RTThu, 18 Jul 2019 19:52 UTC
© Agence France-Presse/ Stephanie Keith
Mysteries only multiply as the Jeffrey Epstein saga continues to unravel. A fake passport found in the sex offender's Manhattan home raises the possibility he had official cooperation traveling the globe under a false identity.
Federal investigators found the document alongside
"piles of cash" and dozens of diamonds in a safe in Epstein's New York mansion, the Daily Beast reported on Monday. Prosecutors say the passport, which contains Epstein's photo but uses a fake name, was issued in Austria in the 1980s; they are still trying to determine how it was obtained.
The discovery not only stokes concerns that Epstein may be a flight risk - some of the safe's contents suggest he was prepared to leave the country at a moment's notice - but raise questions about how the wealthy financier could have trotted the globe for years under a fake name and avoided detection.
"This is a phony passport. Somebody else's name, different address. Why would he do that?" asked RT America's Rick Sanchez, who will take a closer look at the mysterious passport in a forthcoming special report.
"Why does an American citizen need a fake passport to go to the UK, for example?"In other words, Sanchez said, Epstein flew everywhere from France, to Spain, to the UK and Saudi Arabia, using a fake name and a fake passport for all of it - according to the stamped markings on the document - and raised no suspicion?
"Who did he know? Who might he take down - presidents, tycoons?"
Epstein was arrested in early July on sex trafficking charges and awaits trial in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. His bail hearing is set for Thursday afternoon, when he will request to be released on a $100 million bond, and put under house arrest.
Comment: Child advocate
Carissa Phelps says Epstein's famous friends may have participated in 'sinister' crimes:
The scandal surrounding disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein could have been stopped by his many celebrity friends who chose to turn a blind eye, according to attorney and advocate Carissa Phelps.
The author, attorney and advocate for sexually exploited runaway children, spoke to RT's Mike Papantonio to discuss Epstein's case. Phelps, who is herself a survivor of human trafficking, said while nobody should have the resources to enslave others and get away with it, "as long as we have the rich and powerful raping children and getting away with it, we will still have that same behavior and local communities won't stand a chance.
Despite his conviction for soliciting a child, Epstein appeared to continue to enjoy a large circle of so-called 'Hollywood' friends including President Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey and Woody Allen. Some of which, Phelps says, could have, at best, helped victims, and, at worst, participated in the heinous acts.
"Most of those people that you mentioned probably could have helped victims have a voice and chose not to," said Phelps.
"Some of those people may have had things themselves that they were involved with that were sinister and bad."
Comment: Child advocate Carissa Phelps says Epstein's famous friends may have participated in 'sinister' crimes: