NJ Criminal Podcast: The Epstein Files - Episode 2

"The Puppetmaster's Legacy: From Maxwell's Empire to Netanyahu's Gambit"

A 45-Minute Script

---

*(Sound of ocean waves, yacht engines)*

NARRATOR: November 5th, 1991. Atlantic Ocean, off the Canary Islands. The naked body of Robert Maxwell floats in the dark waters beside his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine. The media baron who built an empire on lies, who served three masters - Britain's MI6, Russia's KGB, and Israel's Mossad - has met his end.

*(Sound fades to silence)*

But death, as we've learned, is rarely the end of the story in the world of intelligence operations. Sometimes, it's just the changing of the guard.

Eight days later, at Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir delivers Maxwell's eulogy to a congregation that reads like a who's who of Israeli intelligence. Six service heads. Politicians. Spies. All gathered to honor "the man who did more for Israel than we can explain today."

*(Beat)*

What they couldn't explain then was how Maxwell's death would birth something far more sinister. How his daughter Ghislaine would carry forward his methods. How a mysterious financier named Jeffrey Epstein, already lurking in Maxwell's London offices throughout the 1980s, would perfect the art of blackmail that Robert Maxwell had pioneered.

*(Theme music begins)*

Welcome back to NJ Criminal Podcast. I'm [HOST NAME], and this is Episode 2 of The Epstein Files: "The Puppetmaster's Legacy."

If Episode 1 showed you how Jeffrey Epstein was manufactured as an intelligence asset, tonight we're diving deeper into the machinery that created him. We're exploring the Maxwell dynasty - a family that turned sexual blackmail into a science. We're examining how Israeli intelligence allegedly manipulated American presidents. And we're uncovering financial networks so complex they make the Towers Financial ponzi scheme look like a lemonade stand.

*(Music builds)*

Buckle up. Because what you're about to hear isn't just the story of Jeffrey Epstein. It's the story of how a small Middle Eastern nation allegedly holds the puppet strings of American power. And how those strings got tangled in phone sex recordings of a president and an intern.

---

Robert Maxwell: The Template for Epstein

*(Music fades to atmospheric background)*

NARRATOR: Before Jeffrey Epstein was Jeffrey Epstein, there was Robert Maxwell. And before Robert Maxwell was Robert Maxwell, he was Abraham Labi Haq, born in 1923 in what is now Ukraine.

The parallels between Maxwell and Epstein aren't just striking - they're instructive. Both men were chameleons. Both built their fortunes on other people's money. Both served Israeli intelligence. And both, allegedly, used sexual blackmail as their primary weapon.

But Maxwell came first. He was the prototype. The proof of concept. The template that would later be refined and perfected in Jeffrey Epstein.

*(Sound of papers shuffling)*

Let me paint you a picture of Robert Maxwell's true nature, drawn from declassified British intelligence files and the testimony of former Mossad operatives.

Maxwell used more aliases than a cold war spy: John Ludwig, Jan Ludwig, Ivan Leslie du Marier, Leslie Jones. He didn't settle on "Robert Maxwell" until he married Elizabeth Maynard in Paris on March 14th, 1945. Even his identity was borrowed.

At twelve years old, he joined the Batar movement - a Jewish Zionist organization. This wasn't summer camp. This was ideological training. The recruitment of a future asset.

*(Beat)*

The establishment wants you to believe Robert Maxwell was a legitimate businessman who happened to have some intelligence connections. The truth, according to declassified documents and insider testimony, is exactly the opposite. Maxwell was an intelligence operation masquerading as a businessman.

In 1951, Maxwell took control of German publishing house Butterworth Springer, renaming it Pergamon Press. The mainstream media portrays this as shrewd business acumen. But according to the sources we've reviewed, this wasn't Maxwell's deal at all. It was an MI6 intelligence operation, funded by Sir Charles Hambro - director of the Bank of England and former head of Special Operations during World War II.

Maxwell wasn't the buyer. He was the front man. The cutout. The face they put on a British intelligence operation to acquire scientific journals that had been published under the Third Reich.

*(Sound effect: typing, office atmosphere)*

But here's where it gets interesting. In 1954, Maxwell was sent to Russia to publish and translate Russian scientific articles. British Foreign Office files, made public in 2003, confirmed what intelligence agencies suspected all along - Maxwell was "funded by Russia" and working for the KGB.

Think about this for a moment. The same man was working for British MI6, Russian KGB, and - as we'll see - Israeli Mossad. Simultaneously.

The KGB later acknowledged Maxwell as "a very high up Soviet agent," though even they questioned his ultimate loyalty.

*(Pause for effect)*

Because Robert Maxwell's true allegiance wasn't to Britain or Russia. It was to Israel.

As early as 1948, Maxwell played a major role in arming Zionist paramilitaries. He helped smuggle aircraft parts for the creation of Israel through the anti-Stalinist Czechoslovakian government. He didn't just support Israel's creation - he helped engineer it.

Victor Ostrovsky, the notorious Mossad defector who wrote "By Way of Deception," confirmed Maxwell's deep Mossad ties. British intelligence agencies eventually described Maxwell as "a Zionist that was loyal only to Israel" and a "prominent Mossad agent."

*(Sound fades to intimate setting)*

Now, here's where Maxwell's story becomes the template for what Epstein would later perfect: sexual blackmail as an intelligence weapon.

According to Ostrovsky and other sources, Israeli intelligence services "satisfied Robert Maxwell's sexual appetite by supplying him with prostitutes." But this wasn't a perk of the job. It was leverage. Maxwell's hotel rooms were "rigged with cameras," and Israeli intelligence acquired "a small library of video footage of Maxwell in sexually compromising situations."

They weren't rewarding their asset. They were controlling him. With blackmail.

*(Beat)*

Maxwell's media empire became a vehicle for intelligence operations. In 1989, he partnered with the Soviets to take over pharmaceutical company Teva. He acquired ownership of the Jerusalem Post, adding to his control of right-wing Daily Mirror publications in Israel.

But the real money came from a darker source. According to Victor Ostrovsky, "The Mossad financed many of its operations in Europe with money that was stolen from Maxwell's newspapers pension fund." Ostrovsky claims the Mossad "gave him the money to go ahead and buy The Mirror Group publishing. And the moment that he got it, they took all of the pension fund money."

Weeks after Maxwell's death, investigators discovered a $560 million hole in the Mirror's pension fund. Ostrovsky's allegations were confirmed.

*(Sound of betrayal/darker music)*

Maxwell's most infamous betrayal involved Israeli nuclear technician Mordecai Vanunu, who exposed Israel's secret Dimona nuclear facilities to the world. Vanunu took his information to Maxwell's Mirror publications, trusting the media baron to help him expose the truth.

Instead, Maxwell alerted the Israelis. Vanunu was lured to Italy, drugged, abducted, secretly transported to Israel, and spent 18 years in prison - including over 11 years in solitary confinement.

This is the template, folks. This is the playbook. Gain trust. Exploit secrets. Betray those who trust you. Serve your handlers above all else.

*(Sound builds to crescendo)*

By the 1980s, according to former Mossad agent Ari Ben-Menashe, Robert Maxwell was brokering deals between the Mossad and KGB that allowed Israelis to hide money from arms sales to Iran. This was part of the Iran-Contra affair - but not the way you learned about it in school.

The official story says America shipped arms to Iran to secure hostage releases. But according to Ben-Menashe, it was actually "a deal for Israel" to arm and train militants in Nicaragua, with the cash laundered through Russia via Maxwell's networks.

*(Pause)*

And here's the key detail for our story: Throughout the 1980s, while Maxwell was orchestrating these international intelligence operations, a young financier named Jeffrey Epstein was a regular visitor to Maxwell's London offices.

The mainstream media wants you to believe Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell met in the 1990s, after Robert Maxwell's death. But Ari Ben-Menashe tells a different story. He claims to have had "several meetings with Jeffrey Epstein in Robert Maxwell's office all throughout the 80s" - a full decade before the official narrative.

Ben-Menashe was explicit: Both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell "were agents for Israel."

*(Music builds to transition)*

On November 5th, 1991, Robert Maxwell's body was found floating in the Atlantic. Investigative journalists Gordon Thomas and Martin Dillon allege that Maxwell "sealed his fate when he threatened Mossad leadership" to disclose their operations unless they helped save his media empire.

The Mossad leadership reportedly "ordered his assassination three months later."

But here's the detail that should send chills down your spine: Samuel Peyser, Robert Maxwell's lawyer and business representative in France, later held "the same position for Jeffrey Epstein."

The operation didn't die with Maxwell. It just found new management.

---

How Israel Allegedly Blackmailed President Clinton

*(Sound of presidential fanfare, fading to tension)*

NARRATOR: February 1997. The Oval Office. President Bill Clinton sits across from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What Clinton doesn't know is that Israeli intelligence has been listening to his most intimate conversations.

What happens next allegedly becomes one of the most brazen acts of blackmail in presidential history.

*(Beat)*

The Clinton-Netanyahu-Lewinsky affair isn't just a political scandal. It's a masterclass in how foreign intelligence services allegedly manipulate American presidents. And it's a preview of the techniques that Jeffrey Epstein would allegedly perfect.

Let me walk you through what allegedly happened, according to Daniel Halper's book "Clinton, Inc." and corroborated by other sources.

*(Sound of phone ringing)*

By early 1997, the Clinton-Lewinsky affair was the worst-kept secret in elite Washington. Linda Tripp knew. George Conway knew. Ann Coulter knew. Brett Kavanaugh knew. Ken Starr knew. Paula Jones's lawyers knew.

If Washington insiders knew, foreign intelligence services certainly knew. And Monica Lewinsky's phone line - unlike the White House - was "way easier" to tap.

Shortly after Clinton's February 1997 meeting with Netanyahu, Clinton's secretary Betty Curry invited Lewinsky to an Oval Office meeting. Clinton told her he had "something important to tell her."

During what would be their final sexual encounter, Clinton told Lewinsky that a "foreign embassy had tapped his phone and recorded their conversation." He didn't specify which embassy, but the timing - immediately after his meeting with Netanyahu - speaks volumes.

Clinton even suggested a cover story. If confronted with the tapes, they should claim they knew they were under surveillance and the phone sex was "put on for whoever was listening."

*(Pause for impact)*

Think about what this means. The President of the United States was allegedly so concerned about foreign surveillance that he developed a cover story for his most intimate conversations.

Fast forward to Fall 1998. The White River Summit in Maryland. Clinton is hosting Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for crucial Middle East peace negotiations.

At 7 AM, after grueling all-night negotiations, Netanyahu approaches Clinton privately. He demands the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.

*(Sound builds tension)*

Here's where the alleged blackmail happens. Netanyahu doesn't make explicit threats. He doesn't say "release Pollard or I'll expose the tapes." That's amateur hour.

Instead, Netanyahu allegedly tells Clinton "the Israeli government had thrown the tapes away."

Sounds innocent, right? But context is everything. Netanyahu is making clear he knows about the tapes. He's letting Clinton know they exist - existed - and could theoretically exist again.

It's the same technique that Jeffrey Epstein allegedly used with Bill Gates years later. Epstein didn't directly threaten Gates. He just sent an email about Gates's affair with a professional poker player, asking for some kind of payment - maybe for a scholarship. The message wasn't "pay me or I'll expose you." The message was "I know about this thing. Yeah, I know."

Many such cases, as they say.

*(Beat)*

CIA Chief George Tenet understood exactly what was happening. He told Clinton he would "resign on the spot" if Clinton agreed to Pollard's release. The CIA had a "bipartisan commitment" to keeping Pollard behind bars for his espionage against the United States.

Clinton agreed to "review Pollard's case" but didn't release him.

Pollard was eventually freed in 2015 under Obama. On the last day of his first term, Trump pardoned Pollard's handler. Today, Pollard is an outspoken supporter of extremist Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gavir and "has called for the full ethnic cleansing of Gaza."

*(Pause)*

Now, you might ask: why would this blackmail be effective in Fall 1998, when the Lewinsky affair was already public? Clinton had admitted to the affair in grand jury testimony in August 1998.

But here's what most people don't understand: the tapes themselves were never public. Clinton admitted to "inappropriate intimate physical contact" with Lewinsky. He never admitted to recorded phone sex. The existence of actual recordings - especially in foreign hands - represented a quantum leap in vulnerability.

The fact that Daniel Halper's book "casually just inserted" this allegation into his narrative, and it wasn't widely challenged, "lends credibility to it." Clinton's vociferous denials of the affair may have been for "foreign policy reasons" beyond just protecting himself politically.

*(Sound transition)*

This alleged Netanyahu blackmail operation is crucial to understanding the Epstein story because it demonstrates the same methodology:

• Surveillance of American officials
• Collection of compromising material
• Subtle leverage rather than explicit threats
• Service to Israeli intelligence objectives

Jeffrey Epstein didn't invent sexual blackmail. He inherited it. Perfected it. Industrialized it.

And according to the sources we've reviewed, the same networks that allegedly enabled Netanyahu's gambit with Clinton also created, funded, and protected Jeffrey Epstein's operations.

---

Epstein's Graduation from the Maxwell Academy

*(Sound of sophisticated party atmosphere)*

NARRATOR: 1980s London. Robert Maxwell's office. According to former Mossad operative Ari Ben-Menashe, Jeffrey Epstein is a regular presence here, often arriving "between trips to and from Israel."

This isn't the Jeffrey Epstein of popular imagination - the mysterious financier who appeared from nowhere. This is Epstein the student, learning the craft that would make him one of the most effective blackmail operators in modern history.

*(Sound fades to intimate conversation)*

Ben-Menashe's account directly contradicts the mainstream narrative. The media wants you to believe Epstein met Ghislaine Maxwell in the 1990s, after Robert Maxwell's death. But Ben-Menashe claims he had "several meetings with Jeffrey Epstein in Robert Maxwell's office all throughout the 80s."

Maxwell allegedly "wanted us to accept Epstein as part of our group." This wasn't social networking. This was operational integration.

Ben-Menashe, Maxwell, and Nick Davies - Foreign Editor of Maxwell's Daily Mirror - were allegedly "involved in the transfer and sale of military equipment and weapons from Israel to Iran on behalf of Israeli intelligence during this time period."

Maxwell wanted to involve Epstein in these arms transfers. Although Ben-Menashe claims Epstein "just wasn't competent" and "wasn't accepted" by his group, Epstein did manage to develop "close ties with several arms dealers" in the 80s, including Sir Douglas Lees.

*(Beat)*

Remember Sir Douglas Lees from Episode 1? The British arms dealer who, according to Steven Hoffenberg's sworn testimony, allegedly trained Epstein in "arms trafficking and money laundering" for Israel.

The connections are consistent. Multiple sources, multiple testimonies, all pointing to the same conclusion: Jeffrey Epstein was being trained by established intelligence assets throughout the 1980s.

*(Sound of young woman's voice, fading)*

Ghislaine Maxwell was also being trained. Ben-Menashe asserted that Ghislaine "accompanied her father so frequently that she was involved in his intelligence related activities to some extent."

Think about this. While other young women her age were attending university or starting careers, Ghislaine Maxwell was allegedly learning intelligence tradecraft from one of Israel's most important assets.

Steven Hoffenberg, who partnered with Epstein in the Towers Financial ponzi scheme, later claimed that Epstein boasted of his ties to Israeli intelligence services. Crucially, Hoffenberg stated "it was Ghislaine Maxwell who had made the introduction."

*(Pause for emphasis)*

Even after Robert Maxwell's death in 1991, the networks remained intact. Hoffenberg maintained ties with "Epstein/Maxwell connected networks," using the "same lawyers that Robert Maxwell had used to take over the New York Daily News" when Hoffenberg later tried to buy the New York Post.

The operation was bigger than any one person. It was an infrastructure. A system. A network designed to survive the death or imprisonment of any individual component.

*(Sound builds to revelation)*

Here's something that should terrify you: According to the documents we've reviewed, Jeffrey Epstein visited the Clinton White House 17 times between 1993 and 1995, often accompanied by "attractive young women."

These weren't social calls. Epstein had a "dramatically under-reported relationship" with the Clinton White House that pointed toward "a major scandal of the Clinton era that has yet to be properly investigated."

Many of these meetings were with Mark Middleton, who later died under suspicious circumstances in May 2022. Middleton was allegedly "embroiled in foreign espionage activities" related to "illegal fundraising efforts for Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign."

One of Epstein's 1990s girlfriends, Francis Jardine, who lived in Epstein-controlled apartments used to house underage girls, accompanied him to "at least one of his visits to the Clinton White House."

*(Beat)*

Let that sink in. Jeffrey Epstein was bringing young women - potentially underage women - into the White House while allegedly operating a sexual blackmail network for Israeli intelligence.

Epstein also attended a political fundraiser for Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign hosted by financier Ron Perelman. He wasn't just connected to power - he was helping finance it.

*(Sound transitions to modern setting)*

In April 1995, Epstein's close friend Lyn Forrester - later Lyn Forrester de Rothschild - wrote to President Bill Clinton: "Using my 15 seconds of access to discuss Jeffrey Epstein and currency stabilization, I neglected to talk to you about a topic near and dear to my heart."

Currency stabilization. With Jeffrey Epstein. Discussed with the President of the United States.

What kind of "currency stabilization" expertise does an alleged sex trafficker possess? Unless, of course, trafficking wasn't his primary occupation.

*(Pause)*

The picture that emerges from these documents isn't of Jeffrey Epstein as a lone predator. It's of Jeffrey Epstein as a sophisticated intelligence asset, trained by Robert Maxwell's network, deployed against American political figures, and granted extraordinary access to the highest levels of power.

Ben-Menashe was explicit about the mission: Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell "found a niche for themselves, blackmailing American and other political figures. For the Israelis."

He elaborated: "It's hard for people to understand why Israel would want to get blackmail on American leaders. Israel is blackmailing their leaders in the United States. It was quite a thing."

*(Music builds)*

Quite a thing, indeed. The systematic compromise of American leadership by a foreign intelligence service, using sexual blackmail as the primary weapon.

And Jeffrey Epstein, the perfect student of Robert Maxwell's academy, became its most successful graduate.

---

How the Cover-Up Continues

*(Sound of camera shutters, media frenzy)*

NARRATOR: August 15th, 2019. Five days after Jeffrey Epstein's alleged suicide. The New York Post runs a cover story with the headline "The Post Finds Her," featuring an exclusive photo of Ghislaine Maxwell at an In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles.

The photo shows Maxwell looking relaxed, reading a book, apparently hiding in plain sight. The message was clear: we found the elusive socialite when law enforcement couldn't.

Except it was all theater.

*(Sound fades to investigative atmosphere)*

The Daily Mail discovered metadata showing the photo was taken by "Meadowgate," a company owned by Leah Safian - who was Ghislaine Maxwell's defense attorney and "fixer." The photo was allegedly staged by Maxwell's own legal team.

But the staging went deeper than anyone initially realized. In the background of the photo was a movie poster for "Good Boys" - a comedy about the "sex lives of preteens."

When investigators checked with Outfront, the company that manages bus stop advertising, they were told: "We do not have any records of this Good Boys poster being posted there."

The poster was allegedly Photoshopped into the image.

*(Beat)*

This wasn't just alibi creation. This was psychological warfare. The choice of movie poster - about preteen sexuality - in a staged photo of the alleged madam of a child sex trafficking ring wasn't coincidence. It was a message.

Maxwell was also photographed reading "The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of the CIA." As one commentator noted, this was "just an F-U to the public."

*(Sound builds to crescendo)*

The New York Post's role in this deception raises disturbing questions about media complicity in intelligence operations. As our sources noted, the Post's behavior suggests it "might actually be an outfit of Israel. They are protecting their agents, but also doing it in a really sadistic, wink at the world, ha ha, what can you do about it way."

This is how cover-ups work in the modern era. Not through silence, but through controlled revelation. Not through denial, but through theater.

*(Sound of political speech)*

The political response to Epstein revelations has been equally telling. According to our sources, Donald Trump recently called the Jeffrey Epstein revelations a "Democrat hoax," stating: "Their new scam is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax."

But Epstein was arrested in 2019 under Trump's presidency and originally in 2007 under George W. Bush's presidency. This isn't a partisan issue - it's a systemic one.

*(Sound of determination)*

Some officials are fighting for transparency. Representative Thomas Massie has launched an effort to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files in the US House of Representatives, stating: "We all deserve to know what's in the Epstein files, who is implicated and how deep this corruption goes."

*(Beat)*

But the resistance to transparency tells its own story. When powerful people across party lines work to suppress information, you know that information threatens the system itself, not just individual politicians.

The Maxwell-Epstein network wasn't just about compromising American officials. It was about demonstrating that American officials could be compromised. It was about proving that a small nation with sophisticated intelligence capabilities could manipulate the world's most powerful country through its leaders' human weaknesses.

*(Music swells)*

And the cover-up continues because the system that created Maxwell and Epstein - the nexus of intelligence agencies, compromised politicians, and financial networks - still exists. Still operates. Still threatens anyone who gets too close to the truth.

---

The Continuing Operation

*(Sound of waves, contemplative music)*

NARRATOR: The story we've told you tonight isn't ancient history. It's a continuing operation.

Robert Maxwell is dead, but his methods live on. Jeffrey Epstein is dead, but his network remains intact. The lawyers, the fixers, the enablers, the beneficiaries - they're still out there.

Samuel Peyser, who represented both Maxwell and Epstein, is still practicing law. The intelligence agencies that allegedly ran these operations are still operational. The politicians who were allegedly compromised are still in power.

And somewhere, in offices we can't see, in meetings we'll never hear about, the next generation of Jeffrey Epsteins is being recruited, trained, and deployed.

*(Beat)*

What we've shown you across these two episodes is that Jeffrey Epstein wasn't an aberration. He wasn't a lone predator who somehow gained access to the world's most powerful people through charm and mystery.

Jeffrey Epstein was a product. A weapon. A system.

He was manufactured by intelligence agencies to serve intelligence purposes. He was protected by prosecutors to maintain intelligence operations. And he was eliminated when he became more liability than asset.

*(Sound builds to conclusion)*

The victims deserve justice. The enablers deserve prosecution. And the American people deserve to know how their government was allegedly compromised by foreign intelligence services using sexual blackmail.

Until that happens, until we see real accountability, until we dismantle the networks that created and protected these operations - the Jeffrey Epstein story isn't over.

It's just waiting for its next chapter.

*(Theme music begins)*

This has been Episode 2 of The Epstein Files: "The Puppetmaster's Legacy." I'm [HOST NAME] for NJ Criminal Podcast.

Next episode, we'll explore the financial networks that funded these operations, the technology companies that allegedly provided surveillance infrastructure, and the ongoing efforts to prevent accountability for the victims who deserve justice.

Until then, keep asking questions. Keep demanding answers. Keep fighting for truth.

*(Music swells to close)*

[END OF EPISODE]

---

---