Origin and usage
The moniker "Epstein class" became more prominent after the U.S. Department of Justice began releasing millions of documents relating to the Epstein case in 2025, renewing public attention to Epstein's connections with prominent figures across politics, finance and academia. Critics argue that the prolonged pre-2019 legal outcomes, including a controversial 2008 "sweetheart deal" and perceptions of minimal accountability for individuals with access and status, exemplify systemic elite privilege. [3] For example, the British socialist newspaper Morning Star critiqued the lack of arrests associated with Epstein's sex trafficking ring. [2]
Political use
On November 17, 2025, while campaigning for a vote for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Rep. Ro Khanna said there was "an enormous coalition that wants the Epstein class removed," and defined the term to NPR; [4]
"I define the Epstein class narrowly as the people who either abused underage girls or who knew about Epstein's abuse and covered it up. But more generally, the Epstein class is a group of people with extreme wealth who have donated to politicians and been part of a system where they think the rules don't apply to them, and they have created a system that has shafted a lot of forgotten Americans." [4]
On February 7, 2026, Sen. Jon Ossoff referred at a rally for the 2026 United States Senate election in Georgia to the cabinet of US president Donald Trump when saying, "this is the Epstein class, ruling our country. They are the elites they pretend to hate." [5]
On 9 February, Khanna remarked that the Transparency Act, which had since passed, was "bringing down the British government. It may bring down the monarchy. It's bringing down elites. What are we doing here in the US to stand up to the Epstein class?" Referring to Howard Lutnick, he said that, "We’ve got a commerce secretary who is all over the files." [6] On 11 February, Khanna outed the names of six "wealthy, powerful men" associated with Jeffrey Epstein whom he believed should not have been redacted from the Epstein files, stating that: "The Epstein class represents rich and powerful Americans who believe they are above the law." He accused the Epstein class of damaging the working class, extracting wealth and starting wars. [7] [8] The six men outed by Khanna were Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Nicola Caputo, Leonic Leonov, Zurab Mikeladze, Salvatore Nuara, and Leslie Wexner. [9]
On 15 February, Rep. Thomas Massie labelled Donald Trump's presidency the "Epstein administration", stating that "Donald Trump told us that even though he had dinner with these people in New York City and West Palm Beach, that he would be transparent, but he's not. He's still in with the Epstein class. This is the Epstein administration. There are billionaires that are friends with these people, and that's what I'm up against in D.C." [10]
The public discovery of widespread elite connections to Epstein has lead to class identity reaching mainstream US political discourse, and calls for people form the political left and right to cooperate and tackle disproportionate wealth inequalities, systemic political power and economic injustice. [11] [12]