The Panicked Writer

Today I’m working from home and cranking out as much as I can about some of these court cases and documents that they hope you’ll ignore. I also want to touch base about legitimate concerns for privacy and safety when it comes to Substack and our rights as readers and writers during a time when democracy feels pretty far away. I have had two people reach out to me saying law enforcement, including...

Diving back into the corruption of the Epstein story, and how it all ties back to dark money in New York, DC, and around the world. Thank you Caro Henry , Kiwi Rebel , Noble Blend , Stuart Cohen , Terri Paulson , and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. The Panicked, Unpaid Writer is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support m...

Thank you Stephanie G Wilson, PhD , Linda Roberta Hibbs , Stephanie Gibbs Dunlap , Lisa | We Are The Third Estate , Lisa Ditalia , and many others for tuning into my live video with Rick Herbst ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

Click the above voiceover to hear this chapter read by Walter Rhein of I’d Rather Be Writing . Sweat dripped lazily down my neck, stopping only where my blue polyester blouse pressed up against the pews of the First Baptist Church. Somewhere behind the pulpit an old light bulb buzzed, pointless against the heat of the July sun pouring through the stained glass—graphic depictions of the crucifixion...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

It’s time to dive back into Project 2025 as we see some of the more blaring aspects of new authoritarian rule taking shape. One of the biggest blueprints is erasing dissent. Most chapters of Project 2025 discuss the idea of all federal employees “aligning their values with the new administration,” and firing those who hint at any kind of opposition, big or small. Nothing is objective. Nothing is b...

Thank you Pamela , tecolote42 , elizabeth , Lynn , Bob Fleischman , and many others for tuning into my live video with Nick Paro ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Nick Paro , Noble Blend , P. J. Schuster , Lalisa , Kris Winters , and many others for tuning into my live video with Zev Shalev ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

I don’t often cover recent stories or breaking news, but I’ve thought long and hard this week about empathy and if it’s something we can just turn off when we’re dealing with enemy territory. Thank you Nick Paro , Caro Henry , DILLIGAF?IDO , Stuart Cohen , PW , and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. The Panicked, Unpaid Writer is a reader-supporte...

A check-in to say thank you for your patience today while we work through some hard stuff at home. But also I wanted to talk about how I am able to read, listen to, and write about some of the darkest parts of the Jeffrey Epstein story, and still fall asleep at night. Compartmentalization is the name of the game, but also something I’ve (sort of) fine-tuned after years of working on court cases an...

A quickie live on my lunch break to talk about Leslie Wexner, and why he’s someone we need to keep top-of-mind in the Jeffrey Epstein/Ghislaine Maxwell/Donald Trump investigation Thank you Gary Shamshoian , Helene Smith , Hood79 , and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers...

Thank you Cat , Pamela , cynmac , Soso , An Mcgreevy , and many others for tuning into my live video with Lev Parnas and Nick Paro ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

A little breakdown about what to expect from me in the next few days and weeks as I digitize and research the entire (unredacted) Epstein Black Book (which is publicly available online ). I emphasize this is a work in progress . If you don’t see a name you expected, it means I haven’t gotten there yet. This is 95 pages of names, nicknames, misspellings, phone numbers, addresses, beepers, domains,...

I’m re-transcribing the Maxwell interviews from July 24/25, looking for things “Magna Legal Services” missed, and it’s quite a bit. But I came across a major slip-up that has legal ramifications, and I need to know what we do next because a victim has now been put at risk. Aaron Parnas or Lev Parnas or Michael Cohen or Rick Wilson , anyone with a legal mind, is this classified? It’s certainly atto...

Thank you Cash Flow Collective , Tom Kudla , john king (MY HUMBLE OPINION) , Rachel Hendricks , Maureen Drews Old Hippie , and many others for tuning into my live video with Zev Shalev and Nick Paro ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

Being new to Substack and suddenly having a bigger platform isn’t always comfortable for me, though I’m learning as I go. A little honesty about anxiety in this new place, how I deal, and what to look forward to. Thank you Cash Flow Collective , Kris Winters , Stephanie Gibbs Dunlap , Independent Voter 1 , Robin S Kuykendall , and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live...

Thank you Wendy The Druid 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌈 , Susan Rahman , Maria , Pat , Tranquil Rain , and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. The Panicked, Unpaid Writer is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscri...

A small rant based on listening to the first day of Ghislaine Maxwell’s testimony and her trying to convince a legal team that both she and Jeffrey Epstein had health conditions that prevented them from having sexual intercourse, and thus they bonded over their celibacy in best-friendship. Woman, please. The Panicked, Unpaid Writer is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and suppor...

Thank you Nick Paro , Mnera , Alexandra Barcus , Linda Roberta Hibbs , Jeanne Elbe , and many others for tuning into my live video with Rick Herbst ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Nick Paro , The Bathrobe Guy 👘 , cynmac , Samantha Paige (she/they) , john king (MY HUMBLE OPINION) , and many others for tuning into my live video with Dana DuBois and Lawrence Winnerman ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Dana DuBois , Sarah Brennan , Linda Roberta Hibbs , Karen Odom , Alynne Hanford , and many others for tuning into my live video with Rick Herbst ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Lawrence Winnerman , Linda Roberta Hibbs , Dannys , Rachel Hendricks , Sunny , and many others for tuning into my live video with Nick Paro and Frederic Poag ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe

Hi friends, Here’s a little check-in to go over some of the heavy-hitting topics of the past week, including investigative articles about Steve Bannon , Leslie Wexner , Mark Epstein , and the mysterious and very quiet death of Ivana Trump . And of course what links them all together: Epstein , Epstein , Epstein . I also cover a bit of the martial law fiasco in Washington DC this week, and what’s l...

As Donald Trump prepares to militarize and forcibly remove poverty and dissent from Washington DC, we need to take a step back and remember the parallels of history. 249 years ago King George III erased checks and balances, kept the laws he liked, wrote a few new ones, rained down tariffs, and otherwise terrorized his people. And we created a new country because of it. So if you would be so kind,...

Thank you J.J. Loughran , Frank Kohl , Rachel Hendricks , Susan Theriault , Brooke Hayes , and many others for tuning into my live video with Nick Paro and Frederic Poag ! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ellieleonard.substack.com/subscribe