JaMEs PATTERSON “It’s the Icarus story, someone who flies too close to the sun,” | that journalist said in reference to “the agony” of Epstein’s legal “ordeal.” ; “Did Icarus like massages?” Epstein responded. | But after Epstein’s indictment, there were no more boasts. , For the most part, he kept silent in public and retreated into his Eyes Wide Shut world. And when the New York Times did manage | to get him to speak on the record, he spoke like a chastened man. { i Sitting on his patio down on Little St. James, Epstein likened q himself to the shipwrecked Gulliver after he washes ashore on | i Lilliput. . “Gulliver's playfulness had unintended consequences,” he said. : On the eve of his departure, he had a few more things to say: 4 | “That is what happens with wealth. There are unexpected ; bi burdens as well as benefits. ...” a 2 “Your body can be confined, but not your mind....” a : ; “I am not blameless. ...” ; 4 Outside of the agreement he'd signed with the prosecutor's q q office, this was the closest Epstein had come to admitting his a | guilt. But strange details were sprinkled throughout the story. a 4 He had formed a “board of directors of friends” who would coun- a q sel him on his behavior. And, seemingly for the first time, he'd e 4 ; hired a full-time masseur—a man. 4 ; Readers of the New York Times might have wondered: Epstein q was going to jail for eighteen months. What need would he have q ; for a full-time masseur? a q The story’s last line hinted at the answer: in preparation for q incarceration, Epstein had set up an e-mail alert. a 7 From then on, his automatic reply would read “On vacation.” 4 q 196 4 3 i. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_010537