Lisa Bloom on the fight for Epstein's victims: So many powerful men were enablers'

"If Lisa Bloom had been advising Peter Mandelson or the then Prince Andrew before their calamitous attempts at reputation-salvaging television interviews, she would have encouraged them to listen beforehand to Jeffrey Epstein's victims or, at the very least, to their lawyers to understand something of what the women endured. Or even just watch some of the powerful documentaries that have been made, centering the victims, telling their stories, Bloom says, pausing for a moment, closing her eyes and shaking her head to convey silent incredulity."

"In December, she launched new proceedings against the FBI on behalf of eight of her clients, which argue that the organisation failed to investigate credible reports of Epstein's sexual misconduct involving minors going back as far as 1996. Had the FBI acted with due diligence, the complaint argues, hundreds more women could have been protected from abuse. Instead, the lawsuit claims, an FBI official hung up the telephone on one of the first women to try to report Epstein."

"The readiness of powerful men to ignore the victims' voices is a running theme in the Epstein scandal. When Mandelson appeared on breakfast television at the start of January, re-emerging from several months of isolation in the wake of being sacked as Britain's ambassador to Washington, he made no apology to the victims for continuing his friendship with Epstein, after the financier was convicted of soliciting sex from minors in 2008."

Lisa Bloom would have advised Peter Mandelson and Prince Andrew to listen to Jeffrey Epstein's victims, their lawyers, or documentaries centering victims before televised reputation efforts. Compassion cannot be implanted in people who lack it. Bloom is a California-based lawyer representing 11 of Epstein's victims and launched proceedings against the FBI for eight clients, alleging failure to investigate credible reports of Epstein's sexual misconduct involving minors dating to 1996. The complaint contends that FBI inaction allowed further abuse and that an agent hung up on an early reporter. Powerful men repeatedly ignored victims, exemplified by Mandelson's continued friendship with Epstein after his 2008 conviction.

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