Leland Nally's Tenacity
- Fred
- 10 minutes ago
- 2 min read
I don't personally know Leland Nally, but he haunts my sleep.
Why such an odd statement?
Back in 2020, Leland Nally blew the lid off of the Epstein Files Controversy I Called Everyone in Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Black Book.
Here was the byline: What I learned about rich people, conspiracy, “genius,” Ghislaine, stand-up comedy, and evil from 2,000 phone calls.
I could argue that Nally's missive was the most important piece of investigative reporting over the last decade.
What happened after it was published at Mother Jones?
Literally nothing.
The Pulitzers didn't call, the Biden Administration didn't say "we'll take it from here," there was no groundswell for action from the public.
Now a few Libertarians and a few independent outlets perked their ears up, but no one picked up Nally's baton. No Democrat, between, 2020 and 2024, wanted to investigate Donald Trump if it meant pulling back the curtains to reveal their own heroes.
Back in 2023, we wrote: Noam Chomsky: Canary in a Coal Mine. Our money quote? "Using common sense, do you know what the chances are of Chomsky using Fly-by-Night Jeffrey Epstein's 'Savings and Loan' strictly for investment reasons? Almost zero...If you're the leading reporter at CNN, wouldn't you take out Chomsky if it meant you could nail Trump? Apparently not."
Once Trump got back in office, there was a groundswell to "nail Trump." Not because anyone cared about justice, but...
You know....
Politics.
Every time the Epstein Files were about to come out-
They didn't.
I was CONVINCED Pam Bondi was releasing those files. She didn't. We advised her to blame everything on her boss, then she was terminated and transferred into an invisible advisory position.
Why does anyone get an advisory position after they're fired? To keep them quiet.
If you're on Bluesky, you know that every once and a while, someone chirps up "release the files."
Then-
Earlier this week, I wondered whatever happened to author Leland Nally. Did he parlay his meticulously researched paper into a job at the New York Times? Uh, no.
Like many independent journalists, Leland ended up at Substack.
And he has his own bare-bones website: LelandNally.com
Apparently his new documentary, Dwarf Neon Mayfield, played at the Atlanta Film Film Festival a few months back, then disappeared. (Hopefully it gets a distributor.)
For someone who did more research on the Epstein Files than nearly anyone else in the U.S. Government, you'd think he be mentioned in the same breath as Woodward and Bernstein. The Pulitzers dragged their feet and recognized Julie K Brown for her articles on Epstein a full decade after they were published.
Nearly everyone knows, at least, cursory parts of the Epstein Files. No one is doing anything about it.