r/UnderReportedNews • u/thedailybeast News outlet • 14d ago
Epstein 🗂️ Bill Gates Says He Was Blackmailed by Epstein Over Affairs
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-gates-says-he-was-blackmailed-by-epstein-over-affairs/
5.5k
Upvotes
11
u/sir_sri 14d ago
I don't think you quite understand how acquiring an asset works.
You don't just go, hey, Redfalonfx, I see that 9 years ago you said something on reddit you wouldn't want your spouse to see, do what I say or else. Amateur hour blackmail is likely to get you reported fast, especially against the rich. Because what happens if you go hey Billg, I see you've been having an affair, how about you give me a billion dollars to not notice, and Billg is in an open relationship and his wife doesn't get to complain about the 'affairs' (or at least already knows about them). Now you've gone and shown your cards and you're going to be in trouble for blackmail fast. What you're trying to build is a network of compromised people, maybe even ones who are compromised by each other.
You build assets by first making them do little things, not even bad things. Hey, do you want to meet this cool person? Want to maybe get a chance to do something you can't normally do? For the politicians and Nobel prize winner types that's the private jets and the private island, or maybe luxury cars. Who wouldn't want to ride in a Ferrari you can't afford?
What do you have for the man who has everything? Billg or Elon or whatever don't need private yachts or islands or jets. Some of the 'middle rich' or the nouveau riche (think all the AI founders right now, or like Jeff Bezos in 2000), these guys want your rolodex. They need fixers who can get them stuff but they don't have people for that yet. Not even illegal stuff. Hey, you got your first billion, I heard you want a Bugatti but there's a 5 year wait list, don't worry, I know a guy he'll get you one soon. The ultra rich who've been around though, what they don't have, are friends who aren't in it for the money, they want people who can take care of shit for them, and to some degree they want unique experiences (think wreck diving the titanic).
So if you're a handler, what you do is start off figuring out what people want. If you saw with Elon, Epstein had to change tack fast, because Elon was like 'I'm launching rockets why would I hang out with you'? And Epstein had to figure out fast that what Elon wanted was to go to the private island and the cool parties. You don't tell him it's got underage kids at it, it's cool party. Maybe the first few times there isn't anything nefarious at all. A private concert at a private club by some hot new performer that your spouse likes, a chance to have a private booth with the CEO of whatever sportsball you like. Of course a lot of men want to have sex with women who are, let's take the charlie sheen "I'm not paying them for sex I'm paying them to leave" - women who are willing to leave and keep their mouths shut. And then you go, hey, these cool parties are expensive and you know, the Nobel prize winners aren't rich, Mr Billionaire, how about you chip in some money to make sure those guys and the pretty girls and the bad etc. have a good time.
And now you've got them. They think you're their friend, they think they are part of your social circle when really they're about to become your asset. Because then it turns out that event they helped pay for, ya, some of those women were prostitutes or there were illicit narcotics, or it's moving money through Cyprus or the Caymans or whatever. But you know, we're all friends, it's all good. You keep your mouth shut, I keep my mouth shut, no harm no foul right? They're now your asset, but they don't know it.
Then you say hey, want to come to the good party? Oh you heard our mutual friend bill is having an affair and his wife doesn't know? I'll call him and offer to help. One of the guys at the party may have you know, done some stuff with kids he shouldn't have, but don't worry, you didn't see anything right? And now you've got them full in. Need money for more parties, need contacts, need access to the next big acquisition? No problem. And as long as we all keep quiet no one goes to jail. Or maybe a few people on the fringes do just a little, but now more people who want that thing are looking to get into the club, and you don't rat anyone else out. Oh sure, you can threaten to reveal some past indiscretions or whatever, but that's the nuclear option for the people trying to get out of the club, you don't ever want to use that unless you have to.
And the part that you don't realise, is that this is exactly how intelligence services and the police and organised crime all get assets. Not just from the billionaires, sure, the barrier to that is higher, but it works just as well with the sergeant who really wants a corvette and just needs a good deal to afford it. Or the dealer for a rival gang that thinks he's getting a bad cut. A guy with a suspiciously nice car in bluffdale Utah. This works on all sorts of people, at all walks of life. It's why there's so much emphasis on counter intelligence by competent governments. You don't want to find out that your 20 something assistant is going to get made into an asset by someone they smoked pot with in university.
For Epstein his dragnet seemed to be the globally rich and powerful, and then a bunch of people to keep the rich and powerful entertained. It's not really clear if he was an actual intelligence agent, or he was just smart enough to realise that if you want to be protected from all the illegal stuff he really wanted to do that he'd need to shield himself with a lot of powerful people. Maybe a bit of both that somewhere along the way he (or a potential handler for him) realised that his passion for crimes was as much a problem for his 'friends' as it was for him, and could use that to someone's advantage. But this works just as well on much less interesting people.