“Amazing photo,” Bannon replied. “Powermove.”
Hustler
The episode epitomizes the Epstein method: leveraging existing connections and often inflating their significance to reinforce his standing among the world’s rich and powerful — a practice that continued right up until his arrest in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors.
At the time Epstein was posing with the former culture minister at the Louvre, Lang’s political career was far behind him. The photo was likely taken on the sidelines of a ceremony celebrating the 30th anniversary of the museum’s iconic glass pyramid, where Lang would have been invited as the culture minister who initiated the monument’s construction in the 1980s.
The exaggeration was part of a broader pattern of relentless hustle that is unmissable in Epstein’s correspondence, the latest batch of which was released last week by order of the U.S. Congress. Over the years, Epstein’s conversations routinely blended personal and professional matters, with offers of material favors or moral support flowing easily between business relationships that turned into friendships, and vice versa.
Whether proposing tea in Paris, crossing paths in Davos or extending invitations to his private Caribbean island — where prosecutors alleged he trafficked and sexually abused underage girls — Epstein presented himself as an attentive, compassionate friend to his fellow one-percenters, who shared intimate details of their private lives as they sought his advice on business or personal matters.
Often working alongside his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, later convicted for her role in Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme, the financier insinuated himself into the highest reaches of global wealth and power.