Shadow of Doubt: Punxsutawney Phil’s Name Pops Up in Latest Epstein Document Dump

The atmosphere at Gobbler’s Knob is usually tense this time of year, what with America’s favorite rodent predicting if we’ll have six more weeks of winter (we will). But Punxsutawney Phil may want to forget about looking for his shadow, and find a good lawyer.In a stunning development that has — so to speak — rocked the political, meteorological and zoological worlds alike, the newly unsealed court documents regarding the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have disclosed a new, furry associate: Phil.According to the latest batch of files released by a federal judge in New York, the legendary groundhog appears at least four times on in the tranche of documents (so far, there is no record of Phil the Philanderer showing up on the flight logs of “Lolita Express” or hanging out on “Pedophile Island”).One reference, from data set 10, is contained in a March 24, 2014, email that says, “Its all because of [Punxsutawney Phil] http://www.groundhog.org and his terrible prediction of six more weeks of a painfully long, snow-laden winter. Because of him, I have had to work overtime to maintain my focus on health, happiness and….” The message cuts off there.Another entry, also from data set 10, is a February 5, 2015, message says, “Subject: RE: meeting?” in the header. “Hopefully Punxsutawney Phil will be wrong, and there will be less than six more weeks of winter. I will keep you posted on my travels.”A third reference to the randy rodent is found in data set 9, dated March 7, 2016, from someone or something called “AICE” to Epstein’s email address.Titled — “Update: Do Palestinians Support the BDS Movement Against Israel?” the email has an internal title that says, “Time to Banish the ‘A’ Word,” then this follows: “The annual campus hate Pests that attempt to tar Israel with a comparison to the discriminatory policies of the old South African regime have come and gone. On most U.S. campuses, they didn’t cause a ripple. They’ve become as predictable and ineffective as the forecasts of Punxsutawney Phil.”A final email, also to Epstein’s address, is from data set 11 and dated February 2 (Groundhog Day), 2015. It features a link to a flipboard story with a title boasting the link also includes “All 71 Super Bowl ads.”“Groundhog Day facts, Newsweek artist speaks and more,” the email says. “Punxsutawney Phil says six more weeks of winter are coming. Weather forecasters once again ceded the stage Monday morning to a furrier expert: a groundhog named Phi… read more,” says the link, cutting off.Some online wags had a bit of fun with the disclosure. “More reason why that dastardly rodent deserves capital punishment after today’s prediction,” one person wrote on X.Another, worried about Phil’s reputation, wrote: “Phil being referred to does not confirm he participated in the horrible crimes Epstein did.”But one of the best was from @pathfinderjay — who presumably has seen “Groundhog Day” too many times — who wrote, “I always knew he was a sick f*** after what he did to Bill Murray.”

Shadow of Doubt: Punxsutawney Phil’s Name Pops Up in Latest Epstein Document Dump

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