Hanging with Epstein: Elites undeterred by conviction

FPI / May 5, 2023

As long-withheld names from the late Jeffrey Epstein's rolodex finally begin to leak out, damage control consultants appear to be doing a thriving business.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida state charges of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He served about 13 months in a work-release program and became a registered sex offender. He also became the subject of intense public scrutiny due to his alleged ties to U.S. and Israeli intelligence, British royalty and former U.S. presidents not to mention frequent "Lolita Express" flights to "pedophile island" on his private jet.

Epstein's deep pockets and powerful profile connections were enough to convince many in the elite class to ignore his rap sheet to hang with the pedophile. Their little secret.

Until now.

According to documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal," the disgraced financier kept a busy schedule, filling his days with meetings with politicians, executives and celebrities, including at his New York townhouse and his residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands."

"The documents reviewed by the Journal, which include thousands of pages of emails and schedules from 2013 to 2017, provide new details about the nature and frequency of Epstein’s contacts with an array of powerful people long after he was a registered sex offender," the Journal noted in a report that diligently noted the carefully-worded responses of those powerful people.

Barnaby Marsh, then an executive at the large charitable fund John Templeton Foundation, met with Epstein roughly two dozen times, often for breakfast at the townhouse, the documents show.

Marsh, who advises wealthy people on philanthropy, said he went to Epstein’s townhouse for gatherings because it was full of billionaires and academics who had many of the same interests in charitable giving.

Marsh said Epstein openly discussed his jail time.

“So many of these billionaires knew him,” Marsh said. “Nobody ever said ‘Watch out for him.’ ”

Marsh said Epstein convened people, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, to try to solve problems facing rich donors, such as how to make large gifts. Epstein told Marsh that Epstein was managing money for Gates, Marsh said.

“I had high hopes that he would follow the paths of others who used their ‘second chance’ to make a positive impact in the world,” Marsh said. “In the end, he disappointed me.”

Current CIA Director William Burns, Clinton and Obama era top economic adviser Lawrence Summers, and Oscar-winning director Woody Allen, and billionaire globalist Bill Gates were among the many who gained access to Epstein's circle of trust, the Wall Street Journal reported,

In 2014, when he was the Obama administration's deputy secretary of state and after Epstein was convicted of child sex exploitation, Burns met three times with Epstein, documents obtained by the Journal indicate.

Epstein's "black book" of contacts and flight logs showed that Burns first met with Epstein in Washington before Burns visited the convicted sex offender in his Manhattan townhouse, the report said.

Burns, who became CIA director under Joe Biden in 2021, met with Epstein while he was preparing to leave his position in the government, CIA spokeswoman Tammy Kupperman Thorp said.

"The director did not know anything about him, other than that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the private sector," she said. "They had no relationship."

Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan federal jail in 2019 while awaiting charges related to sex trafficking. The New York coroner's office ruled his death a suicide.

When Summers sought $1 million to fund an online poetry project his wife was developing, the former Treasury secretary and onetime Harvard University president turned to Epstein, the Journal noted in part 2 of its report.

“I need small scale philanthropy advice. My life will be better if i raise $1m for Lisa,” Summers said in an email to Epstein in April 2014, referring to his wife, Elisa New, a Harvard professor. “Mostly it will go to make it a pbs series and for teacher training. Ideas?”

Epstein replied that they could meet in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Summers invited him to dinner, according to a trove of documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Two days later they made plans to meet at The Fireplace, a cozy restaurant in nearby Brookline, one of several meetings the two men scheduled that year.

In 2016, a nonprofit linked to Epstein donated $110,000 to New’s nonprofit, which develops video content about poetry, the Journal noted, citing tax records.

Summers “deeply regrets being in contact with Epstein after his conviction,” and New’s nonprofit “regrets accepting funding from Epstein,” said a spokeswoman for the couple.

The Journal's report also noted:

• Summers continued to meet with Epstein and seek his help years after Harvard decided it would no longer accept his donations.

• Reid Hoffman, a billionaire venture capitalist and LinkedIn co-founder, visited Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean and was scheduled to stay over at his Manhattan townhouse in 2014.

• Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister, visited Epstein dozens of times and accepted flights on Epstein’s private jet while visiting Epstein’s mansions in Florida and New York.

• Leon Black, the billionaire co-founder of private-equity giant Apollo Global Management, scheduled more than 100 meetings with Epstein from 2013 to 2017.

• Woody Allen attended dozens of dinners with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, at Epstein’s mansion and invited Epstein to film screenings.

Hoffman said he met with Epstein to raise funds for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and that he regrets interacting with Epstein after his conviction.

Barak said he often visited Epstein when he traveled to New York. He said he met interesting people at Epstein’s townhouse where they would discuss politics and other topics.

“In retrospect, [Epstein] seems to be a terrible version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but at the time seemed to be an intelligent person, socially well connected and of wide areas of interest, from science to geopolitics,” Barak said. He said that he never participated in any parties or activities with girls or women.

Black declined to comment to the Journal. He stepped down after an Apollo investigation found he paid Epstein for tax planning and estate advice.

Epstein was known to have been friendly with Allen. The documents reveal new details about some of their activities and how often they met. They were scheduled to get together nearly every month in 2014 and 2015.

In November 2012, an assistant to Allen sent one of Epstein’s assistants a note: “Woody was wondering if Jeffrey would be interested in watching his new film either today or tomorrow?” Epstein said he was available.

Epstein arranged for Allen to join dozens of dinners at Epstein’s townhouse. Allen went with his wife, Previn. Epstein’s staff sometimes ordered Allen flourless chocolate cakes and bottles of Beck’s beer, the documents show.

“Woody and Soon-Yi lived in the same neighborhood as Epstein and were frequently invited to dinner parties at his townhouse,” said a spokeswoman for the couple. “There were always other guests at those gatherings. Woody never had a business meeting with Epstein and not once spent time with him without Soon-Yi also being present.”

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