While the sports media isn’t covering it, the Epstein files include many well-known and wealthy sports personalities.
By Danny R. Johnson – Political News Editor
LOS ANGELES–Child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein did not want to ingratiate himself only with billionaires. He sought out people who influenced culture, and as demonstrated during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, few things impact culture as strongly as the athletic industrial complex.
The website, Front Office Sports, reviewed the most recent set of Epstein files, which had been redacted on short notice. The documents reveal numerous NFL franchise owners among the emails and records examined. Notable individuals include Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots; Steve Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants and cousin to Jessica Tisch, current New York City police commissioner; Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins; Zygi Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings; and Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons. The analysis indicates that the Epstein files contain references to more NFL owners than those who attended the Super Bowl. Kraft was charged in February 2019 for allegedly soliciting prostitution at a Florida massage parlor [After the court threw out the video evidence, which was the primary basis for the prosecution, State Attorney David Aronberg was compelled to drop the charges against Kraft and 24 other defendants]. In records of email and text messages released Friday by the Justice Department, Epstein told his lawyer, Jack Goldberger, that he wanted Kraft to hire the attorney as counsel.
“See kraft got arrested,” Goldberger wrote in an email dated Feb. 22, 2019. “Should take local news away from us.”
“yes im trying to have him hire you,” Epstein wrote back, according to the documents released by the Justice Department.
Immediately after that interaction, Epstein sent an email to Brad Karp, chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, a law firm in Manhattan.
“if your buddy Kraft, needs local palm rep let me know,” Epstein wrote. In fact, Kraft was never arrested, but he did end up hiring Goldberger. The misdemeanor charge against him was eventually dropped in September 2020.
Three days later, after the affidavit for the charges against Kraft was released, Epstein sent Karp a link to an article about the case, with the subject line “oy.” Karp replied with “yuck.” Epstein also sent an opinion piece about the case to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, but he did not comment on it beyond sending the link. The article’s author compared the Kraft case to the ongoing scandal involving Epstein at the time.
“There are actually two cases involving billionaire Palm Beach neighbors that are blowing up right now — those of Kraft and the convicted teen-sex-abuser Jeffrey Epstein,” columnist Will Bunch wrote in the piece. “In different ways, both men exploited women who were very young and very poor — and whom they considered disposable.”
About two weeks later, Epstein communicated about the case with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who sent him a link to an article about Kraft’s legal team in handling the case.
Though the newly released documents contain several instances of Epstein talking about Kraft, there was no indication that the two directly communicated.
Official denials have been issued with the owners’ public relations teams actively asserting that their connections to Epstein were merely incidental. However, the specific nature of these associations may be less significant than the broader reality: individuals who interacted with Epstein often overlooked or dismissed behaviors that were openly occurring in their environment. Despite public relations professionals’ strategic efforts to shift the narrative, there appears to be a corresponding lack of coverage of this subject in sports media.
After all, who could imagine that Kraft would be involved in anything illicit when it comes to exercising power over young women? ESPN has essentially not covered the sports figures involved with Epstein. There are a few scant articles under the byline “ESPN News Services,” which are drawn from the Associated Press. There has been no investigative journalism or televised commentary on one of their yak-fests. When one considers that the NFL now owns a portion of ESPN, not to mention its centrality, much of its programming, the network’s blasé attitude toward the story is odious.
The released files repeatedly mention LA 2028 Olympic chairman Casey Wasserman. While Mr. Wasserman maintains that he has not engaged in any wrongdoing, two Los Angeles County supervisors and two City Council members have called for his resignation from the Olympic organizing committee. Council member Monica Rodriguez stated that, in her view, Mr. Wasserman poses a potential risk to the integrity of the Games.
Wasserman’s agency is experiencing client departures amid ongoing concerns. Both Olympian Abby Wambach and popstar Chappell Roan have ended their association with the firm and are requesting that Wasserman resign from the agency.
Of course, by any moral marker, Wasserman should not be allowed within 500 yards of the Olympics (or a school). His emails to Epstein’s partner in child trafficking, Ghislaine Maxwell, date back 20 years and include unredacted tidbits like, “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” LA Mayor Karen Bass, however, has not joined the call for him to be removed from the 2028 Games, which are already being called “The Epstein Olympics.”
Some arguments for keeping Wasserman as chair of the LA28 Olympic organizing committee are that replacing him now would be challenging and that he is skilled at securing corporate funding. Following what was called an “internal investigation,” Wasserman—whose grandfather, Lew Wasserman, wielded significant influence in Hollywood—will remain in his position. There’s a pressing need to review all pages of the Epstein files, with only the survivors’ and victims’ names withheld. However, this alone is insufficient. According to journalist Nolan Higdon, it is increasingly hard to protect those responsible for creating today’s era of wealth inequality—and such protection is undeserved.
The Epstein files reveal that global elites have amassed unprecedented wealth and influence, becoming consumed by power. This era will persist until full accountability is achieved and offenders are publicly removed.
