---
alias:
- Jeffrey Edward Epstein
- Jeffrey E. Epstein
- JEE
born: 1953-01-20
category: Key Figures
created: 2026-06-18
died: 2019-08-10
location: Brooklyn, New York
relations:
- fn: 1
  role: mathematics and physics teacher
  start: 1974
  type: employed_by
  with: '[[Dalton School]]'
- fn: 5
  role: trustee
  start: 1992
  type: director_of
  with: '[[Wexner Foundation]]'
- end: 2007
  fn: 55
  role: trustee
  start: 1997
  type: director_of
  with: '[[Black Family Foundation]]'
- fn: 8
  role: chairman
  type: head_of
  with: '[[Liquid Funding]]'
- fn: 26
  role: president, sole director and sole shareholder; owner of the Boeing 727 N908JE
  type: owned
  with: '[[JEGE, Inc.]]'
- fn: 26
  role: president, sole director and sole shareholder; owner of the Gulfstream N909JE
  type: owned
  with: '[[Hyperion Air, Inc.]]'
- fn: 11
  role: through Nine East 71st Street Corporation and Maple, Inc.
  type: owned
  with: '[[9 East 71st Street]]'
- fn: 11
  start: 1998
  type: owned
  with: '[[Little St. James]]'
- fn: 11
  start: 2016
  type: owned
  with: '[[Great St. James]]'
- fn: 19
  type: owned
  with: '[[Zorro Ranch]]'
- fn: 33
  role: work-release employer during the Palm Beach sentence
  type: founded
  with: '[[Florida Science Foundation]]'
- fn: 70
  role: private charity; paid Leon Botstein 37,500 dollars a quarter in 2016
  start: 2012
  type: founded
  with: '[[Gratitude America]]'
- end: 2007
  fn: 55
  role: 9,179,000 dollars in 22 gifts
  start: 1998
  type: funded
  with: '[[Harvard University]]'
- fn: 60
  role: 20,000 dollars
  start: 2010
  type: funded
  with: '[[World Transhumanist Association]]'
- fn: 60
  role: 50,000 dollars to the Singularity Institute through the C.O.U.Q. Foundation
  start: 2009
  type: funded
  with: '[[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]]'
- fn: 121
  role: co-executor under the will
  start: 2019-08-08
  type: appointed
  with: '[[Darren Indyke]]'
- fn: 121
  role: co-executor under the will
  start: 2019-08-08
  type: appointed
  with: '[[Richard Kahn]]'
- fn: 121
  role: backup executor under the will
  start: 2019-08-08
  type: appointed
  with: '[[Boris Nikolic]]'
- fn: 17
  reverse: true
  start: 2005
  type: investigated
  with: '[[Palm Beach Police Department]]'
- fn: 33
  reverse: true
  start: 2006
  type: investigated
  with: '[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]'
- end: 2008
  fn: 33
  reverse: true
  role: U.S. Attorney's Office; draft 60-count indictment, resolved by non-prosecution
    agreement
  start: 2006
  type: investigated
  with: '[[Southern District of Florida]]'
- end: 2008
  fn: 30
  reverse: true
  role: state solicitation charges
  start: 2006
  type: prosecuted
  with: '[[Palm Beach County State Attorney''s Office]]'
- end: 2019
  fn: 112
  reverse: true
  role: United States v. Epstein, 19 Cr. 490
  start: 2019
  type: prosecuted
  with: '[[Southern District of New York]]'
- end: 2008
  fn: 33
  reverse: true
  role: lead negotiator of the non-prosecution agreement
  start: 2007
  type: represented
  with: '[[Jay Lefkowitz]]'
- end: 2008
  fn: 33
  reverse: true
  start: 2007
  type: represented
  with: '[[Kenneth Starr]]'
- fn: 38
  reverse: true
  start: 2007
  type: represented
  with: '[[Gerald Lefcourt]]'
- fn: 31
  reverse: true
  type: represented
  with: '[[Jack Goldberger]]'
- end: 2019
  fn: 86
  reverse: true
  start: 2011
  type: represented
  with: '[[Martin Weinberg]]'
- end: 2019
  fn: 113
  reverse: true
  start: 2019
  type: represented
  with: '[[Reid Weingarten]]'
- end: 2019
  fn: 113
  reverse: true
  start: 2019
  type: represented
  with: '[[Marc Fernich]]'
- fn: 90
  role: brother
  type: relative_of
  with: '[[Mark Epstein]]'
summary: Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier and convicted sex offender who
  trafficked girls with Ghislaine Maxwell across five residences, cultivated financiers,
  politicians, scientists and intelligence officials, and died in federal custody
  in 2019.
tags:
- Person
- JeffreyEpstein
- SexOffender
- SexTrafficking
- Intelligence
- Blackmail
- Mossad
- RobertMaxwell
- GhislaineMaxwell
- LesWexner
- SciencePhilanthropy
- DarkMoney
- EpsteinFiles
- NonProsecutionAgreement
- USVirginIslands
- Carbyne
updated: 2026-10-03
---

Jeffrey Epstein (January 20, 1953 to August 10, 2019) was an American financier and convicted sex offender who, with his companion [Ghislaine Maxwell](/people/ghislaine-maxwell/), ran a sex-trafficking operation that recruited and abused dozens of underage girls across his residences in Manhattan, [Palm Beach](/places/palm-beach-florida/), [New Mexico](/places/new-mexico/), the [U.S. Virgin Islands](/places/us-virgin-islands/), and [Paris](/places/paris/). He built a social and financial network that encompassed technology billionaires ([Peter Thiel](/people/peter-thiel/), [Bill Gates](/people/bill-gates/), [Elon Musk](/people/elon-musk/), [Reid Hoffman](/people/reid-hoffman/), [Mark Zuckerberg](/people/mark-zuckerberg/)), heads of state and politicians ([Bill Clinton](/people/bill-clinton/), [Ehud Barak](/people/ehud-barak/), [Prince Andrew](/people/prince-andrew/), [Donald Trump](/people/donald-trump/)), diplomats and intelligence officials ([William Burns](/people/william-burns/), [Vitaly Churkin](/people/vitaly-churkin/)), financiers and executives ([Leslie Wexner](/people/leslie-wexner/), [Leon Black](/people/leon-black/), [Tom Pritzker](/people/tom-pritzker/), [Howard Lutnick](/people/howard-lutnick/)), and prominent scientists ([Martin Nowak](/people/martin-nowak/), [Marvin Minsky](/people/marvin-minsky/), [George Church](/people/george-church/), Stephen Hawking) brokered through the literary agent [John Brockman](/people/john-brockman/). The source of his fortune was never satisfactorily explained, his long association with [Robert Maxwell's](/people/robert-maxwell/) daughter raised documented intelligence questions, and his death in federal custody in 2019 was ruled a suicide over disputes that have not been resolved.[^1][^2][^3]

### Early Life, Dalton, and Bear Stearns

Epstein was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in the Sea Gate and Coney Island area in a working-class Jewish family; his father worked for the [New York City](/places/new-york-city/) parks department. He attended Lafayette High School, then Cooper Union and the Courant Institute at [New York University](/organizations/new-york-university/), leaving both without a degree. In 1974 he was hired to teach mathematics and physics at the Dalton School, the elite Upper East Side preparatory school, despite having no degree and no teaching credential. The headmaster during the period of his hiring was Donald Barr, the novelist and educator who was the father of the future [U.S. Attorney General](/organizations/us-attorney-general/) [William Barr](/people/william-barr/), whose [Department of Justice](/organizations/department-of-justice/) would later oversee the federal case and the jail in which Epstein died. Accounts differ on whether Barr personally hired Epstein, since Barr resigned the headmastership in 1974.[^1][^4]

At Dalton, Epstein cultivated the parents of his students, and a connection there brought him to [Bear Stearns](/organizations/bear-stearns/), the investment bank then led by [Alan Greenberg](/people/alan-greenberg/). He joined in 1976, worked in the special products division advising wealthy clients on tax strategy, and rose to limited partner. The firm and Epstein gave varying accounts of the departure, which has been attributed to a Regulation D securities violation and to an internal inquiry. After leaving he ran a consulting company, [International Assets Group](/organizations/international-assets-group/), out of his apartment in the Solo building on East 66th Street, and around 1988 he established [J. Epstein & Co.](/organizations/j-epstein-co/), which he said managed money exclusively for clients worth more than one billion dollars; in 2003 he said he had run it "for the last 15 years."[^1][^3][^5]

Epstein resigned from Bear Stearns on March 12, 1981, the day after Seagram announced its tender offer for St. Joe Minerals. The [Securities and Exchange Commission](/organizations/securities-and-exchange-commission/), investigating insider trading in St. Joe and told that Epstein had information about trading at Bear Stearns, took his testimony on April 1, 1981. He said management had fined him 2,500 dollars over a possible "Reg D" violation, a loan of about 20,000 dollars to his friend Warren Eisenstein to buy stock, together with "carelessness" over expenses, and that rumors had tied his exit to "an illicit affair with a secretary." Bear Stearns paid his bonus of about 100,000 dollars. [James Cayne](/people/james-cayne/) said Epstein "left Bear Stearns of his own volition"; a former Bear executive told Fox Business in 2019 that he "left at our invitation ... it was very serious stuff"; [Steven Hoffenberg](/people/steven-hoffenberg/) claimed Epstein told him he had been caught executing "illegal operations." The SEC brought no insider-trading charges against anyone at Bear Stearns in the St. Joe matter.[^5][^6]

Epstein stayed a major Bear Stearns customer. His company [Financial Trust Company](/organizations/financial-trust-company/) stated in a 2009 verified complaint that "since 1981, Epstein has conducted hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions with Bear Stearns for his own, as well as his clients', accounts," with the firm's senior management. From at least 2000 to 2007 he chaired Liquid Funding Ltd., a Bermuda company partly owned by Bear Stearns that held mortgage-backed securities, a directorship disclosed in the Paradise Papers. Fox Business reported that he had about 60 million dollars in the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund, which collapsed in June 2007. On August 6, 2007, according to the 2009 complaint, Cayne told Epstein to "hold tight" to Financial Trust's 120,000 Bear shares; Financial Trust sold the last 100,000 on March 17, 2008 at 3.41 dollars and sued Bear Stearns in the District Court of the Virgin Islands (Civil No. 2009/106).[^6][^7][^8]

### Towers Financial and the Hoffenberg Partnership

Two accounts of how Epstein came to Steven Hoffenberg survive. Hoffenberg told the journalist Vicky Ward that the two men, who met in [London](/places/london/) in the 1980s, were introduced by [Douglas Leese](/people/douglas-leese/), a British defense contractor; Epstein said they were introduced by John Mitchell, the former [Attorney General](/organizations/us-attorney-general/) convicted in the [Watergate](/events/watergate/) cover-up, who had died in 1988. Leese appears in the parliamentary record in January 1996, when George Galloway told the House of Commons under privilege that commissions on the Al-Yamamah arms sale to [Saudi Arabia](/places/saudi-arabia/) had been "handled by British Aerospace through a British business man, Douglas Leese, who has close connections with an offshore bank, the Bank of NT Butterfield in Bermuda." At the time of the introduction Epstein was running International Assets Group from his apartment; he testified in a 1989 deposition that he spent 80 percent of his time helping people recover stolen money from fraudulent brokers and lawyers.[^5][^9]

In the late 1980s Epstein worked closely with Hoffenberg, the financier who controlled [Towers Financial Corporation](/organizations/towers-financial-corporation/), a debt-collection company that bought portfolios of distressed medical and telephone receivables and sold notes and bonds to investors. Epstein was retained as a consultant, reportedly at twenty-five thousand dollars a month, and the two pursued attempted corporate takeovers of Pan Am, beginning in November 1987, and of Emery Air Freight in 1988. Towers Financial collapsed in 1993 in what prosecutors described as one of the largest Ponzi schemes before Bernard Madoff; the court-ordered restitution was 475,157,340 dollars. Hoffenberg pleaded guilty in 1995, was sentenced on March 4, 1997 to twenty years, and was released on October 11, 2013.[^10]

After his release Hoffenberg publicly claimed that Epstein had been a co-architect of the Towers fraud and had walked away with money while leaving Hoffenberg to face prosecution alone. Epstein was never charged in connection with Towers Financial. Hoffenberg swore in 2018 that prosecutors had "offered me a reduced sentence in exchange for information about Epstein's role" and that he refused; his lawyer Gary Baise said Judge [Robert W. Sweet](/people/robert-w-sweet/) asked him, "Why did he not give up Epstein?", while Epstein's lawyers wrote that at a December 2013 conference "Judge Sweet stated he was unaware of Epstein." Hoffenberg sued Epstein and Financial Trust Company on May 27, 2016 (No. 1:16-cv-03989); after Epstein's counsel at [Troutman Sanders](/organizations/troutman-sanders/) raised standing, limitations and in pari delicto, he withdrew with prejudice and Judge Richard J. Sullivan dismissed the case on July 5, 2016. A class action by two Towers noteholders filed August 20, 2018 with Hoffenberg's affidavit (No. 1:18-cv-07580) was terminated on October 5, 2018 after a motion to dismiss and a sanctions threat. Illinois insurance regulators, who had sued Hoffenberg in 1991, never deposed Epstein; their lawyer, Barry Gross, called him "very elusive." Hoffenberg was found dead at his home in Derby, Connecticut in August 2022.[^5][^10]

### Leslie Wexner and the Source of Wealth

Leslie Wexner, the founder of The Limited, L Brands, Victoria's Secret, and Bath & Body Works, met Epstein in the mid-1980s and made him his money manager and confidant. In 1991 Wexner granted Epstein sweeping power of attorney, authority to borrow money, sign checks, buy and sell property, and hire and fire on his behalf. Epstein joined the board of the [Wexner Foundation](/organizations/wexner-foundation/) in 1992, in the seat of Wexner's mother, Bella Wexner. Wexner transferred to Epstein the use of, and eventually title to, the seven-story townhouse at [9 East 71st Street](/places/9-east-71st-street/) in Manhattan, one of the largest private residences in the city, under a 1998 purchase agreement secured by a 10 million dollar note; in December 2011 the Epstein-owned Nine East 71st Street Corporation transferred the house to Maple, Inc., another Epstein entity. Wexner also co-founded the [Mega Group](/organizations/mega-group/), a club of wealthy Jewish businessmen and philanthropists, with the Seagram heir Charles Bronfman.[^3][^5][^11]

Wexner cut ties with Epstein around 2007, and in 2019 he stated publicly that Epstein had "misappropriated vast sums" from him and his family, an amount reported as more than 46 million dollars, which Wexner said he had recovered. The mechanics of how a single client's fortune translated into Epstein's own remained opaque. A December 2025 [New York Times](/organizations/new-york-times/) investigation concluded that Epstein built his apparent wealth through "scams, theft and lies" rather than financial acumen, that his billionaire status was exaggerated, and that the Wexner relationship was central to whatever fortune he actually held. A May 2003 [JPMorgan](/organizations/jpmorgan-chase/) due-diligence report stated that Epstein, "through the trading of his accounts and that of Leslie Wexner," generated "one of the largest annual revenue flows of private clients in the private bank."[^3][^12]

An August 15, 2019 FBI Criminal Investigative Division document, released in 2026, listed eight people as co-conspirators, among them Wexner, [Jean-Luc Brunel](/people/jean-luc-brunel/) and [Lesley Groff](/people/lesley-groff/); the Justice Department removed the redaction of Wexner's name in February 2026 after Representative [Thomas Massie](/people/thomas-massie/) raised it. A representative for Wexner said prosecutors told his lawyers in 2019 that he was "neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect." In Israel a March 1, 2026 criminal complaint asked police to investigate the Wexner Foundation's 2.3 million dollar payments to Ehud Barak, after a January 30, 2026 Justice Department release showed Epstein's lawyer [Darren Indyke](/people/darren-indyke/) writing in December 2005 that he "was involved in the negotiation and execution" of Barak's contract.[^13][^14]

### Ghislaine Maxwell and the Maxwell Intelligence Question

Ghislaine Maxwell became Epstein's companion, social organizer, and, according to her 2021 federal conviction, the principal recruiter and procurer of his trafficking operation, beginning in the early 1990s after she moved to New York. She is the youngest daughter of Robert Maxwell (born Jan Ludvik Hoch in Czechoslovakia in 1923), the British publishing magnate who controlled [Mirror Group Newspapers](/organizations/mirror-group-newspapers/), served as a Labour Member of Parliament, looted roughly 460 million pounds from the Mirror Group pension funds, and died in a disputed drowning off his yacht near the Canary Islands on November 5, 1991. Robert Maxwell was alleged across multiple published accounts to have operated as an intelligence asset, including for [Mossad](/organizations/mossad/), [MI6](/organizations/mi6/), and the [KGB](/organizations/kgb/), with claims involving the distribution of modified [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) software and a role in the Mordechai Vanunu case. On March 15, 2018 Epstein emailed a correspondent, whose name is redacted, a press passage stating that Robert Maxwell had "threatened Mossad," demanding 400 million pounds "to save his crumbling empire" or he "would expose all he had done for them."[^2][^15][^16]

The strongest version of the intelligence claim traces to [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/), a self-described former Israeli military intelligence officer, who alleged in his book Profits of War (1992) and later interviews that Robert Maxwell was a longtime Mossad asset and that Epstein and Ghislaine ran a sexual blackmail operation connected to Israeli intelligence. Ben-Menashe's account is uncorroborated by any declassified file, and his reliability is widely disputed. What is documented is narrower: that Ghislaine maintained the transatlantic social access through which Epstein operated, and that Epstein separately cultivated Barak and the Israeli surveillance-technology firm [Carbyne](/organizations/carbyne/). No primary source establishes that the operation was directed by any service.[^2][^15]

### The Properties

Epstein's residences functioned as the physical infrastructure of the trafficking operation. The Manhattan townhouse at 9 East 71st Street, the Palm Beach house at [358 El Brillo Way](/places/358-el-brillo-way/) (acquired in 1990), the roughly 10,000-acre [Zorro Ranch](/places/zorro-ranch/) near Stanley, New Mexico, the private island of [Little St. James](/places/little-st-james/) in the U.S. Virgin Islands (acquired in 1998), the neighboring [Great St. James](/places/great-st-james/) (acquired in 2016), and an apartment on the [Avenue Foch](/places/avenue-foch/) in Paris formed a circuit across which victims and associates were moved. Victims and a 1996 [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) report by [Maria Farmer](/people/maria-farmer/) described hidden cameras and surveillance equipment in the properties, which fed the later allegation that the residences were instrumented to record guests. At his death the estate valued Zorro Ranch at 72 million dollars, the Manhattan house at 56 million, and the two islands together at 86 million.[^17][^18][^19]

Zorro Ranch in New Mexico was, according to a 2019 New York Times report, the site Epstein discussed for a project to "seed the human race with his DNA" by impregnating many women, a scheme he described to scientists and associates and that never came to fruition. New Mexico reopened a criminal inquiry into the ranch in 2025. On August 19, 2010, two days after Epstein registered as a sex offender in New Mexico, the state Department of Public Safety told the Santa Fe County sheriff that he was not required to register, because the state treated the Florida offense as registrable only if the minor was under 16; the minor in the plea was 17. Little St. James, called "Pedophile Island" in local accounts, was where Epstein hosted a 2002 science conference and where multiple victims said abuse occurred; under the 2022 settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands the island was sold and half the proceeds, about 11 million dollars, paid to the territory.[^18][^19][^20]

At his last address verification as a registered sex offender, in July 2018, Epstein refused to let [Virgin Islands Department of Justice](/organizations/virgin-islands-department-of-justice/) investigators, assisted by U.S. Marshals, go beyond the dock of Little St. James, calling the dock his "front door," and had them meet him at his office on [St. Thomas](/places/st-thomas/). His organization objected to the territory's inspections of unpermitted construction on Great St. James as "invasions" of his constitutional right to privacy in a home "which he described defined as the entire island." Island employees signed confidentiality agreements barring them from speaking with law enforcement and were told to notify the organization and use its counsel if contacted.[^11]

### The Trafficking Operation and the Recruitment Network

The operation recruited girls, some as young as 14, to give Epstein "massages" that became sexual abuse, and paid victims to recruit additional victims in a pyramid structure. The schemers and recruiters included Ghislaine Maxwell and a circle of assistants and procurers: [Sarah Kellen](/people/sarah-kellen/), [Nadia Marcinkova](/people/nadia-marcinkova/), [Adriana Ross](/people/adriana-ross/), and Lesley Groff, the four employees named and granted immunity in the 2007 federal agreement, and the French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, whose [MC2 Model Management](/organizations/mc2-model-management/) agency was reportedly seeded with about one million dollars of Epstein money and supplied women and girls. Brunel was arrested in France in December 2020 on charges including the rape of minors and was found hanged in a Paris prison in February 2022.[^17]

A March 2011 JPMorgan report quoted in later shareholder litigation stated that "MC2 Model Management and Jeffrey Epstein engaged in racketeering that involved luring in minor children for sexual play for money," that Brunel "often visited Epstein in jail," and that Epstein had paid MC2 one million dollars in 2005, "unknown if the money was given as a secret investment or payment for services as a procurer." A 2011 compliance summary recorded that "the banker said today we extended Epstein a loan in relation to this modeling agency," a JPMorgan letter of credit to MC2. Epstein's JPMorgan accounts paid nearly 1.5 million dollars to known recruiters, including MC2.[^21]

The [Palm Beach Police Department](/organizations/palm-beach-police-department/) opened an investigation in 2005 after a parent reported that her teenage daughter had been molested, and detectives identified dozens of victims and a network of recruiters. The most prominent victim-witnesses overall include [Virginia Giuffre](/people/virginia-giuffre/) (recruited at age 16 or 17 while working at [Mar-a-Lago](/places/mar-a-lago/)), Maria Farmer and her sister [Annie Farmer](/people/annie-farmer/), who was abused at the New Mexico ranch in 1996, [Courtney Wild](/people/courtney-wild/), and [Sarah Ransome](/people/sarah-ransome/). Their accounts, depositions, and civil suits, many unsealed from the [Giuffre v. Maxwell](/events/giuffre-v-maxwell/) record between 2019 and 2024, provided much of the public record of the operation.[^17][^22][^23]

### The Flight Logs and the Black Book

Epstein's Boeing 727, the [Lolita Express](/concepts/lolita-express/), and additional aircraft were flown by the pilots [Larry Visoski](/people/larry-visoski/) and David Rodgers, whose logbooks recorded passengers on flights among New York, Palm Beach, the Virgin Islands, and Europe. The logs surfaced through the civil litigation of 2009 to 2015 and became the basis for much of the public mapping of Epstein's contacts, though a log entry records travel and not conduct. Visoski testified at the 2021 Maxwell trial that he had never witnessed sexual activity aboard the aircraft, and the logs by themselves establish who flew, not what occurred.[^17][^24]

The 727 was registered N908JE to [JEGE, Inc.](/organizations/jege-inc/), of which Epstein was president, sole director and sole shareholder, from January 2001 until the registration was cancelled on October 5, 2019; Epstein was named chief executive on JEGE's Part 125 operating certificate, and Darren Indyke signed its 2013 re-registration. The Gulfstream N909JE was held by Hyperion Air, Inc., also wholly his. Other aircraft were held by [Hyperion Air LLC](/organizations/hyperion-air/), JEGE, LLC, Plan D LLC and Air Ghislaine Inc. (renamed Shmitka Air Inc. and then [Freedom Air International Inc.](/organizations/air-ghislaine-inc/) in 2010), with Visoski signing filings as manager or director of aviation; Hyperion Air LLC bought back a Sikorsky helicopter on June 13, 2019, three weeks before Epstein's arrest. The 2007 draft federal indictment identified each charged flight by the corporate owner of the aircraft, and according to NBC News a May 2007 prosecution memorandum proposed charging JEGE, Inc. and Hyperion Air, Inc. alongside Epstein; the non-prosecution agreement ended the federal case, and both companies continued to hold his aircraft until after his death.[^25][^26][^27]

A bound contact directory, the "little black book," held roughly 1,900 entries of names, telephone numbers, and addresses spanning finance, politics, royalty, science, and entertainment. A former house manager at the Palm Beach property, [Alfredo Rodriguez](/people/alfredo-rodriguez/), copied the directory and offered it for sale, calling it "the Holy Grail or Golden Nugget." The complaint against him, filed December 1, 2009, bears the name of Assistant U.S. Attorney [Ann Marie Villafana](/people/ann-marie-villafana/), the line prosecutor on the Epstein investigation; it records that Rodriguez offered the material through a cooperating witness to an "associate" who was an undercover FBI employee, and that he had given it to no "law enforcement agency or any of the civil attorneys." The charged obstruction ran from January 18, 2007, while the federal grand jury investigation was open, to November 3, 2009. He pleaded guilty and Judge [Kenneth Marra](/people/kenneth-marra/) sentenced him on June 21, 2010 to eighteen months. At Maxwell's 2021 trial a copy of the directory was admitted as Government Exhibit 52 after authentication by the earlier Palm Beach house manager [Juan Alessi](/people/juan-alessi/). Redacted versions of the directory and of the flight manifests circulated publicly and were cited in reporting and litigation to identify members of Epstein's social circle.[^17][^24]

The documentary record expanded sharply after Epstein's death. The unsealing of the Giuffre v. Maxwell record, which began on August 9, 2019 and continued in tranches through January 2024 under Judge [Loretta Preska](/people/loretta-preska/), the staged Justice Department releases of 2025 and 2026, and the [House Oversight Committee](/organizations/house-committee-on-oversight-and-government-reform/) productions added emails, calendars, depositions, and photographs to the logs and the directory. The combined record widened the list of documented contacts while leaving intact the distinction between appearing in Epstein's logs or address book and participating in his crimes.[^22][^23][^28]

### The Palm Beach Investigation and the State Case

The Palm Beach investigation produced a sworn probable cause affidavit on May 1, 2006 in which Detective [Joseph Recarey](/people/joseph-recarey/) recommended four counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of lewd and lascivious molestation, all second-degree felonies. State Attorney [Barry Krischer](/people/barry-krischer/) instead convened a grand jury, which on July 19, 2006 returned one count of felony solicitation of prostitution after hearing two of the girls. Police Chief [Michael Reiter](/people/michael-reiter/) said in a 2009 civil deposition that Krischer had first told him "Let's go for it" because Epstein was "somebody we have to stop," and that "it was pretty clear to me that Mr. Krischer did not want to prosecute this case"; Krischer later told the Justice Department's [Office of Professional Responsibility](/organizations/office-of-professional-responsibility/) that "there were witness problems." Reiter gave his evidence to the FBI. Krischer also told the office that [Alan Dershowitz](/people/alan-dershowitz/), brought in by Epstein's local counsel, had threatened: "We're going to destroy your witnesses; don't go to court because we're going to destroy those girls." According to Krischer, Dershowitz so "tainted the waters" that Epstein also hired the local attorney [Jack Goldberger](/people/jack-goldberger/), with whom Krischer had "a working relationship"; the husband of Assistant State Attorney [Lanna Belohlavek](/people/lanna-belohlavek/) was Goldberger's law partner.[^29][^30][^31]

On September 21, 2007, three days before the federal agreement was signed, Krischer wrote to the federal line prosecutor: "Glad we could get this worked out for reasons I won't put in writing. After this is resolved I would love to buy you a cup at Starbucks and have a conversation." Emails among Krischer, Belohlavek and a federal prosecutor from September 19 to 25, 2007 coordinated a meeting schedule with Epstein's attorneys. In December 2010, two and a half years after the state plea, an Epstein correspondent wrote to him that "krischer spoke to the governor before he left for Korea," that Krischer had lunched with a New York criminal defense lawyer, and that "we may want to think about using him with the registration stuff unless we are too invested with Kirkland. probably help us with Krischer."[^22][^32]

### The 2007 Non-Prosecution Agreement

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida investigated Epstein in 2006 and 2007 and prepared a 53-page, 60-count draft federal indictment. Instead of prosecuting, the U.S. Attorney [Alexander Acosta](/people/alexander-acosta/) negotiated the [Epstein non-prosecution agreement](/events/epstein-non-prosecution-agreement/), signed September 24, 2007, under which Epstein pleaded guilty to two Florida state charges, soliciting prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution, was sentenced to 18 months, served about 13 in the Palm Beach County stockade with work-release privileges, and registered as a sex offender. The agreement also granted federal immunity to named co-conspirators and was concealed from the victims.[^17][^22][^33]

The agreement's co-conspirator clause provided that "the [United States](/places/united-states/) also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein, including but not limited to Sarah Kellen, Adriana Ross, Lesley Groff, or Nadia Marcinkova." On September 24, 2007 Epstein's lawyer [Jay Lefkowitz](/people/jay-lefkowitz/) asked the prosecutor to "do whatever you can to keep this from becoming public," and the office instructed the official briefing Chief Reiter not to tell him "about the money issue." Acosta met Lefkowitz for breakfast on October 12, 2007, after the signing, and Lefkowitz's follow-up letter thanked him for assuring that his office would not contact the identified victims.[^22][^34]

Lefkowitz and co-counsel [Kenneth Starr](/people/kenneth-starr/) were partners at [Kirkland & Ellis](/organizations/kirkland-ellis/), the firm where Acosta had practiced in Washington before joining the [George W. Bush](/people/george-w-bush/) Justice Department. From August 2005 to January 2009 Lefkowitz was also Bush's part-time Special Envoy for Human Rights in [North Korea](/places/north-korea/). On July 6, 2007, eleven weeks before the signing, Dershowitz and [Gerald Lefcourt](/people/gerald-lefcourt/) wrote to First Assistant [Jeffrey Sloman](/people/jeffrey-sloman/), Criminal Division chief [Matthew Menchel](/people/matthew-menchel/) and the line prosecutors citing the Harvard psychologist [Steven Pinker](/people/steven-pinker/)'s opinion that their narrow reading of 18 U.S.C. 2422(b) was "the sole rational reading." On his retirement from Kirkland in March 2026 Lefkowitz said that "knowing what we all know now, I would not have taken on the Epstein matter," and a firm spokesperson said: "To say the least, we deeply regret the firm's 2007 representation of Jeffrey Epstein."[^33][^35][^36][^37][^38]

The prosecution team kept working on the federal case after the signing. On February 14, 2008 Villafana wrote to the FBI case agents that she had not yet sent the indictment and "was just asking for input on who to include and who to exclude." On May 16, 2008 Sloman wrote to her, "We got approved," explaining: "Alex called to tell me. He said the ltr needs to be tweaked which we'll do on Monday. I wouldn't call the FBI yet." In March 2011, JPMorgan's investment bank general counsel reported to the bank's general counsel, [Stephen Cutler](/people/stephen-cutler/), a former Director of Enforcement at the SEC, that Lefkowitz, who "represented Epstein in state plea/fed NPA process," believed "any pre-plea conduct is subsumed within plea/NPA"; Cutler later testified that the bank "would have seen the non-pros agreement" sometime before 2011.[^39][^40][^41]

A 51-page "Epstein Investigation Timeline," marked privileged and as containing grand jury material and stamped Exhibit A-1, records the negotiation from the prosecutors' side. Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter had written to Krischer in May 2006 urging him to proceed on the probable cause affidavits or to recuse himself. In September 2007 Acosta, [Drew Oosterbaan](/people/drew-oosterbaan/), Sloman, Villafana and John McMillan met Starr, Lefkowitz and [Lilly Ann Sanchez](/people/lilly-ann-sanchez/); on September 20 an internal email reported that Lefkowitz wanted to remove the registration requirement, and on September 23 Acosta told Lefkowitz to deal directly with Lourie and Villafana. On November 29, 2007 a forwarded exchange between Sloman and [Andrew Lourie](/people/andrew-lourie/) recorded that the defense "originally agreed to plead to the state felony that they thought was unregisterable (but did not tell us knowing we thought it was), but then discovered they were wrong and tried to get out of it. They tried several times to knock down the jail time after agreeing to the time." According to the chronology, in a telephone call in early January 2008 Lefkowitz admitted to Acosta that he had never intended Epstein to plead guilty to an offense requiring sex offender registration. After the Criminal Division rejected Epstein's appeal in May 2008, Villafana asked to indict, and Sloman and Acosta advised that Epstein would be given the chance to perform. On June 9, 2009, with Epstein on work release, she sent a memorandum titled "Request to Provide Notification of Breach," an indictment package was signed again for presentation on June 16, and on June 12 she wrote to Jack Goldberger about a violation of the agreement. The chronology ends with the formal office-wide recusal of the [Southern District of Florida](/organizations/us-attorneys-office-for-the-southern-district-of-florida/) in July and August 2011.[^42]

Epstein served his sentence in the custody of the [Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office](/organizations/palm-beach-county-sheriffs-office/) under Sheriff [Ric Bradshaw](/people/ric-bradshaw/), who approved him for work release. From October 2008 he spent "12 hours a day purportedly working at the '[Florida Science Foundation](/organizations/florida-science-foundation/),' an entity Epstein had recently incorporated that was co-located at the West Palm Beach office of one of Epstein's attorneys." The foundation paid the sheriff's office 128,136 dollars during his incarceration, money reported to have paid off-duty deputies assigned to him while he was there; later reporting on sheriff's records described him leaving the jail up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week. In August 2019, after a letter from Bradshaw, Governor [Ron DeSantis](/people/ron-desantis/) ordered the [Florida Department of Law Enforcement](/organizations/florida-department-of-law-enforcement/) to investigate; its May 2021 reports found no evidence that Krischer or Belohlavek "committed any crimes, accepted any bribes or gifts, or did anything improper," and found that Epstein "received differential treatment" in sheriff's custody that was not criminal.[^33][^43][^44]

Federal prosecutors had researched the sheriff's work-release rules from November 2007, seven months before the plea, and in July 2008 Villafana corresponded with "Col. M. Gauger" of the sheriff's office "re Epstein work release." On November 20, 2008, after learning that Epstein was on work release, she asked to indict him, and her criminal chief replied that Sloman agreed with the approach and next steps. On December 3, 2008 she wrote to her supervisors that "Goldberger and Krisher [sic] . . . have been scheming to get Epstein out on work release" and that Epstein was paying off-duty deputies "between $3000 and $4100 per week" for "protection"; on December 11 she wrote to the sheriff's Corrections Division that his application gave, as the Florida Science Foundation's telephone number, the number of Goldberger's law firm, and "the Sheriff's Office neither acknowledged nor responded." The sheriff's Extra Duty Permits System carried the detail as Permit No. 7804, "FL Science Foundation - Plain Clothed Position," and deputies' July 2009 overtime reports describe the assignment as "Provide security for Jeffrey Epstein," with midday escorts from the office to 358 El Brillo Way and back.[^42][^45][^46]

The civil settlements that followed were written into the criminal agreement. Epstein's November 2009 settlement with Virginia Roberts, later Virginia Giuffre, suing as Jane Doe No. 102 before Judge Marra, paid her 500,000 dollars, released Epstein's agents and employees and "any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant," and recited that it "is pursuant to and is in fulfillment of Jeffrey Epstein's obligations to Virginia Roberts" under "the Non-Prosecution Agreement, its Addendum, and its Affirmation." Epstein agreed "to continue to abide by Judge Marra's July 31, 2009 No Contact Order."[^47]

### The Agreement in Court and in Review

The deal's leniency became the subject of the [Miami Herald](/organizations/miami-herald/) series "Perversion of Justice" by the reporter [Julie K. Brown](/people/julie-k-brown/) in 2018, which revived the case. In February 2019 Judge Marra ruled that prosecutors had violated the [Crime Victims' Rights Act](/concepts/crime-victims-rights-act/) by hiding the agreement from victims. The Justice Department then recused the Southern District of Florida from the litigation and assigned the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia to defend it. On April 15, 2021 the en banc United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied Courtney Wild's mandamus petition, holding that the Act gives victims no freestanding pre-charge remedy while declining to decide whether the rights attach before charges; the Supreme Court denied certiorari on February 22, 2022.[^22][^48][^49]

The Office of Professional Responsibility had declined in May 2011 to investigate a claim by Professor [Paul Cassell](/people/paul-cassell/) that "improper influences" produced the agreement, citing its policy of not investigating matters that "could have been addressed in the course of litigation, unless a court has made a specific finding of misconduct." It opened a review on February 6, 2019 after a December 3, 2018 letter from Senator [Ben Sasse](/people/ben-sasse/). Acosta, who had become U.S. Secretary of Labor under Donald Trump, resigned in July 2019. The office's November 2020 report found that Acosta had not committed professional misconduct and "did not find evidence that his decision was based on corruption or other impermissible considerations, such as Epstein's wealth, status, or associations," but concluded that resolving the case through the agreement "constitutes poor judgment," that "the NPA was a flawed mechanism," and that the government's conduct "gave victims and the public the misimpression that the government had colluded with Epstein's counsel to keep the NPA secret from the victims." It found that the supervisors other than Acosta had "left the USAO, were transitioning to other jobs, or were absent at critical junctures."[^33][^50]

Before the report was final, the Chief of the Public Corruption Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York reviewed the draft and on August 21, 2020 asked for two wording changes, which the Office of Professional Responsibility accepted: "at least one victim known to be a minor" became "at least one victim believed to be a minor," described as "more accurately reflect[ing] our position in the bail arguments regarding Epstein," and a statement that investigators "were aware" Epstein used hidden cameras in his New York residence to record his sexual encounters became that they "had learned" it.[^51]

Menchel had left the office in August 2007, weeks before the signing, for [Kobre & Kim](/organizations/kobre-kim/); according to reporting on the full report, he had offered the 2007 plea terms to an Epstein lawyer he had formerly dated. Epstein estate records released by the House Oversight Committee in October 2025 show appointments, calls, and dinners between Menchel and Epstein in 2011, 2013, and 2017. Menchel has said he had no business relationship with Epstein "at any point, not before, during or after my tenure," and has denied skiing with him.[^33][^52]

When Ghislaine Maxwell invoked the co-conspirator clause, the Second Circuit held in 2024 that under United States v. Annabi it bound only the Southern District of Florida, noting that the circuits "have been split on this issue for decades" and that the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division had told the Office of Professional Responsibility she "played no role" in the agreement; the Supreme Court denied certiorari on October 6, 2025. None of the four named women has been charged by any district. Among the files released in 2026 is a May 6, 2020 email in which a [Southern District of New York](/organizations/us-attorneys-office-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york/) prosecutor listed the office's internal memoranda, including a co-conspirator memo delivered in the week after Epstein's death, an 86-page "co-conspirator update memo" and a 13-page "corporate prosecution memo" described as "never discussed." Groff's lawyer said she was never told she was considered a co-conspirator.[^13][^34][^53][^54]

### The Science Network and the Eugenics Ambition

From the late 1990s Epstein financed and embedded himself in elite science through the literary agent John Brockman and his [Edge Foundation](/organizations/edge-foundation/), whose annual "billionaires' dinner" Epstein attended and helped underwrite, and through targeted university gifts. He gave [Harvard University](/organizations/harvard-university/) 9,179,000 dollars between 1998 and 2007, of which 8,443,000 dollars came in 22 gifts before his 2006 arrest and 736,000 dollars came between the arrest and the 2008 conviction. The largest, 6.5 million dollars in 2003, established the [Program for Evolutionary Dynamics](/organizations/program-for-evolutionary-dynamics/) under Martin Nowak, who gave Epstein an office and, according to Harvard's May 2020 internal review, key-card access and more than 40 visits after his 2008 conviction. The program's own original web text stated that it "was established in 2003 by Harvard University President [Lawrence H. Summers](/people/larry-summers/) following an imaginative proposal by Jeffrey Epstein and [Benedict Gross](/people/benedict-gross/)." Contemporary press reports described the gift as part of a 30 million dollar pledge; Harvard's review "found no Harvard record of such a pledge," and Epstein's own foundation website continued in 2020 to claim a 35 million dollar gift. Epstein had been admitted in September 2005 as a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Psychology on the recommendation of its chair, Stephen Kosslyn, who had received 200,000 dollars from Epstein between 1998 and 2002 and did not disclose it.[^55][^56]

Epstein cultivated scientists including Marvin Minsky of the [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/organizations/massachusetts-institute-of-technology/), the geneticist George Church, the physicist [Lawrence Krauss](/people/lawrence-krauss/), and the cognitive scientist Steven Pinker. He funded Minsky's April 2002 St. Thomas Common Sense Symposium and a December 2011 conference, and in March 2006, four months before his indictment, the "Confronting Gravity" conference in St. Thomas organized by Krauss, with about twenty physicists including Stephen Hawking and three Nobel laureates, and a barbecue on Little St. James.[^18][^57][^58]

After President [Drew Faust](/people/drew-faust/) barred further Epstein gifts no later than November 2008, donors Epstein introduced gave Harvard 9.5 million dollars between 2010 and 2015: 7.5 million dollars for Nowak's program (500,000 dollars from the Falconwood Foundation in 2010, and 7 million dollars from Leon Black, [Debra Black](/people/debra-black/) and the [Black Family Foundation](/organizations/black-family-foundation/) in 2011, 2014 and 2015) and 2 million dollars from Black for Church. Epstein's accountant arranged gift letters permitting Nowak to spend the Black money on rent, and Harvard development staff thanked Epstein in December 2014 "for trying to expedite this gift." Epstein had been a trustee of the Black Family Foundation from 1997 until, according to Black's representative, July 2007; Black's representative told Harvard that "none of the funds were provided by Mr. Epstein." On October 16, 2015, an itinerary sent to Epstein for a Cambridge visit listed a 2 p.m. meeting at Nowak's institute with the Harvard mathematician Shing-Tung Yau; on October 20, 2015, the physicist Andrew Strominger wrote to Epstein that a Black Hole Center with [Avi Loeb](/people/avi-loeb/) "needs a 50 million endowment," and on February 17, 2016, Yau asked Epstein's assistant whether Epstein's friends would fund a black hole center, which "will take twenty million dollars."[^59] Black also gave 2 million dollars to Krauss's Origins Project at Arizona State University in 2014 and 2015, where one accounting entry listed Epstein's employer as "Leon D. Black, [Enhanced Education](/organizations/jeffrey-epstein-vi-foundation/)," and, by the account of internal [MIT Media Lab](/organizations/mit-media-lab/) emails, 5.5 million dollars to the Media Lab in 2014 at Epstein's direction.[^55][^60][^61][^62]

Epstein's interest in genetics and population converged with a stated ambition to spread his own DNA. The 2019 New York Times report documented that he told scientists of plans to impregnate women at Zorro Ranch to seed the human race with his genome, and that he was drawn to [transhumanism](/concepts/transhumanism/) and [eugenics](/concepts/eugenics/). In 2010, after his conviction, Epstein gave 20,000 dollars to the [World Transhumanist Association](/organizations/world-transhumanist-association/) (Humanity+), and in 2009 his C.O.U.Q. Foundation gave 50,000 dollars to the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, now the [Machine Intelligence Research Institute](/organizations/machine-intelligence-research-institute/). In 2014 he and Church formed an investment company, Georgarage, incorporated in Delaware by Darren Indyke, after Church sent Epstein a ten-stage, 10 million dollar investment plan that included "Supercentenarianstudy.com," reversing aging and "cold-resistant elephants." Epstein discussed Georgarage stakes in the xenotransplant company eGenesis, the gene-editing company Androcyte (where, its founder said, Epstein proposed becoming board chairman), and a California sequencing firm; no investment was completed. Androcyte's assets passed in 2017 to BetterHumans, which describes itself as "the world's first specifically-transhumanist bio-medical research organization." In 2013 Epstein's cells were sampled into Church's Personal Genome Project and cell lines were created, over staff objections to an attempt to expedite his sample. After his 2019 arrest, Church apologized for continued contact.[^18][^60][^63][^64]

Epstein's publicists worked to attach his name to the institutions he funded. In mid-2013 his publicist asked Nowak's program for links because "a link on Harvard's network would be very helpful," and in 2014 obtained a "Friends" page on the program's website on which Epstein was the only entry, because "it would be very helpful in terms of Google results if his name were attached to a Harvard.edu url." In a 2012 email a person whose name is redacted in the Justice Department release told Epstein that press releases about Nowak's work had been placed with major outlets, with more planned on Church and others, in an effort to push "the bad stuff" off the first page of search results; Epstein replied that "ther[e] should be an article a day or every two days." In 2015 an Epstein foundation letter falsely told the [John Templeton Foundation](/organizations/john-templeton-foundation/) that Enhanced Education had funded Nowak's program since 2003, securing matching conditions for a 1.5 million dollar grant; Harvard's review found that Nowak and his administrator "provided false information."[^55][^63]

The MIT Media Lab director [Joi Ito](/people/joi-ito/) resigned on September 7, 2019 over revelations, reported by Ronan Farrow, that the lab had concealed Epstein's donations. Farrow reported, citing internal documents and the former development associate Signe Swenson, that Epstein was listed as "disqualified" in MIT's donor database and that the Media Lab recorded his gifts as anonymous. MIT's investigators at [Goodwin Procter](/organizations/goodwin-procter/) wrote that "neither Epstein nor his foundations was ever coded as 'disqualified,'" a code it said denotes dormant donors, while confirming that MIT's senior team (General Counsel R. Gregory Morgan, Vice President Jeffrey Newton and Treasurer Israel Ruiz) approved the anonymous-gift framework in June 2013: "We do not want his name appearing on any list of supporters or donors in any form."[^61][^65]

### The Post-Conviction Network

After the 2008 plea Epstein rebuilt his social and business standing and continued to broker access among the wealthy and powerful. On December 2, 2010, seventeen months after his release, he hosted a small dinner for Prince Andrew, who was staying at the Manhattan house; the publicist Peggy Siegal organized it and listed the guests as Andrew, [Woody Allen](/people/woody-allen/) and Soon-Yi Previn, Katie Couric and George Stephanopoulos, describing the house as "one [of] the largest single dwellings in New York."[^66]

The Wall Street Journal reporting on his recovered calendars documented post-conviction meetings with [Noam Chomsky](/people/noam-chomsky/), [Kathryn Ruemmler](/people/kathryn-ruemmler/), Tom Pritzker and William Burns. Burns met Epstein three times in 2014 while serving as Deputy Secretary of State; the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) spokeswoman Tammy Kupperman Thorp said in 2023 that Burns remembered "meeting Epstein once briefly in New York." Ruemmler, the Barack Obama administration's White House Counsel from 2011 to 2014, had more than three dozen appointments with Epstein between 2014 and 2019; Epstein's staff asked him twice whether young women should be kept out of the townhouse while she was there. On January 8, 2015 she wrote to Epstein: "John Brennan gave me the CIA Agency Medal (the CIA's highest award) this morning. How cool is that?" Ruemmler told the Journal: "I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein." Chomsky had 270,000 dollars moved through Epstein's office.[^67][^68][^69]

Epstein's charity [Gratitude America](/organizations/gratitude-america/), whose operating account was at [Deutsche Bank](/organizations/deutsche-bank/) Trust Company Americas, paid the president of [Bard College](/organizations/bard-college/), [Leon Botstein](/people/leon-botstein/), in quarterly checks; one dated August 1, 2016, for 37,500 dollars payable to "Leon Botstein," bears the memo "3rd Quarterly Payment of 4." Deutsche Bank later produced the check images to federal prosecutors in New York. Bard said the 150,000 dollars was compensation for a year on the foundation's board as a music expert, and Botstein said he gave it to the college as part of a one million dollar gift that year: "I didn't benefit personally at all."[^70]

In an iMessage exchange of August 23, 2018 exported from a device whose owner's name is redacted, the contact saved as "Steve Bannon" wrote, "Do u have access that's not the front door," adding that "they have 24/7 surveillance on u," and, asked who was watching, "Don't know but real folks costing lot of coin." The account holder proposed meeting at "301 East 66," adding "I don't like he regency as it is totally wired" and "There is also a rear entrance on 67"; that evening he wrote, "Your girlfriend Ruemmler is coming over," proposed "a private screening of dharma for the power players. . . . Non of my fingerprints," referring to Errol Morris's documentary on Bannon, and later wrote: "your girlfriend is outraged. . I suggested to her he pardon everyone, say this is not good for the country , and then fake the heart attack." [Steve Bannon](/people/steve-bannon/) confirmed to the New York Times in 2021 that he had recorded more than 15 hours of interviews with Epstein for a documentary that was never released.[^71]

On August 8, 2016, in reply to Epstein's question "who attends," Pritzker sent him the membership of the Aspen Strategy Group: "Nye, Scowcroft and Nick Burns run it (Scowcroft being replaced by Condi). Members include Patraeus, Albright, Slaughter, Donalon (Obama [NSA](/organizations/nsa/)), Hadley (Bush NSA), Sullivan (NSA Hillary), Bill Burns (State #2), Kurt Campbell, Hoss Carwright (#2 Jt Chiefs), Harman, Ignatius, Sanger, Nunn, Reed, Sawers (MI6), Sherman (iran deal), Work (current #2 DoD). It seems to now be taking on an aura." John Sawers had been chief of MI6.[^72]

Justice Department releases record a dinner on August 2, 2015 at the Baume restaurant in Palo Alto, which the organizers bought out, whose confirmed attendees were Ed Boyden, Reid Hoffman, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Peter Thiel, Epstein, Elon Musk and Joi Ito. On August 12, 2010 a correspondent whose name is redacted asked Epstein for "suggestions for an old guy. super smart / well connected that wants to continue legacy of 'old school' secret society?"; on February 6, 2016 Epstein wrote to another redacted correspondent that "peter thiel LOVED the secret socieity idea. . he has done alot of work on the concept. all failed so far," and received the reply ":-) let's do it."[^73][^74]

JPMorgan records produced in the Virgin Islands case show Epstein arranging introductions for [Jes Staley](/people/jes-staley/) to Ehud Barak, [Peter Mandelson](/people/peter-mandelson/) and Bill Gates, and referring Pritzker to the bank; in January 2008, months before Epstein's plea, Staley had his assistant arrange a meeting between Barak and JPMorgan executives through [Jamie Dimon](/people/jamie-dimon/)'s office. Epstein arranged two consulting arrangements for Larry Summers from 2013, a paid advisory seat with the Mongolian president's office worth up to 100,000 dollars a year and a Kazakhstan economic-policy engagement for which Epstein proposed "3-5 million per year"; Summers formed LHSummers Economic Consulting LLC two months after Epstein raised the idea, and an Epstein foundation paid 14,000 dollars for his 2014 first-class airfare to Kazakhstan.[^12][^39][^75]

Howard Lutnick, who in 1998 bought 11 East 71st Street from an entity that had bought it from Epstein in 1996, signed an investment contract in the advertising company Adfin four days after a December 24, 2012 lunch on Little St. James, with Epstein signing for [Southern Trust Company](/organizations/southern-trust-company/). A calendar alert of December 20, 2012 asked: "can Howard Lutnick do lunch Sat or Sun on JE's island?" In October 2025 Lutnick said he had cut ties with Epstein in 2005. An FBI Guardian complaint form dated April 23, 2021 and filed under the Epstein child-sex-trafficking case number records an October 2020 call from a caller describing himself as a former Cantor Fitzgerald compliance employee, who alleged money laundering by Lutnick through BGC Financial and [Cantor Fitzgerald](/organizations/cantor-fitzgerald/), claimed to hold documents linking Lutnick to Epstein and Maxwell, and alleged that "Epstein also sold Lutnick a house for $10 dollars through a trust fund." The FBI's own database query for Lutnick returned 26 results in New York case files, including a closed money-laundering case and a RICO real-estate control file, and three suspicious activity reports; the form notes that "queries were not conducted on Epstein and Maxwell due to the sensitive nature of the case." The caller's allegations are recorded in the form as his statements, without findings.[^76][^77]

The political relationships were older and equally documented. Bill Clinton flew on the 727 more than two dozen times in the early 2000s, including a 2002 trip to Africa connected to the Clinton Foundation, while denying any knowledge of Epstein's crimes or any visit to Little St. James. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, was photographed with Virginia Giuffre in 2001, settled her 2021 civil suit for a reported sum in 2022 without admitting liability, and was stripped of his royal and military titles between 2022 and 2025; an FBI New York email of June 8, 2020 asked about the status of the "MLAT request for Prince Andrew." Donald Trump socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s before a falling out, a relationship documented in flight logs, contemporaneous quotes, and a disputed 2003 birthday letter.[^67][^78][^79]

### Carbyne and Ehud Barak

Epstein invested in the Israeli emergency-response company Reporty Homeland Security, renamed Carbyne in 2018 and chaired by Ehud Barak, through SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership, whose general partner was Ergo (E.B. 2014) Ltd. In February 2019 SUM held warrants to buy 61,251 more preferred shares for 3.5 million dollars, raising its stake "from about 13% to about 26.33%, on a fully diluted basis"; the exercise was funded by Southern Trust (2.4 million dollars) and NJF Capital, formerly Montilla International Corporation (1.2 million dollars), and wired through [Bank Leumi](/organizations/bank-leumi/). When the bank's anti-money-laundering review asked for the "controlling person" of the limited partners, Indyke asked Epstein on March 14, 2019 whether he could confirm that Epstein was the controlling person of Southern Trust, and Epstein replied "Yes." Barak wrote to Epstein on March 11 that the disclosure demands reflected "the Israeli banks paranoia after they paid the penalties they've paid to the US authorities for past mistakes," adding: "According to our experience it was never leaked out of the banks. Just kept with them as an insurance policy."[^80]

On January 1, 2019, with Epstein copied, Barak sent Jabor Al Thani a presentation of Carbyne, "public safety company of which I'm the chairman and leading investor," for the security of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: "We can work through a European company of your choice and minimize Israeli profile." Jabor Al Thani asked for help with "any anti-drone services or technologies" and named the country manager of a Qatari security services company as his contact; Barak made Carbyne's chief executive, [Amir Elichai](/people/amir-elichai/), the point of contact. On May 21, 2018 Epstein had written to Peter Thiel: "FYI trae is meeting carbyne Ehud Barak co." In February 2019 [Nicole Junkermann](/people/nicole-junkermann/), a co-investor, wrote to Epstein that "Carbyne invested 1.5 m (1m you and 0.5m me) net of fees is 3.9m your share, Ehud carry 1.5 m and my share 2m," in a message that also concerned a separate "China" matter which she asked whether Barak could help with.[^81][^82][^83]

On November 8, 2017, as reporting broke on the lawyer [David Boies](/people/david-boies/)'s use of former Israeli intelligence operatives, Epstein wrote to Barak: "boies said he got to the mossad guys through you? true?" and then, "Did Boies ask you to help Obtain former mossad agents to do dirty investigations. ? this is getting a lot of press." Barak replied the next morning: "Call me.. [redacted] in Paris." Barak said in February 2026: "I regret meeting him."[^14][^16]

### Vitaly Churkin

Epstein's iMessage exchanges with Vitaly Churkin, Russia's Permanent Representative to the [United Nations](/organizations/united-nations/), run from November 2015 to January 10, 2017. Epstein wrote in December 2015 "Oil now at the 36 $ level I suggested," and in February 2016 "Good work on Syria , markets will continue bad." He offered Churkin meals with Barak and Summers, introduced "my very close friend Tom Pritzker," and mentioned that "thorbjorn jagland will be staying with me," a reference to [Thorbjørn Jagland](/people/thorbjørn-jagland/), then Secretary General of the Council of Europe. He arranged work for Churkin's son: "Any maxim help is confidential," then "First job confirmed to start day after Labor Day," and later "Maxim is scoring good grades . Thought u should know." On August 29, 2016 Epstein hosted a lunch for Barak, [Tom Barrack](/people/tom-barrack/) and Churkin. Their last exchange arranged a lunch on January 10, 2017. Churkin died in New York on February 20, 2017; Epstein's office scheduled calls and a meeting with his son through August 2017.[^84]

### The Intelligence and Blackmail Question

The recurring claim that Epstein's operation served an intelligence or blackmail function rests on several documented strands and one contested central assertion. The documented strands include Ghislaine Maxwell's intelligence-linked paternity; Epstein's investment with Barak in Carbyne and his attempts to connect Barak with Peter Thiel over [Palantir](/organizations/palantir-technologies/); the instrumentation of his properties with cameras; and the 2019 search of the townhouse, which recovered a safe containing compact discs, cash, diamonds, and an expired foreign passport with Epstein's photograph under another name. The contested central assertion is the claim, attributed by Vicky Ward to a former senior [White House](/places/white-house/) official, that Acosta had told Trump transition vetters he was given to understand Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and to leave the case alone.[^50][^67]

Acosta denied the account in a voluntary transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee on September 19, 2025, saying he had no knowledge of whether Epstein was connected to any intelligence service. The "belonged to intelligence" quote traces to a single anonymous source. William Barr, Attorney General at the time of Epstein's 2019 arrest and death, was asked about the account in an August 18, 2025 deposition before the committee and answered that he knew of it only from "what's ever been reported in articles over the years." He said he had "no reason to believe he was working for the CIA or any intelligence agency, and I'm dubious about claims like that," answered "No" when asked whether Epstein had been an employee, asset, or informant of any foreign service, and said that "if he was an American asset, as opposed to some businessman who shares stuff with the government, I would've heard about it from the intelligence agency." No declassified document confirms that Epstein worked for any agency of any country.[^50][^85]

In July 2011 Epstein, through his lawyer [Martin Weinberg](/people/martin-weinberg/), had Privacy Act requests pending with both the FBI and the CIA for whatever records the agencies held on him. Weinberg wrote to him on July 18, 2011: "we filled out fbi privacy waiver with VI address last year, we filed CIA [FOIA](/events/freedom-of-information-act/) - they have it - we need a separate privacy waiver signed in 2011 for them to fully process."[^86]

The earliest known report to law enforcement came on August 29, 1996, when Maria Farmer reported to the NYPD's Sixth Precinct (complaint No. 1996-0067241, recording that Epstein "did call her and stated he was going to burn victim's painting" and "has keys to victim's apartment") and then by telephone to the FBI. She alleges that she told the Bureau of the recording devices and monitoring equipment Epstein had shown her at the New York house and of a "modeling book" of apparently underage girls kept in his safe, which Maxwell said was used in connection with Victoria's Secret; that she had been assaulted at Epstein's house in New Albany, Ohio, "part of or adjacent to Les Wexner's estate," and held there by "a local Sheriff and other persons connected with Wexner"; and that the FBI hung up on her mid-sentence. FBI agents interviewed her in 2006 during the Florida investigation. The Bureau's record of the 1996 report was released on December 23, 2025. In July 2023 she and Sarah Ransome filed a 600 million dollar Federal Tort Claims Act claim against the FBI, and in May 2025 she sued the United States (No. 1:25-cv-01709-RBW (D.D.C.)). Her complaint also records that in 1992 the [State Department](/organizations/state-department/) leased Epstein a New York townhouse and sued him in 1996 after he sublet it at a profit, and that he relied in his defense on communications with an official of the Office of Foreign Missions; certain documents in that case were sealed.[^87][^88][^89]

Accounts from victims and household staff describing cameras in the properties, combined with the 2019 recovery of compact discs and the foreign passport from the townhouse safe, are the documented basis for the inference that the operation was instrumented to generate leverage. In December 2009, five months after his release, a correspondent signing "Gmax" wrote to Epstein: "If you call I'd start by saying what ever you saw was fake and part of a blackmail scheme." No recordings of guests have been produced publicly, and no service of any country has acknowledged a relationship with Epstein. What the cameras recorded, and where any recordings went, is not established in the public record.[^17][^50][^90][^91]

### The Financial Structures and the Bank Settlements

Epstein's finances ran through entities chartered in the U.S. Virgin Islands, including Financial Trust Company, incorporated in St. Thomas on November 6, 1998, and Southern Trust Company, incorporated on November 18, 2011 as Financial Informatics, Inc. and renamed in September 2012, with assets of about 391 million dollars in 2015. Both obtained territorial tax benefits under the [Economic Development Commission](/organizations/economic-development-commission/) program: Financial Trust from 1999 under a certificate signed by Industrial Development Commission director Frandelle Gerard, amended in 2012 over the signature of EDC chairman [Albert Bryan](/people/albert-bryan/), who also signed Southern Trust's January 24, 2014 certificate. At the November 15, 2012 EDC hearing the company described its business under oath as "cutting edge consulting services" in "biomedical and financial informatics"; the Virgin Islands later alleged that Southern Trust obtained the benefits for a business it never conducted and existed to fund Epstein's criminal activity and properties. His banking ran through JPMorgan Chase, which kept him as a client until 2013, then Deutsche Bank, and also through BNY Mellon; the June 15, 2007 7.4 million dollar wire to Maxwell for her Sikorsky helicopter came from his Mellon Bank account.[^11][^12][^20][^92][^93]

Southern Trust reported about 184 million dollars in revenue from 2013 to 2017 with no visible clients and one information-technology employee. The territory's 2022 complaint stated that "virtually all" of its income came "from a single source," which paid it 158 million dollars from 2013 to 2017, 85 percent of its revenue. The [Dechert](/organizations/dechert/) review commissioned by [Apollo Global Management](/organizations/apollo-global-management/) found that Leon Black signed a service agreement with Southern Trust Company, Inc. on February 13, 2013 and paid Epstein 50 million dollars in 2013, 70 million in 2014, 30 million in 2015, nothing in 2016 and 8 million in 2017, a total of 158 million dollars, plus 30.5 million dollars in 2017 loans from BV70 LLC to Plan D LLC; Dechert found no evidence Black paid for anything but "legitimate advice." Senator [Ron Wyden](/people/ron-wyden/)'s staff put Black's share at 166 million dollars, or 90 percent. Black's wires came from [Bank of America](/organizations/bank-of-america/) accounts; the bank filed its first suspicious activity report on them on February 7, 2020, flagging 156 million dollars as having "no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose." Black's January 20, 2023 settlement with the territory recites that "Jeffrey Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands," while disclaiming any admission of liability. Financial Trust also bought 263,257 Apollo shares in the March 2011 initial public offering through a directed-share program; the shares passed to [Southern Financial LLC](/organizations/southern-financial-llc/) in 2013.[^11][^12][^94][^95][^96]

Epstein received the working papers of Black's estate planning during the years of the Southern Trust payments. A "Checklist for Leon Black Estate Planning and Restructuring" dated October 2, 2013 covered the substitution of trust assets for a promissory note, financing against Black's art collection with "Preliminary meetings with Deutsche Bank taken," the decanting of family trusts, the restructuring of Black Family Partners and other family entities, and the creation of foundations for each of Black's children. On January 21, 2014 Ada Clapp of Black Family Partners, 445 Park Avenue, sent Epstein the updated version: "Attached is what I believe you are referring to by the 9 page list. I updated to show progress." On July 24, 2017 Barry J. Cohen forwarded to Epstein a privileged [Sullivan & Cromwell](/organizations/sullivan-cromwell/) memorandum on "Leon Black Estate Planning," addressed by the firm to Clapp, Cohen and Brad Wechsler, with the note: "Let us know what issues you have."[^97]

A forensic accountant retained by the Virgin Islands identified 134 JPMorgan accounts owned by Epstein or related people and entities, including accounts for Maxwell, [Richard Kahn](/people/richard-kahn/), Darren Indyke, [Harry Beller](/people/harry-beller/) and Nadia Marcinkova. In September 2009 his balances were 142,867,562 dollars on the bank's internal "Wall of Cash" list. He withdrew more than 7 million dollars in cash from JPMorgan accounts from 2002 to 2013. A March 18, 2004 JPMorgan memorandum to Dimon and others described Epstein as "a founding investor in Highbridge," the hedge fund [Highbridge Capital Management](/organizations/highbridge-capital-management/) that JPMorgan bought into that year. On July 20, 2011 Cutler wrote to Staley and [Mary Erdoes](/people/mary-erdoes/) that Epstein "should not be a client." After Epstein left the bank in 2013, Erdoes approved continued dealings with him on Black's business "as long as it was through the client accounts." JPMorgan filed seven suspicious activity reports on him totaling about 4.3 million dollars between 2002 and 2016, none covering May 2003 to September 2008; after his July 2019 arrest it filed reports on August 13, 2019 (469 wires, about 201 million dollars, including payments to women in Russia, Belarus and Turkmenistan through correspondent accounts at Russian banks including Sberbank and Alfa-Bank) and September 26, 2019 (4,725 wires, 1,081,819,653 dollars). Deutsche Bank retroactively reported more than 250 million dollars in Epstein wires after his arrest.[^12][^21][^39][^93][^98]

After a July 22, 2019 New York Times article on Epstein's ties to Wall Street figures, JPMorgan's global head of financial crimes compliance wrote to two chief compliance officers: "Top of house requested that we expand our analysis to related parties and put together slides.... There is a highbridge angle and one dating back to Bear." The work became an internal review called "Project Jeep," whose 22-page summary of Epstein, Staley and Erdoes emails, circulated internally in October 2019, stated that "Jes Staley appears to have a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, regularly communicating with him and seeking advice from him including while Epstein is incarcerated," and that Epstein "appears to maintain a particularly close relationship with Prince Andrew" and "Lord Peter Mandelson, a senior member of the British Government," and "a close relationship with [Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem](/people/sultan-ahmed-bin-sulayem/)," the chairman of [DP World](/organizations/dp-world/). The Virgin Islands argued in June 2023 that it would have asked Dimon whether the "top of house" order came from him, citing another bank email in which "top of the house ok for clients who are convicted felons" ran "to Cutler to Jaime Daimnon [sic]"; JPMorgan answered that the phrase referred to Cutler. Late-produced emails showed that the former Bear Stearns chairman Alan Greenberg had gone to Cutler "for an exception to the felony policy" for Epstein, and JPMorgan acknowledged that legacy Bear Stearns staff including Greenberg "may have attempted to speak with" Cutler about the policy, a decision "made by Mr. Cutler." At a January 7, 2011 meeting the head of the U.S. Private Bank, Catherine Keating, said that "no one on today's call was in favor of having retained him as a client. Seems it was all due to Jes's personal relationship"; twelve days later a JPMorgan Securities employee wrote to Epstein that "Ace would love to speak to Jeffrey." Dimon testified that the bank "did not need introductions to anybody." In August 2023 Judge Jed S. Rakoff denied the territory's request to compel production of all documents concerning "Project Jeep" or other investigations after Epstein's 2019 arrest.[^99]

Deutsche Bank informally designated Epstein an "Honorary PEP," or politically exposed person, "because of his connections to prominent political figures," and a January 2015 compliance escalation cited his relationships with "a prominent former U.S. politician and a member of a European royal family," whom the New York regulator did not name. In October 2008, while Epstein was serving his Florida sentence, Staley sent him the term sheet for "Micawber," a proposed JPMorgan and FDIC vehicle to borrow from the [Federal Reserve](/organizations/federal-reserve-board/) during the financial crisis; the UK Upper Tribunal found Epstein was the only recipient not involved in the proposal. In a June 4, 2026 letter Wyden wrote that unsealed Justice Department files indicated Epstein "reached out to Russian government officials" to help Black with women with whom Black had settlements or nondisclosure agreements, and acted "as a middleman for Black to pay women"; Black's counsel called the inquiry an attempt to "unfairly harass" a private citizen.[^100][^101]

The post-death litigation produced large settlements. In 2022 Epstein's estate agreed to pay the U.S. Virgin Islands more than 105 million dollars, plus the repayment of 80,576,236 dollars in tax benefits and half the proceeds of Little St. James. In 2023 JPMorgan paid 290 million dollars to victims and 75 million dollars to the Virgin Islands, and Deutsche Bank paid 75 million dollars to victims. Staley, who managed the Epstein banking relationship at JPMorgan before becoming chief executive of Barclays, was banned from senior UK financial roles and fined by the Financial Conduct Authority in a decision dated May 30, 2023 and published that October, which the Upper Tribunal upheld in June 2025 while reducing the penalty to 1,107,306.92 pounds; the ban took effect with the Authority's Final Notice of July 23, 2025. The [Epstein Victims' Compensation Program](/organizations/epstein-victims-compensation-program/)'s administrator, Jordana Feldman, announced in 2021 nearly 125 million dollars in payments to 150 eligible claimants; the co-executors' lawyers later put it at 121 million dollars to 136 claimants, and the estate separately settled with 58 women for about 48 million dollars.[^11][^20][^100][^102][^103][^104]

### The Virgin Islands Government

According to JPMorgan's 2023 filings in the territory's suit against the bank, Epstein's local affairs were managed by [Cecile de Jongh](/people/cecile-de-jongh/), the office manager of Southern Trust and the wife of Governor [John de Jongh](/people/john-de-jongh/) (in office 2007 to 2015), who helped Epstein shape legislation affecting sex-offender monitoring and the Economic Development Commission benefits while Epstein-linked entities paid family expenses. On the day the commission's certificate for Southern Trust was dated, January 24, 2014, Cecile de Jongh asked Epstein to match 15,000 dollars for her husband's final State of the Territory reception and asked Richard Kahn to make out a check to the "Governor's Special Events Fund." The commission's general counsel from 2007 to 2014 was [Stacey Plaskett](/people/stacey-plaskett/), later the territory's delegate to Congress, who acknowledged receiving about 30,000 dollars in campaign contributions from Epstein and his employees. Epstein's office also handled requests from the Mapp-Potter inaugural committee (10,000 dollars from Southern Trust, December 2014), a Mapp super PAC (75,000 dollars, September 2016), and the Bryan/Roach inaugural committee (25,000 dollars requested, December 2018; payment not shown).[^11][^105][^106]

The territory's later Attorney General, [Denise George](/people/denise-george/), filed the 2020 suit against the estate and a 2022 suit against JPMorgan, and was removed by Governor Albert Bryan days after the bank suit was filed. According to FBI notes of an October 2, 2023 interview released in January 2026, George said Bryan asked her in 2019 to grant Epstein a waiver of the 21-day travel-notice rule, told her after Epstein's death "He's dead go for it," later pressed her to settle with the estate for 80 million dollars with the attorney [Henry Smock](/people/henry-smock/) as mediator, and said the estate "just wanted to clear people." Smock had assisted Epstein in the 1998 purchase of Little St. James and was counsel to the [Economic Development Authority](/organizations/virgin-islands-economic-development-authority/) board; he later represented Bryan in a sealed 2023 divorce. Bryan's chief legal counsel, [David Bornn](/people/david-bornn/), a former employee of Epstein's attorney [Erika Kellerhals](/people/erika-kellerhals/), called George to relay Kellerhals's question about what she was investigating. Bryan has said Epstein received no special privilege from his administration. The territory recovered about 180 million dollars after legal fees and, as of January 2026, had not filed the accounting of the money that a 2024 law requires.[^20][^107][^108]

### The 2019 Federal Charges

In the spring of 2019, months before the arrest, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York obtained the confidential discovery from Giuffre v. Maxwell by serving a grand jury subpoena on Giuffre's law firm, [Boies Schiller Flexner](/organizations/boies-schiller-flexner/), under an April 9, 2019 order. On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested at Teterboro Airport in [New Jersey](/places/new-jersey/) as he returned from Paris, charged by the office under [Geoffrey Berman](/people/geoffrey-berman/) with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy. The case was assigned to the Public Corruption Unit, which typically handles cases involving public officials; Berman declined to explain the assignment. The prosecutors were Alex Rossmiller, Alison Moe, and [Maurene Comey](/people/maurene-comey/).[^1][^109][^110]

The safe in the townhouse held more than 70,000 dollars in cash, 48 loose diamonds, and an expired foreign passport with a photograph that "appears to depict the defendant, but lists a different name," issued within three years of an expired U.S. passport in Epstein's own name. The word "Austrian" entered the docket through the defense's July 16, 2019 letter, which said the passport "expired 32 years ago." The government replied that the passport "contains numerous ingress and egress stamps, including stamps that reflect use of the passport to enter France, Spain, the [United Kingdom](/places/united-kingdom/), and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s." Marc Fernich, Martin Weinberg, and Reid Weingarten answered that "Epstein was given the passport at issue by a friend," that "some Jewish-Americans were informally advised at the time to carry identification bearing a non-Jewish name when traveling internationally in case of hijacking," and that the stamps "predating his receipt of the document, do not reflect Mr. Epstein's entries or exits." Press reports described the passport as listing a residence in Saudi Arabia. The dispute was not resolved before Epstein's death.[^111][^112][^113]

The government's July 16, 2019 detention supplement disclosed that on or about November 30, 2018, two days after the Miami Herald began its series, Epstein wired 100,000 dollars from a trust account he controlled to an individual named as a potential co-conspirator in the 2007 agreement and featured in the series, and that on or about December 3, 2018 he wired 250,000 dollars from the same account to a second potential co-conspirator protected by the agreement, an employee identified in the indictment as having scheduled victims' encounters with him. Both names were redacted with the court's consent. On July 18, 2019 Judge [Richard M. Berman](/people/richard-m-berman/), no relation to the U.S. Attorney, ordered him held without bail. On July 31, 2019 a Southern District prosecutor forwarded a New York magazine article on Epstein's finances to colleagues, asking: "Is our Office looking at Epstein for fraud-related offenses?"[^90][^112][^114]

### The Detention at the Metropolitan Correctional Center

At the [Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York](/places/metropolitan-correctional-center-new-york/), Epstein's cellmate was [Nicholas Tartaglione](/people/nicholas-tartaglione/), a former police officer held on capital murder charges; a later internal review stated that administrators housed them together because both had high-profile cases and Tartaglione, "a certified death penalty eligible inmate," was "less likely to assault or otherwise try to harm Mr. Epstein." At about 1:27 a.m. on July 23, 2019 officers found Epstein with "a piece of handmade orange cloth around his neck." When he became responsive he told a responding officer that he thought his cellmate "tried to kill him," that the cellmate had tried "to extort money from him," and that "this has been going on for a week," and that he had told only his lawyer. The psychologist who interviewed him that day recorded that he had not told her this. On July 31 he told the Special Investigative Services lieutenant that "he has never had any issues with Tartaglione," that he was "not threatened" by him and that he "feels safe"; Tartaglione told the same investigator that Epstein had once said "fourteen (14) is legal in most states and I don't understand what's the problem here." The investigation found "insufficient evidence" of an assault, an August 2 threat assessment was "inconclusive" as to whether Epstein harmed himself, fought his cellmate, or was assaulted, and the self-mutilation incident report was later expunged.[^115][^116]

On July 30 a psychologist ordered that Epstein always have a cellmate. His next cellmate, according to the internal review, was an inmate held in protective housing who "was confirmed as proffering with the U.S. Attorney's Office." On August 8 Epstein signed a new will in a meeting with his lawyers, unknown to jail officials. On August 9 about 2,000 pages of the Giuffre v. Maxwell record were unsealed, including his 2016 deposition invoking the Fifth Amendment. That day his cellmate was transferred out and not replaced, and a unit manager let him place an unrecorded call on the legal line, supposedly to his mother, who had died in 2004; the Inspector General found he spoke for about 20 minutes with a woman identified as Individual 1, who declined to be interviewed and whose lawyer said she was in Belarus. One of Epstein's attorneys had earlier asked a senior officer "how Epstein could get an unmonitored call."[^109][^115][^116][^117]

### The Death

On August 10, 2019, Epstein was found dead in his cell; nursing records log CPR compressions from 6:35 a.m. Dr. Kristin Roman performed the autopsy on August 11 and first listed the manner of death as "pending"; Chief Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson changed it to suicide by hanging days later. The guards [Tova Noel](/people/tova-noel/) and [Michael Thomas](/people/michael-thomas/) had failed to perform required checks and admitted to falsifying records; they were charged in November 2019, entered deferred-prosecution agreements on May 25, 2021, and the charges were dismissed on December 13, 2021, while the Southern District declined to prosecute other staff who had also falsified records. The DVR recording system serving about half the jail's cameras, including those near the cell, failed on July 29 and 30, was discovered on August 8, and was not repaired; one camera on another system recorded the common area but not the cell door. The forensic pathologist [Michael Baden](/people/michael-baden/), retained by Epstein's brother [Mark Epstein](/people/mark-epstein/), said the fractures of the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage were more consistent with homicidal strangulation than hanging, while the Medical Examiner stood by the suicide ruling. The Inspector General's June 2023 report attributed the death to the guards' negligence and the jail's failures and "did not uncover evidence contradicting the FBI's determination regarding the absence of criminality." Prison officials cited the August 9 unsealing, "combined with a lack of significant interpersonal connections," among the factors contributing to his death.[^90][^115][^116][^117]

Documents released in 2026 showed that JPMorgan filed a suspicious activity report on November 22, 2019 on twelve cash deposits by Noel, the largest 5,000 dollars on July 30, 2019; she was not asked about them in her 2021 interview. A search for "latest on epstein in jail" was run on her workstation at 5:42 and 5:52 a.m. on August 10; she said she did not recall it. On August 19, 2019, a jail employee told the FBI that an inmate said Bureau of Prisons after-action staff "were shredding boxes of paperwork"; the records do not show that the dumpster was searched. The Justice Department and FBI memorandum of July 7, 2025 reaffirmed suicide, citing "the August 19, 2019 autopsy findings" (the autopsy was on August 11) and describing Epstein as locked in "at around 10:40 pm" (the Inspector General dates lock-in to about 8 p.m.); its "full raw" video had been assembled in Adobe Premiere under a Windows account "MJCOLE~1," with close to three minutes missing. Maurene Comey was fired without stated cause on July 16, 2025, nine days after the memorandum.[^116][^117][^118][^119][^120]

### The Estate and the Executors

Epstein's will, signed on August 8, 2019, named Indyke and Kahn as executors and [Boris Nikolic](/people/boris-nikolic/), formerly chief science adviser to Bill Gates, as backup executor; Nikolic said he "was not consulted in these matters and I have no intent to fulfill these duties, whatsoever." The will left Nowak 5 million dollars, which Nowak said he has not received. The co-executors valued Epstein's Virgin Islands property at 577,672,654 dollars in the August 15, 2019 probate petition; the estate's February 2021 accounting showed about 240.8 million dollars and September 2026 filings 107.6 million dollars. The 1953 Trust, signed two days before his death, leaves 100 million dollars to Karyna Shuliak, 50 million to Indyke and 25 million to Kahn, paid in that order.[^11][^75][^103][^121]

The territory alleged that Epstein entities paid Indyke more than 16 million dollars and Kahn more than 10 million dollars net from 2011 to 2019 through companies it called shells, and that the two held at least 140 bank accounts with Epstein. Indyke testified in March 2026 that Epstein's 40 million dollars invested in 2015 and 2016 in two funds of [Valar Ventures](/organizations/valar-ventures/), co-founded by Peter Thiel, was worth about 172 million dollars. The estate agreed in February 2026 to pay up to 35 million dollars to settle a victims' class action against the co-executors (Doe 3 v. Indyke, No. 1:24-cv-01204), and in September 2026 federal prosecutors in Manhattan were reported to be investigating both men, who deny knowing of Epstein's crimes. Wyden's August 2026 report stated that federal prosecutors never questioned Indyke, Kahn or Beller, none of whom has been charged.[^11][^12][^103][^122][^123]

### Maxwell and the Giuffre Litigation After 2019

Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire in July 2020 and convicted in December 2021 on five federal counts including sex trafficking of a minor, and sentenced to 20 years in June 2022. The Giuffre v. Maxwell summary judgment record ordered released in Brown v. Maxwell was unsealed on August 9, 2019; Maxwell's April 2016 deposition was unsealed on July 23, 2020, and further tranches followed through January 2024. On July 23, 2025 the Second Circuit vacated Preska's December 2019 and January 2020 unsealing orders. Virginia Giuffre died by suicide in Australia in April 2025; her memoir, [Nobody's Girl](/sources/nobodys-girl/), was published posthumously in 2025. She died intestate, and in November 2025 the Supreme Court of Western Australia appointed Ian Torrington Blatchford interim administrator; his authority extends to the reopened Giuffre v. Maxwell docket, recaptioned in his name on September 3, 2026, to an arbitration involving Dershowitz, and to a defamation suit against the estate by Rina Oh.[^22][^23][^109][^124][^125]

On July 18, 2025, Deputy Attorney General [Todd Blanche](/people/todd-blanche/), formerly Trump's personal criminal attorney, entered an appearance in Maxwell's closed criminal case and moved to unseal the grand jury transcripts; Judge [Paul Engelmayer](/people/paul-engelmayer/) denied the motion on August 11, 2025. Blanche interviewed Maxwell under limited immunity on July 24 and 25, 2025; she said Trump "was always very cordial and very kind to me" and that she did not know how he and Epstein met. On August 1 she was moved to the minimum-security [Federal Prison Camp Bryan](/places/federal-prison-camp-bryan/), and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wrote that the transfer "raises questions about whether she has been given special treatment in exchange for political favors."[^126][^127][^128]

### The Epstein Files, 2025 and 2026

On February 27, 2025, Attorney General [Pam Bondi](/people/pam-bondi/) released a "first phase" of [Epstein files](/concepts/epstein-files/) that the department itself described as "largely" previously leaked, and on July 7, 2025, the department and the FBI issued an unsigned memorandum stating that their review "revealed no incriminating 'client list'" and that "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted." Senator Dick Durbin wrote on July 18 that, according to information his office received, FBI records staff reviewing some 100,000 Epstein records in March 2025 "were instructed to 'flag' any records in which President Trump was mentioned." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined Wyden's March 11, June 16 and September 2, 2025 requests for the Treasury's Epstein suspicious-activity file and on January 22, 2026 said it had given the records to the House Oversight Committee instead.[^12][^118][^129][^130]

A separate strand concerned the 2003 "birthday book" assembled for Epstein's 50th birthday, which the [Wall Street Journal](/organizations/the-wall-street-journal/) reported in July 2025 contained a bawdy letter bearing Donald Trump's signature; Trump denied authorship and sued the paper, and the House Oversight Committee released the book on September 8, 2025 under an August 25 subpoena to the estate.[^78]

On November 14, 2025, at Trump's request, Bondi assigned [Jay Clayton](/people/jay-clayton/) to investigate Epstein's dealings with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman and JPMorgan Chase. Five days later Trump signed the [Epstein Files Transparency Act](/concepts/epstein-files-transparency-act/) (H.R. 4405, Pub. L. No. 119-38), which the House had passed 427 to 1 after a discharge petition by Thomas Massie and [Ro Khanna](/people/ro-khanna/), and which permits withholding records that "would jeopardize an active federal investigation." The department missed the December 19, 2025 deadline, disclosed on December 24 that it had found more than a million additional documents, and on January 30, 2026 published the bulk of the material, bringing the total to nearly 3.5 million pages, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images; its letter to Congress that day stated that about 200,000 pages had been withheld or redacted under privileges the statute does not list.[^28][^131][^132][^133][^134]

The January 2026 release stated that "notable individuals and politicians were not redacted"; four senators called that "plainly false" in asking the Government Accountability Office to review the department's redaction and release process, which the GAO agreed to do in late April 2026, days after the department's inspector general opened its own audit. In February and March 2026 NPR and CNN reported that FBI interview records of a woman who accused both Epstein and Trump were missing from the public library; the department said nothing had been deleted, later published three of the interviews as records mistakenly tagged as duplicates, and NPR counted 37 pages still missing. A White House spokeswoman said Trump "has been totally exonerated on anything relating to Epstein." On January 13, 2026 Massie and Khanna asked Engelmayer to appoint a special master, reporting that the department had "publicly released only 12,285 documents" of "more than 2 million" under review; he denied the motion on January 21, 2026 for want of jurisdiction. On August 11, 2026 Preska authorized the government to release under the Act the Boies Schiller material obtained by the 2019 subpoena, over Maxwell's opposition.[^109][^135][^136][^137][^138]

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Bondi on March 4, 2026; Trump removed her on April 2 and named Blanche acting Attorney General. On March 3, 2026 Finance Committee chairman Mike Crapo objected to Wyden's request to pass the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act (S. 2746), citing the House review and the Banking Committee's jurisdiction. Wyden's August 4, 2026 report, "Looking the Other Way," stated that Blanche had intervened to block the [Drug Enforcement Administration](/organizations/dea/) from answering his request about a federal investigation in which Epstein and associates had been targets, and that a 60 Minutes interview Wyden taped on March 26, 2026 was not aired after CBS News fired correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.[^12][^139][^140][^141][^142]

The 2025 and 2026 releases produced resignations and removals without prosecutions. Summers left the [OpenAI](/organizations/openai/) board on November 19, 2025, was banned for life by the American Economic Association on December 2, 2025, and resigned from Harvard on February 25, 2026, the day after The Boston Globe sent the university its questions; Harvard placed Nowak on leave the same day. Pritzker retired as executive chairman of Hyatt on February 17, 2026, and Ruemmler resigned as general counsel of [Goldman Sachs](/organizations/goldman-sachs/).[^75][^143][^144][^145]

[^1]: "Timeline of the Life and Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein." *CBS New York,* 2019. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/timeline-of-the-life-and-crimes-of-jeffrey-epstein/ ; "A Young Jeffrey Epstein Made An Impression On His High School Students." *NPR,* July 19, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/07/19/742725946/a-young-jeffrey-epstein-made-an-impression-on-his-high-school-students
[^2]: "The murky life and death of Robert Maxwell, and how it shaped his daughter Ghislaine." *The Guardian,* August 22, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/22/the-murky-life-and-death-of-robert-maxwell-and-how-it-shaped-his-daughter-ghislaine
[^3]: "The Untold Story of How Jeffrey Epstein Got Rich." *New York Times,* December 16, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/magazine/jeffrey-epstein-money-scams-investigation.html
[^4]: "The 'Epstein-Barr' Problem of New York City's Dalton School." *Law and Crime,* 2019. https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/the-epstein-barr-problem-of-new-york-citys-dalton-school/
[^5]: Ward, Vicky. "The Talented Mr. Epstein." *Vanity Fair,* March 2003. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/jeffrey-epstein-200303 (archived: http://web.archive.org/web/20260916130321/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/jeffrey-epstein-200303); republished by the author: https://vickyward.com/article/the-talented-mr-epstein/
[^6]: Charles Gasparino and Lydia Moynihan, "The woes of Jeffrey Epstein: How he maintained Wall Street connections while downplaying child sex accusations," *Fox Business,* August 10, 2019. https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/jeffrey-epstein-wall-street-connections-child-sex-trafficking
[^7]: Financial Trust Company, Inc. v. The Bear Stearns Companies Inc., Civil No. 2009/106 (D.V.I.), Verified Complaint dated August 5, 2009, reproduced as Exhibit 253, ECF No. 244-8, Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011822/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/244-08.pdf
[^8]: Spencer Woodman, "Jeffrey Epstein's offshore fortune traced to Paradise Papers," *ICIJ,* July 18, 2019. https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/jeffrey-epsteins-offshore-fortune-traced-to-paradise-papers/
[^9]: House of Commons, *Hansard,* HC Deb 24 January 1996, vol 270, cc453-462, "Saudi Arabia" (George Galloway). https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1996/jan/24/saudi-arabia
[^10]: Marvin Gerber and Kalma Koenig v. The Financial Trust Company et al., No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO (S.D.N.Y.), Complaint, ECF No. 7 (filed August 21, 2018), paras. 21, 27 and n. 4, with Affidavit of Steven J. Hoffenberg sworn August 17, 2018, ECF No. 7-2. https://truthinadvertising.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Gerber-v-The-Financial-Trust-Co-complaint.pdf ; docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/7698990/gerber-v-the-financial-trust-company/ ; Letter of Bennet J. Moskowitz, Troutman Sanders LLP, to Hon. Richard J. Sullivan, June 28, 2016, and Order of July 5, 2016, Hoffenberg v. Epstein, No. 1:16-cv-03989-RJS (S.D.N.Y.), filed as ECF Nos. 16-7 and 16-9 in No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593.16.7.pdf ; https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593.16.9.pdf ; Brian Pascus, "Jeffrey Epstein worked at Towers Financial with Steven Hoffenberg, who committed Ponzi scheme crimes," *CBS News,* August 13, 2019. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-worked-at-towers-financial-with-stephen-hoffenberg-who-committed-ponzi-scheme-crimes/ . Hoffenberg's "architect" claim is his own assertion; Epstein was never charged in the matter.
[^11]: Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands v. Darren K. Indyke et al. (Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein), No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint (November 30, 2022), paras. 6, 11 to 17, 37, 76 to 117, 128 to 141, 157 to 195; ECF No. 1-1 in No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
[^12]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Ranking Member Ron Wyden, "Looking the Other Way: How Wall Street Banks Enabled Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking," August 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_wall_street_epstein_report.pdf
[^13]: Dareh Gregorian, "Justice Department releases names of 3 people the FBI once called Jeffrey Epstein 'co-conspirators,'" *NBC News,* February 10, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-names-3-people-fbi-once-called-jeffrey-epstein-co-conspirators-rcna258335
[^14]: Lefkovits, Etgar. "Complaint seeks police probe into Ehud Barak and Wexner Foundation." *JNS,* March 17, 2026. https://www.jns.org/complaint-seeks-police-probe-into-barak-and-wexner-foundation/ ; "'I regret meeting him': Former PM Ehud Barak responds to Epstein Files recording in N12 interview." *The Jerusalem Post,* February 2026. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-886519
[^15]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network.* Sheridan Square Press, 1992. Ben-Menashe's claims that Robert Maxwell was a Mossad asset and that the Maxwell-Epstein link served Israeli intelligence are uncorroborated by declassified material and treated as contested allegation.
[^16]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Jeffrey Epstein to Ehud Barak, November 8, 2017, 15:54 and 16:49 UTC, EFTA00964912 and EFTA00964979; Barak to Epstein, November 9, 2017, EFTA00965384 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00964912.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00964979.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00965384.pdf ; Jeffrey Epstein to a redacted recipient, "he was passed away," March 15, 2018, EFTA02507843 (DataSet 11). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02507843.pdf
[^17]: Brown, Julie K. "Perversion of Justice." *Miami Herald,* 2018. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html
[^18]: Stewart, James B., Matthew Goldstein, and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. "Jeffrey Epstein Hoped to Seed Human Race With His DNA." *New York Times,* July 31, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/business/jeffrey-epstein-eugenics.html ; "New Investigation Launched into Epstein's Zorro Ranch." *Time,* 2025. https://time.com/7379228/epstein-zorro-ranch-investigation/
[^19]: "Epstein Absent from Sex Offender List." *Santa Fe Reporter,* July 11, 2019. https://sfreporter.com/archives/epstein-absent-sex-offender-list/ ; Bates, Clara. "Lawmakers look to close 'Epstein loophole' that kept financier off sex offender list." *Santa Fe New Mexican,* September 12, 2026. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/epstein/lawmakers-look-to-close-epstein-loophole-that-kept-financier-off-sex-offender-list/article_4d071ff8-db1c-48e0-8eb4-daeb68f561ae.html ; Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, Second Amended Complaint (see note 26) and the estate's 2019 probate valuations reported therein.
[^20]: "U.S. Virgin Islands reaches a $105M settlement with Jeffrey Epstein's estate." *NPR,* December 1, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/01/1140096222/jeffrey-epsteins-estate-reaches-a-105m-settlement-with-the-u-s-virgin-islands ; Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, "Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate of Jeffrey Epstein," 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/
[^21]: City of Miami General Employees & Sanitation Employees Retirement Trust v. Dimon, No. 1:23-cv-03903-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Verified Amended Stockholder Derivative Complaint, ECF No. 17, paras. 24-26, 152-154, 165 (June 30, 2023). https://wallstreetonparade.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CITY-OF-MIAMI-GENERAL-et-al-v-James-Dimon-et-al-JPMorgan-Chase-Amended-Complaint-June-30-2023.pdf
[^22]: Opinion and Order, *Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla. Feb. 21, 2019), ECF No. 435 (Marra, J.), reported at 359 F. Supp. 3d 1201, quoting ECF No. 407 at paragraphs 12, 33, 37, 52, 61, 63. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867.435.0.pdf ; *United States v. Maxwell*, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/
[^23]: "Nearly 3,000 pages of Epstein records have been released so far. These questions remain," *PBS News,* January 7, 2024. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/nearly-3000-pages-of-epstein-records-have-been-released-so-far-these-questions-remain
[^24]: *United States v. Rodriguez*, No. 9:10-cr-80015-KAM (S.D. Fla.), Criminal Complaint, ECF No. 3 (Dec. 1, 2009); Plea Agreement, ECF No. 25 (March 18, 2010); Judgment, ECF No. 31 (June 21, 2010). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15913423/united-states-v-rodriguez/ ; *United States v. Maxwell*, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), Memorandum Opinion and Order, ECF No. 535 (Dec. 9, 2021). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/
[^25]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: email chain, "RE: FAA Question," FAA Law Enforcement Assistance Program special agent to federal investigators, August 24 to September 29, 2021, EFTA00021675 to EFTA00021680 (DataSet 8). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00021675.pdf
[^26]: United States v. Epstein, draft indictment, S.D. Fla. (unfiled, 2007), paras. 1 to 6, EFTA01703108 to EFTA01703163 (DataSet 10). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01703108.pdf
[^27]: "Epstein files live updates: Trump DOJ releases millions more pages of records," *NBC News,* January 30, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/live-blog/epstein-files-trump-doj-release-live-updates-rcna256639
[^28]: "New Epstein files include photos, documents with redactions as DOJ releases initial trove of records." *CBS News,* 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/epstein-files-released-2025/ ; "DOJ says it has found over a million additional documents potentially related to Epstein." *CNN,* December 24, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/24/politics/epstein-documents-doj-million ; U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Files Transparency Act disclosures. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/doj-disclosures
[^29]: Palm Beach Police Department, probable cause affidavit of Detective Joseph Recarey regarding Jeffrey Epstein, sworn May 1, 2006 (redacted). https://archive.org/stream/JeffreyEpstein/Jeffrey%20Epstein%20Redacted%20Probable%20Cause%20Affadavit_djvu.txt
[^30]: "Judge releases Jeffrey Epstein grand jury investigation transcripts," *WUSF / Associated Press,* July 1, 2024. https://www.wusf.org/courts-law/2024-07-01/florida-judge-releases-transcripts-2006-grand-jury-investigation-jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking
[^31]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, full report on the Southern District of Florida's resolution of the 2006-2008 Epstein investigation, November 2020, as produced in the Epstein Library, EFTA02847284 (Prior DOJ Disclosures, Memos and Correspondence). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf
[^32]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: "jagesq" to Jeffrey Epstein, "krischer richardson," December 15, 2010, EFTA01830557 (DataSet 10); Krischer, Belohlavek and USAFLS, "RE: Meeting with Epstein's attorneys," September 19 to 25, 2007, EFTA00215188 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01830557.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00215188.pdf
[^33]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," Executive Summary, November 2020, pp. i-x. https://www.justice.gov/opr/page/file/1336471/dl ; archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20260623200353id_/https://www.justice.gov/opr/page/file/1336471/dl
[^34]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426-cr, slip op. at 6, 9-12 (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2024), reported at 118 F.4th 256, quoting the NPA at A-178. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2024/09/17/united_states_v._maxwell.pdf
[^35]: The White House (George W. Bush archives), "Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta," official biography. https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/racosta-bio.html
[^36]: U.S. Department of State, "Jay Lefkowitz, Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea," official biography, 2005. https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/66929.htm
[^37]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Disgraced Lawyer Jay Lefkowitz Who Secured Sweetheart Deal Leaves Firm," *The Daily Beast,* March 2026. https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-disgraced-lawyer-jay-lefkowitz-who-secured-sweetheart-deal-leaves-firm/
[^38]: Letter of Gerald B. Lefcourt and Alan M. Dershowitz, July 6, 2007, Exhibit 46, *Doe v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla.), ECF No. 361-46 (Feb. 10, 2016). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867.361.46.pdf
[^39]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Plaintiff's Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 221 (filed July 24, 2023), paras. 123-124, 257, 290-310, 374. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.221.0.pdf
[^40]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Ann Marie Villafana to FBI agents, "RE: Epstein Indictment" and "RE: DOBs," February 14, 2008, EFTA00225102 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00225102.pdf
[^41]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Jeff Sloman and Ann Marie Villafana, "Re: Did u hear?," May 16, 2008, EFTA00214486 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00214486.pdf
[^42]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1, privileged chronology of the federal investigation, May 2006 to August 2011, pp. 1, 9 to 10, 12, 19 to 20, 24, 28 to 29, 34, 38, 45, 48, 50 to 51. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf
[^43]: "Jeffrey Epstein paid Palm Beach Sheriff's Office $128,000 during incarceration for prostitution charges," *WPTV,* 2019. https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/new-jeffrey-epstein-paid-palm-beach-sheriffs-office-128-000-during-incarceration-for-prostitution
[^44]: "Florida authorities find no evidence of criminal activity in state's handling of Jeffrey Epstein case," *NBC News,* May 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-authorities-no-evidence-criminal-activity-state-s-handling-jeffrey-n1266888
[^45]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284, Prior DOJ Disclosures, Office of Professional Responsibility report on the Southern District of Florida's resolution of the Epstein investigation, November 2020, pp. 116 to 117 (Villafana email of December 3, 2008 and letter of December 11, 2008). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf
[^46]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01308629, DataSet 10, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Extra Duty Permits System overtime report forms, Permit No. 7804, "Florida Science Foundation," July 1 to 14, 2009, faxed July 21, 2009. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01308629.pdf
[^47]: Settlement Agreement and General Release, Jane Doe No. 102 v. Jeffrey Epstein, No. 09-80656-CIV-Marra/Johnson (S.D. Fla.), filed in Giuffre v. Prince Andrew, No. 1:21-cv-06702 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 32-1 (Oct. 29, 2021). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.564713/gov.uscourts.nysd.564713.32.1.pdf
[^48]: *In re Wild*, No. 19-13843, 994 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. Apr. 15, 2021) (en banc). https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201913843.enb.pdf
[^49]: Supreme Court of the United States, docket No. 21-351, order of February 22, 2022 denying certiorari. https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/21-351.html
[^50]: Ward, Vicky. "Jeffrey Epstein's Sick Story Played Out for Years in Plain Sight." *The Daily Beast,* July 9, 2019. https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-sick-story-played-out-for-years-in-plain-sight/ ; for Acosta's denial, his voluntary transcribed interview with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, September 19, 2025 (transcript released October 17, 2025): "Alex Acosta, former US attorney who negotiated Epstein's plea deal, appears before House Oversight Committee," *ABC News,* October 2025. https://abcnews.com/Politics/alex-acosta-former-us-attorney-negotiated-epsteins-plea/story?id=125731737
[^51]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Chief, Public Corruption Unit, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, and the Office of Professional Responsibility, "RE: Draft OPR Report," August 21, 2020, EFTA00077309 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00077309.pdf
[^52]: Debra Cassens Weiss, "Jeffrey Epstein had dinners with top criminal prosecutor in years following favorable deal, documents show," *ABA Journal,* October 20, 2025. https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jeffrey-epstein-had-dinners-with-top-criminal-prosecutor-in-years-following-favorable-deal-documents-show
[^53]: Maxwell v. United States, No. 24-1073 (U.S.), cert. denied (Oct. 6, 2025). https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24-1073.html
[^54]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: email from an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, subject "memos," May 6, 2020, EFTA00030339 (DataSet 8). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00030339.pdf
[^55]: Lopez, Diane E., Ara B. Gershengorn, and Martin F. Murphy. *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University.* Harvard University Office of the General Counsel and Foley Hoag LLP, May 1, 2020, pp. 3-5, 10-17, 20-23 and nn. 8-10. https://www.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Reportconcerning-Jeffrey-Epstein.pdf ; https://ogc.harvard.edu/report-concerning-Epstein
[^56]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein Called Himself A 'Science Philanthropist' And Donated Millions To These Researchers," *BuzzFeed News,* July 11, 2019. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-science-donations
[^57]: Neuman, Scott, and Ava Berger. "Epstein paid for a conference of top scientists in 2006. His motives are now clear," *NPR,* March 9, 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/03/09/nx-s1-5721150/epstein-scientists-physics-virgin-islands-conference
[^58]: Minsky, Marvin L., Push Singh, and Aaron Sloman. "The St. Thomas Common Sense Symposium: Designing Architectures for Human-Level Intelligence," *AI Magazine* 25, no. 2 (2004): 113. https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v25i2.1764 ; Brandom, Russell. "AI pioneer accused of having sex with trafficking victim on Jeffrey Epstein's island," *The Verge,* August 9, 2019. https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/9/20798900/marvin-minsky-jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-island-court-records-unsealed
[^59]: EFTA00328899, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9, https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00328899.pdf; EFTA00714297, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9, https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00714297.pdf; EFTA00337558, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9, https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00337558.pdf.
[^60]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein's Links To Scientists Are Even More Extensive Than We Thought," *BuzzFeed News,* August 27, 2019. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements
[^61]: Goodwin Procter LLP. *Report Concerning Jeffrey Epstein's Interactions with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.* January 10, 2020, pp. 5, 10, 28 n. 28. https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf
[^62]: "Billionaire Leon Black made a $158 million payment to Jeffrey Epstein. Senators want to know why," *CNN Business,* July 25, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/business/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-senate-investigation
[^63]: Owermohle, Sarah, and Austin Culpepper. "How Epstein enlisted Harvard scientists to burnish his reputation, and try to make a profit," *CNN,* February 19, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/19/politics/harvard-epstein-donations-influence-exclusive
[^64]: Molteni, Megan. "Jeffrey Epstein's tissue samples ignited a furor in the Harvard lab of George Church," *STAT,* February 24, 2026. https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/24/epstein-cell-line-george-church-harvard-personal-genome-project/
[^65]: Farrow, Ronan. "How an Elite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein," *The New Yorker,* September 6, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-an-elite-university-research-center-concealed-its-relationship-with-jeffrey-epstein
[^66]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Peggy Siegal and George Stephanopoulos, "Thursday small dinner for Prince Andrew," November and December 2010, EFTA02411832 (DataSet 11). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02411832.pdf
[^67]: Ponieman, Natan. *Benzinga,* May 2023, on Epstein's private calendar, summarizing the *Wall Street Journal.* https://www.benzinga.com/news/23/05/32134015/private-calendar-reveals-jeffrey-epsteins-meetings-with-cia-director-noamchomsky-and-goldman-sachs ; *The Daily Beast,* May 2023, on Epstein's calendar meetings with Noam Chomsky and William Burns. https://www.thedailybeast.com/epstein-calendar-reveals-meetings-with-noam-chomsky-and-former-cia-chief-william-burns/ ; "The Former Biglaw Partner In Jeffrey Epstein's Private Calendar." *Above the Law,* May 2023, summarizing the *Wall Street Journal.* https://abovethelaw.com/2023/05/the-former-biglaw-partner-in-jeffrey-epsteins-private-calendar/
[^68]: Hamilton, Katherine. "Jeffrey Epstein Moved Money For Noam Chomsky, Paid Bard President Botstein $150,000, Report Says." *Forbes,* May 17, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/05/17/jeffrey-epstein-moved-money-for-noam-chomsky-paid-bard-president-botstein-150000-report-says/
[^69]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Kathy Ruemmler to Jeffrey Epstein, January 8, 2015, EFTA02386175 (DataSet 11). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02386175.pdf
[^70]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01348714, DataSet 10, check image, Gratitude America, Ltd, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, to Leon Botstein, August 1, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01348714.pdf ; EFTA01348725, DataSet 10, check image, February 3, 2016 (Bates DB-SDNY-0035646). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01348725.pdf ; "Leon Botstein received $150,000 from Jeffrey Epstein," *Inside Higher Ed,* May 18, 2023. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/05/18/leon-botstein-received-150000-jeffrey-epstein
[^71]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01615267, DataSet 10, iMessage log with the contact "Steve Bannon," August 23, 2018, EFTA01615267 to EFTA01615272. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01615267.pdf ; "'Let me see the videotapes': Mark Epstein wants Steve Bannon's 15 hours of unseen footage of his brother," *NBC News,* 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/mark-epstein-steve-bannon-15-hours-brother-jeffrey-epstein-rcna219630
[^72]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Tom Pritzker to Jeffrey Epstein, "RE: Re:," August 8, 2016, EFTA01783338 (DataSet 10). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01783338.pdf
[^73]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: email to Jeffrey Epstein, sender redacted, "Any other," August 12, 2010, EFTA02407727 (DataSet 11). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02407727.pdf ; Saida Sapieva to Lesley Groff, "CONFIRMED: DINNER: Sunday, 8/2," July 31, 2015, EFTA00344556, and reply chain, EFTA00344564 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00344556.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00344564.pdf ; email chain, Jeffrey Epstein and a redacted correspondent, February 6, 2016, EFTA01738574 (DataSet 10). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01738574.pdf
[^74]: "Epstein's Silicon Valley ties extended beyond just Musk and Gates." *CNBC,* February 9, 2026. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/09/tech-leaders-epstein-records-silicon-valley-sergey-brin-thiel-sinofsky-reid-hoffman-musk-gates.html
[^75]: Fernandes, Deirdre, and Tricia L. Nadolny. "Introductions to women. Free flights. Business deals. Jeffrey Epstein's ties to Harvard run deeper than previously known," *The Boston Globe,* February 25, 2026. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/25/metro/jeffrey-epstein-harvard-spotlight-report/
[^76]: Ruetenik, Daniel, and Graham Kates. "Lutnick and Epstein were in business together, Epstein files show." *CBS News,* February 7, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-lutnick-jeffrey-epstein-in-business-together/
[^77]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: FBI Form FD-71A Guardian Complaint Form, "Alleged Money Laundering by Howard Lutnick via BGC Financial and Cantor Fitzgerald," case 50D-NY-3027571, April 23, 2021, EFTA01249210 (DataSet 9); calendar alert, December 20, 2012, EFTA02152992 (DataSet 10). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01249210.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02152992.pdf
[^78]: "Birthday letter to Epstein bore Trump's signature, drawing of naked woman, Wall Street Journal reports." *CNN,* July 17, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/17/politics/epstein-birthday-letter-trump ; "Trump Epstein letter and drawing from 'birthday book' released." *CNBC,* September 8, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/08/trump-epstein-birthday-book-oversight.html
[^79]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: FBI New York internal email on the Prince Andrew MLAT request, June 8, 2020, EFTA00149598 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00149598.pdf
[^80]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: correspondence of Tomer Toor, Darren Indyke, Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein on the exercise of Carbyne warrants, February and March 2019, EFTA02632339 and EFTA02634615 (DataSet 11); Richard Kahn and Darren Indyke on Carbyne financial statements, March 2019, EFTA01035810 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02632339.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01035810.pdf
[^81]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Ehud Barak to Jabor Al Thani, copied to Jeffrey Epstein, "Qatar Presentation <> Carbyne 911," January 1, 2019, EFTA02607775, and continuing thread to February 4, 2019, EFTA02628648 (DataSet 11). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02607775.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02628648.pdf
[^82]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, May 21, 2018, EFTA01052344 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01052344.pdf
[^83]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Jeffrey Epstein and Nicole Junkermann, February 18, 2019, EFTA02630791 (DataSet 11). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02630791.pdf
[^84]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: iMessage logs with the contact "Vitaly Churkin," November 16, 2015 to January 10, 2017, EFTA01619434, EFTA01619438 and EFTA01619444 (DataSet 10); Lesley Groff, "Churkin to join lunch tomorrow as well," August 28, 2016, EFTA02044775 (DataSet 10); scheduling of Maxim Churkin, July and August 2017, EFTA02219806 (DataSet 11) and EFTA00676901 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01619434.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01619438.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01619444.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02044775.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02219806.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00676901.pdf
[^85]: U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, deposition of William P. Barr, August 18, 2025, transcript released September 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Barr-Transcript.pdf
[^86]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Jeffrey Epstein to Martin Weinberg, "Re: CIA FOIA Request," July 18, 2011, EFTA00915248; Weinberg to Epstein, same date, EFTA00687827; FBI Privacy Waiver and Certification of Identity, EFTA00624683 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00915248.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00687827.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00624683.pdf
[^87]: Complaint, Farmer v. United States, No. 1:25-cv-01709-RBW (D.D.C. May 29, 2025), paras. 80, 85-126, 176-185, citing United States v. Epstein, 27 F. Supp. 2d 404 (S.D.N.Y. 1998). https://www.jamesmarshlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Doc-1-Complaint-05-29-2025.pdf
[^88]: Maria Farmer and Sarah Ransome, Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death (Standard Form 95), signed July 20, 2023. https://www.jamesmarshlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Farmer-and-Ransome-Jeffrey-Epstein-Notice-of-Claim-FBI-07-20-2023.pdf
[^89]: "Maria Farmer and Marsh Law Firm's Persistent Advocacy Vindicated as FBI Releases Farmer's 1996 Report on Jeffrey Epstein," *Marsh Law Firm,* December 23, 2025. https://www.jamesmarshlaw.com/persistent-advocacy-vindicated/
[^90]: "NYC medical examiner rejects claim that Jeffrey Epstein's death was a homicide." *CNN,* October 30, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/30/us/jeffrey-epstein-autopsy-fox ; "Jeffrey Epstein autopsy finds broken bones in his neck." *CNN,* August 15, 2019. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/15/us/jeffrey-epstein-autopsy-broken-neck
[^91]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: "Gmax" to Jeffrey Epstein, December 8, 2009, EFTA02434764 (DataSet 11). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02434764.pdf
[^92]: Suzanne Carlson, "Epstein estate could be ordered to repay more than $144 million in tax breaks," *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 13, 2020 (ECF No. 158-36 in No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR). http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/epstein-estate-could-be-ordered-to-repay-more-than-144-million-in-tax-breaks/article_b84d9710-14af-5e69-a890-bcf8265cf8f9.html
[^93]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Expert Report of Jorge Amador, ECF No. 238-31 (filed July 25, 2023), report pp. 6, 16-17, 24, 46, 74. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.238.31.pdf
[^94]: Dechert LLP, Memorandum to the Apollo Conflicts Committee, January 22, 2021, Exhibit 99.1 to Apollo Global Management Form 8-K (January 25, 2021), pp. 3 to 5, 16 to 17. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1411494/000119312521016405/d118102dex991.htm
[^95]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel, March 11, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/download/wyden-letter-to-doj-treasury-fbi-on-epsteinpdf?download=1
[^96]: Settlement Agreement and Release between the Government of the United States Virgin Islands and Leon Black, executed January 20, 2023. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/usvi_black_settlement_agreement_-_executedpdf.pdf
[^97]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01071282, DataSet 9, "Checklist for Leon Black Estate Planning and Restructuring," as of October 2, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01071282.pdf ; EFTA00982173, DataSet 9, email, Ada Clapp to Jeffrey Epstein, "6.7.13 Checklist for Leon Black Estate Planning and Restructuring-updated 1.14.14," January 21, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00982173.pdf ; EFTA00702518, DataSet 9, email, Barry J. Cohen to Jeffrey Epstein, "S&C: Leon Black Estate Planning," July 24, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00702518.pdf
[^98]: Deposition of James Dimon, May 26, 2023, No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), transcript pp. 261-269. https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rQOuhi8KqiM0/v0
[^99]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02808715, Court Records, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904 (S.D.N.Y.), letter motion of Motley Rice to Judge Jed S. Rakoff seeking leave to reopen depositions, June 7, 2023 (ECF No. 191). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank%2C%20N.A.%2C%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02808715.pdf ; EFTA02808625, Court Records, same case, letter of JPMorgan's counsel in opposition, June 9, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank%2C%20N.A.%2C%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02808625.pdf ; EFTA02814941, Court Records, same case, Order of Judge Jed S. Rakoff, August 2023. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank%2C%20N.A.%2C%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02814941.pdf
[^100]: Staley v The Financial Conduct Authority [2025] UKUT 00203 (TCC), decision released June 26, 2025. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685d21fec2633bd820a92a52/Staley_v_FCA_decision_for_release.pdf
[^101]: New York State Department of Financial Services, Consent Order in the Matter of Deutsche Bank AG et al., July 6, 2020, paras. 26, 33. https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/enforcement_discipline/ea20200706_deutsche_bank ; Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Robert Garcia, June 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_letter_to_house_oversight_on_leon_black-epstein_060426.pdf
[^102]: "JPMorgan settles with Jeffrey Epstein victims for $290 million." *WHYY,* 2023. https://whyy.org/articles/jpmorgan-settlement/ ; "Ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley fined and banned by UK regulator for Epstein ties." *AP/AOL,* 2023. https://www.aol.com/finance/ex-barclays-ceo-jes-staley-142727090.html
[^103]: Em Steck, "Epstein left millions to his closest advisers. A shrinking estate and new lawsuits may stand in the way," *CNN,* September 21, 2026. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/21/politics/jeffrey-epstein-estate-lawsuit-vis
[^104]: Financial Conduct Authority, Final Notice to James Edward Staley, July 23, 2025. https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/final-notices/james-edward-staley-2025.pdf
[^105]: "V.I. Officials Enabled Epstein to Act With Impunity, JPMorgan Alleges in Latest Salvo." *St. Thomas Source,* June 16, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20240721172424/https://stthomassource.com/content/2023/06/16/v-i-officials-enabled-epstein-to-act-with-impunity-jpmorgan-alleges-in-latest-salvo/
[^106]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html
[^107]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html
[^108]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html
[^109]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 1:15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1360 with Exhibits 2-9 (Feb. 20, 2026), describing In re Grand Jury Subpoena, No. 19-MC-149 (CM) (April 9, 2019 order); Order, ECF No. 1367 (Aug. 11, 2026); Order, ECF No. 1370 (Sept. 3, 2026). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/ian-torrington-blatchford-as-interim-administrator-of-virginia-giuffres/
[^110]: "Jeffrey Epstein operated a vast sex-trafficking network of underage girls who recruited other victims, prosecutors say." *CNN,* July 8, 2019. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/08/us/jeffrey-epstein-monday-court-appearance
[^111]: "Jeffrey Epstein used foreign passport with fake name to enter Saudi Arabia: prosecutors." *NBC News,* July 17, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jeffrey-epstein-used-foreign-passport-fake-name-enter-saudi-arabia-n1031046
[^112]: *United States v. Epstein,* No. 1:19-cr-00490-RMB (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 23, Letter from AUSA Alison Moe to Judge Richard M. Berman (Supplement to Detention Memorandum), July 16, 2019, pp. 1-3. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.518649/gov.uscourts.nysd.518649.23.0_2.pdf
[^113]: *United States v. Epstein,* No. 1:19-cr-00490-RMB (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 30, Letter from AUSA Alison Moe, July 17, 2019 (quoting ECF No. 24 at 7); ECF No. 31, Letter from Marc Fernich, Martin Weinberg, and Reid Weingarten, July 18, 2019. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15887848/united-states-v-epstein/
[^114]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: internal USANYS email, "FW: Fraud and Blackmail: Jeffrey Epstein's Finances," July 31, 2019, EFTA00086657 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00086657.pdf
[^115]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Federal Bureau of Prisons records of Jeffrey Epstein's detention at MCC New York, July 8 to August 10, 2019, including staff memoranda of July 23, 2019, SIS Inmate Investigative Report NYM-19-0061 (July 31, 2019, pp. EFTA00049239 to 43), and an institution response on cellmate assignments and documentation, EFTA00048963 (DataSet 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00048963.pdf
[^116]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. *Investigation and Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Custody, Care, and Supervision of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York.* Report 23-085, June 2023, pp. iii to iv, 1 to 6, 14 to 20, 58 to 60. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf
[^117]: Khurshudyan, Isabelle. "Epstein files shed new light on what prison officials were doing the night he died." *CNN,* March 26, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/politics/epstein-files-prison-officials-night-he-died ; "Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy: A closer look." *CBS News, 60 Minutes,* January 5, 2020. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-autopsy-a-closer-look-60-minutes-2020-01-05/
[^118]: U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation, unsigned memorandum on review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein, July 7, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline
[^119]: Eastham, Janet. "'Suspicious' payments to last guard who saw Epstein." *The Telegraph* via *Yahoo News,* March 8, 2026. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/epstein-prison-guard-made-suspicious-132416347.html ; "Hany Farid and WIRED Analyze the Department of Justice's Released Epstein Video, Find Anomalies with Metadata." *UC Berkeley School of Information,* July 2025. https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/news/2025/hany-farid-and-wired-analyze-department-justices-released-epstein-video-find-anomalies ; "Jeffrey Epstein prison video had nearly 3 minutes cut from it: report." *LiveNOW from FOX,* July 2025. https://www.livenowfox.com/news/epstein-prison-video-edit-discrepancy
[^120]: "Maurene Comey, prosecutor in Epstein and Combs cases and daughter of former FBI director, sues after being fired." *CNN,* September 15, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/15/politics/maurene-comey-justice-department-lawsuit ; Comey v. United States Department of Justice, No. 1:25-cv-07625 (S.D.N.Y.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71348216/comey-v-united-states-department-of-justice/
[^121]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Executor Is Ex-Science Adviser to Bill Gates." *Bloomberg,* August 19, 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-19/epstein-s-11th-hour-executor-is-ex-science-adviser-to-bill-gates
[^122]: Reuters, "Epstein estate agrees to $35 million settlement in victim class action," *NBC News,* February 20, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epstein-estate-agrees-35-million-settlement-victim-class-action-rcna259863 ; Doe 3 v. Indyke, No. 1:24-cv-01204 (S.D.N.Y.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68260876/doe-3-v-indyke/
[^123]: Kaelan Deese, "Two Jeffrey Epstein associates under investigation by New York federal prosecutors," *Washington Examiner,* September 23, 2026. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/4739210/jeffrey-epstein-associates-under-investigation-new-york-federal-prosecutors/
[^124]: "Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison." *U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of New York,* June 28, 2022. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse
[^125]: "Court Rules Virginia Giuffre Died Without a Will, Appoints Administrator," *Newsweek,* November 26, 2025. https://www.newsweek.com/court-rules-virginia-giuffre-died-without-will-11110482
[^126]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF Nos. 784, 785 (July 18, 2025); ECF No. 809 (Aug. 11, 2025), 794 F. Supp. 3d 215. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/
[^127]: U.S. Department of Justice, "Interview Transcript, Maxwell, 2025.07.24 (Redacted)." https://www.justice.gov/storage/audio-files/Interview%20Transcript/Interview%20Transcript%20-%20Maxwell%202025.07.24%20(Redacted).pdf
[^128]: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, letter to William K. Marshall III, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, August 7, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-08-07-Letter-to-BOP-Maxwell-Transfer.pdf
[^129]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Attorney General Pamela Bondi Releases First Phase of Declassified Epstein Files," Press Release No. 25-201, February 27, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-pamela-bondi-releases-first-phase-declassified-epstein-files
[^130]: Senator Richard J. Durbin, letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, July 18, 2025. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/2025-07-18-rjd-letter-to-ag-bondi-re-epstein?download=1
[^131]: "Bondi taps acting U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to probe Democrats' ties to Epstein," *The Washington Times,* November 14, 2025. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/nov/14/bondi-taps-acting-us-attorney-jay-clayton-probe-democrats-ties/
[^132]: Epstein Files Transparency Act, Pub. L. No. 119-38, § 2(c)(1)(C), 139 Stat. 656. https://www.congress.gov/119/plaws/publ38/PLAW-119publ38.pdf ; Office of the Clerk, Roll Call 289, November 18, 2025. https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025289
[^133]: U.S. Department of Justice, Press Release No. 26-84, January 30, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-publishes-35-million-responsive-pages-compliance-epstein-files
[^134]: Pamela J. Bondi and Todd Blanche, letter to Congress, January 30, 2026, p. 4. https://www.justice.gov/letter-to-congress.pdf
[^135]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 20 Cr. 330 (PAE) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 21, 2026), Opinion and Order, ECF No. 844. https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2026-01/Maxwell%2020cr330%20-%20Opinion%20%26%20Order%201.21.26.pdf
[^136]: Senators Jeffrey A. Merkley, Lisa Murkowski, Ben Ray Luján and Richard J. Durbin, letter to Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown, March 11, 2026. https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/GAO-Epstein-Files-Redactions-Review-Letter.pdf
[^137]: "Government watchdog to review DOJ's handling of the Epstein files," *NBC News,* April 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/government-watchdog-review-dojs-handling-epstein-files-rcna342513
[^138]: "DOJ removed, withheld Epstein files related to accusations about Trump," *NPR,* February 24, 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/02/24/nx-s1-5723968/epstein-files-trump-accusation-maxwell ; "Justice Department posts more Epstein files related to accusations about Trump," *NPR,* March 5, 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/03/05/nx-s1-5737562/justice-department-missing-epstein-files-trump ; *CNN,* February 24, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/24/us/epstein-files-trump-accuser-missing-files-invs
[^139]: Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 40 (March 3, 2026), pp. S748 ff. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-03-03/html/CREC-2026-03-03-pt1-PgS748-2.htm
[^140]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Report on Failure of Wall Street Banks to Blow the Whistle on Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering Schemes," August 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-report-on-failure-of-wall-street-banks-to-blow-the-whistle-on-jeffrey-epsteins-sex-trafficking-and-money-laundering-schemes
[^141]: Dareh Gregorian et al., "House Oversight Committee votes to subpoena Pam Bondi for testimony on Epstein files," *NBC News,* March 4, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/pam-bondi-subpoenaed-testify-epstein-files-house-oversight-committee-rcna261779
[^142]: "Trump fires Pam Bondi as attorney general, installs Todd Blanche as acting AG," *CBS News,* April 2, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-pam-bondi-attorney-general/
[^143]: "Summers Resigns From OpenAI Board Amid Backlash Over Epstein Emails." *The Harvard Crimson,* November 19, 2025. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/11/19/summers-resigns-open-ai/ ; "Larry Summers banned for life from American Economic Association." Associated Press via *Fortune,* December 3, 2025. https://fortune.com/2025/12/03/larry-summers-banned-for-life-from-american-economic-association
[^144]: Chapman, Michelle. "Thomas Pritzker steps down from Hyatt board, saying he deeply regrets association with Epstein." Associated Press via *PBS NewsHour,* February 17, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/thomas-pritzker-steps-down-from-hyatt-board-saying-he-deeply-regrets-association-with-epstein
[^145]: *CBS News,* February 2026, on Ruemmler's resignation as Goldman Sachs general counsel. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kathryn-ruemmler-resigning-from-goldman-sachs-epstein-files/