Washington, United States. Most Americans believe wealthy and powerful people are rarely held accountable, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found following the release of millions of records on Jeffrey Epstein’s connections in elite U.S. circles. Majorities across party lines said the disclosures reinforced that view.
Poll findings on accountability
Some 69% of respondents in the four-day poll, which concluded on Monday, said their views were captured “very well” or “extremely well” by a statement that the Epstein files “show that powerful people in the U.S. are rarely held accountable for their actions.”
Another 17% said the statement described their views “somewhat well,” while 11% said it didn’t reflect their thinking. Among both Republicans and Democrats, more than 80% said the statement described their thinking at least somewhat well.
Document releases and Epstein case background
Under congressional orders, the U.S. Justice Department has released trove after trove of documents that tie the late financier to prominent people in politics, finance, academia and business, both before and after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges, including soliciting an underage girl. Epstein’s 2019 death in a Manhattan jail cell following his arrest on charges of sex trafficking of minors was ruled a suicide.
Political impact and prominent figures
The scandal has proven a persistent political headache for President Donald Trump, who long fanned the flames of suspicions around Epstein and has been dogged by criticism that his administration was failing to fully disclose all that the U.S. government knew about the case.
The disclosures have started to cause the downfall of prominent people, with executives at Goldman SachsGS.N and Hyatt HotelsH.N resigning.
Others have retained powerful posts. Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apparently visited Epstein’s private island for lunch in 2012 and invited him to a fundraiser in 2015 for Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic rival in the 2016 presidential election, emails show. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, emailed an invitation to a Valentine’s Day party in 2016 to Epstein, Justice Department documents show. Neither Lutnick nor Oz is accused of wrongdoing.
Trump, who socialized extensively with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, has denied any knowledge of the financier’s crimes and says he broke off ties in the early 2000s, before Epstein’s plea deal.
How do you think the release of the Epstein documents will affect public trust in U.S. institutions?
