Jeffrey Epstein had a creepy 'transhumanist' plan to impregnate '20 women at a time' with his DNA: NYT

The story of wealthy financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein is getting continually darker and more bizarre.

In an article for the New York Times published Wednesday, journalists James Stewart, Matthew Goldstein and Jessica Silver-Greenberg report that Epstein used to cultivate a group of scientists to entertain his outlandish ideas. Among his desires, the report found, was to "seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating women at his vast New Mexico ranch."

The Times reported that this desire stemmed from his interest in transhumanism, which it described as "the science of improving the human population through technologies like genetic engineering and artificial intelligence."

Epstein is facing charges from the Southern District of New York of sex trafficking underage girls. But according to the people the Times spoke to, nothing about his plan to impregnate large numbers of women appears to have been illegal, though of course, it's impossible to rule out that it could have overlapped with his alleged criminal sex trafficking.

The report explained:

On multiple occasions starting in the early 2000s, Mr. Epstein told scientists and businessmen about his ambitions to use his New Mexico ranch as a base where women would be inseminated with his sperm and would give birth to his babies, according to two award-winning scientists and an adviser to large companies and wealthy individuals, all of whom Mr. Epstein told about it.

It was not a secret. The adviser, for example, said he was told about the plans not only by Mr. Epstein, at a gathering at his Manhattan townhouse, but also by at least one prominent member of the business community. One of the scientists said Mr. Epstein divulged his idea in 2001 at a dinner at the same townhouse; the other recalled Mr. Epstein discussing it with him at a 2006 conference that he hosted in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

The idea struck all three as far-fetched and disturbing. There is no indication that it would have been against the law.

Once, at a dinner at Mr. Epstein’s mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Mr. Lanier said he talked to a scientist who told him that Mr. Epstein’s goal was to have 20 women at a time impregnated at his 33,000-square-foot Zorro Ranch in a tiny town outside Santa Fe. Mr. Lanier said the scientist identified herself as working at NASA, but he did not remember her name.

It also included other anecdotes of Epstein's bizarre views and plans:

He told one scientist that he was bankrolling efforts to identify a mysterious particle that might trigger the feeling that someone is watching you.

The story emphasizes how, even as he was allegedly a prolific sex criminal with extremely bizarre and twisted views of his own grandeur, Epstein managed to gain access to some of the most powerful and influential people in the country. It's an enlightening look into the circles that the wealthy and connected move in — and what kind of conduct those kinds of people may be willing to overlook.