**WHAT ARE WE MISSING ABOUT EPSTEIN ??**

Epstein engaged in revolting sexual behavior. He used his own broken, sociopathic nature to abuse vulnerable and equally broken victims. We should never forget that. If release of the alleged files brings some comfort to those still suffering, then that is a positive in an otherwise bleak emotional desert.

My concern, however, is that reluctance to release the files has little to do with Epstein’s predatory sexual behavior and those with whom he associated in these regards, and more to do with the fact that Epstein represented a considerable power player as a businessman and intelligence asset, utilizing and engaged with the global covert networks that had their genesis in the Eighties, which genesis is described in my book, “Maggie’s Hammer” (maggieshammer.org).

“Maggie’s Hammer” traces the lineage of covert financial and intelligence networks that were built in the Eighties in London, of which Hugh Simmonds, CBE ( the subject of “Maggie’s Hammer”) and Epstein were crucial elements (although unconnected), and which continue operating quietly through London today. Understanding these networks is key to understanding what is happening now. And understanding Epstein’s involvement is key to understanding the true power that Epstein wielded (https://tinyurl.com/yrvkf8ef).

Forget my book for a moment. I wish I could say I was doing this for the money. I’m not. I’ve been investigating the death of my mate, Hugh Simmonds CBE (today is the thirty-seventh anniversary of his death), for most of my working life. And I’m still poor as a church mouse.

I had my frothy moment in 2000-2001, when I thought I was sitting on the most important story of the century, and could not understand why the world was not taking notice.

The world might have done. But there were those who were not prepared to allow the story to be confirmed officially because the players were still too powerful. That’s when I realized that one does this because it’s the right thing to do. Damn the finances. So, forget the book. Walk the trail with me. But why?

I’m not sure if this is accidental or deliberate. But. As awful as it is, if we look at Epstein and see only the sexual monster, we are missing truths which are just as important in understanding what is going on around the globe. We need to take a deeper dive. So, walk the trail with me.

The Epstein story does not begin in the Nineties. It began in the Eighties, when a young ambitious stockbroker moved to London, to get involved in the burgeoning, covert, dirty financial world developing in the City of London. “Maggie’s Hammer” describes the why and the how of this development (https://maggieshammer.com/british-political-arms-corruption/).

The bottom line is that Margaret Thatcher encouraged the City of London to ‘expand its horizons,’ in order to counter the economic destruction wrought on the UK under socialism in the Seventies (https://maggieshammer.com/international-terror-network…/).

At the same time, Thatcher also sought to supercharge growth in the UK’s arms manufacturing and sales enterprises, to help fill the industrial hole left by the failure of the industries the British Labour Government had nationalized in the Seventies (https://maggieshammer.com/margaret-thatchers-arms-money…/).

In London, Epstein joined the same groups of people turbo-charging the corruption of the City of London and GB Ltd as the subject of my book, Hugh Simmonds CBE, although I have no evidence they were connected.

Epstein’s arms activities in London in the Eighties, described by Ari Ben-Menashe in interviews with journalist Dylan Howard in 2019, bore a striking resemblance to what Hugh was doing in the Eighties to set up money-laundering routes for arms-dealing by Ari, Robert Maxwell, the Savoy Mafia, Denis and Mark Thatcher, Gerald James, Mossad, MI6, and the CIA — among other individuals and corrupt entities (https://maggieshammer.org/…/trump-tulsi-russia-epstein…/).

This is all going to be a lot to unpack. So, quick emphasis/summary, with a wee bit of extension. In the Eighties, Western intelligence agencies faced global conflicts—the Iran-Iraq War, instability in Central America, and the restructuring of global finance—that created opportunities and incentives to run off-the-books operations.

These were not limited to Iran-Contra. They were part of a broader system that raised and laundered money outside official government channels to fund covert military and political efforts around the world.

In the U.S., these networks are sometimes collectively referred to as “The Enterprise” or “The Octopus.” My thirty-year research, along with firsthand interviews, demonstrates that the operational hub for these activities was not Washington—but London. And that’s where Epstein was in the Eighties.

The City of London, with its longstanding role as a permissive global finance center, became the meeting point for intelligence officers, arms dealers, defense contractors, private banks, and political party finance operations.

Networks connecting elements of MI6, the British Conservative Party finance apparatus, and global defense-industry intermediaries set up complex pipelines for money laundering, arms financing, and covert influence operations. Individuals such as Ari Ben-Menashe, arms-network financiers – and Epstein – intersected with these systems.

While in London, Epstein was introduced to Robert Maxwell, who then introduced him to his daughter, Ghislaine. Epstein’s sexual antics didn’t begin in New York. They commenced in London. Not least when Ghislaine introduced Epstein to her close friend at the time, Prince Andrew.

Andrew grew up reveling in the inhumane sexual peccadillos and pedophilia of the British aristocracy and upper-classes (https://tinyurl.com/52jwa6d7). It was in London that Epstein began to engage in his revolting sexual behavior – with his new mate, Prince Andrew.

Andrew later became an official trade representative for the British Government. Since, at the time, Britain’s primary trade had become arms, this was all a euphemism for ‘arms sales rep.’ This too, Epstein and Andrew had in common.

Epstein never blackmailed Andrew. They were co-equal and willing partners in crime. This is why King Charles has essentially subjected Andrew to internal exile (https://maggieshammer.org/…/andrew-and-epstein-co…/).

Another of Andrew’s mates, and partner in the arms business, was Mark Thatcher, son of Margaret Thatcher. Hugh was close to Margaret Thatcher. He had helped her attain the Leadership of the British Conservative Party, at a time when she was a rank outsider (1975).

Margaret Thatcher gained support from two important power groups: the then British equivalent of what Americans would now recognize as a version of MAGA, and British Intelligence.

The ultimate power in the UK remains the British Monarch. There is no written Constitution. There are many (including British Intelligence) who feel they owe little loyalty to Parliament and the Government flavor of the day, but rather owe their fealty to the Crown.

In the late Seventies, and beginning with Northern Ireland, elements of British Intelligence became severely concerned with what they viewed as the weakness of Whitehall and Westminster, joined fringe groups of the Conservative Party, and began to agitate for influence over government personnel and policy.

Hugh was one such member of British Intelligence. At the time of his death, Hugh held the rank of Brigadier-General in the SIS/MI6, and had been granted a military ribbon to his civilian CBE. Hugh and his intelligence/political confreres (Airey Neave, Ian Gow, etc.) gravitated towards the Leadership challenge offered by Margaret Thatcher.

Along with turning British industry over to arms manufacturing, and the City of London over to full-time financial underpinning of the world’s covert and criminal networking, Margaret Thatcher allowed British Intelligence to do what it liked, as reward for their help in getting her elected Leader of the Conservative Party.

‘Whatever they liked’ morphed into making money out of illicit global arms sales, drug-running, trafficking, etc. And thus began the wholesale corruption of the British Establishment. You want receipts? Sorry. You’re going to have to buy the book (“Maggie’s Hammer”: https://tinyurl.com/yrvkf8ef).

The point to bear in mind with all this networking (one more time) is that it was not restricted to the UK. The City of London and the corruption of the British Establishment (the creation of GB Ltd) extended support to the US, and other state/non-state terroristic organizations worldwide.

One of my key findings since writing “Maggie’s Hammer,” describing the origins of these networks, is that these networks were never dismantled. They evolved, privatized further, and embedded themselves inside offshore finance systems—particularly in the Caribbean.

Belize, in particular, became a hub linked to British political financiers and commercial elites. These structures have continued to influence political and intelligence decision-making in the UK across party lines, from Thatcher to Blair and now Starmer.

This is why it is being reported in the US that British Intelligence has stopped sharing intelligence about drug-running in the Caribbean with US Intelligence. These drug boats are most likely financed by the City of London. The message is: stop bombing our boats.

This isn’t Starmer. Starmer is in political trouble. He wants all the friends he can get. The last thing he wants to do is piss off his new mate, Donald Trump (“Where’s my friend, Keir?”). This is British Intelligence making the decision, at the behest of the City of London. Think I’m making this up? Let’s take another deep dive, and look at a couple of power players.

Lord Michael Ashcroft (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ashcroft). Ashcroft’s resume includes the fact that he was the Treasurer of the British Conservative Party from 1998 to 2001. The Conservative Party was crucial to the corruption of the British Establishment in the Eighties. It had developed its own global finance structure over decades, to finance its operations and make money illegally for senior members.

Hugh became a member of that structure in the Eighties, when he became a member of the Conservative Board of Finance, working closely with the Party Treasurer to use the Party’s networks as a starting point to launder money. It helped that one of Hugh’s closest friends, one Peter Smith, was Auditor of the Conservative Party at that time.

Peter Smith was much the same age as Hugh. In the Eighties, he was a Senior Partner in the City of London with accountants, Coopers & Lybrand. Peter covered up the shenanigans in the Conservative Party accounts. He knew what Hugh was doing and covered that up, too.

Peter negotiated the merger between PriceWaterhouse and Coopers, when it became PriceWaterhouse Coopers. He later became Chair of PWC in London and then its international chair. He oversaw the collapse of BCCI, and the tremendous theft of the Maxwell pension funds (the latter helping to fund the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe).

Just to give you a sense of how important the City of London is to global finance and those who like to dabble in conspiracy networking theories, Peter later became the Non-Executive Chairman of N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd (https://www.marketscreener.com/…/PETER-ALAN-SMITH-A0CG43/).

Three further points, while we’re on the subject of Peter Smith. One of Peter’s fellow non-executive directors at N.M. Rothschild was Lord Mark Sedwill (still there), a former British Cabinet Secretary and presently a member of the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on National Security. Just to highlight the continuing connections between the City, global finance, and international intelligence activities (https://www.rothschildandco.com/…/lord-mark-sedwill…/).

I used to sit alongside Hugh and Peter at meetings of the Beaconsfield Constituency Conservative Association in dusty rooms around Beaconsfield. I had no idea I was sitting next to a nexus of interconnecting covert networks.

Finally, Peter has never been bestowed with a British Honour. He ought to be a Peer. This is my fault. I didn’t mind the fact that he was involved in dark crap up to his neck. Shrug. To each his own. I minded that he removed himself as an Executor from Hugh’s Estate, explaining that he could do more good for Hugh’s children outside of the Estate — and then never contacting them again. He is a shit. I gave the entire file I had collected on him to the Honours Division of the British Cabinet Office. They tell me that he will never be cleared for an Honour. Good.

Sigh. Gather petticoat. Return to the story line.

Part of the whole Conservative Party fandango was a group known as ‘The Savoy Mafia’ (because they met at London’s Savoy Hotel). This group was made up of senior Tory Party officials and MP’s, defense contractors, civil servants, and intelligence officers.

One of the members of the Savoy Mafia was an arms dealer called Wafic Said (after whom the Oxford University Said Business School was named), who was close friends with Peter Mandelson, who later took over the reins of all of the arms kickback shenanigans for the Labour Party, when it came to power in 1997.

[I’m sorry. Did I not mention that one of the results of Hugh’s money-laundering expertise was that, by the time the Tories left power in 1997, a total of some $400 million a year in arms kickbacks and illicit commissions was flowing into the British Treasury each year, then to be distributed by whoever was the ‘bagman’ for the political party in power at the time. This arrangement has been inherited by every British Government since the Eighties.]

This is why Mandelson grew close to Epstein in the Eighties — arms-dealing and money-laundering. This is also why Starmer made Mandelson the UK’s Ambassador to Washington earlier this year. Mandelson knew where the bodies were buried.

It is also why Starmer then fired him. The discovery of just how close Starmer was to Epstein, a major asset for Mossad. Looking too closely at Mandelson would have led to Epstein’s links to Mossad, which would have revealed all of the corruption of the British Establishment in the Eighties, and the complicity of the British Labour Party and others in the years afterwards.

Keeping track?

Another very important member of the Savoy Mafia was Michael Ashcroft. Although born in the UK, Ashcroft became a citizen and a significant power player in Belize, while being based for a while out of Miami.

Ashcroft was the finance kingpin of Belize. Set up banks. Created a shipping line. And established the offshore finance haven in Belize. He worked closely with the finances of the Conservative Party, and with Hugh, before officially becoming Treasurer of the Conservative Party in 1998.

Back in the Eighties, Ashcroft was close to Denis Thatcher, and especially to Mark Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher wanted Mark to succeed. She knew he was stupid. So, she gave him minders: Ashcroft and Hugh.

Mark ended up with a fortune of about $25 million. $12 million of that was laundered by Hugh, from Middle East arms deals, through the Island of Jersey, to bank accounts under Mark’s control in Texas, between 1984 and 1988. Basically, Mark was Margaret’s Hunter Biden.

In the Nineties, The Times ran an investigative piece alleging that the US DoJ had been investigating Ashcroft for running drugs and money-laundering in the Caribbean. He sued. Won. And The Times had to withdraw. However, everyone knew the story to be true.

Now, let me tiptoe gently. Go out on a limb. Ashcroft’s influence in Belize never ended. Nor did his illegal operations.

So, we now have British Intelligence/City of London refusing to share intelligence information from the Caribbean with Trump. But, this isn’t Starmer. Starmer doesn’t control his country or his government. The power players who have inherited the networks in the City of London from the Eighties control the UK.

Drug boats are being bombed. Maybe, just maybe. Ashcroft is still running them and his wider operations in the Caribbean. It might be one thing for Ashcroft and the City to turn a blind eye to a few boardings. Quite another to allow Trump to bomb the drug boats of his fellow businessmen — or even his own drug boats.

Proof? Certainly at the beginning of this news story (maybe even now), there was no word of this in the British media. Most likely because it had been D-Noticed (go look it up). It is the Ministry of Defence and British Intelligence which control D-Noticing.

The matters set out in this post most likely offer some part of the explanation about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. In the weeks before his death, Charlie had intimated that he was going to look into the links between Mossad and Epstein.

Even now, we are learning more and more about the depth and extent of those links – but only in little-read sources (https://www.alternet.org/epstein-israel/).

I have no direct evidence that the death of Charlie Kirk was undertaken by other than a lone gunman. But, there are inconsistencies.

I suspect there may have been an entity radicalizing this alleged lone gunman, or operating alongside him. Shrug. Spitballing (https://maggieshammer.org/…/is-there-any-basis-to…/)

There has been talk that this entity might have been Israel, because Charlie was becoming outspoken about Gaza. Nope. Even Trump was having doubts about Gaza. If Israel was involved, it was to hide the darker machinations and importance of Epstein (https://maggieshammer.org/…/epstein-kirk-mossad…/).

So. Ending where I began. Epstein’s sexual abuse is awful, I will never minimize nor detract from that. But. In the coming weeks, when files are released, please take a moment to wonder why release has been such a problem, whether or not something deeper was being hidden, and whether or not this something darker is every bit as important to the world as knowing the names in the Epstein files.

Oh. And one final point. On the anniversary of his death. Was Hugh really that important? Yes. Along with everything else, one of the darkest moments in the last thirty-seven years was when I discovered the likelihood that Hugh was Margaret Thatcher’s personal dirty tricks meister and assassin (https://tinyurl.com/5n8f6.

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