The Epstein affair, which revealed international networks involving tax fraud and child sex trafficking, dominated the news at the beginning of 2026. Widely documented by the press, it also became the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. What discourse can counter these manipulations? ---- While they were regularly overshadowed by international news, the Epstein files were clearly at the center of discussions in recent months, following the release of millions of documents by the United States Department of Justice on January 30. It must be said that the impact was immense. In France alone, they led to the resignation of Jack Lang from the Arab World Institute, the indictment of model recruiter Daniel Siad, and the implication of a diplomat from the Quai d'Orsay[1]. But the impact is global: from the British royal family to the shaken Norwegian government. Until the release of new documents on March 5, implicating Donald Trump.
"Flood the zone"
Undoubtedly, among other things, to protect itself, the Justice Department's method was deplorable: millions of pages of documents thrown to the wolves, randomly redacted, with a complete lack of protection for the victims, many of whom saw their personal information or identities made public. This was yet another application of the doctrine of Trump's former advisor, Steve Bannon: "flood the zone with shit," to paralyze the media and the opposition. The effect was spectacular: while even working day and night, it took serious journalists a few days to release the first important and verified information, conspiracy theories flourished immediately.
It must be said that the moment combined a phenomenal number of elements favored by conspiracy theories: secret government documents; redacted files; child sexual abuse; An unprecedented network of figures, mixing celebrities, politicians, and economic elites... And at the center of this web, a wealthy Jewish financier, Jeffrey Epstein. The opportunity is too good to pass up for the antisemitic far right, which has seized upon it worldwide. Alain Soral, speaking from Russia, where this career antisemite has found refuge from his numerous legal proceedings, has offered one of his usual pronouncements about a "Jewish mafia."
Defending an alternative interpretation
But the conspiracy theory unfortunately extends far beyond the sphere of far-right activists, and this is the main issue raised by the Epstein affair. Everywhere, our colleagues, our neighbors, our loved ones are sincerely asking themselves the same question: faced with such a serious, well-documented, and widely publicized case, how is it that we don't hear more about indictments, arrests, or detentions? Let no one respond by talking about the slowness of the justice system and the time required for investigations. We all know that in other circumstances, the State can act with great speed to imprison shoplifters, political activists, or petty criminals. We also know how quick its police are to open fire in working-class neighborhoods. This type of argument only highlights the disparities in treatment produced by our judicial and police systems.
Faced with this question, the conspiracy theory response is doubly seductive. First, because it allows for an extremely simple interpretation of an immensely complex case: the idea of a conspiracy orchestrated by an idealized elite. Second, because in this simplicity, it ultimately allows for the possibility of maintaining the status quo: the conspiracy theory explanation doesn't involve rethinking our capitalist mode of production, much less attacking the patriarchy. No, in this interpretation, everything rests on an "active minority", which must be prevented from doing harm in order to restore a fantasized moral order.
To prevent this framework from taking hold, only one option is possible: an unflinching Marxist and feminist analysis. Marxist, because the Epstein case reveals the entire class consciousness of the bourgeoisie, so clearly does the case file demonstrate its enthusiasm for organizing its economic interests. Feminist, because it would be reductive and incomplete to see only a social class mechanism at work here: no feminist activist is surprised that 99% of the names appearing in the files are those of men, particularly concerning sexual crimes. The Mazan case reminded us that men do not need to be bourgeois to organize themselves into networks of sexual predators: wealth merely expands the size of their networks. In this regard, let's not allow the economic revelations to overshadow the scale of the sexual crimes in the Epstein case: we're talking about more than 1,000 underage or young adult women who were abused, assaulted, or raped, all over the world, and particularly in Paris where Epstein owned a vast apartment.
22 Avenue Foch in Paris, where Jeffrey Epstein owned an 800-square-meter apartment.
Wikimedia/CVB
Class Solidarity
In the Epstein case, the intertwining of capitalism and patriarchy is laid bare, revealing how they feed off each other in service of two classes: the bourgeoisie and men. This class-based analysis is essential because it offers a materialist framework for understanding the affair, but also because it provides us with real avenues for action, whereas conspiracy theories trap us in simplistic and hateful false solutions. Building class consciousness all around us then appears as the only bulwark against conspiracy theories, and consequently against the far right.
We cannot count on the reformist left to do this work. Beyond a few moral pronouncements, the parties of the parliamentary left have largely sought to avoid discussing the affair too much, for fear of repercussions within their ranks. Worse, Mélenchon committed a genuine conspiracy-theory dog whistle[2]by mentioning the pronunciation of Epstein's name during a rally[3]. This sequence was heavily criticized from the perspective of antisemitism, but its conspiratorial dimension has surely been insufficiently addressed. Yet this is the main mechanism at play within LFI: imposing a discourse on an ethereal "elite" to support a falsely revolutionary program that attacks a few individuals without touching the foundations of capitalism and patriarchy.
Against all conspiracy theories, it is up to us to impose a clear materialist vision of current events: the Epstein cases reveal how the bourgeoisie and patriarchy organize and structure their class solidarities. It is up to us to build our own.
N. Bartosek (UCL Alsace)
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[1]On all these subjects, and other aspects of the Epstein cases, see the Mediapart dossier "In the Web of Jeffrey Epstein."
[2]A dog whistle is a message designed to be understood by a group without arousing suspicion among those outside it. If you didn't understand Mélenchon's allusion at this meeting, rest assured that the activists who instantly applauded him certainly understood the message.
[3]See Jean-Luc Mélenchon's meeting in Lyon on February 6, 2026, available on YouTube. The remarks in question occur at the 51-minute mark.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Affaire-Epstein-Face-au-complotisme-une-reponse-feministe-et-de-classe
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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