The Journalist Who Became the Face of Epstein Skepticism
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Michael Tracey calls the case "the worst covered story of my lifetime." He's finding it a lonely place to be.
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Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Michael Tracey, a Substack-based independent journalist known for his contrarian instincts, thinks the Epstein case may have broken our brains. Having long ago escaped the confines of a courtroom, the saga has metastasized into what he calls a “conspiratorial everything theory,” swallowing presidents and princes, financiers and Hollywood executives, intelligence agencies and late-night punchlines. “I am more convinced than ever,” Tracey tells me in a Signal chat, “that this is by far the worst covered story of my lifetime.” Related Stories Files Fallout Inside Jeffrey Epstein's Spin Machine: How Hollywood's Top PR Kingpins Defended Him Business Jeffrey Epstein's 600-Inch Fantasy: An Imax on His Island That is not a fashionable position. Tracey has become the most visible public face of a loose but vocal faction of Epstein skeptics that includes commentators such as Robbie Soave and Claire Lehman. Within that small circle, he has taken the most flak. His reflex to interrogate consensus is longstanding. Earlier in his career, he challenged elements of the Russiagate narrative, breaking with progressive orthodoxy and earning a reputation for staking out unpopular terrain. If there is a media stampede, Tracey tends to run the other direction. His central argument is not that Jeffrey Epstein was innocent. Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to state prostitution charges involving a minor. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in federal court in 2021 on sex trafficking charges. Those facts are settled. What Tracey disputes is what he calls “narrative inflation.” He argues that a documented criminal case expanded into an all-encompassing international child-trafficking mythology without credible evidentiary support. He points to the outsized role...
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