# The Mayflower Madam analogy

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Mayflower Madam analogy," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-mayflower-madam-analogy/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's argument, borrowed from the 1980s Mayflower Madam case, that the Epstein 'list' will disappoint anyone expecting a schedule of clients, because address books contain the dry cleaner and the Chinese takeaway alongside everyone else, and nobody keeps a spreadsheet of their crimes.*

- **The precedent:** The Mayflower Madam case of the 1980s
- **What was famous about it:** A little black book that reached the public eye
- **What was in it:** Clients and girls, and also her dry cleaner and her Chinese takeaway
- **The lesson:** An address book is an address book
- **What nobody keeps:** 'A spreadsheet that says my child sex client XLS'
- **The verdict on both administrations:** 'They''re playing it too cute'

**The Mayflower Madam analogy** is the comparison [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) draws between the Epstein files and the 1980s prostitution case whose defendant's address book, unlike the Epstein material, actually reached the public.

## The book that did become public

What Kiriakou finds instructive about the Mayflower Madam's *"very famous little black book"* is not the clients it named but the company they kept in it. *"Yeah, she had her johns in there and she had her girls in there, but she had her dry cleaner in there and she had her Chinese food in there. I mean, the point is that's what people do."*[1]

An address book, in other words, records everyone a person deals with, and appearing in one establishes nothing on its own. The conclusion he draws for the Epstein material is blunt: anyone *"looking for a spreadsheet that says 'my child sex client XLS', it's not in there."*[2]

## Why that is not the end of it

Kiriakou does not use the point to dismiss the question, and says so immediately: *"but that's not really the issue."*[2] The issue remains [the identity of the men who committed crimes against children](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-maxwell-justice-department-interview), which a name-by-name reading of an address book will not settle either way.

His judgement on the government's handling is deliberately non-partisan. The administration is *"playing it too cute"*, and he adds, *"like all administrations"* do.[2]

## See also

- [The Maxwell Justice Department interview](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-maxwell-justice-department-interview)
- [Jeffrey Epstein](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/jeffrey-epstein)
- [Ghislaine Maxwell](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ghislaine-maxwell)
- [Pam Bondi](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/pam-bondi)
- [Epstein Files Transparency Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/epstein-files-transparency-act)

## Sources

1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 46:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=2807s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 47:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=2839s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/

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