New Epstein interview clip shows him claiming he supports Time’s Up
‘I made my living from old thinking. But the future is for the way women think,’ sex trafficker says in 2019 interview
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The deceased convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein told former Trump White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon that he supported the anti-sexual harassment movement Time’s Up in an interview in 2019.
Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell as he awaited trial on charges of sex trafficking.
“I made my living from old thinking. But the future is for the way women think,” Epstein can be seen saying in a trailer for the documentary The Monsters.
In the clip, Mr Bannon cites “the depravity” of the financier’s sex crimes against women, which prompted Epstein to push back.
“No, I’ve always believed that women will, in fact, be able to take over,” he said. “I’m a firm believer and supporter of Time’s Up.”
The Time’s Up movement began amid the mountain of sexual harassment allegations that were unleashed against prominent men following the reports by The New York Times and The New Yorker of sex crimes committed by film producer Harvey Weinstein. He’s now serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual abuse.
The board of Time’s Up resigned last month after it was revealed that advice was provided by group leaders to then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo before he resigned following numerous allegations of sexual harassment.
The Monsters documentary looks at Epstein’s ties to elites from across the globe, based on conversations with Epstein lasting for hours. The project is co-produced by Mr Bannon, The New York Post reported.
Epstein also spoke about the effects of solitary confinement on prisoners in his conversation with Mr Bannon.
“The greatest threat to people put in solitary confinement is they try to kill themselves,” he said. “Imagine that. You’re only in a room for 24 hours, you start to go crazy.”
While Epstein was jailed, the 66-year-old was able to spend as much as 12 hours a day with other people in long meetings with his attorneys.
While Epstein wasn’t on suicide watch, two guards in the jail later agreed to do community service to circumvent being prosecuted for trying to hide their failure to check on Epstein from time to time.
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s previous partner, has been jailed without bail as she awaits trial on charges that she recruited young girls who Epstein later sexually abused. She has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot on 6 January voted on Tuesday to hold Mr Bannon in contempt after he didn’t comply with a subpoena from the committee to provide testimony and documents about the siege by Trump supporters trying to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory. The full House of Representatives will hold a vote on Thursday to decide if they will recommend criminal contempt of Congress charges against Mr Bannon, according to House Democratic Caucus Vice-Chair Pete Aguilar.
“Under the leadership of Chairman Bennie Thompson the January 6 Committee last night, we reported out a contempt recommendation to the full House Floor that we will vote on tomorrow,” Mr Aguilar told reporters on Wednesday. “The next step is to hold a vote of the whole house to allow the Speaker to certify the criminal contempt referral to the US Attorney of the District of Columbia, and we fully expect the US Attorney to honour their duty, and to bring this matter before a grand jury.”