Steve Tisch has a Jeffrey Epstein problem. Which means the Giants have a Jeffrey Epstein problem. Which means the NFL has a Jeffrey Epstein problem.
After the Giants co-owner’s name first emerged in the latest release of Epstein files, Tisch issued a statement in which he said of Epstein, “We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy, and investments.”
New articles from both the Wall Street Journal and The Athletic paint a picture that brings to mind a different word than “brief.”
Epstein was connecting Tisch, a film producer, with women. And while there’s no suggestion that any of the women were not of legal age, they were young. And they had career ambitions that Tisch could, in theory, help them achieve.
Per The Athletic, the latest batch of emails shows that Tisch met Epstein after Epstein’s illegal proclivities had become documented, through lawsuits, 13 months of work release, and registration as the highest level of sex offender.
The emails also include exchanges between Epstein and Tisch in which they discuss women in graphic and objectifying terms. Epstein, per The Athletic, eventually introduced Tisch to at least four different women.
Tisch invited one woman “repeatedly” to Boston, at a time when NFL owners were meeting there.
Wednesday’s explosive Congressional questioning of U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi included a specific question about emails exchanged by Tisch and Epstein.
“Do these emails constitute credible evidence — not proof, but credible evidence — warranting further investigation into whether Steve Tisch was involved in Epstein’s criminal conduct?” asked Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Cal.). “Do you think, yes or no?”
“I’m not going to play a yes-no game with you but I will answer the question to the best of my ability,” Bondi said. “As I said, we will look and investigate any case involving any victim. I’m not familiar — there were three million pages, of course — with that email, but of course we will look into anything.”
That sounds a lot like the things Commissioner Roger Goodell said 10 days ago, during his Super Bowl press conference: “I know that three million documents came out late this week. So, listen, we’ll continue to follow any of the facts that come up, and we’ll determine whether we open an investigation or not based on those facts.”
The Giants provided no comment to The Athletic regarding its latest report. The league pointed to Goodell’s prior comments.
It’s possible, if not likely, that Tisch, the Giants, and the NFL are hoping that this will blow over and be forgotten. Maybe that strategy will work. Maybe it won’t. Regardless, there’s really no other play at this point than for each of them to keep their heads low and their mouths shut, and to hope that the next scandal will make everyone forget about the current one.
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