When you get into this fascinating read, you learn that organized crime fused with intelligence agencies during World War II, forming the precursor of the CIA — the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).
The web of corruption grew from there, as criminal factions and intelligence agencies developed a symbiotic relationship using blackmail as a tool to achieve their individual ends. It’s not just about money, although wealth is certainly part of it. It’s about power and control, which those involved, including Jeffrey Epstein, would stop at nothing to achieve.
(((They))) are a lovely bunch.