Epstein scandal resurfaces in US

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New Mexico reopens investigation into alleged illegal activity at Epstein's former Zorro Ranch latimes.com

Jeffrey Epstein’s Ties to CBP Agents Sparked a DOJ Probe wired.com

Disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein cultivated a global network of powerful politicians, business executives, academics and celebrities — many of whom have been tainted by their association with him. japantimes.co.jp

A solar farm in Nakai, Kanagawa Prefecture, in March 2016. Japan gets about a tenth of its electricity from solar panels despite having nearly no domestic production of photovoltaics (PVs). japantimes.co.jp

Sonic the Hedgehog, Castlevania's Alucard and the weak yet lovable Slime from Dragon Quest are just some of Japan's iconic gaming franchises celebrating midlife anniversaries in 2026. japantimes.co.jp

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The Jeffrey Epstein saga has acquired a second life in the US—less as a morality play about “rich men” and more as a story about how bureaucratic ecosystems metabolize scandal.

In New Mexico, authorities have reopened an investigation into alleged illegal activity at Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch near Stanley, according to the Los Angeles Times. The ranch has long hovered at the edge of the public record: a remote property, years of rumors, and a pattern of investigative starts and stops. Reopening the case suggests either new evidence or renewed political appetite—two things that, in the Epstein universe, rarely appear without someone’s institutional incentives changing.

Meanwhile, Wired reports that Epstein’s ties to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents triggered a Department of Justice probe. The reporting focuses on relationships and benefits that, if substantiated, would show that the state doesn’t merely fail to police elite networks; parts of it can become another service provider inside them. If gatekeepers at ports of entry can be cultivated, the border—sold to voters as a hard line—starts to look like just another negotiable interface, contingent on who is asking and what they can offer.

The contrast with Europe is becoming harder to ignore. AFP, via the Japan Times, notes that European fallout over Epstein-linked figures has been far more visible, with “heads rolling” and even the arrest of Britain’s Prince Andrew highlighted as emblematic of a tougher reckoning. In the US, by comparison, the list of meaningful legal consequences remains almost comically short: Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 conviction and 20-year sentence, and Epstein himself—dead in a federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial.

The divergence has multiple causes. One is jurisdictional design. Epstein’s footprint sprawled across federal law enforcement, state prosecutors, and semi-autonomous territories like the US Virgin Islands—an administrative patchwork that can function less like redundancy and more like a maze. When accountability requires coordination across agencies with competing mandates, it becomes optional by default.

Add to that the institutional preference for damage control over clarity. High-status investigations are expensive, politically radioactive, and rarely yield clean endings. In such an environment, “insufficient evidence” can be less a conclusion than a budget line item.

Reopened probes and internal investigations may still produce charges. But the Epstein story keeps demonstrating a more durable reality: when enforcement is fragmented and discretionary, impunity isn’t a conspiracy—it’s a system feature.