When Alaska political writers collide… in the Epstein Files

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Feb. 3, 2026 – In one of those only-in-Alaska political twists, two Alaska political writers who have spent years occasionally sparring like cats and dogs have found themselves unexpectedly united. But not at a Juneau watering hole. No, this time it’s inside the federal government’s newly released Epstein document database.

Alaska political writer and podcaster Jeff Landfield, publisher of The Alaska Landmine, appears by name in the so-called “Epstein Files,” a massive trove of more than 3 million pages released by the U.S. Department of Justice in response to a congressional deadline.

Before anyone’s imagination gets ahead of the facts: there is no evidence whatsoever that Landfield has any connection to Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein Island, or any of the criminal activity at the center of the case.

In fact, the explanation is far more mundane, and a little absurd.

Three of Landfield’s columns are referenced in the database, not because of Epstein, but because they were swept up in what appears to be a broad government news-clipping roundup tied to FBI activity. The referenced articles were published by The Alaska Landmine and reported on anonymous sources claiming that several Alaska Republican state senators had been interviewed by the FBI in connection with an alleged pay-to-play scheme.

The Epstein Library includes vast numbers of FBI-related documents, investigative notes, and media summaries from across the country. Somewhere along the way, Alaska politics hitchhiked into the database.

And Landfield is not alone.

This writer — Suzanne Downing — also shows up in the same database in a similarly unremarkable way. Articles published on her former website, Must Read Alaska, appear in the Epstein Library as part of unrelated FBI news references. Again, there is no connection to Epstein himself, his associates, or his crimes.

In short: two Alaska political writers. Zero tropical islands. No Lolita Express. No secret villas. Just independent journalism.

Why does this happen? With a database exceeding 3 million pages, the Epstein Library is not a neatly curated archive. It’s more a massive digital warehouse. It appears to include everything from direct investigative materials to tangentially related FBI documents and automated media collections. The result is that unrelated names, headlines, and publications can surface simply because they intersected with federal law enforcement activity somewhere in the system. Over 120 pages contain files with the word “Alaska” in them.

Essentially, the Epstein Library is a messy filing cabinet.

For the curious, the Department of Justice has made the Epstein Library searchable, allowing members of the public to look up names and keywords.

Readers should be cautious, however: appearing in the database does not imply wrongdoing, association, or relevance to Epstein’s crimes.

Still, there’s something oddly charming about the idea that two Alaska bloggers — who have disagreed loudly and publicly over the years — have now been accidentally cataloged together in one of the most scrutinized document releases in modern history.

Alaska politics, it seems, always finds a way to travel.