{"id":13857,"date":"2026-03-04T11:43:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T11:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13857"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:43:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T11:43:54","slug":"analyst-says-interest-in-epstein-files-plummeted-after-war-on-iran-launched-israel-iran-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13857","title":{"rendered":"Analyst says interest in Epstein files plummeted after war on Iran launched | Israel-Iran conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Republican US Congressman Thomas Massie has said, \u2018Bombing a country on the other side of the globe won\u2019t make the Epstein files go away.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 4 Mar 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">4 Mar 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 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0-3.847-1.407-4.476-3.298H1.35v2.072A7.997 7.997 0 0 0 8.501 16Z\"\/><path fill=\"#FBBC05\" d=\"M4.024 9.519c-.16-.48-.251-.993-.251-1.52s.09-1.04.25-1.52V4.406H1.352A7.997 7.997 0 0 0 .5 8c0 1.29.31 2.513.85 3.593l2.674-2.073Z\"\/><path fill=\"#EA4335\" d=\"M8.5 3.182c1.175 0 2.23.403 3.058 1.196l2.295-2.294C12.467.793 10.656 0 8.5 0a7.997 7.997 0 0 0-7.149 4.407L4.024 6.48C4.653 4.59 6.417 3.182 8.5 3.182Z\"\/><\/g><defs><clippath id=\"a\"><path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M.5 0h16v16H.5z\"\/><\/clippath><\/defs><\/svg><span class=\"google-preferred-source__text\">Add Al Jazeera on Google<\/span><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"See more of Al Jazeera\u2019s trusted journalism by adding us as a preferred source on Google.\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--primary icon--16 google-preferred-source__info-icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Before the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran five days ago, the fallout from files released by the US Department of Justice on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were reverberating around the world.<\/p>\n<p>They ensnared a former British royal, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and the former United Kingdom Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, with both being arrested, rocking the Keir Starmer government.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Israel\u2019s former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and numerous others have also faced intense scrutiny. Epstein\u2019s deep links to Israel have prompted further allegations that he was an active Mossad spy.<\/p>\n<p>And several leading figures in the US have resigned posts over connections to the disgraced financier.<\/p>\n<p>US Secretary of Commerce Howard\u00a0Lutnick\u00a0has agreed to give testimony to lawmakers about his ties to Epstein, the head of a committee investigating the late sex offender has said Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Bill Clinton told lawmakers he \u201csaw nothing that gave me pause\u201d when he spent time with Epstein, as the former president gave closed-door testimony<\/p>\n<p>His wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, testified before the same panel the day before.<\/p>\n<p>But all those reverberations and revelations have sharply shifted once the bombs started raining down on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, Republican US Congressman Thomas Massie, who helped push the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act through Congress last year, said, \u201cBombing a country on the other side of the globe won\u2019t make the Epstein files go away.\u201d He has also been critical of the war.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"shifting-attention-off-the-epstein-files\">Shifting attention off the Epstein files<\/h2>\n<p>Al Jazeera spoke to Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, an analyst with Atlas Global Strategies and a former Israeli diplomat, about the motives for the attack on Iran.<\/p>\n<p>He said the attack and its timing are all about domestic politics in both the US and Israel, with \u201cvery little strategic rationale behind it\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe current approval numbers for Trump are the worst they\u2019ve ever been, some of the worst this early in a term I can remember. And there\u2019s signs that the economy is going to get worse, so he really needs a distraction from that in the form of a war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if you look at searches on Google for the Epstein files, they\u2019ve plummeted since this started. So, at least temporarily, it\u2019s succeeding. It\u2019s taking up Congress\u2019 time and it\u2019s taking up the media\u2019s time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be hoping the war boosts his own approval ratings before elections, which local media are reporting may be called as soon as June, Ben-Ephraim said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Gaza war of genocide wasn\u2019t particularly successful in terms of getting Netanyahu public approval because the enemy there, Hamas, is kind of weak, and Israel didn\u2019t do particularly well,\u201d Ben Ephraim said, calling Iran \u201ca more impressive enemy\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republican US Congressman Thomas Massie has said, \u2018Bombing a country on the other side of the globe won\u2019t make the Epstein files go away.\u2019 Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info Published On 4 Mar 20264 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Before the United States [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}