Steve Tisch getting Giant pass for Jeffrey Epstein ties

The NFL will definitely maybe investigate Steve Tisch’s 400-plus appearances in the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league office said repeatedly Monday it planned to “look into” the Giants co-owner’s connections to the late pedophile financier. But each comment — a written statement and three word salad answers during Goodell’s Super Bowl press conference — seemed engineered to not call or commit to a formal investigation under the league’s personal conduct policy.

“We’ll continue to follow any of the facts that come up and determine if we open an investigation based on those facts,” Goodell said.

It typically works the other way around. Which Goodell undoubtedly knows. And he has to realize the facts are pretty clear.

Tisch knowingly associated with a convicted sex offender who set him up with women. He discussed these women with Epstein using profane and suggestive language. He repeatedly asked a man who pleaded guilty to prostitution of a minor if the much-younger women being sent his way were “pros.” And he offered one of the more shameful responses in history once the bombshell news hit.

Tisch has not been accused of or implicated in any criminal wrongdoing. But he behaved like a pig and has colossally bad judgment at best. That surely merits a serious probe and a potentially stiff penalty. But we have no clue if either of those things will happen or are even on the table, though. And that is probably the point. Goodell does not make tens of millions annually by working against the owners’ self-interests.

Then again: You cannot blame the NFL for taking the easy way out given the stunning lack of media scrutiny. While it has been quite clear over the years that Tisch has been a well-placed source for some columnists and reporters, this situation transcends access journalism.

And yet NFL Network did not acknowledge the situation for days after The Athletic’s initial report. ESPN has barely touched it. And the local press has been bizarrely reserved. Most outlets have provided the bare minimum of straight news coverage and there have only been two calls for action or discipline.

The Post’s relative inaction has stood out. This story would seem uniquely in the tabloid’s wheelhouse — billionaire Hollywood producer and regular Democratic donor who co-owns local team gets caught up in national scandal with salacious details. But Tisch did not make the front or back page until Tuesday morning, and only in a text banner at the bottom. The Daily News put the story on the front page when it broke and the back page Tuesday, by comparison.

Throwing no punches is preferable to carrying water, though. Which is what WFAN’s Tiki Barber did on Monday. The former Giants running back mounted a non-defense defense as midday partner Evan Roberts tried to politely make the points any rational person would.

“There is no crime right now that we know about and so we have to give Steve Tisch the benefit of the doubt,” Barber said moments after pointing out “these emails, these solicitations, so to speak, to Jeffrey Epstein … looking for female acquaintances” came years after Tisch split with his second wife, as if that means anything.

Barber said he thought some sort of repercussion was likely, but later added: “I don’t think the NFL, 13 years hence, is going to do an investigation of what Steve Tisch’s relationship was with Jeffrey Epstein. And I don’t know if there is any evidence. And again, all these things that we’re talking around and not really accusing him of are alleged. We have no idea what this really means.”

Well, we have a pretty good idea — about who Tisch is, and about how no one seems inclined to hold him accountable for it.