voices like Ian Carroll are calling what we're witnessing "the biggest and sloppiest political cover-up in modern history."
Today we're going to examine what's happening right now - how the current administration is handling the Epstein revelations, devastating new polling data, and allegations about both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump that go to the very heart of how our government actually operates.
But first, let me catch you up on something that happened this week that perfectly illustrates what we're dealing with.
SECTION 1: THE CURRENT COVER-UP
NJCP (02:15)
Ian Carroll, who's been one of the most vocal critics of the Epstein cover-up, released a podcast this week where he laid out exactly what the Department of Justice is trying to sell us. According to Carroll, the DOJ has officially closed the Epstein case with this narrative: Epstein killed himself, there was no client list, no clients, no trafficking ring, and no blackmail operation. Case closed.
[Reference timestamp: Ian Carroll transcript (00:01)]
To support this, they released what they called "raw, unedited videos" from the Metropolitan Correctional Center. But here's the problem - as Carroll points out, this "unedited" video had a minute of film mysteriously cut out of it and didn't even show Epstein's door or provide a full view of the entrance to Epstein's wing of the jail. Ten hours of video showing absolutely nothing from Epstein's actual cell.
This is 2025, folks. We live in an age where AI can generate convincing video footage, and the government wants us to believe grainy surveillance footage from a jail where two guards allegedly fell asleep and security cameras allegedly malfunctioned.
But here's what makes this even more suspicious - and this comes directly from our first episode: Alex Acosta, the U.S. Attorney who gave Epstein that infamous 18- month sweetheart deal back in 2008, admitted to the Trump transition team that he was told "Epstein belonged to intelligence and to leave it alone."
[Reference to Episode 1 - Acosta intelligence quote available]
So we have a U.S. Attorney on record saying Epstein was an intelligence asset, and now we're supposed to believe this intelligence asset was just a "lone pedophile" with no network, no blackmail operation, and no powerful clients?
As Carroll puts it, this official story is actually "some of the strongest evidence I've seen so far that Epstein did in fact have an extensive client list of very powerful people and that he did not kill himself."
SECTION 2: THE POLLING DEVASTATION
NJCP (04:30)
Now, you might think, "Tom, this is all speculation. Maybe people don't really care about this anymore." Well, Dave Smith on his "Part of the Problem" podcast this week shared some polling data that should terrify anyone involved in this cover-up.
[Audio clip from Dave Smith - polling section available from transcript]
According to CNN polling - and yes, I know it's CNN, but bear with me - Donald Trump is underwater on every major issue six months into his term. Immigration, he's minus 4. Economy, minus 14. Foreign policy, minus 14. Trade and tariffs, minus 15.
But the Epstein case? Minus 37 points. Thirty-seven points underwater.
Smith makes a crucial observation here: there's something about the Epstein story that "feels bigger than any of that." It's not just about one man's crimes. It represents something fundamental about how power actually operates in this country - the idea that there are people who control our government who we don't elect, who operate in shadows, and who are willing to sacrifice children to maintain their power.
And the American people are not buying the cover-up.
As Smith notes: "Donald Trump was at his peak right before, right after the election, right when he took office. And it has been a rough slide since then... Jeffrey Epstein was by far the biggest" reason for the decline.
SECTION 3: TRUMP'S WEB - THE DEEPER CONNECTIONS
NJCP (06:45)
Let's pause here and really examine what we're dealing with when it comes to Donald Trump and the Epstein network, because the evidence is far more extensive than most people realize, and it explains why his administration is handling this so poorly.
First, let's talk about Trump's name being circled in Epstein's black book by butler Alfredo Rodriguez. This isn't just "guilt by association" - Rodriguez specifically marked certain names as material witnesses or co-conspirators in Epstein's crimes. Trump's name is circled alongside Leslie Wexner, Ghislaine Maxwell, Jean Luc Brunel, Ehud Barak, and Alan Dershowitz.
[Reference: Whitney Webb's "First Friends" article on circled names]
But Trump's connections to this network go back decades, long before he ever met Jeffrey Epstein. Let's start with Roy Cohn.
Roy Cohn was Trump's mentor and lawyer from the 1970s onward. But Cohn wasn't just any lawyer - he was an organized crime associate with close ties to the Genovese crime family. According to Whitney Webb's research, Cohn was "intimately involved" in sexual blackmail operations at the Plaza Hotel, where young women and girls were introduced to older, richer men, and illegal drugs were widely available.
Now here's the kicker: After Trump bought the Plaza Hotel, he was accused of hosting similar parties in Plaza hotel suites "where young women and girls were introduced to older, richer men" with the women allegedly being exploited and illegal drugs widely available. The same methodology, the same location, and Trump learned it from the same man who taught him everything else about business.
[Reference: Whitney Webb's "First Friends" article on Plaza Hotel operations]
But it gets deeper. In the late 1980s, around the same time Trump was taking over the Plaza and getting involved in these alleged parties, he also took a controlling interest in Resorts International.
Now, what is Resorts International? According to CIA documents, it started as the Mary Carter Paint Company, which was a CIA front company founded by the Dulles brothers with extensive ties to Meyer Lansky and his associates. The company focused on developing businesses in the Bahamas - the same Bahamas where Meyer Lansky's money laundering operations were centered.
[Reference: Whitney Webb's "One Label Under Blackmail" article on Resorts International]
So Trump didn't just buy a casino company - he bought what was essentially a CIA- organized crime front operation that had been used for money laundering and God knows what else for decades. And this happened right around the time he was being introduced to the "scene of playboys who wanted to get rich quickly" in New York, which included Jeffrey Epstein.
According to Flavio Briatore, Trump's longtime friend who is also circled in Epstein's black book, Trump offered him a job in the early 1990s related to "the commercial side of his new casino in Atlantic City" - the Taj Mahal, which was part of the Resorts International empire.
Think about this timeline:
- Trump learns sexual blackmail techniques from Roy Cohn at the Plaza Hotel
- Trump takes over a CIA-organized crime front company (Resorts International)
- Trump is offering jobs to other figures connected to the Epstein network
- Trump is operating in the same New York "playboy" scene as Jeffrey Epstein
This isn't coincidence. This is a systematic pattern of involvement in the same networks that would later be exposed as running the largest sexual blackmail operation in modern history.
SECTION 4: TRUMP'S CURRENT NETWORK
NJCP (10:30)
But there's more. Trump's current connections to this network are still active. Brett Ratner, the director who considers Meyer Lansky heir Alvin Malnik his "father," was photographed dining with Trump and Elon Musk at Mar-a-Lago in January 2025. Ratner is now directing a documentary about Melania Trump that will launch on Amazon Prime, with the First Lady serving as executive producer.
[Reference: Whitney Webb's "One Label Under Blackmail" article on Ratner-Trump meeting]
James Packer, another figure connected to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell through parties in the 1990s, recently bought a Trump-owned property neighboring Mar-a- Lago. The same James Packer who has ties to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and was "known to have partied with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell."
This network isn't historical - it's current and active around the President of the United States.
So when Dave Smith points out that Trump is "burning his legacy to the ground to cover this up," he's not exaggerating. Trump isn't just protecting Epstein's memory - he's protecting a network of people who are still in his inner circle, still operating around him, and still potentially compromising him.
As Ian Carroll puts it: Trump is "literally burning his legacy to the ground to cover this up" and "burning the entire MAGA movement to the ground to protect Epstein and the whole network."
SECTION 5: THE CLINTON MACHINE - THE EVIDENCE
NJCP (12:45)
Now let's talk about Bill Clinton, because while Trump's connections to this network are extensive, Clinton's are even more damning, and they help us understand how this blackmail operation actually functioned at the highest levels of government.
From our first episode, we know that Epstein visited the Clinton White House 17 separate times, often accompanied by attractive young women. But let's dig deeper into what we now know about those visits and the aftermath.
[Reference to Episode 1 - White House visits section available]
Most of Epstein's White House visits were coordinated through Mark Middleton, Clinton's deputy chief of staff, who was later described as being "embroiled in foreign espionage activities." Middleton was the gatekeeper who gave Jeffrey Epstein unprecedented access to the President of the United States.
Now, Mark Middleton died in May 2022 under circumstances so bizarre they would be funny if they weren't so convenient. He was reportedly found hanging from a tree with an extension cord, and then - somehow - shot himself twice in the chest with a shotgun.
[Reference to Episode 1 - Mark Middleton death section available]
Let me repeat that: The man who facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's access to President Clinton allegedly hanged himself from a tree and then shot himself twice in the chest with a shotgun. And the media just moved on.
But here's what makes the Clinton connection even more significant: We have photographic evidence of Clinton receiving a massage from Virginia Roberts, an underage trafficking victim, while traveling on Epstein's private jet. This isn't speculation - this is a documented photograph showing the President of the United States in a compromising position with a child trafficking victim.
[Reference to Episode 1 - massage photograph section available]
Ian Carroll makes a crucial point about this photograph in his recent analysis. He asks: What are the chances that this is the only inappropriate interaction Clinton had with Epstein's victims? If they were comfortable enough to photograph the President receiving a massage from an underage girl on a private jet, what were they doing in private settings without cameras?
The flight logs show Clinton traveled on the "Lolita Express" 27 times - more times than Epstein visited the White House. These flights included trips to Epstein's private island, where multiple victims have testified about witnessing Clinton.
SECTION 6: THE NETANYAHU-CLINTON BLACKMAIL PARALLEL
NJCP (15:30)
Speaking of Clinton, we need to talk about some explosive allegations that have resurfaced in recent coverage. These involve claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly blackmailed President Clinton using tapes of phone sex calls between Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
[Reference: clinton-netanyahu transcript (00:00)]
According to investigative accounts, including Daniel Halper's book "Clinton, Inc.," here's what allegedly happened:
In February 1997, Clinton met with Netanyahu in the Oval Office. The next month, Clinton told Monica Lewinsky that a "foreign embassy had tapped his phone and recorded their conversation." He didn't specify which embassy, but the timing is suggestive.
Then, in fall 1998, at the end of a summit in Maryland, Netanyahu privately approached Clinton at 7 a.m. demanding the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. According to Halper's account, Netanyahu "brought up the sex tapes in the context of the Pollard demand." While Netanyahu implied the tapes had been "thrown away," "the very mention of them was enough to constitute a form of blackmail."
Now, why is this relevant to Epstein? Because it shows a pattern. This is the same "soft blackmail" technique that Epstein allegedly used. Remember the Epstein-Bill Gates email where Epstein mentioned Gates' affair while asking for money for a "charitable thing"? Same methodology - let someone know you have compromising information without making explicit threats.
But here's the kicker: Pollard was eventually freed in 2015 under Obama, and Trump pardoned Pollard's handler on the last day of his first term. Pollard is now in Israel and is an outspoken supporter of extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, calling for the "full ethnic cleansing of Gaza."
SECTION 7: THE NETWORK EXPANDS - DIDDY AND THE MEGA GROUP
NJCP (17:45)
While the government tries to convince us Epstein was a lone wolf, investigative journalist Whitney Webb just published explosive new research connecting Epstein's network to Sean "Diddy" Combs and a web of organized crime figures, intelligence assets, and billionaire oligarchs that goes back decades.
[Reference: Whitney Webb's "One Label Under Blackmail" article]
According to Webb's investigation, Diddy wasn't just another celebrity who happened to know Epstein. He was allegedly controlled by the same network that controlled Epstein - what she calls "a larger, monied network of oligarchs with extensive organized crime connections in addition to significant affiliations with intelligence agencies."
Let me break this down for you, because it's staggering.
At the center of this network is something called the "Mega Group" - a supposedly philanthropic organization co-founded in 1991 by Charles Bronfman and Leslie Wexner. Remember Leslie Wexner from our first episode? He's the billionaire who gave Jeffrey Epstein complete power of attorney over his finances and allegedly bankrolled much of Epstein's operation through Victoria's Secret.
[Reference to Episode 1 - Wexner section available]
But here's what we didn't cover in our first episode: According to Webb, Wexner allegedly bankrolled not one, but two separate sex trafficking operations. The second involved Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch. Webb documents how the Mega Group gained "extremely significant" influence over the music industry, particularly hip-hop, through their control of major record labels.
SECTION 8: THE MUSIC INDUSTRY CONSPIRACY
NJCP (19:30)
This is where it gets really dark, folks. Webb documents an anonymous account from 1991 where a music industry insider described attending a secret meeting with music executives who were told their companies had invested in private prisons. Their job? Market music that promotes criminal behavior, with rap being the music of choice, to "make sure that these prisons remained filled" for profit.
Think about that timeline. 1991 is when the Mega Group was founded. It's also right around when crack cocaine was flooding American inner cities - crack that investigative journalist Gary Webb (no relation to Whitney Webb) documented was being sold by CIA-connected drug dealers to fund Contra operations in Nicaragua.
According to this theory, you have:
- CIA-connected drug dealers flooding inner cities with crack
- Music industry executives being told to promote criminal behavior in hip-hop
- A 1994 crime bill signed by Bill Clinton that massively expanded the private prison system
- The two largest private prison companies going public right around the same time
And at the center of much of this? The same network that allegedly controlled Jeffrey Epstein.
The connection to Clinton is particularly significant here. According to Webb's research, Clinton signed the 1994 crime bill that "exacerbated the crisis" of mass incarceration and "benefited two companies in particular," the private prison giants Corrections Corporation of America (CoreCivic) and Geo Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections Corporation), whose IPO coincided with the bill's passage.
CLOSING
NJCP (40:30)
If you care enough to look, you'll see something is there. That's not just about Jeffrey Epstein anymore. That's about the entire system that protected him, profited from his crimes, and is now working overtime to cover up the truth.
This has been Episode 2 of our series on the Jeffrey Epstein story. I'm Tom from the New Jersey Criminal Podcast.
Our sources for today's episode included Whitney Webb's investigative articles "One Label Under Blackmail: The Early Intersections of Diddy and the Epstein Network" and "First Friends: How 'Italy's Donald Trump' Introduced Naomi Campbell to Jeffrey Epstein," both available at UnlimitedHangout.com. We also drew from Dave Smith's "Part of the Problem" podcast episode covering the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case, and Ian Carroll's recent podcast on the Epstein cover-up, along with coverage of the Netanyahu-Clinton blackmail allegations.
As always, everything we've discussed today is based on documented court records, sworn testimony, investigative journalism, and publicly available information. When we use the word "allegedly," we're being legally careful, not casting doubt on well-documented facts.
Until next time, keep asking questions. Keep demanding answers. And remember - if you care enough to look, you'll see something is there.
The truth is out there. The question is whether we have the courage to face it.
[END - Runtime approximately 85-90 minutes]
Dear Listeners of the Garden State,
Today I write to you about the oars of Cranbury Township – though perhaps we should call it "Cranbuy" Township, given what's happening there. You see, when I say "oars," I'm not talking about those wooden paddles that slice through water. I'm talking about the five individuals who paddle this municipal boat forward, stroke by stroke, decision by decision.
Let me introduce you to these oars:
Mayor Lisa Knierim – the lead oar, whose Democratic grip on power ends this December 31st, 2025. Like all good oars, she's been getting her hands dirty in the murky waters of municipal governance.
Deputy Mayor Eman El-Badawi – another Democratic oar, whose committee term extends to 2027, though his deputy mayor paddle gets passed along this year. He knows what it means to push through choppy waters.
Robert Christopher – a Democratic oar rowing until 2027, understanding that sometimes you have to break through the resistance of the water to move forward.
Barbara F. Rogers – her Democratic oar stroke ends in 2025, having learned that progress requires getting roughed up by the currents.
Matthew A. Scott – the fifth oar in this municipal vessel, completing the crew that propels Cranbury through its controversial waters.
Now, here's the thing about oars, dear listeners – they move the boat forward. They get dirty. They have to be tough because they get used roughly. Oars are always present when there is progress, but nobody gives them credit. And in Cranbury, these particular oars are rowing straight toward a 185-year-old family farm.
The Stroke That Breaks the Water
Picture this: A family farm that has weathered 185 years of New Jersey seasons. Through the Civil War, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, two World Wars, and every economic boom and bust since the 1840s. This land has been plowed by the same bloodline for nearly two centuries. But now, the oars of Cranbury have found their target.
Eminent domain – that legal sledgehammer that transforms "We the People" into "We the Government Can Take Your People's Property." The oars are rowing hard toward this farm, claiming the greater good requires luxury housing. Not just any housing, mind you – luxury housing with what they'll carefully describe as "a small percentage of affordable units."
The New Jersey Tsunami
But let's talk about why these oars are rowing so frantically. Between 2020 and 2024, 800,000 new residents crashed into New Jersey like a human tsunami. Eight hundred thousand! That's nearly the entire population of San Francisco deciding to call the Garden State home.
These oars didn't create this wave, but they're certainly riding it. And when you're an oar in a municipal boat, you don't get to choose the direction of the current – you just row where the economic winds blow you.
The Oar's Dilemma
Here's what nobody talks about when they criticize these oars: They get dirty because someone has to do the dirty work. They get roughed up because development is a rough business. They move the boat forward because standing still means drowning in housing demand and tax revenue shortfalls.
Mayor Knierim, Deputy Mayor El-Badawi, Christopher, Rogers, and Scott – these oars know something the rest of us might not want to admit: That 185-year-old farm is sitting on prime real estate in a state desperate for housing. Those luxury units? They'll generate tax revenue that keeps municipal services running. Those affordable units? They'll check the political boxes that keep the state regulators happy.
But here's the criminal part, listeners – and why this story belongs on our podcast: When eminent domain becomes the go-to solution, when local oars start rowing toward family farms that have survived nearly two centuries, we're not just talking about property law anymore. We're talking about the systematic erosion of what America used to promise its citizens.
The Stroke Pattern
These oars will follow a predictable pattern:
First stroke: "Public good requires private sacrifice."
Second stroke: "Housing crisis demands difficult decisions."
Third stroke: "Tax revenue benefits all residents."
Fourth stroke: "Affordable housing component shows our commitment to equity."
Fifth stroke: "Legal process will be followed completely."
And with each stroke, that 185-year-old farm gets closer to becoming luxury condos with names like "Heritage Meadows" or "Farmstead Commons" – names designed to honor the very thing they're destroying.
The Oar's Burden
Don't think these oars don't feel the weight of what they're doing. They know they're taking something irreplaceable and turning it into something replaceable. They know that once that farm is gone, it's gone forever – no amount of luxury housing profits will bring back 185 years of agricultural history.
But oars don't get to be sentimental. Oars get used roughly because the job requires it. Progress demands that some things get left behind, and these five Democratic oars have been elected to make those hard choices.
The Current State
As Mayor Knierim's term winds down this December, and as Deputy Mayor El-Badawi's paddle gets passed to someone else, they're rowing hard to complete this particular journey. Rogers, whose oar stroke also ends in 2025, knows this might be her last chance to push through such a significant development.
These oars understand that in New Jersey's current housing crisis, farmland is a luxury the state can't afford. When 800,000 new residents need places to live, and when property taxes fund everything from schools to snow removal, sentimentality becomes unaffordable.
The Wake They Leave Behind
But here's what haunts me about this story, listeners: What kind of wake do these oars leave behind? When Christopher and El-Badawi are still rowing in 2027, will they look back at where that farm used to be and feel proud of the luxury housing complex that replaced it? Will they drive past "Heritage Meadows" and think about the family that worked that land through the Spanish Flu and the Great Depression?
The Criminal Element
The crime here isn't legal – it's moral. It's the crime of treating 185 years of family history as an obstacle to overcome rather than a treasure to preserve. It's the crime of using eminent domain not for truly public projects like roads or schools, but for luxury housing that happens to include a token percentage of affordable units.
These oars will follow every law, cross every T, dot every I. The legal process will be impeccable. The public hearings will be held. The compensation will be "fair market value." But none of that changes the fundamental crime: treating irreplaceable agricultural heritage as replaceable real estate.
The Oar's Defense
If I could speak directly to these five oars, I know what they'd tell me:
"We didn't create the housing crisis."
"We didn't invite 800,000 new residents to New Jersey."
"We have to work within the system we inherited."
"Property taxes pay for everything residents demand."
"Someone has to make the hard decisions."
And they'd be right about all of it. These oars didn't choose the current they're rowing against. They're just trying to keep their municipal boat moving forward in increasingly choppy waters.
The Question of Progress
But this raises the fundamental question, listeners: Is this really progress? When oars like Mayor Knierim, Deputy Mayor El-Badawi, Christopher, Rogers, and Scott row their municipal boat toward a 185-year-old family farm, are they moving Cranbury forward, or are they just moving?
Progress should mean building something better than what came before. But when you're replacing nearly two centuries of agricultural continuity with luxury housing and a "small percentage" of affordable units, what exactly are you progressing toward?
The Oar's Legacy
These five oars will eventually be replaced by other oars. New hands will grip the paddles, new arms will pull against the water's resistance. But the decisions they make now – the farms they row toward, the eminent domain they deploy, the luxury housing they approve – those decisions become the permanent landscape of their community.
When future oars row through Cranbury, they'll navigate around the wake these current oars are creating. The question is whether that wake leads toward something worth reaching, or whether it just leads away from something worth keeping.
The Dirty Water
Make no mistake, listeners – these oars are going to get dirty. Eminent domain proceedings are messy. Family farms don't go quietly. Legal challenges create turbulent waters. Community opposition generates powerful crosscurrents.
But oars are built to get dirty. They're designed to take the punishment that comes with pushing through resistance. Mayor Knierim, Deputy Mayor El-Badawi, Christopher, Rogers, and Scott signed up for this when they decided to become municipal oars.
The Final Stroke
As this story unfolds in Cranbury – or should I say "Cranbuy" – we'll see how these five oars handle the choppy waters ahead. We'll watch as they navigate between the property rights of a 185-year-old family farm and the housing demands of 800,000 new New Jersey residents.
We'll see whether these oars can truly move their community forward, or whether they're just churning the water while staying in the same place.
Because that's the thing about oars, dear listeners – they always think they're moving the boat forward. But sometimes, when you're rowing in circles, all that effort just brings you back to where you started, only now you're too tired and too dirty to remember why you started rowing in the first place.
The Truth About Oars
The criminal truth about municipal oars is this: They rarely get credit when things go right, but they always get blamed when things go wrong. They make the hard decisions that everyone else gets to criticize from the comfort of their preserved farmland or their affordable housing or their luxury developments.
These five Cranbury oars – Mayor Knierim, Deputy Mayor El-Badawi, Christopher, Rogers, and Scott – they're about to learn what every municipal oar eventually learns: Sometimes you have to destroy something beautiful to build something necessary. Sometimes you have to row toward the very thing you wish you could protect.
And sometimes, the only way to move forward is to accept that you're going to get dirty, you're going to get roughed up, and you're not going to get credit for the progress you make possible.
Until Next Time
This has been your host, reflecting on the oars of Cranbury Township and the 185-year-old family farm that lies in their path. Whether this story ends in necessary progress or criminal destruction depends on your perspective – but either way, these oars will keep rowing.
Until next time, this is the NJ Criminal Podcast, reminding you that in New Jersey, the line between progress and crime often depends on which side of the oar you're on.
Stay tuned, stay informed, and remember – we're all in this boat together.