The latest batch of Epstein documents released by the US Department of Justice is a bewildering assortment of correspondence, ephemera, and other artifacts. After archiving as much of the sources as possible, we can start to build a portrait of Epstein himself as well as his motivations, attitudes, and interests.

What we have learned so far is startling in its scope and specificity, even as many details could use more sunlight.

1. Epstein was first and foremost about Epstein. His money, real estate, travel, appetites, personnel, network, scientific interests, and medical concerns all flowed together in a continuous feedback loop.

2. He and Steve Bannon were partners in crime for several years until his death. Certainly the first Trump administration was deeply shaped by their shenanigans, as was the European far right movement. And their work is still shaping things now.

3. Epstein considered Putin his fixer. Whenever he had a hard problem, he put in a call to either Sergei Belyakov (a FSB agent), a friend of Putin’s, Putin’s people, or Ehud Barak, who knew Putin.

4. Epstein traveled to Russia repeatedly over the course of at least two decades, getting visas year after year starting in at least 2002. One visa was sponsored by MOO Vympel, a “public organization” for veterans of Vympel, an elite FSB unit specializing in assassinations and foreign operations. He would not have received this without FSB cooperation.

5. Epstein was a secular Jew, worked with many Jews, and code-switched for that audience, but didn’t like Israel as a place. When invited to go there in 2017 with “his girls” by Deepak Chopra, Epstein said, “Another destination. I do not like Israel. AT ALL.” His interests in Israel were more abstract.

6. His sex crimes seem to have been primarily a product of his own personal pathology. With some reports of his needing “three fresh girls a day” and constant chatter about medical testing and treatment for herpes and various other sex-related conditions and conundrums, he was obsessed with sex and it weighed on him. He would have been far more effective at his day job without this distraction.

7. There is evidence that Epstein coordinated travel and visas for many young women he invited to events, but the files reveal relatively meager information about trafficking women to others. While there is a raft of unverified allegations from the public after his highly publicized August 2019 death, many of them bear hallmarks of being shaped by press coverage and of coming from people without first hand knowledge. Some seem more authentic and deserve additional investigation, to the extent not already done.

8. The breadth of his reach into US, UK, and other European power networks is unparalleled. This suggests access to virtually unlimited funds and intelligence. He may have received that primarily from his Kremlin channels, through other partners, and also through his own entrepreneurial activities with people like venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

9. Silicon Valley is deeply compromised by Russian influence. Through investors like Yuri Milner and Thiel, and Epstein’s assistant turned VC Masha Drokova Bucher, there is a clear, concerted effort to drill into Silicon Valley’s tech networks for capture, control, and wealth generation.

10. Russia created Epstein. Russia exposed Epstein. This is a clear strategy of demoralization. No one has heaped more praise on Rep. Thomas Massie (the primary sponsor of the law that forced the release of these documents) than Russia’s proxies. Russia knew that the files would reveal Epstein’s geopolitical manipulations. The hope is that we lose faith in elites, in government, and in democracy. This sets the stage for escalation. We should be careful about falling for this trap.