A year ago, the Trump administration invited more than a dozen right-wing influencers to the White House to receive their copies of “The Epstein Files.” These influencers, who included the personalities behind the accounts DC Draino and LibsofTikTok, proudly displayed the white binders they had been given by Attorney General Pam Bondi before realizing hours later, when they finally had a chance to thumb through the documents, there was nothing new in them. They had been duped by a president all too willing to indulge their fantasies to win the votes of their audience. How we laughed at these chumps for chasing their ludicrous conspiracy theories. Well, they’re the ones laughing now. The real Epstein files, which the conspiracy theorists forced to light, have been utterly revelatory, illuminating a global web of depraved intrigue. As New York’s Simon van Zuylen-Wood writes in this insightful essay, the conspiracy mindset is no longer written off so easily — in fact, the Epstein files might make conspiracists of us all.
—Ryu Spaeth, features editor, New York
