The Justice Department on Friday released more than 3 million pages of files associated to the investigation into convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, after Congress passed a law final yr forcing the Trump administration to take action.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated at a information convention the Justice Department has now accomplished its evaluation of the files and that the White House had “no oversight” of the course of. The paperwork released Friday include references to President Donald Trump and different highly effective figures, together with Elon Musk, Bill Clinton and a former Obama White House counsel.
NCS reporters have been going through the documents, and you’ll learn highlights beneath:
Editor’s Note: This story comprises graphic and disturbing descriptions of sexual violence.
From NCS’s Jeremy Herb
Officials at the FBI compiled a listing of sexual assault allegations associated to President Donald Trump this previous August — lots of which seem to have come from unverified ideas — and the record was included as a part of the tens of millions of paperwork in the new Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Justice Department on Friday.
It’s not clear why the FBI officers created the record of allegations associated to Trump final yr. The doc was included in emails that had been despatched by officers in the FBI’s New York discipline workplace on the Child Exploitation & Human Trafficking Task Force. Trump has lengthy denied any wrongdoing associated to Epstein.
There are greater than a dozen allegations included in the doc. “Yellow highlighting is for the salacious piece,” one official writes to clarify how the allegations had been being sorted.
Two variations of the doc appeared to have been faraway from the Justice Department’s web site for a time Friday afternoon earlier than they had been restored with none obvious modifications. A DOJ official stated the doc was down “due to overload” and was again on-line.
The allegations seem like unverified, and the officers word that some are secondhand data. They seem to have been allegations that had been obtained by the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center, which takes ideas by telephone and electronically. The doc notes that in lots of cases, there was no contact made with the people who despatched in the allegations, or no contact data was offered.
Some of the allegations had been adopted up on. One was despatched to the FBI’s Washington discipline workplace to conduct an interview, and one other was deemed not credible, in line with the doc.
“Was there anything in the file re follow up with the below individuals? 302s. etc?” one official writes.
There are additionally allegations made in the doc in opposition to former President Bill Clinton, who has denied wrongdoing associated to Epstein.
Asked for touch upon allegations in opposition to Trump in the paperwork, the White House referred a reporter to the Justice Department press launch, which says, “This production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act. Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”
From NCS’s Sarah Owermohle
The Justice Department laid out a listing of Jeffrey Epstein’s potential co-conspirators as a part of its investigation into Epstein, however paperwork released Friday redacted a number of figures who had been a part of his interior circle.
The undated diagram exhibits the names and photographs of a number of identified shut associates of Epstein, together with convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell and Jean-Luc Brunel, a mannequin agent with longtime ties to Epstein who confronted rape prices in France. Brunel died by suicide in a French jail in 2022.
The different folks recognized by the DOJ had been identified Epstein workers, none of whom had been charged in the investigation, although the doc signifies that the DOJ was investigating folks near the convicted intercourse offender for potential involvement.
The Justice Department redacted the names and photographs of 5 different people, together with Maxwell’s assistant and 4 Epstein workers, certainly one of whom was listed as a ‘girlfriend/employee.’
Victims and advocates have criticized the Justice Department for what they argue are heavy however inconsistent redactions of names and particulars in the tens of millions of released paperwork.
The doc lists different shut associates together with Epstein’s private chef, pilots, and Peter Listerman, a mannequin scout described in the file as a topic/witness and mannequin “matchmaker.” It additionally lists Leslie Wexner, the billionaire enterprise magnate who employed Epstein as a cash supervisor who has stated he severed ties with Epstein in 2007.
From NCS’s Aaron Blake
The latest batch of paperwork signifies that, a minimum of at one level, prosecutors felt they might cost extra than simply Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell with crimes.
A draft indictment from the Southern District of Florida from the 2000s would have charged Epstein alongside apparently three others who’re described as having been “employed” by Epstein. They are principally described as facilitating appointments between Epstein and ladies. But their names are redacted.
The doc, which followers of the case had been hoping to see, describes all of them as having conspired to “persuade, induce, and entice individuals who had not attained the age of 18 years to engage in prostitution.”
It’s not the much-rumored “client list” that many have hoped to see – however that the Justice Department has denied exists. But it’s more likely to result in questions on who these individuals are and why they weren’t in the end charged.
Epstein’s sweetheart deal to keep away from way more critical prices in the late 2000s – he pleaded responsible to prostitution-related prices – is a significant piece of this scandal.
Drafted, unsigned indictment included particulars of alleged abuse of minors, a menace and three co-conspirators
From NCS’s Holmes Lybrand
A draft indictment that was by no means introduced in opposition to Jeffrey Epstein alleged that from 2001 to 2005, Epstein and three unnamed defendants engaged in a conspiracy to “procure females under the age of 18” to have interaction “in lewd conduct” for cash “to satisfy Jeffrey Epstein’s prurient interests.”
Instead of bringing the 60-count indictment in opposition to the 4 folks, federal prosecutors in 2007 reached a non-prosecution settlement with Epstein, who averted federal prices and served 13-months in state jail over state prostitution prices.
In a 2020 review, the Justice Department discovered that former US lawyer for the Southern District of Florida Alex Acosta had used “poor judgement” in the deal however didn’t discover that Acosta had engaged in skilled misconduct.
According to the drafted indictment, the unnamed co-conspirators would name the ladies to journey to Palm Beach, Florida, for Epstein, who would then use and pay the ladies.
The doc additionally says that a minimum of certainly one of the ladies would additionally “engage in lewd conduct” with certainly one of the unnamed co-defendants for Epstein.
The 19 ladies talked about in the doc – all beneath Jane Doe pseudonyms – ranged in ages, together with some as younger as 14, and can be paid a number of hundred {dollars} and typically be used to solicit different buddies who can be requested in the event that they had been “interested in engaging in similar activities.”
In one occasion, Epstein allegedly informed certainly one of the ladies he was abusing “that if she reported to anyone what had occurred … bad things could happen to her.”
One unidentified defendant, in line with the doc, was typically tasked with main the ladies from Epstein’s kitchen to his main bedroom in Palm Beach the place Epstein was ready.
The doc isn’t signed by a grand jury foreperson and, in the place for Acosta’s signature is a clean, unsigned house.
Epstein sufferer informed FBI Maxwell as soon as ‘presented’ her to Trump and made clear she was ‘available’
From NCS’s Marshall Cohen
One of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims informed the FBI that his longtime affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell as soon as “presented her” to Donald Trump at a celebration and instructed that she was “available,” in line with an internal FBI memo released Friday.
The FBI memo is from mid-2021, a number of months earlier than Maxwell was convicted on federal intercourse trafficking prices. According to the memo, the witness stated, in the end, “nothing happened” between her and Trump, who has by no means been accused by investigators of involvement in Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes.
The sufferer stated Maxwell introduced her to a celebration in New York when she was about 22 years previous, although it was unclear what yr this happened. Maxwell “seemed very excited that there would be a lot of great men for” the sufferer “to meet,” in line with the interview notes. The sufferer stated that in the social gathering, Maxwell “presented [her] to Trump,” and that the sufferer “felt that Maxwell presented her” by giving a rundown of her accolades, “similar to a CV.”
The memo stated Trump invited the girl to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. She subsequently went on a tour there with the future president, Maxwell, and Epstein — and “by the things that Maxwell said, it was made clear that [she] was available,” the memo stated.
Maxwell stated issues comparable to, “Oh I think he likes you. Aren’t you lucky,” in line with the FBI memo, and likewise inspired the sufferer to put on garments that she thought Trump would love.
“It was set up very much like how Maxwell introduced [her] to Epstein,” the memo stated.
FBI memos like these, often called 302s, memorialize ideas and allegations from witnesses, however they don’t usually include details about whether or not the FBI may corroborate the data.
In response to questions on the FBI memo, the White House referred NCS to a Justice Department assertion that stated the tens of millions of paperwork in Friday’s batch of Epstein files “may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos” as a result of “everything that was sent to the FBI by the public” was included in the public launch.
Trump has beforehand denied any wrongdoing with respect to Epstein.
From NCS’s MJ Lee
Editor’s Note: This report comprises particulars that some readers could discover disturbing.
The Justice Department’s newly released files associated to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday embody an FBI form that particulars a grievance from a girl who accused Donald Trump of raping her when she was 13 years previous.
This nameless accuser beforehand launched lawsuits in opposition to Trump and dropped them, the final one proper earlier than the 2016 election.
The FBI doc particulars a number of cases of alleged abuse of Jane Doe by Trump, together with rape. It additionally says Epstein was allegedly “angry that Trump was the one to take Doe’s virginity” and likewise raped Doe. These descriptions mirror the allegations that Jane Doe made in her 2016 lawsuit.
Trump had beforehand denied the girl’s allegations, and the Justice Department has stated of the paperwork, “This production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act.”
Jane Doe was anticipated to seem at a information convention in Los Angeles in November of 2016, however the occasion was abruptly canceled. Her lawyer at the time, Lisa Bloom, stated her consumer was too afraid to indicate up.
Asked by NCS for remark Friday, Bloom stated she was now not the girl’s lawyer and declined to remark.
From NCS’s Aaron Blake
A newly released email chain exhibits Jeffrey Epstein and somebody who seems to have been Ghislaine Maxwell strategizing in 2011 about the best way to cope with new allegations from a girl who claimed she had labored at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Epstein first emails a former govt with Trump’s resort empire named Nicholas Ribis about “the girl in the new papers” who had claimed to have labored at Mar-a-Lago in 1998 at the age of 15, when Epstein thought it was in 2000 when she was 17.
“who would i go to verify, I dont’ know how Donald would respond„?” (sic) Epstein wrote.
Epstein forwards the message to “GMAX,” who responds: “I thought you said not to involve Donald.”
While the identify of the accuser is redacted, the particulars match the account of Virginia Giuffre, whom Trump stated final yr he was aware Epstein had recruited from Mar-a-Lago. Giuffre additionally made her allegations public round the time of those emails, in 2011.
One of the massive subplots involving Trump is what he knew and when about why Epstein was recruiting the likes of Giuffre. Trump has by no means been accused by regulation enforcement of wrongdoing associated to Epstein’s crimes, and he has denied any wrongdoing.
FBI notes from witness interviews point out Trump and Bannon
From NCS’s Marshall Cohen
The Justice Department posted dozens of key FBI memos referred to as “302s” on Friday — an essential a part of the large drop of files associated to intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
These memos include the notes taken by FBI brokers once they interview witnesses. They memorialize what the witness informed investigators. They don’t describe subsequent makes an attempt to corroborate the data. But victims have been eager to see what’s in these files.
A witness informed the FBI in June 2020 about former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s “relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” however “was hesitant” to debate the matter intimately as a result of Bannon was “friends with powerful people,” in line with certainly one of the memos.
The identification of this witness is redacted, as is almost all of the four-page doc. But the FBI brokers marked down that the witness beforehand labored in the marijuana business.
Bannon has by no means been accused by regulation enforcement of any Epstein-related wrongdoing. NCS has reached out to a Bannon spokesperson concerning the new FBI memo.
Another certainly one of the 302s comprises notes from an apparent FBI interview with Virginia Giuffre, certainly one of the most outspoken Epstein survivors, who died by suicide in April. The interview occurred in July 2013 at the US consulate in Sydney, Australia, the place Giuffre lived at the time.
The partially redacted memo signifies that Giuffre informed investigators about working as a young person at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago membership in south Florida, how she was recruited from there to work for Epstein, and about sexual abuse she was later subjected to by a redacted person who seems to be Epstein.
Law enforcement has by no means accused Trump of wrongdoing concerning Epstein. The White House has said Trump kicked Epstein out of his membership as a result of he was “being a creep,” and Trump has said they’d a falling out as a result of he “stole people that worked for me,” comparable to Giuffre. Regarding Giuffre’s time working at Trump’s social membership, he previously claimed “she had no complaints about us … none whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, a few of the 302s have been fully redacted, revealing nothing.
From NCS’s Marshall Cohen
Editor’s Note: This report comprises some graphic and disturbing descriptions of sexual violence.
Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused an underage lady who had confided in him about beforehand being molested, she informed the FBI in a 2021 interview.
The disturbing allegation come from an FBI memo often called a “302,” which describes a witness interview, however the doc doesn’t present whether or not the FBI was in a position to corroborate the claims.
Many of the lots of of survivors of Epstein’s abuse have stated they had been anticipating paperwork like these to be made public, so their tales might be informed, and the depths of Epstein’s misdeeds might be absolutely revealed.
The partially redacted doc says the lady informed Epstein when she was round 14 years previous that “her childhood was ‘shitty’” as a result of she had been molested. Epstein responded that “he was sorry about that,” in line with the interview notes.
According to the notes, the witness informed investigators that she later gave “uncomfortable” massages to Epstein on a number of events the place they had been each bare. She stated Epstein typically touched her sexually in opposition to her needs, and he or she tried to rebuff him.
The notes say the sufferer “felt degraded when she went to Epstein’s home” and that she “felt taken advantage of,” however that she stated she additionally “felt happy because she had a bunch of money” from the paid massages.
If you need assistance:
Emails present that Musk, who stated final yr he ‘REFUSED’ provides to go to Epstein’s island, tried coordinating a number of visits
From NCS’s Michael Williams
Elon Musk exchanged a number of emails with Jeffrey Epstein to coordinate journeys to certainly one of Epstein’s Caribbean islands, in line with paperwork released by the Justice Department on Friday.
Musk had beforehand claimed that he rebuffed makes an attempt from Epstein to get him to go to certainly one of the two islands Epstein owned – Great St. James and Little St. James – in the US Virgin Islands. Little St. James was an epicenter of Epstein’s decades-long abuse of girls and young women.
But communications between the pair released Friday reveal that Musk tried in 2012 and 2013 to coordinate journeys – at one level asking Epstein which day or night time on the island can be the “wildest party.”
It’s not clear from the emails whether or not Musk in the end visited.
On November 24, 2012, Epstein emailed Musk: “how many people will you be for the heli to island.”
Musk responded the subsequent day that it might most likely simply be him and his then-wife.
“What day/night will be the wildest party on =our island?” Musk added.
On December 13, 2013, Musk emailed Epstein: “Will be in the BVI/St Bart’s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?”
Epstein responded two days later and stated the starting of the new yr can be good, including: “always space for you.” On Christmas Day, Epstein stated in one other e mail: “the 2 or 3 would be perfect. I will come and get you.”
Musk first responded that he would wish to fly again to Los Angeles on the night time of January 2, earlier than saying he may push his departure again a day.
“When should we head to your island on the 2nd?” Musk requested Epstein.
Representatives for Musk didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about the new emails.
The emails present a stage of communication between the pair that had not been beforehand revealed. Musk has tried to denigrate his opponents by making an attempt to tie them to Epstein.
During their explosive feud last year, Musk instructed that President Donald Trump had slowed the rollout of the Epstein files as a result of the president’s identify was in them. That was a part of the breakdown between the president and a person who had been certainly one of his closest advisers.
In September, after Musk’s identify was included in one other batch of files, he sought to distance himself from the convicted intercourse offender. He stated in a post on X at the time that “Epstein tried to get me to go to his island and I REFUSED.”
NCS’s Hadas Gold and Andrew Kaczynski contributed.
New e mail exhibits Epstein telling Larry Summers he doesn’t perceive ‘how dumb’ Trump is
From NCS’s Sarah Owermohle
Multiple emails released Friday between Jeffrey Epstein and Larry Summers, former US treasury secretary and Harvard University president, present the two males gossiping about President Donald Trump throughout his first presidential time period.
“How guilty is Donald?” Summers requested in a May 2017 e mail wherein he went on to debate the concept that Russia helped Trump win in 2016, which Summers deemed “plausible but not certain.” (Trump has lengthy denied any complicity with Russia in that election.)
Epstein replied that “your world does not understand how dumb he really is.”
In an earlier, October 2016 email, Summers asks Epstein, “How plausible is idea t=at trump is real cocaine user?” Epstein replied “zero.”
In July 2017, Summers wrote to Epstein: “I think your friend is mentally ill.” Epstein responded that the particular person is “not my friend, and i ve told you that before.”
While neither referenced Trump by identify, they went on to debate his international coverage actions and whether or not, as Summers stated, “he was better than Hillary.” Epstein defended his report, citing work with Israel and India.
An earlier launch of paperwork confirmed that Epstein and Summers corresponded for years after Epstein’s preliminary conviction.
Summers didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. He beforehand told NCS he’s “deeply ashamed” of his correspondence with Epstein. Summers took leave from instructing at Harvard in November.
From NCS’s Em Steck
After Epstein sufferer Virginia Giuffre filed a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Ghislaine Maxwell in 2015, Jeffrey Epstein sat for a deposition in the case, which was first unsealed in 2024.
In the deposition from September 2016, Epstein repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment proper to not self-incriminate when requested greater than a dozen questions on his relationship with former President Bill Clinton or the Clinton Foundation.
Some examples of the questions requested to Epstein had been to “Please describe all dinners you’ve ever had with Bill Clinton” and “Please list every place you and Bill Clinton have ever been together.”
Lawyers additionally requested Epstein repeatedly about whether or not Clinton visited his non-public island and flew on his non-public airplane. They additionally repeatedly requested Epstein whether or not he’s heard of the Clinton Foundation and for all his interactions with it.
For each query, Epstein responded: “Fifth.”
A spokesperson for Clinton has repeatedly stated the former president lower ties with Epstein earlier than he was charged with soliciting prostitution in 2006 and didn’t find out about his crimes. Clinton has additionally denied ever having visited Epstein’s island.
Recently, the Clintons rebuffed a subpoena from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee to have them testify in a congressional probe associated to Epstein. The House voted to hold the Clintons in contempt earlier this month.
From NCS’s Michael Williams
Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein corresponded by intermediaries a number of instances in 2011 and 2012 – years after Lutnick had vowed to by no means be in the identical room with Epstein once more, paperwork released by the Department of Justice on Friday present.
The paperwork reveal a deeper relationship between Lutnick and Epstein than had beforehand been identified. Lutnick, the former chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald and present Commerce Secretary, was a onetime neighbor of Epstein in New York.
But he stated in an interview last year that after a 2005 encounter at Epstein’s residence, he grew uncomfortable and vowed that he “will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”
“So I was never in the room with him socially, for business — or even philanthropy,” he stated in the October interview. “That guy was there, I wasn’t going, ‘cause he’s gross.”
The paperwork released Friday undercut that declare and reveal Lutnick sought to satisfy with or name Epstein a number of instances since 2005, together with after Epstein pleaded responsible to procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008.
A spokesperson for the Commerce Department didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
A 2011 email to Epstein from Epstein’s assistant stated: “Howard Lutnick returned your call.” Another email to Epstein from his assistant reads: “Howard Lutnick will come see you at 5 p.m.” That identical yr, the heading of an alarm message reads: “Drinks w/Howard Lutnick”
The subsequent yr, each Lutnick’s spouse and assistant communicated with an Epstein assistant to arrange a go to and lunch on certainly one of Epstein’s Caribbean islands, emails present.
“Jeffrey Epstein understands you will be down in St. Thomas some over the holidays,” Epstein’s assistant wrote in a November 20, 2012, email to Lutnick. “Jeffrey requested I please pass along some phone numbers to you so the two of you can possibly get together.”
The subsequent month, Lutnick’s spouse, Allison, said in an email that was forwarded to Epstein: “We are looking forward to visiting you,” including the Lutnicks had been half of a giant group that included one other household.
“We are heading towards you from St. Thomas,” Allison Lutnick wrote. “Where should we anchor exactly?” Representatives for Epstein requested what sort of boat the Lutnicks can be arriving on so they might correctly coordinate.
“188 foot yacht,” Allison Lutnick responded.
From NCS’s Em Steck
Howard Lutnick, the present US secretary of commerce and former CEO of economic agency Cantor Fitzgerald, was a longtime neighbor to Epstein. Lutnick lived subsequent door to Epstein in Manhattan’s Upper East Side neighborhood.
Lutnick once described Epstein displaying him and his spouse a “massage room” in Epstein’s townhouse in 2005 that disgusted the couple, saying they determined they’d “never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”
But an e mail from the latest batch of Epstein files exhibits that Lutnick sent an email to Epstein’s longtime assistant in November 2015 inviting Epstein to a Democratic fundraiser for Hillary Clinton that Lutnick hosted. It’s unclear whether or not Epstein attended.
NCS reached out to the Commerce Department for remark however didn’t obtain a direct response.
From NCS’s Isabelle Khurshudyan
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his spouse, Nili Priel, stayed at an residence in New York owned by Jeffrey Epstein a number of instances, paperwork released by the Justice Department on Friday present.
Though the {couples}’ relationship with Epstein was beforehand identified, e mail correspondence released in the DOJ’s Epstein files on Friday shed new gentle into the closeness of the Israeli politician and Epstein.
Like many highly effective figures in Epstein’s orbit, Barak, who stated he first met the late financier in 2003, continued his affiliation with Epstein for years after he turned a convicted intercourse offender following a controversial plea deal in 2008.
Barak has beforehand acknowledged his private relationship with Epstein, however has stated he by no means witnessed or participated in any improper conduct.
Priel emailed Epstein in May 2017 letting him know that she and Barak can be leaving the residence for a number of days to go to Harvard and requested if a cleaner may come by the place whereas it was vacant. Epstein then forwarded the message to somebody who stated she can be there the subsequent day.
In a separate e mail trade from Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, Groff writes that she is going to contact Priel about switching out the cable box in the Baraks’ residence for an Apple TV setup.
Other emails confirmed Groff, Epstein and Priel typically wrote one another about when the Baraks can be visiting New York and establishing conferences between him and Epstein.
From NCS’s Andrew Kaczynski
Kathy Ruemmler, the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs and a White House counsel beneath former President Barack Obama, referred to as Jeffrey Epstein “wonderful Jeffrey” and stated “I adore him” in a December 2015 e mail trade which seems to indicate Epstein reserving and paying for her to have a first-class journey to Europe.
The e mail trade, dated December 25–26, 2015, seems to indicate Epstein telling a redacted particular person to rearrange Ruemmler’s journey. The redacted particular person explicitly proposed reserving the f lights on Epstein’s bank card.
At the time, Ruemmler was the head of the white-collar crime apply at the regulation agency Latham and Watkins, which has stated Epstein was by no means a consumer.
When the redacted particular person requested Ruemmler if the journey wanted to be organized on Christmas Day, Ruemmler replied, “Merry Christmas! No, no, no – I am so sorry for the intrusion. Please enjoy the day. Jeffrey is just being wonderful Jeffrey.”
A day later in response, Ruemmler offered her frequent-flyer quantity, and most well-liked route for a global journey to Geneva, with uncertainty about the place she would return from.
When the redacted particular person organizing the journey for Ruemmler replied that Epstein is “so very kind,” Ruemmler responded, “I know, and I never feel as if I can return the kindness adequately. I hope you are having a wonderful day.”
The redacted particular person then informed Ruemmler that Epstein thought-about her a “very good friend,” to which Ruemmler responded, “Well, I adore him. It’s like having another older brother!”
The December 2015 emails add to a physique of previous KFILE reporting that has raised questions on the nature and extent of Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein.
As beforehand reported, Epstein referred to Ruemmler in a message as “my great defender,” sought her recommendation as he confronted renewed scrutiny over his abuse of underage ladies, and relied on her enter whereas crafting responses to important media protection.
KFILE beforehand reported that Ruemmler appeared repeatedly on Epstein’s calendars for conferences, meals, and journey between 2014 and 2019, and that unsealed courtroom data describe her offering authorized recommendation on issues together with media technique, correspondence with lawmakers, and efforts to protect Epstein’s controversial 2008 non-prosecution settlement.
Epstein’s property has asserted attorney-client privilege over lots of of emails involving Ruemmler, a declare that authorized consultants have stated is inconsistent with the thought of a purely informal or casual relationship.
Ruemmler has stated she regrets ever understanding Epstein and has denied representing him or advocating on his behalf. Goldman Sachs, the place she now serves as chief authorized officer, has stated her relationship with Epstein was skilled.
“As Kathy has repeatedly said, she had a professional relationship with Epstein. In fact, the plane ticket you’re highlighting was in relation to a business meeting with the mutual client that Epstein referred to Latham and Watkins,” a Goldman Sachs spokesperson informed NCS.
From NCS’s Andrew Kaczynski
In October 2014, Kathy Ruemmler, as White House Counsel to Barack Obama, despatched Jeffrey Epstein a draft public assertion declining additional consideration for the place of US Attorney General — and requested for his suggestions.
The email, dated October 23, 2014, exhibits Ruemmler writing merely: “Draft statement. Thoughts?”
Ruemmler’s assertion, typos included, learn:
“I have always considered the Department of=Justice my professional home, and while I am deeply honored to be consider=d a candidate for Attorney General, I have informed the President that I m=st decline his further consideration.T he Attorney General serves a =nique role in the President’s cabinet, and must be perceived as indepe=dent from the White House. Any perception of a lack of independence becaus= of my prior role as Counsel to the President would not serve the Presiden=, the Justice Department’s, or the country’s interest at this time= and I have so informed the President.”
Ruemmler had left Obama’s White House that May. She is at present the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs.
Epstein replied with instructed edits, advising Ruemmler add the phrases “I believe” and commenting on how the assertion can be obtained in “international news reports,” by saying she ought to add “United States,” after Attorney General.
The e mail was despatched a day before Ruemmler publicly declined the function, although it doesn’t seem she used the assertion she despatched to Epstein.
Ruemmler has stated she regrets ever understanding Epstein and has denied representing him or advocating on his behalf. Goldman Sachs, the place she now serves as chief authorized officer, has stated in the previous her relationship with Epstein was skilled.
Goldman Sachs and Ruemmler didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark.
From NCS’s MJ Lee
In the instant aftermath of the Justice Department releasing tens of millions of extra Jeffrey Epstein-related files on Friday, some survivors inform NCS that they’ve discovered quite a few examples of victims’ names showing unredacted all through the paperwork.
One girl, who has chosen to stay nameless as “Jane Doe,” has already discovered her identify in a number of locations, together with in e mail exchanges she beforehand had with Epstein.
The girl’s lawyer, Jennifer Plotkin, who represents a number of “Jane Doe” Epstein victims, informed NCS on Thursday that she had beforehand reached out to the DOJ asking that the division right the indisputable fact that this consumer’s identify was uncovered in earlier batches of files. Plotkin stated she by no means heard again from the company.
Other survivors inform NCS that they’ve additionally uncovered their very own and different victims’ names.
The failure to correctly redact victims’ names got here regardless of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying in a press convention Friday morning that the company prioritizes victims’ privateness and well-being. Still, he added, “mistakes are inevitable,” and he inspired anybody who sees issues to achieve out to a DOJ e mail tip sheet.
From NCS’s Devan Cole
Editor’s Note: This report comprises particulars that some readers could discover disturbing.
Jeffrey Epstein’s cellmate at a Manhattan jail pleaded with the convicted intercourse offender to not kill himself of their shared cell, the man informed federal investigators in a prolonged interview days after Epstein’s demise.
The interview with Efrain Reyes on August 16, 2019, wherein he detailed the time he spent with Epstein, was memorialized in several pages of handwritten notes taken by certainly one of the Justice Department officers who was there. The names of the interviewers are redacted, however in line with the paperwork, the assistant US lawyer who took the notes and two FBI investigators had been amongst the attendees.
“REYES was JEFFREY EPSTEIN’s cellmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in the Special Housing Unit (SHU), L Tier, Cell 220, until August 9, 2019,” an FBI doc reads.
Reyes – who would go on to plead responsible to federal narcotics prices – was transferred out of the jail in a routine, prearranged transfer. One day later, Epstein died by suicide in the cell, wherein he was staying alone at the time.
Reyes “told (Epstein) ‘don’t hang yourself up in my cell. Don’t try to kill yourself in this cell. I don’t want to wake up to find you dead,’” in line with the notes released Friday. “(Epstein) said ‘don’t worry I’m never going to cause you trouble.’”
Reyes informed the investigators that Epstein, a billionaire inmate with an attentive authorized group, would use his wealth to his profit to make life extra snug in jail.
Epstein “would ask (correctional officers) for things (and) if they say no he would write down (their) name (and) say I’ll tell my lawyer – everyone on eggshells,” Reyes stated, in line with the notes.
For instance, although inmates in the SHU weren’t allowed to have pens, Epstein had two, Reyes stated.
Reyes died in November 2020 from Covid.
Release contains Maxwell arrest photographs and monetary paperwork
From NCS’s Alli Gordon and Marshall Cohen
The latest tranche of Epstein paperwork released by the Department of Justice on Friday embody contemporary details about his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, together with reserving photographs with weight and top particulars, in addition to footage of her New Hampshire residence from search warrant requests.
The newly released paperwork additionally include dozens of Maxwell’s monetary data.
There are documents from Maxwell-linked accounts at UBS, together with one that described her investments and confirmed a stability of $773,775 in March 2019.
There can also be a letter describing a $1 million wire switch in 2016, in addition to IRS paperwork about her tax returns.
Justice Department letter to Congress describes Epstein files evaluation and redactions
From NCS’s Annie Grayer
The Justice Department outlined in a letter to Congress the way it performed its evaluation of the Jeffrey Epstein files and offered extra specifics on what was redacted in the greater than 3 million pages released on Friday.
Approximately 200,000 pages have been “redacted or withheld based on various privileges,” the letter signed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche states, comparable to attorney-client privileges or deliberative course of privilege.
Documents in a international language or that might not be uploaded for evaluation as a consequence of technical points had been additionally not produced.
The letter stated that the Justice Department continues to be making an attempt to acquire extra paperwork that might later be released, together with grand jury supplies from a federal felony case out of the Southern District of New York that charged corrections officers who labored at the correctional facility the place Epstein killed himself with falsifying data.
Within 15 days of Friday’s launch, the Justice Department will undergo Congress a proper report that features a record of all “government officials and politically exposed persons” present in the Epstein files and a abstract all of the redactions, as mandated by the regulation handed by Congress.
The letter stated greater than 500 attorneys and reviewers throughout DOJ helped course of the files as a primary step. Then 40 specialised attorneys performed a second evaluation.
“In practice, virtually all of the time and attention of Department personnel who participated in the manual review and redaction efforts was devoted to maximizing the protection of victim-identifying information,” the letter states.