Epstein emails expose the reporters who cozied up to the predator and their secret back-channels: ‘Hell of a guy’

Jeffrey Epstein was in an intimate relationship with two high-profile journalists, according to the latest set of emails released about the pedophile financier.

Newly released documents reveal that Michael Wolff and former New York Times reporter Landon Thomas Jr. He revealed his relationship with

The emails shed light on the relationship between the serial sex offender and the two men, even after they were convicted.

Epstein repeatedly gossiped and exchanged information with the two, giving her advice in return and warning her of any news that might mention him.

According to the emails, Landon contacted Epstein in June 2016 with information about investigative journalist and former NYPD detective John Connolly.

The ex-cop was investigating Epstein for a book at the time, and Landon told Epstein: ‘You keep getting calls from that guy, John Connolly, who’s doing the book about you.

‘He seems very interested in your relationship with the media. I told him you’re a great guy :).’

Thomas said he had previously heard about an article Connolly wrote about Epstein for New York Magazine in 2002, in which Donald Trump was quoted.

According to recent emails, Landon told a former police officer and journalist who wrote a book about Epstein that he was “a great guy :).”

The quote from Trump said: ‘I have known Jeff for fifteen years. Great man. It’s so much fun to be with him.

‘In fact, it is said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and most of them are on the younger side.’

Thomas added: ‘One oddity: He said he was told Trump’s quote about you in the original NY Mag story was fabricated.

‘So I didn’t actually talk to Donald. This is nonsense, of course. I’m sure that’s what Trump told him.’

Connolly, who has since died, published Filthy Rich: The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein with author James Patterson in October 2016.

Landon asked Epstein at the end of the email chain if he had spoken to Connolly, and he replied: ‘No.’

An earlier conversation between Landon and Epstein was also unearthed among the trove, in which Epstein presented him with alleged images of Trump with bikini-clad girls.

Landon emailed Epstein in December 2015, referencing Trump’s quote above and saying: ‘Therefore. This story will never die.’

‘Do you want a photo? [sic] “Donald and the girls in bikinis are in my kitchen,” Epstein replied. Thomas replied: ‘Yes!!’.

Epstein is seen here in a March 28, 2017 photo taken for the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services’ sex offender registry.

Emails between Landon and Epstein were released earlier this week and provide insight into the relationship between the two men.

Michael Wolff, whom Epstein approached to write his own biography, gave him political advice about Trump, according to new emails

Epstein’s response was in reference to Lauren Petrella, who previously accused Trump of making unwanted sexual advances during a rally.

Thomas then asked Epstein if he could share his contact information with a colleague at the Times.

He added: ‘I’m not going to do this unless you say OK because I won’t have any say in where the story goes from now on.’

Epstein went on to name-drop Norwegian cosmetics businesswoman Celina Midelfart, after which Landon replied: “Maybe I’ll wait for the photos in your kitchen :).”

It was unclear whether Epstein possessed such images. Thomas told his former employer that Epstein never turned them in.

Connolly came up again in a conversation between Thomas and Epstein in September 2017, when Thomas told Epstein he was “re-investigating.”

He added: ‘It is unclear whether it is another book or an expanded paperback version. I was asking all kinds of questions about why he hired Stan Kerr.

‘I told him I had no idea and that he was doing some research on Trump. Anyway, for what it’s worth…” It was unclear whether Epstein responded to the email.

The 2002 New York Magazine story wasn’t the only story Thomas wrote about Epstein. He also penned a story for The New York Times in 2008 after the pedophile began a controversial 13-month prison sentence for soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Epstein and Donald Trump are seen posing together at his Mar-a-Lago mansion on February 22, 1997.

Thomas wrote that he spoke to Epstein on Little St James Island in the British Virgin Islands, in what he called Epstein’s “palm-fringed Xanadu.”

While Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of girls there, Thomas said that he described the heinous crimes he committed as ‘pranksters’.

Thomas left The New York Times in 2019 after telling senior officials that she had asked Epstein for a $30,000 charitable donation.

Staffers at the registered newspaper previously told NPR that Thomas told senior officials that Epstein was a great source and had become a close friend.

She allegedly left editors ‘stunned’ after saying she would never report on or investigate Epstein, and they immediately moved to have her fired.

A New York Times spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘Landon Thomas Jr has not worked at The Times since early 2019 after editors discovered his failure to comply with our ethical standards.’

Wolff, the author of many best-selling books about Trump, offered advice to Epstein, especially when it came to his relationship with the President.

Her relationship with the pedophile began in 2014, when Epstein approached her directly about becoming his biographer.

Wolff informed Epstein in December 2015 that Trump might be questioned about his relationship with him during the Republican presidential debate on CNN.

Wolff also advised Epstein that releasing it offered Epstein a chance to be an “anti-Trump voice”

In one email, Epstein claimed that Trump “knew about the girls”; the two are seen here with Melania Trump and Epstein’s wife Ghislaine Maxwell in February 2000.

After informing Epstein, Wolff said that if Trump tried to downplay the relationship, Epstein could use it as leverage.

He wrote: ‘I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he didn’t get on the plane or home, that saves you valuable PR and political money.

‘You can potentially hang it for a positive benefit for you, or you can bail it out and create debt if it looks like it could actually win.’

Their relationship benefited Wolff greatly; In 2018, Epstein provided Trump with sources that formed the basis of his book Fire and Fury.

In an earlier email in October 2015, Wolff asked Epstein: ‘There is an opportunity this week to come forward and talk about Trump in a way that will get you a lot of sympathy and help him finish his job. Relating to?’ It’s unclear whether Epstein responded.

Regarding the book Connolly was working on, Wolff also advised Epstein that publishing the book would offer Epstein a chance to be an “anti-Trump voice.”

He added that such a move would give him ‘a certain political cover that you certainly don’t have at the moment’.

Wolff added: ‘I know a group of people here who could be very helpful. This would involve something like writing a column, doing a high-profile television interview (I’d say Charlie Rose) and perhaps some social media efforts.’

Epstein reached out to Wolff in 2019 and said: ‘Trump said he wanted me to resign, I was never a member. Of course he knew about the girls when he told Ghislaine to stop.’ The reference to the resignation apparently refers to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

New emails show Wolff gave advice on Trump and even drew up ‘strategic plans’ to deal with Epstein’s public persona

Trump expelled Epstein around October 2007, according to Mar-a-Lago’s Club records.

The president has since declared that he ‘stole’ the young women who worked at Epstein’s estate.

Wolff expressed his close relationship with the pedophile with the following words: Joanna Coles of the Daily Beast This week.

The pair co-hosted the network’s Inside Trump’s Head podcast, and he said the emails ‘shocked’ him and that he was ‘advising a convicted pedophile.’

He replied: ‘What do emails look like; Could it have been rewritten in hindsight? Yes, of course. Emails always are; this is a shame.

‘Remember what’s happening here, I’m in no man’s land. ‘I’m very close to a story.’

Asked directly by Coles whether he was Epstein’s media advisor, he said: ‘No, given the fact of how poorly he manages the media.

‘I wouldn’t want any praise for that anyway.’

In 2019, Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial.

The Daily Mail attempted to contact Thomas via a mobile number still registered to The New York Times and was contacted via an email associated with his Substack newsletter. A call and message seeking comment on Wolff’s cell phone went unanswered.