The release of the Epstein files was always going to be explosive. Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes were real, his network of enablers was vast, and the public deserves a full accounting. At the same time, what’s circulating online bears little resemblance to what’s in the documents. Across platforms, influencers and conspiracy networks are mining millions of pages of legal records and selectively distorting them to push antisemitic narratives: that Jews secretly control the world, that Epstein’s crimes were Jewish rituals, and that his entire operation existed to serve a Jewish state.
These claims don’t hold up against the documents. But they aren’t designed to. They’re designed to reach people before the facts do.
Nexus reviewed the major conspiracy theories circulating around the Epstein release and compared them to what the documents actually contain. Here are five claims that spread antisemitic conspiracies, and the facts that dismantle them.
CLAIM: “Goyim” Means Cattle or Slaves
What they’re saying: The word “goyim” appears in the Epstein files, proving Jews view non-Jews as subhuman. Candace Owens urged followers to search “goyim” in the files and “tag a Christian who needs to wake up.”
What’s actually true: “Goy” is Hebrew for “nation.” In the Torah, it refers to the Israelites themselves. God promises Abraham his descendants will form a “goy gadol” (great nation, Genesis 12:2). God calls Israel a “goy kadosh” (holy nation, Exodus 19:6). In modern usage, it simply means “non-Jew,” comparable to “gentile” in English. The “cattle/slaves” definition does not exist in any Hebrew dictionary or religious text. (OHPI; Wikipedia)
Where it comes from: White nationalist networks on 4chan, Gab, and Telegram. The meme “The Goyim Know / Shut It Down” originated on 4chan in 2013 and appeared at the Charlottesville rally in 2017. The Goyim Defense League and GoyimTV have made it a centerpiece of their propaganda. Shawn Ryan repeated the false definition on his podcast. Candace Owens has amplified it to millions. (JTA; Times of Israel)
CLAIM: Epstein Had a Bank Account Named “Baal”
What they’re saying: A document in the files shows Epstein held a bank account called “Baal,” proving involvement in Satanic Jewish ritual. Candace Owens ran a livestream titled “BAAL SO HARD” that drew 2 million YouTube views, connecting Baal worship to child sacrifice and Gaza.
What’s actually true: : Other documents in the same release show “bank name” in the identical field where this one reads “Baal,” strongly indicating a data entry error or OCR (Optical Character Recognition) misread. No verified bank account by that name exists. Fact-checkers and journalists who reviewed the files found zero evidence of Satanic rituals, Baal worship, or ritual sacrifice anywhere in the release. (JTA; INSS)
Where it comes from: The claim went viral through AdameMedia and similar right-wing X accounts before Owens amplified it. The method is consistent across all five claims we document here: find a word in millions of pages of documents, strip it of context, and present it as proof of a pre-existing theory. (Times of Israel)
CLAIM: Epstein Was a Mossad Agent Running a Blackmail Operation for Israel
What they’re saying: The files prove Epstein was a Mossad agent who ran a sexual blackmail operation on behalf of Israel. This has become the dominant narrative surrounding the entire file release, treated as established fact across massive segments of social media and amplified by figures from Tucker Carlson to Glenn Greenwald to Hasan Piker, who called the documents “the Israel files.” The framing has shaped coverage at Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, Iranian state media, and outlets across the political spectrum. It is, as CNN put it, “among the most persistent theories” about Epstein.
What’s actually true: The question of whether intelligence agencies were involved with Epstein is legitimate and unresolved. The most-cited document is a 2020 FBI memo in which a confidential source says they “became convinced” Epstein was a “co-opted Mossad agent.” That source has since been identified as Charles C. Johnson, a convicted fraudster and Holocaust denier who raised over $150,000 for neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin. Beyond that memo, there are real Israeli connections that deserve scrutiny: Epstein’s decade-long relationship with former PM Ehud Barak, the Carbyne tech startup they co-founded staffed by former Israeli intelligence operatives, and a senior Israeli intelligence figure who resided at Epstein’s Manhattan apartment for weeks at a time. (Semafor; Times of Israel; Al Jazeera)
But the files also reveal extensive international connections that the “Mossad agent” framing ignores entirely. While Israel is mentioned many times in the files, it’s far less than mentions of Russia, Canada, China, or France. The majority of these mentions are simply news articles being shared over email.
The extensive Russian references alone completely undermine this framing. Russia appears 5,876 times in the documents, Putin over 1,000 times. Epstein cultivated Russian officials for years and came under investigation as a possible “wealth manager” for Putin. Christopher Steele, former head of MI6’s Russia desk, has claimed Epstein was “recruited by Russian organised criminals” in the 1970s. Poland has launched a formal investigation into Russian intelligence ties. Meanwhile, eight current and former U.S. officials say there is no confirmed evidence Epstein was an asset for any country. (CNN; Kyiv Independent)
Where the antisemitism enters: The intelligence question is real. But online, the sprawling, multi-country web of connections collapses into a single narrative: Epstein worked for Israel and was a covert agent for the Jewish state. The Russian connections, the lack of confirmed operational ties to any agency, all of it vanishes. What remains is the ancient accusation: that a Jewish person’s crimes are ultimately in service of a Jewish conspiracy. The selective focus on Israel while ignoring equally significant or stronger evidence pointing to Russia reveals the distortion at work. (First Things; Washington Post; Al Jazeera)
CLAIM: The Files Prove Jewish Supremacism Was the Motive
What they’re saying: Emails about DNA testing and 23andMe prove Epstein’s crimes were part of a Jewish supremacist agenda.
What’s actually true: Epstein’s interest in eugenics and transhumanism was documented long before the files and connected to his funding of scientific research, including a $20,000 donation to the Transhumanist Association and tracking of Stanford parabiosis research. The files show Epstein corresponded with scientists across many fields and nationalities. This is once again pinning the actions of one deeply evil person on all Jews simply because he happened to be Jewish. Nothing in the documents supports the claim that his crimes were motivated by Jewish supremacism or any ethno-nationalist ideology. (First Things; Washington Post)
Where it comes from: Candace Owens, Eastern Orthodox Christian nationalist influencers, and neo-Nazi Telegram channels. The narrative builds directly on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion tradition of attributing a racial supremacist plot to Jews. The template is centuries old. Only the source material is new. (JTA)
CLAIM: “Synagogue of Satan” / Jews Are Satanic Pedophiles
What they’re saying: Epstein’s crimes prove that Jews are Satanic pedophiles. Candace Owens posted on X: “Yes, we are ruled by satanic pedophiles who work for Israel. This is the synagogue of Satan we are up against.” Tucker Carlson framed Epstein’s crimes as “rituals involving children,” echoing blood libel language. (First Things)
What’s actually true: The claim has no basis in anything in the files. The files name perpetrators and associates from many backgrounds, nationalities, and religions. A UN Human Rights Council panel described the documented crimes as a “global criminal enterprise” involving people of diverse national origins.
Where it comes from: “Synagogue of Satan” comes from Revelation 2:9 and has been weaponized against Jews for centuries. What we’re seeing now is the fusion of that tradition with modern conspiracy culture. The accusation that a Jewish person’s crime is evidence of a Jewish conspiracy is blood libel wearing new clothes. (JTA; First Things)
The Pattern
These five claims share a structure. Each begins with something that appears in the files: a word, a name, a memo. Each strips that fragment from context. And each grafts it onto a pre-existing antisemitic narrative that was circulating long before the Epstein documents were released.
The sheer scale of the release makes this possible. The DOJ has published over 3.5 million pages, often with heavy redactions, no clear organization, and no contextual framework to distinguish a verified finding from an unvetted FBI tip. As CNN reported, “it is becoming more and more difficult to separate what the files do show” from what they don’t. People are reading the source material. But they’re reading it selectively or being overwhelmed by a volume of content that no individual can process, making them vulnerable to influencers who offer a simple story to make sense of the flood.
Those influencers have massive audiences. Candace Owens’s “BAAL SO HARD” livestream reached over 2 million viewers. The Mossad framing has become the dominant narrative around the entire file release, shaping coverage from cable news to state media. And the audiences absorbing this content are not confined to conspiracy forums. They’re encountering these claims on mainstream platforms through algorithms designed to reward engagement over accuracy.
The “Goyim Know” meme was chanted at Charlottesville. Blood libel language has fueled violence against Jews for nearly a thousand years. When influencers with millions of followers attach that language to trending documents, the risk is not theoretical.
Epstein’s crimes demand accountability. They do not demand scapegoating an entire people. The difference matters, and so does naming it.