Powerful men who turn up in the new batch of Epstein files
New York Times
The Justice Department on Saturday released its largest set of Jeffrey Epstein files to date; it was a massive slice of more than 3 million pages of documentation and thousands of videos and images.
The documents shed new light on the disgraced financier’s relationships with prominent figures such as Elon Musk, Bill Gates and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. They also contain a significant number of unconfirmed leads to law enforcement.
The files show the following about a few of these men:
President Donald Trump
It turned out that the files contained at least 4,500 documents mentioning Trump. One was a summary of more than a dozen public tips on Trump and Epstein put together by FBI officials last summer. According to emails released by the Department of Justice.
It’s unclear why investigators compiled the summary of allegations of sexual misconduct by Epstein and Trump. The emails did not contain any corroborating evidence and New York Times does not disclose details of unsubstantiated claims.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing regarding Epstein. In response to a request for comment, the White House referred to a public statement from the Justice Department on Friday that said the documents “may contain forged or misrepresented images, documents, or videos.”
Many of the other documents were news articles or emails referencing Trump.
Bill Gates
According to released emails, Epstein prepared notes to and from Gates in 2013 that suggested she was having sex outside of marriage. A representative for Gates called the accusations “absolutely ridiculous and completely false.”
In an email, Epstein wrote that he helped Gates obtain drugs “to cope with the consequences of sexual intercourse with Russian girls” and facilitated Gates’ meetings with married women.
It was unclear whether Epstein sent the emails to Gates. Epstein wrote the messages about Gates shortly after a failed attempt to broker a venture between Gates’ foundation and JPMorgan Chase; This deprived Epstein of what he had hoped would be ample income.
Howard Lutnick
The files revealed that Lutnick, who is now the US Secretary of Commerce, planned a visit to Epstein’s island in 2012, but had previously said he cut ties with Epstein around 2005.
Reached by phone on Friday, Lutnick said he could not comment on the island visit because he had not seen the latest Epstein documents.
“I spent zero time with him,” Lutnick said. He then hung up the phone.
Documents show that the visit took place. The meeting was planned to be held on December 23, 2012. A day later, an assistant to Epstein forwarded Lutnick a message from Epstein: “Nice to see you,” it said.
Richard Branson
A 2013 email exchange between British billionaire Branson and Epstein suggests the pair had a warm, familiar relationship built at least in part on their interest in women.
“It was really nice to see you yesterday,” Virgin Group founder Branson wrote to Epstein in a Sept. 11, 2013, email. And he added: “I’d love to see you whenever you’re in this area. Just bring your harem!”
A representative for Virgin Group said Branson sent the email shortly after hosting Epstein for a group business meeting on the private island Branson owns in the British Virgin Islands. The representative said Epstein came to the meeting with three adult women he referred to as his “harem,” who did not attend the meeting.
“Any contact Richard and Joan Branson had with Epstein occurred only on a handful of occasions more than 12 years ago and was limited to group or work settings,” the representative said in a statement. “Richard believes that Epstein’s actions were disgusting and supports the right to justice for his many victims.”
Elon Musk
According to the documents, Epstein and Musk exchanged numerous messages between 2012 and 2014, comparing their schedules to find time to meet in Florida or the Caribbean.
On September 25, 2012, Epstein wrote a letter to Musk saying, “If you have time, come and visit me in the Caribbean man,” encouraging the billionaire to “bring your friend or friends.”
“Sounds good, I’ll try to do that,” Musk replied.
For years, the tech entrepreneur refused to visit the disgraced financier’s island. In a social media post in September, Musk wrote that Epstein “tried to convince me to go to his island and I REFUSED.”
But several emails show Musk backed away from the plans the two men had made.
“I had very little correspondence with Epstein and declined repeated invitations to go to his island or fly on the ‘Lolita Express,’ but I was well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by malicious individuals to defame me,” Musk wrote Saturday in a post on the social media site X, which he owns.
Steve Tisch
Epstein exchanged numerous messages with New York Giants co-owner Tisch throughout 2013.
In some interviews, Epstein appeared to associate Tisch with women of certain ethnicities and described their bodies in crude terms.
Tisch asked Epstein multiple times, in slang terms, whether the woman he described was a sex worker. During one of these conversations, in April 2013, Epstein asked Tisch to send him his phone number because he did not want the conversations to be recorded.
Tisch said in a statement: “We had a brief relationship where we exchanged emails about adult women and also discussed movies, philanthropy and investments. I never accepted any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know by now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret being with.”
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
“I have a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with,” Epstein wrote to former prince Andrew in 2010. In a later email, Epstein added that the “friend” was 26 years old, Russian, smart, beautiful and reliable. The prince said he would be “delighted” to meet the woman.
A few hours later, he wrote to Epstein again, asking: “What did you tell him about me and did you give him my email too?”
The email exchange adds new details to what is publicly known about the long friendship between convicted sex offender Epstein and now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The prince was stripped of his royal titles last October after new revelations showed the extent of his closeness with Epstein.
According to legal filings later filed by the woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Epstein sold a young girl to Andrew in 2001, and the girl had sex with him multiple times. Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied Giuffre’s accusations about her friendship with Epstein and any wrongdoing.
Sergey Brin
Brin, the Google co-founder and one of the world’s richest men, visited Epstein’s private island near St Thomas, made plans to dine at Epstein’s New York home and corresponded with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime friend and accomplice, according to the latest documents.
“Dinners at Jeffrey’s are always relaxed and relaxed,” Maxwell wrote to Brin in April 2003. “I look forward to seeing you.”
It has long been known that Epstein introduced JPMorgan executives to Brin, whose net worth exceeds $250 billion, helping the bank secure him as a client.
Sarah Ransome, one of Epstein’s accusers, claimed in court documents in 2024 that she met Brin and his then-fiancee Anne Wojcicki on his island, which was the center of Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation for many years. One of Epstein’s former boat captains said: New York Times He had seen Brin on the island more than once earlier this year.
Brin and Wojcicki did not respond to requests for comment.
This article was first published on: New York Times.
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