The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge The Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Goes Global
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Feb 9, 2026 
Dr Janice Stein, political scientist and founding director of the Munk School, offers sharp analysis of how the Epstein scandal has spread beyond the US. She discusses links to British politics, potential ties to senior US figures, and possible connections with Russia. She also examines intelligence failures, modern surveillance limits, and broader geopolitical ripples in Iran, Russia-Ukraine and Hungary.
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Epstein's Reach Into Power Circles
- Jeffrey Epstein cultivated access to people who sat an inch from major state decisions, widening the scandal beyond a U.S. sex story.
- Janice Stein argues those connections expose lapses in judgment among trusted officials and diplomats.
Intelligence Failures Amplify Risk
- Intelligence agencies likely had fragments of compromising material but failed to act or remove risky officials.
- Stein highlights this as a massive intelligence and political failure that enabled ongoing vulnerabilities.
Possible Foreign Intelligence Link
- Epstein's files could be the missing link explaining unexplained ties between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
- Stein cautions we lack evidence but says foreign intelligence, possibly Russian, may hold unredacted material.
