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finally, five years after his release from prison, be able to start rebuilding his public reputation. Then, just before the New Year, Epstein forwarded me a heads-up email that Alan Dershowtiz, one of Epstein’s longtime friends—they have a bickering brotherly relationship—and occasional legal advisors, had received from a reporter at Politico. The Politico reporter had been following Epstein-related court filings and found a new one added to an old lawsuit with some rather jaw-dropping claims. The civil filing, based on claims of one of the plaintiffs, purported to connect a catch-all of bold-faced names associated with Epstein more than a decade ago, including Dershowtiz and Britain’s Prince Andrew, to a “sex slave” ring, and . claimed that Epstein’s alleged sex slaves had been forced on Epstein’s command to have sex with Dershowitz and the Prince. Epstein, who sometimes seems to have an out-of- body attitude toward his own fate and bad press, said that while the claims were ludicrous—putting Dershowitz among sex slaves, he said, ought to point out just how ludicrous—he thought it might provoke “quite a show.” In short order, Prince Andrew’s alleged involvement sent the U.K. into tabloid frenzy (even the normally sniffy Guardian, in full anti- royal and anti- billionaire fever, joined in), which then effectively exported the story back to the U.S., where Epstein’s now-long-defunct connection to Bill Clinton, suddenly became a shadow over Hillary, and hence big news. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_022867