February 17, 2026 – In the wake of the extensive disclosures within the Epstein Files, of which over 3 million documents were published by the U.S. Department of Justice in a publicly searchable format, the United States Transhumanist Party (USTP) reiterates its long-standing condemnation of the actions of the criminal abuser Jeffrey Epstein, whose behavior directly contravened the fundamental values of the transhumanist philosophy and the humanity-uplifting and life-extending goals of the transhumanist movement. The USTP also expresses support for maximal transparency in regard to the disclosure of the Epstein files and for bringing justice to the long-suffering victims of Epstein’s crimes through an accurate and proportional process of ensuring accountability on the part of any actual perpetrators and accomplices of those crimes.

Furthermore, the USTP observes that one of the most prominent self-styled anti-transhumanists, the notorious alt-right, nationalist, and populist ideologue Steve Bannon, who has for years used his media/propaganda network to tarnish transhumanism with false and unconscionable allegations of nefarious behavior, has himself been implicated as a close associate and friend of Jeffrey Epstein.

The U.S. Transhumanist Party first learned about the existence of Jeffrey Epstein on August 1, 2019, just nine days prior to his death in prison, due to widespread and often inaccurate mainstream media coverage about his ideological proclivities. On August 5, 2019, the USTP issued a detailed statement roundly condemning Epstein’s criminal behavior, wherein numerous USTP Officers, candidates, members, and transhumanists within the broader community articulated the manifold ways in which Epstein’s conduct grossly violated core transhumanist principles. The USTP also urged accurate reporting about transhumanism and debunked the false, sensational, and at times malicious media narratives that incorrectly asserted that Epstein was any manner of transhumanist. As Gennady Stolyarov II, Chairman, of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, explained at the time, “if the leadership of the world’s largest transhumanist political organization had no knowledge of him, this is strong evidence that he was not involved in transhumanism to any significant extent. He is merely a criminal abuser and deserves his sentence. His conduct was also deeply antithetical to the transhumanist philosophy and the value that philosophy places on dramatically improving the human condition for all through reason, science, and technology. Epstein’s fate should reinforce the principle that wealth and power do not confer license to mistreat one’s fellow sapient beings, all of whose rights must be protected. The foundational values of the Transhumanist Party, as well as key documents such as the USTP Platform and Transhumanist Bill of Rights, point toward an inspiring future where the Epsteins of this world could have no sway.”

A search of the Epstein Files confirms the complete absence of any mentions of the U.S. Transhumanist Party or of related keyword phrases such as “Transhumanist Party” or “USTP”. There is also a complete absence of any mentions of current or past U.S. Transhumanist Party Officers as individuals.

Zoltan Istvan, the Founder and 2016 Presidential Candidate of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, is only mentioned incidentally on two distinct occasions – both solely in the form of news articles about him challenging Donald Trump for the U.S. Presidency. As Istvan publicly clarified on February 3, 2026, “Just to be clear, I never had contact with the guy [Jeffrey Epstein] whatsoever. Apparently, though, since I was running against Trump for the Presidency and getting in the news, my name was mentioned a few times to him and others – and that shows up in the files. To repeat, I never had any contact with Epstein whatsoever.”

“The U.S. Transhumanist Party appreciates the statement from our Founder, Zoltan Istvan, who was proactive and to the point,” expressed Chairman Stolyarov. “This is the kind of transparency that the world needs more of, and that we, as transhumanists, should strive to do our best to exemplify and encourage in others.”

The USTP also applauds the efforts of multiple courageous U.S. Representatives from both major political parties – particularly Thomas Massie (Republican from Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (Democrat from California), who, at various times, defied the establishments of their parties in their persistent quest for disclosure of documents in the public interest. “The public can only benefit from disclosure of the contents of the Epstein Files, and any remaining redactions should be removed, other than those that specifically protect the names of victims and incidentally included contact information of people who are not complicit in any crimes,” Chairman Stolyarov urged. “One major benefit of a fuller disclosure of the Epstein Files will be the ability to more readily distinguish truth from speculation – to point the light of public exposure at actual wrongdoers and to put ludicrous conspiracy theories to rest once the documentation shows them to be devoid of support.”

“The U.S. Transhumanist Party has always supported full autonomy for every person’s body and condemns any violation of this right, which is blatantly evident in the case of Jeffrey Epstein,” stated Anthony Nielsen, USTP Director of Technology Outreach. Indeed, the U.S. Transhumanist Party Platform has, for a long time, emphasized the need to combat human trafficking and exploitation – along with all violations of consent and bodily autonomy. These positions were adopted early in the USTP’s history, long before the USTP learned of Epstein’s existence. Section LXVII, adopted by a vote of the members during November 11-17, 2017, reads, in part, that “the United States Transhumanist Party unequivocally condemns any manner of human trafficking, child exploitation, and other abuse that involves a violation of the autonomy and consent of any individual.” Furthermore, Section XXIII, adopted by a vote of the members during March 26 – April 1, 2017, reads that “The United States Transhumanist Party supports the rights of children to exercise liberty in proportion to their rational faculties and capacity for autonomous judgment. In particular, the United States Transhumanist Party strongly opposes all forms of bullying, child abuse, and censorship of intellectual self-development by children and teenagers.” Clearly, Epstein’s actions stifled the self-development, aspirations, and liberties of numerous children and teenagers in ways that have left lasting scars and even eventually contributed to the loss of some of the victims’ lives in not-yet-fully-explained ways. The United States Transhumanist Party acknowledges the deep tragedy of these events and wishes for a world where any such further atrocities are prevented while restorative justice is provided to aid the victims to the extent possible.

Brent Ellman, Secretary of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, stated, “Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes are no longer speculative. They were established in court, supported by documentation, and reinforced by consistent victim testimony. The harm was real, and there is no good-faith basis for dismissing those who came forward. Efforts to minimize or obscure the truth only compound the injustice.”

“Justice demands accountability, and power cannot shield anyone from scrutiny,” Ellman continued. “But accountability must rest on evidence. Being named in documents does not, by itself, establish guilt. Due process is part of justice, not opposed to it. Furthermore, Victims with corroborated claims deserve to be believed. Likewise, those mentioned without substantiated involvement deserve fairness. The public deserves transparency, and the law must be applied without fear or favor.”

The U.S. Transhumanist Party has a solid track record of opposing the very crimes that were the most heinous aspects of Jeffrey Epstein and his activities. Tom Ross, the USTP’s Director of Sentient Rights Advocacy, ran as the U.S. Presidential candidate endorsed by the USTP in 2024 on an emphatic anti-child-exploitation platform. Indeed, he made this his foremost campaign issue and emphasized how emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, can help to more effectively identify and apprehend human traffickers as well as provide aid to their victims. ”The reason I joined the U.S. Transhumanist Party is that its Constitution has sections related to my cause of fighting child exploitation”, stated Tom Ross in a December 2023 campaign video. “I think that’s why I’m here, and that’s what I keep reminding myself and the world about… With a little bit of help, with a little bit of focus, we can really put a dent in this problem.” In a more recent post on February 19, 2026, Ross observed that “the Epstein portal is exposing the world to the darkest Shadow—the one we avoid because it’s unbearable to think or talk about: the sexual abuse, and worse, of children.”

Ross has also been critical of false conspiracy-theory narratives that divert energy and attention away from actual human trafficking and from helping the victims thereof. “The QAnon and other conspiracy-theory algorithms that are claiming to fight child exploitation are actually promoting it,” Tom Ross explained in an October 2023 campaign video, “and that’s because it is keeping serious-minded, productive people out of this fight, because they don’t want to be aligned with QAnon or extremist beliefs.” Likewise, the U.S. Transhumanist Party emphasizes that false conspiracy theories about Epstein’s associations, unsubstantiated by the records within the Epstein Files, detract attention from his true criminal accomplices and the actual vast scale of suffering that he and they inflicted, and divert resources away from combatting these evils.

Indeed, the Epstein Files show that Steve Bannon – one of the most vocal conspiracy theorists who has attacked transhumanism on numerous occasions – was closely connected to Epstein and communicated extensively with him all the way through to July 2019, when Epstein was arrested. In addition to developing a close personal friendship with Epstein, Bannon, offered his services to help “rehabilitate” Epstein’s reputation, and also solicited Epstein’s support for ultra-nationalist and nativist political parties in Europe.

“While the alt-right conspiracy theorists have for years tried to smear transhumanists with an alleged Epstein connection, this was misdirection away from the real connection with one of the alt-right’s most influential and powerful figures, who propagated this very conspiracist narrative,” noted Chairman Stolyarov in regard to Steve Bannon. “The alt-right nationalist, populist, racialist, religiously intolerant, and often plainly deranged conspiracy theorists are notorious for often themselves being guilty of exactly what they falsely accuse their targets of. Whenever anti-transhumanist conspiracy theorists point the finger at transhumanists or transhumanism, they will invariably have four fingers pointing back at them. An immense portion of the Epstein Files have now been made public for all to see – even though more work remains to be done to achieve complete transparency. We see no evidence in the files that any actual transhumanist aided or abetted Epstein’s crimes, but we do see incontrovertible evidence of anti-transhumanist Steve Bannon offering to help rehabilitate Epstein from the fallout of those very crimes. The time to shut down the ridiculous conspiracy theories is now. The time to actually learn the facts and hold the true perpetrators to account is now.”

The U.S. Transhumanist Party also calls for nuance and factual accuracy in evaluating mentions of people within the Epstein Files. “Not every mention is equivalent to every other,” Chairman Stolyarov explained. “Epstein intentionally cultivated a wide network that included numerous famous celebrities, thought leaders, and politically and socially influential people. While a fraction of those people indeed either participated in or knew of Epstein’s ongoing crimes and maintained friendly relations with him anyway, a greater fraction of those people were likely used, unbeknownst to them, to help cultivate a legitimate-seeming veneer to conceal Epstein’s darker proclivities. Epstein funded numerous scientific and philanthropic initiatives, not because those initiatives were in any manner connected to his crimes, but precisely because he wished to convey the impression that he was a changed man and that the good of his actions outweighed the bad. It is likely that many well-meaning people were deceived by this act. An even greater fraction of people mentioned in the Epstein files are there because others simply discussed them or recommended their work to Epstein – but there is no evidence that those people had any direct connection with Epstein thereafter or at all. Justice must be individual and proportionate. All people should be considered based on what they, individually, did or did not do – not based on a mere mention of them by someone else or in some record.”

The U.S. Transhumanist Party perseveres in its mission of “Putting Science, Health, and Technology at the Forefront of American Politics”. As a grassroots political party with an all-volunteer Officer team, free membership, and no large donors, the U.S. Transhumanist Party is not beholden to any particular special interest and would not be swayed to abandon its principles by any hypothetical prospect of large monetary contributions – a prospect which has not existed to date since the USTP’s founding in 2014. “We evaluate the people with whom we associate based on their personal integrity and the merits of their intellectual achievements and practical actions”, Chairman Stolyarov explained. “We appreciate the genuine transhumanists with whom we have engaged in dialogue and collaborated over the years, and we consider them to be good and interesting people with immensely diverse and wide-ranging skill sets and life stories – contributing to the true richness of our community that is eminently worthy of our support. We will continue to defend the transhumanist movement and those who do valuable work within it while adhering to our core principles and values.”