Skip to main content

← Who Pushed the Iran War

The Epstein Network and the Iran War: Blackmail as a Tool of Control

Jeffrey Epstein was a financier who pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida charge of procuring a minor for prostitution, was charged federally with sex trafficking in 2019, and died in federal custody in August 2019. For years, investigators and journalists have asked a harder question than what Epstein did: who was he working for? The recurring answer points to intelligence services, above all Israel's, and to one method: collecting compromising material on powerful people, known by the Russian word kompromat, so they can be steered.

This page teaches the investigation's thesis about Epstein and the war. The thesis: the Epstein operation was a blackmail network serving a foreign intelligence service, chiefly Israel's; that kind of leverage over American officials is one of the tools by which Israel's government has captured American decision-making; and the war on Iran, which Israel's leaders sought for three decades, is what that captured power has now been used to deliver. As with the other theses in this section, the page presents the named people who make each claim, with links, and the documented facts they rely on. It does not claim that a document shows the Epstein network ordered the war.

The thesis in the words of the journalist who has studied it longest​

Whitney Webb is an investigative journalist whose book-length work traces Epstein's ties to intelligence. Nine days before the United States and Israel began bombing Iran in February 2026, she said:

"[Epstein] was fronting for a larger group that still very much have their claws over the U.S. government."

"Israel, who was very involved with Epstein, and allegedly used kompromat and blackmail to manipulate U.S. policy, has been trying for decades to get the U.S. to go to war with Iran."

"The people that Epstein helped serve... might be finally getting what they want at a major cost for American lives."

(Wide Awake Media on X, March 26, 2026, video; reposted April 12, 2026; see Deep State: Whitney Webb). Her words hold the whole thesis: a blackmail network, an intelligence service behind it, a thirty-year goal, and an American cost.

Read more: The blackmail and intelligence thesis

Why people connect Epstein to intelligence​

The thesis rests on reporting and testimony gathered over two decades. The claims most often cited in the captures:

  • "Belonged to intelligence." Alex Acosta, the U.S. Attorney who gave Epstein a lenient plea deal in 2007 and 2008, is widely reported to have said he was told Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and to leave it alone (as quoted in a widely shared post, July 10, 2025).
  • Ghislaine Maxwell's father. Epstein's partner Ghislaine Maxwell is the daughter of Robert Maxwell, the British publisher long reported to have worked with Israeli intelligence. An FBI source report released in the Epstein files (EFTA01683612, December 23, 2021, marked SECRET//NOFORN) concerns Robert Maxwell, according to a summary of the documents (captured X search page).
  • Ehud Barak. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Epstein many times; a widely shared list puts the number at "20–60+" and calls the meetings "suspected intelligence-linked operations" (Wayne Waldrop on X, June 4, 2026). The count and the characterization are that list's.
  • "Blackmail is greater than prosecution." The logic of the thesis, as one analyst put it: "you can also benefit by having them do things for you for life, instead of that person just rotting in prison" (@TheSCIF on X, July 10, 2025).

From blackmail to policy: the Iraq precedent​

The idea that the network around Epstein shaped American war policy did not start with Iran. In 2003 the Ohio writer Bob Fitrakis published "The Wexner War," about Leslie Wexner, Epstein's chief patron, and the Mega Group of wealthy pro-Israel donors: "Lobbying groups like the Mega Group and government insiders like Wolfowitz and Richard Pearle are engaged in a systematic campaign to identify Israeli national security interests with U.S. military and security interests" (as quoted by Robin Monotti on X, January 7, 2024). Wolfowitz and Perle are the same officials Col. Wilkerson describes receiving Mossad officers in the Pentagon (see Mossad in the Pentagon). In February 2026, according to a captured summary, Rep. Ro Khanna revealed that the FBI had designated Wexner an unindicted co-conspirator in the Epstein case (that is the summary's account; Khanna's own words were not captured).

The February 2026 timing​

The Epstein files were being released under a new transparency law through January 2026. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave depositions in the Epstein matter on February 26 and 27, 2026. On February 28, the United States and Israel attacked Iran, and the Epstein story vanished from the headlines. A widely shared analysis noted that, according to Axios, "Netanyahu gave Trump critical intelligence on February 23," and that the final strike order came on the afternoon of February 27 (Matthew J. Reynolds on X, September 21, 2026). A poll reported in March 2026 found that half of Americans believed the country went to war with Iran to distract from the Epstein scandal (captured search summary; pollster not named).

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who helped force the files' release, says the President personally pressed her to take her name off the petition, telling her "his friends would get hurt" (Latin Times, May 6, 2026). In June 2026 she said she "strongly suspects" he appears in unreleased files, "given his behavior and how hard he's fought to stop the files" (as summarized in an X news summary, June 27, 2026). She added that she "can't say for sure." Critics of the President go further: one post, typical of many, asked why he "refuse[s] to stop the war with Iran" and answered that he "is compromised by the Israeli Mossad, which is blackmailing him using the Jeffrey Epstein files" (@MaatiSouda70676 on X, September 26, 2026). That is an allegation with no document behind it; it is recorded because it states the thesis in its sharpest form.

Read more: The Epstein files and the February timing

Epstein on bombing Iran​

One document from the Justice Department's release speaks directly to Iran. File EFTA01211330 (Data Set 9) contains December 2018 messages in which, according to a summary, Epstein speculated that the President might provoke a conflict such as bombing Iran if he felt cornered (Grok summary, March 1, 2026; DOJ file). The file was not opened for this page. At minimum it shows that Epstein, whose network reached into the highest levels of American and Israeli power, had war with Iran on his mind years before it happened.

What would prove or disprove the thesis​

The files are the key. The Justice Department told Congress the release was incomplete. Citizens can ask their representatives to demand the full, unredacted release; the intelligence files on Robert Maxwell and on any foreign service's contact with Epstein; and the records of which officials in the 2025 and 2026 war decisions appear in them. Until the files are complete, the public is left with Webb's question: whether the people Epstein served are now "getting what they want at a major cost for American lives."

Go deeper​

How strong is the evidence?​

ClaimRatingPage
Whitney Webb said Israel "allegedly used kompromat and blackmail" and has sought a U.S. war with Iran for decadesCONFIRMED that she said itBlackmail thesis
The Clinton Epstein depositions (Feb 26 and 27, 2026) were followed by the war the next dayCONFIRMED (chronology)February timing
Greene says the President pressed her to drop the Epstein files petition because "his friends would get hurt"CONFIRMED that she said itFebruary timing
Epstein had documented ties to figures in Israeli and intelligence circles (Barak meetings, Maxwell family)MODERATEBlackmail thesis

The thesis that Epstein-network blackmail was used to push the United States into the Iran war is not rated: it is presented as the argument of the named people who make it.

Status: Jeffrey Epstein — Deceased (2019). Whitney Webb, Alex Acosta, Ghislaine Maxwell, Ehud Barak, Leslie Wexner, Ro Khanna, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Donald Trump are alive. Robert Maxwell — Deceased (1991). Nothing on this page states that any living person committed a crime.

Sources​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

Last updated on