One Year Later: What I Got Right...What I Got Wrong...And What Comes Next
Truth isn't about never being wrong. It's about following the evidence wherever it leads. That's exactly what this updated edition is designed to do.
*Thomas Massie
Before We Begin...
Almost a year ago I wrote the article below.
Looking back, I was curious.
Where was I right?
Where was I too optimistic?
What happened that none of us anticipated?
Rather than rewrite history...
I decided to annotate it.
Every box labeled 2026 UPDATE…and highlighted in yellow… is my present-day commentary.
One Year Later: What I Got Right...What I Got Wrong...And What Comes Next
Truth isn't about never being wrong. It's about following the evidence wherever it leads. That's exactly what this updated edition is designed to do.
The Original Article (with commentary and updates…below)
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #952: Tuesday, June 30th, 2026
What Massie Said in the Epstein Hearing Today Should Shake Every Corner of the World’s Elite
Thomas Massie just said the FBI has a list of billionaires…princes…bankers… politicians…and moguls tied to Epstein. Kash Patel won’t release it. Here’s what we know.
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #557: Wednesday, September 17th, 2025.
The Hearing That Lit the Fuse
Today in the House Judiciary Committee…Rep. Thomas Massie put his cards on the table.
He said…on record…that the FBI is sitting on a list…a list of at least 20 powerful men tied to Jeffrey Epstein.
Not anonymous whispers. Not internet rumor. A sitting Congressman…under oath… describing what FBI “302” documents…interview reports…contain.
And this isn’t a list of nobodies. Massie ticked through the categories:
A Hollywood producer worth $100 million
A royal prince
A high-profile music industry figure
A very prominent banker
A high-profile government official
A high-profile former politician
The owner of a car company in Italy
A rock star
A magician
At least six billionaires, including one from Canada
And yes…Massie dropped one name outright:
Jes Staley, the disgraced ex-CEO of Barclays.
He looked straight at FBI Director Kash Patel and asked the question every American should be screaming right now: Have you read the 302s? Have you opened investigations into these men?
Patel’s answer? A dodge. A lawyerly shrug. A bureaucratic promise that he’s asked “agents to review the files” and bring him anything “credible.”
Translation: stonewall. Delay. Deny. Distract.
🟦 2026 UPDATE
ONE YEAR LATER
This hearing ultimately proved more significant politically…than legally.
Congress did exactly what Congress often does with explosive scandals…it generated headlines…public pressure…and mountains of commentary...
...without producing the immediate wave of indictments many people expected.
That doesn’t mean the hearing was meaningless.
It changed public awareness.
Sometimes…that’s where history starts.
Why This Is Different
Let’s stop here. Because I can already hear the cynics: “We’ve heard this before. Names, rumors, categories. It always leads nowhere.”
Wrong.
Here’s why this moment is different:
Congressional Record:
Massie didn’t say this in a podcast rant or a campaign ad. He said it in a formal hearing, under oath, where lying carries legal consequences. That locks it in history.
302 Documents:
These aren’t “Epstein’s black book” scribbles. FBI 302s are official interview reports. If those reports say Epstein trafficked victims to these categories of men, that is hard evidence of investigative leads.
Public Name…Jes Staley:
We have one name that is already documented by regulators and courts. Staley has been banned by UK financial authorities for his relationship with Epstein. That’s not rumor. That’s receipts.
So for the first time…we’ve got Congress acknowledging that the FBI is sitting on specific…documented accusations in their own files…and refusing to act.
🟦 2026 UPDATE
ONE YEAR LATER
One thing I want to clarify.
Massie described what he believed existed inside FBI files.
That was not the same thing as publicly released evidence proving every category represented criminal conduct.
That distinction matters.
At the time…frustration over years of secrecy led many…including me…to assume disclosure was imminent.
It wasn’t.
Government institutions proved far more resistant than many expected.
The FBI’s Contradiction
Here’s where it gets even dirtier.
Just days ago…in Senate testimony…Patel told lawmakers there was “no credible information” that Epstein trafficked victims to anyone besides himself.
Read that again. No credible information.
But if Massie’s statement is true…if the FBI’s own 302s document interviews naming at least 20 powerful men across industries…government…and entertainment…then Patel’s Senate testimony is a lie. Or at the very least…a weasel phrase meant to downplay explosive evidence.
Which means one of two things is happening:
The FBI is actively covering for elites and protecting them from scrutiny.
The FBI is redefining “credible” so narrowly that even sworn victim testimony in official 302s somehow doesn’t count.
Either way…it reeks of cover-up.
The Jes Staley Receipts
Let’s talk about Jes Staley. Because his name is the thread that pulls this whole mess apart.
Staley was a senior JPMorgan executive who became CEO of Barclays.
Regulators have confirmed he had a decades-long relationship with Epstein… starting around 2000.
In 2025…the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority formally banned Staley from holding senior roles in finance…citing his failure to disclose the extent of his Epstein ties.
Staley tried to appeal. He lost. The Tribunal ruling upheld the ban.
This isn’t speculation. This is on paper. This is in official regulatory decisions.
And now Massie tells us the FBI has 302s connecting Staley…and men like him…to trafficking.
If that’s true…then the case for a deliberate…systemic cover-up becomes overwhelming.
🟦 2026 UPDATE
ONE YEAR LATER
Jes Staley remains one of the strongest publicly documented examples…because his relationship with Epstein has already been examined by regulators and courts.
In hindsight...
this was always the safest piece of the puzzle.
The broader allegations remain far more dependent upon government disclosure that has still not fully occurred.
The Categories That Should Make You Sick
Now let’s walk through the categories Massie listed…one by one.
Not because we know the names yet…we don’t…but because the pattern screams volumes.
A $100M Hollywood producer:
How many moguls in Hollywood have that kind of valuation? This isn’t a “film student.” This is an insider at the top of the industry.
A royal prince:
Prince Andrew is the obvious candidate…already named in lawsuits and sworn testimony. If he’s in the FBI 302s…that’s confirmation they have more than gossip.
A music industry figure, a rock star:
Think about the cultural influence…and the protection money and fame can buy.
A high-profile government official and former politician:
Who? Cabinet-level? Congressional? The public deserves to know.
Six billionaires, including one Canadian:
This one cuts deepest. Because billionaires aren’t just rich. They’re power centers. They fund parties. They buy influence. They build the scaffolding that keeps men like Trump insulated.
These categories aren’t random. They’re a cross-section of the elite networks that run America and its allies. Entertainment. Politics. Royalty. Finance. Tech. Media.
If Epstein’s victims put these men’s names into FBI interviews…then the Bureau has been sitting on a nuclear bombshell…and choosing not to detonate it.
🟦 2026 UPDATE
ONE YEAR LATER
This may have been the section where my expectations were too aggressive.
I believed public pressure would force names into the open.
Instead...
institutional delay won.
Again.
The lesson wasn’t that the story disappeared.
The lesson….was that powerful institutions…have extraordinary capacity to simply wait until public attention moves elsewhere.
Why They’re Hiding It
Ask yourself: why hide it? Why bury it? Why deny it?
Because if the FBI admitted the full scope…the fallout would be uncontrollable.
Markets would shudder if names in finance were implicated.
Governments would quake if officials or royals were dragged into criminal investigations.
Media empires would crumble if moguls and producers were exposed.
Trump’s backers would face scrutiny they cannot survive.
In other words:
Exposure of these 20 men would rip the mask off the very system that funds…shields… and empowers authoritarians like Trump.
That’s why Patel hedges. That’s why the Bureau slow-walks. That’s why every question gets smothered in “legal constraints” and “ongoing review.”
🟦 2026 UPDATE
ONE YEAR LATER
Today…I’d frame this differently.
Rather than assuming every delay reflects a coordinated conspiracy...
I think institutional self-protection is often enough.
Large organizations naturally avoid actions that could destabilize governments…markets…intelligence relationships…or public confidence.
Whether that’s justified...
or simply another form of protecting elites...
is a question every reader should wrestle with.
Survivors Know the Truth
Here’s what makes it even more obscene: survivors have been saying this for years.
Women who were trafficked by Epstein have testified they gave the FBI names. They gave them details. They handed over leads that could have brought these men down.
And yet…silence. Delay. Sealed files. Survivors forced to fight for scraps of disclosure while the powerful sleep soundly.
Now Congress confirms what survivors already knew: the Bureau has the names. They just won’t act.
The Speech or Debate Trump Card
Here’s the twist that should keep every elite awake tonight:
Massie and his allies are floating the idea of reading the names aloud on the House floor.
Why does that matter? Because under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause… lawmakers can say almost anything in session without legal risk. That means Massie (or anyone else) could drop the names in public…on the record…immune from defamation suits.
That would crack this story wide open.
Which is exactly why leadership…the Bureau…and every elite implicated will fight like hell to stop it.
🟦 2026 UPDATE
ONE YEAR LATER
I expected this possibility to become much more likely.
It didn’t.
Members of Congress discovered something they often discover:
Speaking publicly carries political consequences even when legal protections exist.
The FBI’s Real Loyalty
Look…let’s stop pretending the FBI is blind. They know what’s in their files. They know the names. They know the scale.
So when Patel says “no credible evidence,” what he really means is: no evidence I’m willing to burn my friends and patrons over.
That’s not law enforcement. That’s political protection.
The FBI’s real loyalty is not to justice. It’s not to the survivors. It’s not to you…me…or the truth.
It’s to the same elite networks that fuel men like Trump.
Why This Matters for Democracy
This isn’t just about Epstein. It’s not just about sex trafficking.
It’s about whether anyone in this country can hold the powerful accountable.
If the FBI can sit on 302s naming billionaires…princes…and officials connected to trafficking…and shrug it off…then we don’t have a justice system.
We have a protection racket.
And in a protection racket…the rules don’t apply to them. They only apply to you.
That’s not democracy. That’s feudalism in a modern suit.
🟦 2026 UPDATE
ONE YEAR LATER
If anything...
my concern has expanded.
The Epstein story is no longer simply about Epstein.
It has become a case study in institutional trust.
Millions of Americans now believe there are two systems of justice.
Whether every suspicion is justified isn’t the only issue.
The collapse of public confidence is itself becoming a national problem.
What Comes Next
Here’s what to watch:
Does Congress subpoena the 302s? Or does this vanish into hearings with no follow-through?
Does Massie or another lawmaker read the names aloud? If yes…the dam breaks.
Does Patel shift his language? If he keeps saying “no credible evidence,” he’s locking himself into a lie.
Do survivors’ lists surface? They’re already compiling…already threatening to go public.
The fuse has been lit. Now it’s a question of whether Congress has the courage to carry it to the powder keg.
🟦 2026 UPDATE
One Year Scorecard
Would Congress keep investigating?
Partially.
Hearings continued...
but without the sweeping disclosures many anticipated.
Grade:
B-
Would names become public?
Not in the dramatic fashion I expected.
Grade:
C
Would public pressure fade?
Unfortunately...
yes.
Grade:
A+
Would institutional resistance remain enormous?
Absolutely.
Grade:
A+
Bottom Line
Massie has put the Bureau on notice.
The names exist. The 302s exist. Jes Staley proves it. The categories scream it. The survivors confirm it.
The only question left is whether America will ever see the truth….or whether the FBI will succeed in smothering it for another generation.
Because if we don’t…then we’ve officially traded justice for protection. Democracy for feudalism. Truth for silence.
And if that’s the case…then Epstein didn’t just traffic women.
He trafficked the soul of this country…and the FBI delivered it to the highest bidder.
Are you pissed?
🟦 2026 UPDATE
One Year Later
I’m still convinced the public deserves maximum lawful transparency regarding Epstein…his associates…and every investigative decision surrounding the case.
What has changed is this:
I’ve become less interested in predicting dramatic revelations...
and more interested in documenting the slow mechanics of institutional accountability.
History often moves much more slowly than our outrage.
But…that doesn’t mean the work stops.
If anything...
that’s exactly when persistence matters most.
#HoldFast
Back soon.
-Jack
Jack Hopkins
P.S. One thing hasn’t changed.
The healthiest way to approach stories like this isn’t through certainty.
It’s through disciplined curiosity.
Ask for evidence.
Separate documented facts from inference.
Hold institutions accountable.
And…be willing to update your own conclusions when new information arrives.
That’s how democracies stay healthy.
That’s how citizens stay credible.
Oh Jack, how I want Thomas Massie to “go out in a blaze of glory” by reading into the record names, all those names of the men, and some women, who are named in those files. I want November to deliver a Blue Senate and Blue Congress, and Patel charged with lying under oath to Congress, a felony and then have that slippery, corrupt little weasel, IMPEACHED! A very large list of things I want and am doing what I can, supporting those we can and working hard to see this want delivered in November!! Thank you for all you do…and one year later you’re looking pretty darn good in what you thought would happen…not 100%, but damn good…and because of Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna #ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles and memes supporting that are EVERYWHERE!! We won’t forget!
This is great. I mean, not all the facts are pleasant, but as a really, really long time consumer of information and current events, it’s the in depth reporting and analysis we find here that really makes you think. And as that consumer of said, I have never seen a piece like this, you are fearlessly keeping the record straight. No vanity, no ego, just the stories.