After the release of the latest batch of so-called “Epstein files” just over a week ago, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon took to his Instagram account to pose a question to his twenty-thousand odd followers, who include most of the nation’s journalists and politically-minded “insiders”: Why, he asked, was the Government not investigating the meeting with Alan Shatter in 2011 that was referenced in the Epstein files?
“A document released as part of the Epstein files records a 2011 meeting involving then Fine Gael Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and the secretary general of the department of justice”, wrote Gannon.
“The release of this document”, he continued, “has lead to understandable public commentary and concern”.
The reaction was instantaneous and overwhelming: This writer alone received two dozen emails from members of the public asking why Gript, of all outlets, was “covering up” what they believed to be the Shatter-Epstein meeting. Gannon’s social media post said that he was calling on the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and Minister for Justice to “clarify whether any records exist showing that a meeting took place between Epstein and a senior Irish minister”. Similar demands have been made of this writer.
There’s only one problem: There never was a Shatter-Epstein meeting. There never was any record of one. Gannon had gotten it completely wrong.
The document in question – which can be viewed here – is a record of the diary appointments of then United States Attorney General Eric Holder. It does not form part of the so-called “Epstein files”. The meeting which took place was between Holder – then the most senior justice official in the United States – and Shatter, then the most senior justice official in Ireland. Jeffrey Epstein has and had nothing whatsoever to do with this event, nor it with him.
Now, there are two questions here, one more serious than the other. The first is how Gannon came to believe that a meeting between Shatter and Epstein took place. On that, we can probably surmise that he was simply mislead: This particular document has been publicly available for much longer than the Epstein files and it is possible that Gannon was simply mislead into trusting false information by somebody he in turn trusted. That happens. Simply putting his hands up, saying sorry, and unambiguously clarifying the claim would be something that most right-minded people would be able to forgive, I think, as a one-off rush of blood to the head.
But that means the second question is much, much, more important: Given that there is no doubt whatever that what Gannon posted was materially misleading, and given that his post (as I can personally attest) led to a significant number of people believing something that was entirely untrue, why has he not publicly withdrawn the comments and apologised for them?
Yesterday, the Sunday Independent reported that Shatter is considering legal action against Gannon over the post. One might surmise that one possible explanation, in light of that, is that Gannon does not want to admit liability by apologising.
Or perhaps, and this feels more apt to me, he does not feel he can take the hit to his political prestige.
The media, of course, has almost entirely – Mark Tighe in the Sunday Independent aside – refrained from asking the Social Democrats about this little incident, which is surprising given that the party held its conference this weekend and this is the kind of story that would certainly dominate the conference of a larger party: A senior spokesperson possibly facing legal action over comments that were – in the very kindest interpretation – an example of serious misinformation.
Whatever the reason for Gannon’s silence, it hardly speaks well of either him, or his party. And one cannot help but wonder if it comes with a degree of churlishness and cruelty because Mr. Shatter has been a staunch opponent of the Social Democrat’s position on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, as well as a critic of its record on antisemitism (the party last year ditched a prominent Jewish candidate in Dun Laoghaire in questionable circumstances, and has made one of its own TDs – Eoin Hayes – a pariah because he once worked for an Israeli-owned firm).
Nevertheless, all we can do here is make clear to our own readers what the position is: There is no reference to Alan Shatter, or any meeting with Alan Shatter, in the Epstein files. Claims to the contrary are explicitly false. And an Irish media that claims to care about misinformation and disinformation has, with the honourable exception of the Sunday Independent, allowed yet another case of exactly that go unchallenged.
All of this, to be honest, looks pretty ugly to me.