vault backup: 2026-10-09 18:27:17

00 - META/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,3 +1,21 @@
+- 2026-10-09T1824 · [[Wackenhut Corporation]]
+- 2026-10-09T1821 · [[John Vandewerker]]
+- 2026-10-09T1821 · [[Fred Alvarez]]
+- 2026-10-09T1821 · [[Mark Nichols]]
+- 2026-10-09T1821 · [[John Paul Nichols]]
+- 2026-10-09T1821 · [[Dr. John Philip Nichols]]
+- 2026-10-09T1816 · [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]]
+- 2026-10-09T1815 · [[Cabazon Indian Casino]]
+- 2026-10-09T1814 · [[Rocco Zangari]]
+- 2026-10-09T1814 · [[Peter Milano]]
+- 2026-10-09T1814 · [[Los Angeles Crime Family]]
+- 2026-10-09T1813 · [[Martin Nowak]]
+- 2026-10-09T1813 · [[Steven Pinker]]
+- 2026-10-09T1813 · [[Jeffrey Epstein]]
+- 2026-10-09T1812 · [[Unit 8200]]
+- 2026-10-09T1812 · [[Ben Nelson]]
+- 2026-10-09T1811 · [[Minerva Project]]
+- 2026-10-09T1811 · [[Stephen Kosslyn]]
 - 2026-10-09T1757 · [[Ocean Living Institute]]
 - 2026-10-09T1755 · [[Gerald Richards]]
 - 2026-10-09T1755 · [[Adam Starchild]]
@@ -50,14 +68,9 @@
 - 2026-10-09T1708 · [[P.W. Botha]]
 - 2026-10-09T1706 · [[Dimona]]
 - 2026-10-09T1706 · [[Ian Smart]]
-- 2026-10-09T1705 · [[Rocco Zangari]]
-- 2026-10-09T1705 · [[Dr. John Philip Nichols]]
-- 2026-10-09T1705 · [[Fred Alvarez]]
 - 2026-10-09T1705 · [[Wayne Reeder]]
 - 2026-10-09T1705 · [[Tommy Marson]]
-- 2026-10-09T1705 · [[John Paul Nichols]]
 - 2026-10-09T1705 · [[Arthur Welmas]]
-- 2026-10-09T1705 · [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]]
 - 2026-10-09T1703 · [[Shimon Yiftach]]
 - 2026-10-09T1702 · [[South African Defense Force]]
 - 2026-10-09T1702 · [[Shimon Peres]]
@@ -82,19 +95,6 @@
 - 2026-10-09T1701 · [[October Surprise]]
 - 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Lockheed bribe scandal]]
 - 2026-10-09T1701 · [[PROMIS]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Wackenhut Corporation]]
 - 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Valley National Bank of Arizona]]
 - 2026-10-09T1701 · [[University of San Cristobal]]
 - 2026-10-09T1701 · [[TransCapital Corporation]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[The Sunday Mirror]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[The Sunday Times]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[The Age]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Strategic Intelligence Services]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Sidem International Limited]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Sheridan Square Press]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Pergamon Press Trust Fund]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Ocho Group]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Medan Computers Ltd.]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[Lockheed Aircraft Company]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[John Curtin Foundation]]
-- 2026-10-09T1701 · [[ITICO]]

10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Fred Alvarez.md

@@ -5,19 +5,28 @@ tags:
   - PROMIS
   - CIA
 summary: "Alvarez had been chosen to manage the Cabazon Casino shortly before his murder."
+updated: 2026-10-09
+relations:
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]]"
+    role: "tribal vice chairman and security chief at the cardroom"
+    end: 1981-07
+    fn: 4
 ---
 [[Fred Alvarez]] was the former vice-chairman of the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]]. He was a victim of an execution-style triple homicide in Rancho Mirage, [[California]], that [[Cheri Seymour]] dates to June 29, 1981, along with his friends [[Ralph Boger]] and [[Patricia Castro]]. His murder occurred just six months before the murder of [[Paul Morasca]].[^1]
 
-The Cabazon Indian Casino cardroom had been managed since September 1980 by [[Rocco Zangari]], under an agreement that the appellate panel described as appearing to be between Zangari and [[PN Associates, Inc.]], and that [[Arthur Welmas]] also signed. Zangari was discharged on November 5, 1981, according to the appellate panel, or on November 15, 1981, according to a January 1988 Press-Enterprise article.[^2][^3]
+The Cabazon Indian Casino cardroom had been managed since September 1980 by [[Rocco Zangari]], under an agreement that the appellate panel described as appearing to be between Zangari and [[PN Associates, Inc.]], and that [[Arthur Welmas]] also signed. Zangari was discharged on November 5, 1981, according to the appellate panel, or on November 15, 1981, according to a March 20, 1988 Press-Enterprise article.[^2][^3]
 
 A paper submitted by the California Attorney General's office to the Senate Special Committee on Investigations on February 8, 1989 states that in approximately May 1981 Alvarez, as tribal vice chairman and security chief at the Cabazon cardroom, began to doubt and publicly criticized the Cabazon management; that, according to his sister, he believed money was being skimmed from the cardroom and told local newspapers his life was in danger; that he was removed as vice chairman; and that he and two others decided to consult a lawyer about a suit to open the casino's books. It states that on July 2, 1981 Alvarez and two non-Indians were found dead, shot in the head with a .38 caliber revolver the evening before, and that the case was never solved.[^4]
 
 Alvarez had been chosen to manage the Cabazon Indian Reservation shortly before his murder. Reports related to the Alvarez triple-homicide, including those concerning "[[The Octopus]]", were later found in the "Paul Morasca Homicide Investigation File" in San Francisco, as the original Riverside files were missing.[^1]
 
----
+[[Sam Cross]], the Indio police chief in 1981, told the FBI on October 6, 1992 that he first met [[Michael Riconosciuto]] in mid to late 1984 at the home of [[Peter Zokosky]], that Riconosciuto then talked about the murder of Alvarez, and that Riconosciuto believed [[Dr. John Philip Nichols|John Nichols Sr.]] was involved in it and that there would be additional murders in the future.[^5]
+
 ### Footnotes
 
 [^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
 [^2]: *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. December 29, 1983), BAP No. CC-82-1578-GVAb. https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json
-[^3]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), January 24, 1988, p. B-1, "Bingo profits rising as legal fight brews." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^3]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), March 20, 1988, p. B-1 with jump page, "Manager proposes plush Indian casino, club," by Mike Kataoka. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
 [^4]: *Federal Government's Relationship with American Indians*, Hearings before the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, S. Hrg. 101-126, Part 2 (February 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1989), Robert Morehouse, "High Stakes Bingo on Indian Reservations in California," pp. 417 to 419. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0182
+[^5]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Sam Cross, file 74-86438, interview October 6, 1992 (transcribed December 10, 1992). https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt

10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jeffrey Epstein.md

@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ relations:
     with: "[[Gratitude America]]"
     start: 2012
     role: "private charity; paid Leon Botstein 37,500 dollars a quarter in 2016"
-    fn: 80
+    fn: 88
   - type: funded
     with: "[[Harvard University]]"
     start: 1998
@@ -89,27 +89,27 @@ relations:
     with: "[[World Transhumanist Association]]"
     start: 2010
     role: "20,000 dollars"
-    fn: 70
+    fn: 78
   - type: funded
     with: "[[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]]"
     start: 2009
     role: "50,000 dollars to the Singularity Institute through the C.O.U.Q. Foundation"
-    fn: 70
+    fn: 78
   - type: appointed
     with: "[[Darren Indyke]]"
     start: 2019-08-08
     role: "co-executor under the will"
-    fn: 135
+    fn: 143
   - type: appointed
     with: "[[Richard Kahn]]"
     start: 2019-08-08
     role: "co-executor under the will"
-    fn: 135
+    fn: 143
   - type: appointed
     with: "[[Boris Nikolic]]"
     start: 2019-08-08
     role: "backup executor under the will"
-    fn: 135
+    fn: 143
   - type: investigated
     with: "[[Palm Beach Police Department]]"
     reverse: true
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ relations:
     start: 2019
     end: 2019
     role: "United States v. Epstein, 19 Cr. 490"
-    fn: 126
+    fn: 134
   - type: represented
     with: "[[Jay Lefkowitz]]"
     reverse: true
@@ -168,29 +168,29 @@ relations:
     reverse: true
     start: 2011
     end: 2019
-    fn: 96
+    fn: 104
   - type: represented
     with: "[[Reid Weingarten]]"
     reverse: true
     start: 2019
     end: 2019
-    fn: 127
+    fn: 135
   - type: represented
     with: "[[Marc Fernich]]"
     reverse: true
     start: 2019
     end: 2019
-    fn: 127
+    fn: 135
   - type: relative_of
     with: "[[Mark Epstein]]"
     role: "brother"
-    fn: 100
+    fn: 108
   - type: funded
     with: "[[New School for Social Research]]"
     start: 2014
     end: 2019
     role: "tuition and transfers paid from Epstein accounts, as recorded in Deutsche Bank statements and a Deutsche Bank exhibit"
-    fn: 118
+    fn: 126
   - type: funded
     with: "[[Stephen Kosslyn]]"
     role: "research support, two gifts totaling $200,000 to Harvard for Kosslyn's research"
@@ -305,137 +305,143 @@ From the late 1990s Epstein financed and embedded himself in elite science throu
 
 Harvard's Office of the General Counsel found that the Kosslyn money was two gifts, in 1998 and 2002, totaling $200,000 "to support Kosslyn's research," and that Kosslyn recommended Epstein on September 2, 2005, writing "I have known Jeffrey for about nine years" and "He has been my only collaborator on this project (for some five years now, I believe)." The application was approved on September 3, 2005 and a second year on April 21, 2006. Kosslyn told the reviewers that Epstein "was barely ever around."[^61]
 
-[[Minerva Project]] announced Kosslyn as its Founding Dean on March 12, 2013, and Epstein corresponded with him and with the company's executives in 2013 and 2014. Epstein's scheduler Lesley Groff arranged a February 22, 2013 lunch that the schedule lists as "12:00pm Lunch w/Professor Kosslyn, Ben Nelson and Senator Bob Kerrey."[^62] On February 23, 2013 Kosslyn wrote that he was "absolutely torn by the situation" about a position with the company, and Epstein replied: "i see little downside , in taking it, but having all the money you need up front."[^63]
+The [[Stanford Daily]] reported in February 2026, from files released by the Department of Justice, that the official visitor log of the [[Palm Beach County Jail]] lists Kosslyn as a visitor to Epstein on September 20 and 21, 2008, during Epstein's sentence there, when Kosslyn was Dean of Social Science at Harvard.[^62] A plaintiff's witness list in a civil suit against Epstein in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida]] (No. 08-CV-80893) lists, at entry 102, "All people on inmate visitor log," followed by three names, the third of which is "Stephan Kosslyn."[^63] On July 22, 2009, the day the Daily gives as Epstein's release, Epstein emailed Kosslyn "home and free," and Kosslyn replied: "HI Jeffrey!!!!! THIS IS FABULOUS! I'm currently in San Francisco, about to go to San Diego today. I'll give you a quick call at some point just to check in..." The reply went on to ask Epstein how the name "Center for Enhanced Cognition" sounded.[^64]
 
-On September 15, 2014 Epstein wrote to Kosslyn that [[Bob Kerrey]] "did say you had rasied 100 m with the condition that if students didn't come the money would be returned" (sic throughout). Kosslyn replied: "I know nothing about that condition, and have no idea where he got that idea.. But maybe he knows something I don't know."[^64] On September 16, 2014 Kerrey wrote that the company "will return unspent money from the second round if we fail to recruit at the standard we have set."[^65] Form D filings of the company record a first sale on October 14, 2014 and an offering of $78,600,000.[^66]
+A schedule email for Epstein dated April 27, 2011 lists a dinner on Sunday, May 1 with [[Woody Allen]] and "Prof. Steve Kosslyn," and a lunch with "Prof. Kosslyn" on Tuesday, May 3.[^65] On May 5, 2012 Kosslyn forwarded Epstein the save-the-date for the [[Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences]] summit with the message "I hope you can join us!"[^66] A message from a member of Epstein's staff dated August 7, 2012 states that "we went with Kosslyn until about 2 and took him for lunch."[^67]
 
-Epstein cultivated scientists including Marvin Minsky of the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], the geneticist George Church, the physicist [[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][^67][^68]
+A March 4, 2011 email from the journalist [[Annette Witheridge]], writing on behalf of the [[Mail on Sunday]], put questions to Ghislaine Maxwell that included the statement that a woman "was required to have sex with friends of Ms Maxwell and Mr Epstein, including Glenn Dubin, Les Wexner, Ehud Barak, former Senator George Mitchell and Stephen Kosslyn."[^68] Kosslyn denied the allegation in a February 16, 2026 statement to the Daily: "There is no such dispute. I did not." He cited a court order that found the reference to his name in an unpublished manuscript to be a "scrivener's error," and the Daily reported that the woman testified in a 2016 deposition that she "possibly" met him and answered "no" when asked whether she had ever had sex with him.[^69]
 
-After President [[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]] and the [[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]] "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."[^69] 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, [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|Enhanced Education]]," and, by the account of internal [[MIT Media Lab]] emails, 5.5 million dollars to the Media Lab in 2014 at Epstein's direction.[^59][^70][^71][^72]
+[[Minerva Project]] announced Kosslyn as its Founding Dean on March 12, 2013, and Epstein corresponded with him and with the company's executives in 2013 and 2014. Epstein's scheduler Lesley Groff arranged a February 22, 2013 lunch that the schedule lists as "12:00pm Lunch w/Professor Kosslyn, Ben Nelson and Senator Bob Kerrey."[^70] On the evening of February 22, 2013 Kosslyn wrote that he was "absolutely torn by the situation" about a position with the company, and Epstein replied: "i see little downside , in taking it, but having all the money you need up front."[^71]
 
-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]] and [[eugenics]]. In 2010, after his conviction, Epstein gave 20,000 dollars to the [[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]]. 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][^70][^73][^74]
+On September 15, 2014 Epstein wrote to Kosslyn that [[Bob Kerrey]] "did say you had rasied 100 m with the condition that if students didn't come the money would be returned" (sic throughout). Kosslyn replied: "I know nothing about that condition, and have no idea where he got that idea.. But maybe he knows something I don't know."[^72] On September 16, 2014 Kerrey wrote that the company "will return unspent money from the second round if we fail to recruit at the standard we have set."[^73] Form D filings of the company record a first sale on October 14, 2014 and an offering of $78,600,000.[^74]
 
-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]] 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."[^59][^73]
+Epstein cultivated scientists including Marvin Minsky of the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], the geneticist George Church, the physicist [[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][^75][^76]
 
-The MIT Media Lab director [[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]] 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."[^71][^75]
+After President [[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]] and the [[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]] "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."[^77] 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, [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|Enhanced Education]]," and, by the account of internal [[MIT Media Lab]] emails, 5.5 million dollars to the Media Lab in 2014 at Epstein's direction.[^59][^78][^79][^80]
+
+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]] and [[eugenics]]. In 2010, after his conviction, Epstein gave 20,000 dollars to the [[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]]. 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][^78][^81][^82]
+
+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]] 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."[^59][^81]
+
+The MIT Media Lab director [[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]] 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."[^79][^83]
 
 ### 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]] and [[Soon-Yi Previn]], [[Katie Couric]] and [[George Stephanopoulos]], describing the house as "one [of] the largest single dwellings in New York."[^76]
+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 and [[Soon-Yi Previn]], [[Katie Couric]] and [[George Stephanopoulos]], describing the house as "one [of] the largest single dwellings in New York."[^84]
 
-The [[Wall Street Journal]] reporting on his recovered calendars documented post-conviction meetings with [[Noam Chomsky]], [[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]] 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.[^77][^78][^79]
+The [[Wall Street Journal]] reporting on his recovered calendars documented post-conviction meetings with [[Noam Chomsky]], [[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]] 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.[^85][^86][^87]
 
-Epstein's charity [[Gratitude America]], whose operating account was at [[Deutsche Bank]] Trust Company Americas, paid the president of [[Bard College]], [[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."[^80]
+Epstein's charity [[Gratitude America]], whose operating account was at [[Deutsche Bank]] Trust Company Americas, paid the president of [[Bard College]], [[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."[^88]
 
-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]] 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.[^81]
+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]] 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.[^89]
 
-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]]), 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.[^82]
+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]]), 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.[^90]
 
-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."[^83][^84]
+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."[^91][^92]
 
-JPMorgan records produced in the Virgin Islands case show Epstein arranging introductions for [[Jes Staley]] to Ehud Barak, [[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]]'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][^43][^85]
+JPMorgan records produced in the Virgin Islands case show Epstein arranging introductions for [[Jes Staley]] to Ehud Barak, [[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]]'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][^43][^93]
 
-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]]. 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 Partners|BGC Financial]] and [[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.[^86][^87]
+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]]. 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 Partners|BGC Financial]] and [[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.[^94][^95]
 
-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.[^77][^88][^89]
+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.[^85][^96][^97]
 
 ### 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]]. 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."[^90]
+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]]. 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."[^98]
 
-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]], 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]], 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.[^91][^92][^93]
+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]], 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]], 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.[^99][^100][^101]
 
 On November 8, 2017, as reporting broke on the lawyer [[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]], 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]], 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]] 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.[^94]
+Epstein's iMessage exchanges with Vitaly Churkin, Russia's Permanent Representative to the [[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]], 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]] 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.[^102]
 
 ### 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 Technologies|Palantir]]; 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]] official, that Acosta had told Trump transition vetters he was given to understand Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and to leave the case alone.[^54][^77]
+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 Technologies|Palantir]]; 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]] official, that Acosta had told Trump transition vetters he was given to understand Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and to leave the case alone.[^54][^85]
 
-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.[^54][^95]
+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.[^54][^103]
 
-In July 2011 Epstein, through his lawyer [[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 [[Freedom of Information Act|FOIA]] - they have it - we need a separate privacy waiver signed in 2011 for them to fully process."[^96]
+In July 2011 Epstein, through his lawyer [[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 [[Freedom of Information Act|FOIA]] - they have it - we need a separate privacy waiver signed in 2011 for them to fully process."[^104]
 
-The earliest known report to law enforcement came on August 29, 1996, when Maria Farmer reported to the [[New York City Police Department|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 [[United States Department of State|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.[^97][^98][^99]
+The earliest known report to law enforcement came on August 29, 1996, when Maria Farmer reported to the [[New York City Police Department|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 [[United States Department of State|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.[^105][^106][^107]
 
-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][^54][^100][^101]
+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][^54][^108][^109]
 
 ### 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]] 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]], 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][^102][^103]
+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]] 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]], 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][^110][^111]
 
-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]] review commissioned by [[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]]'s staff put Black's share at 166 million dollars, or 90 percent. Black's wires came from [[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]] in 2013.[^11][^12][^104][^105][^106]
+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]] review commissioned by [[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]]'s staff put Black's share at 166 million dollars, or 90 percent. Black's wires came from [[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]] in 2013.[^11][^12][^112][^113][^114]
 
-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]] 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."[^107]
+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]] 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."[^115]
 
-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]], Darren Indyke, [[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]] that JPMorgan bought into that year. On July 20, 2011 Cutler wrote to Staley and [[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][^43][^103][^108]
+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]], Darren Indyke, [[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]] that JPMorgan bought into that year. On July 20, 2011 Cutler wrote to Staley and [[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][^43][^111][^116]
 
-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|Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem]]," the chairman of [[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.[^109]
+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|Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem]]," the chairman of [[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.[^117]
 
-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 [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation|FDIC]] vehicle to borrow from the [[Federal Reserve]] 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.[^110][^111]
+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 [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation|FDIC]] vehicle to borrow from the [[Federal Reserve]] 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.[^118][^119]
 
-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]]'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][^110][^112][^113][^114]
+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]]'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][^118][^120][^121][^122]
 
 ### Payments to The New School
 
-Deutsche Bank statements for Epstein's account record payments to [[New School for Social Research|The New School]]. The August 2015 statement lists an outgoing transfer on August 6 of $16,083.00 to a Bank of America account with the beneficiary line "E NEW SCHOOL OPERATING ACCOUNT."[^115] The October 2016 statement lists a preauthorized debit dated October 27 of $17,030.00 described as "TUITION THE NEW SCHOOL."[^116] The May 2017 statement lists a preauthorized debit dated May 10 of $10,856.00 described as "TUITION THE NEW SCHOOL"; the same page lists an outgoing transfer on May 11 of $3,589.00 through [[Sterling National Bank]] with the beneficiary line "FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY," and, on May 19, an American Express payment of $89,103.78.[^117]
+Deutsche Bank statements for Epstein's account record payments to [[New School for Social Research|The New School]]. The August 2015 statement lists an outgoing transfer on August 6 of $16,083.00 to a Bank of America account with the beneficiary line "E NEW SCHOOL OPERATING ACCOUNT."[^123] The October 2016 statement lists a preauthorized debit dated October 27 of $17,030.00 described as "TUITION THE NEW SCHOOL."[^124] The May 2017 statement lists a preauthorized debit dated May 10 of $10,856.00 described as "TUITION THE NEW SCHOOL"; the same page lists an outgoing transfer on May 11 of $3,589.00 through [[Sterling National Bank]] with the beneficiary line "FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY," and, on May 19, an American Express payment of $89,103.78.[^125]
 
-A Deutsche Bank presentation to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, dated September 12, 2019, lists nine payments to The New School from Epstein accounts in an exhibit titled "Tuition Payments on Behalf of Children / Women": $29,025 (February 4, 2014), $15,704 (January 5, 2015), $4,730 (June 12, 2015), $16,083 (August 6, 2015), $16,656 (December 9, 2015), $4,420 (June 14, 2016), $16,850 (July 8, 2016), $3,756 (January 13, 2017) and $8,790 (January 10, 2019). The beneficiary is redacted; the exhibit's background column describes the redacted beneficiary as one who "appears to be a Russian model" and as "listed as a beneficiary of the Butterfly Trust." The exhibit's only [[New York Film Academy]] entry is $3,442 on March 10, 2017.[^118]
+A Deutsche Bank presentation to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, dated September 12, 2019, lists nine payments to The New School from Epstein accounts in an exhibit titled "Tuition Payments on Behalf of Children / Women": $29,025 (February 4, 2014), $15,704 (January 5, 2015), $4,730 (June 12, 2015), $16,083 (August 6, 2015), $16,656 (December 9, 2015), $4,420 (June 14, 2016), $16,850 (July 8, 2016), $3,756 (January 13, 2017) and $8,790 (January 10, 2019). The beneficiary is redacted; the exhibit's background column describes the redacted beneficiary as one who "appears to be a Russian model" and as "listed as a beneficiary of the Butterfly Trust." The exhibit's only [[New York Film Academy]] entry is $3,442 on March 10, 2017.[^126]
 
 ### 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]], the office manager of Southern Trust and the wife of Governor [[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]], 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][^119][^120]
+According to JPMorgan's 2023 filings in the territory's suit against the bank, Epstein's local affairs were managed by [[Cecile de Jongh]], the office manager of Southern Trust and the wife of Governor [[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]], 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][^127][^128]
 
-The territory's later Attorney General, [[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]] 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 [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority|Economic Development Authority]] board; he later represented Bryan in a sealed 2023 divorce. Bryan's chief legal counsel, [[David Bornn]], a former employee of Epstein's attorney [[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][^121][^122]
+The territory's later Attorney General, [[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]] 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 [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority|Economic Development Authority]] board; he later represented Bryan in a sealed 2023 divorce. Bryan's chief legal counsel, [[David Bornn]], a former employee of Epstein's attorney [[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][^129][^130]
 
 ### 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]], under an April 9, 2019 order. On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested at [[Teterboro Airport]] in [[New Jersey]] as he returned from Paris, charged by the office under [[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]].[^1][^123][^124]
+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]], under an April 9, 2019 order. On July 6, 2019, Epstein was arrested at [[Teterboro Airport]] in [[New Jersey]] as he returned from Paris, charged by the office under [[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]].[^1][^131][^132]
 
-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]], 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.[^125][^126][^127]
+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]], 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.[^133][^134][^135]
 
-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]], 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?"[^100][^126][^128]
+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]], 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?"[^108][^134][^136]
 
 ### The Detention at the Metropolitan Correctional Center
 
-At the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York]], Epstein's cellmate was [[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.[^129][^130]
+At the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York]], Epstein's cellmate was [[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.[^137][^138]
 
-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."[^123][^129][^130][^131]
+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."[^131][^137][^138][^139]
 
 ### 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]] and [[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]], retained by Epstein's brother [[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.[^100][^129][^130][^131]
+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]] and [[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]], retained by Epstein's brother [[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.[^108][^137][^138][^139]
 
-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.[^130][^131][^132][^133][^134]
+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.[^138][^139][^140][^141][^142]
 
 ### The Estate and the Executors
 
-Epstein's will, signed on August 8, 2019, named Indyke and Kahn as executors and [[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][^85][^113][^135]
+Epstein's will, signed on August 8, 2019, named Indyke and Kahn as executors and [[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][^93][^121][^143]
 
-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]], 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][^113][^136][^137]
+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]], 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][^121][^144][^145]
 
 ### 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]], 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][^123][^138][^139]
+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]], 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][^131][^146][^147]
 
-On July 18, 2025, Deputy Attorney General [[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]] 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]], and Senator [[Sheldon Whitehouse]] wrote that the transfer "raises questions about whether she has been given special treatment in exchange for political favors."[^140][^141][^142]
+On July 18, 2025, Deputy Attorney General [[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]] 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]], and Senator [[Sheldon Whitehouse]] wrote that the transfer "raises questions about whether she has been given special treatment in exchange for political favors."[^148][^149][^150]
 
 ### The Epstein Files, 2025 and 2026
 
-On February 27, 2025, Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]] released a "first phase" of [[Epstein Files|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][^132][^143][^144]
+On February 27, 2025, Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]] released a "first phase" of [[Epstein Files|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][^140][^151][^152]
 
-A separate strand concerned the 2003 "birthday book" assembled for Epstein's 50th birthday, which the [[The Wall Street Journal|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.[^88]
+A separate strand concerned the 2003 "birthday book" assembled for Epstein's 50th birthday, which the [[The Wall Street Journal|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.[^96]
 
-On November 14, 2025, at Trump's request, Bondi assigned [[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]] (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]], 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.[^32][^145][^146][^147][^148]
+On November 14, 2025, at Trump's request, Bondi assigned [[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]] (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]], 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.[^32][^153][^154][^155][^156]
 
-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.[^123][^149][^150][^151][^152]
+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.[^131][^157][^158][^159][^160]
 
-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]] 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][^153][^154][^155][^156]
+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]] 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][^161][^162][^163][^164]
 
-The 2025 and 2026 releases produced resignations and removals without prosecutions. Summers left the [[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 Hotels Corporation|Hyatt]] on February 17, 2026, and Ruemmler resigned as general counsel of [[Goldman Sachs]].[^85][^157][^158][^159]
+The 2025 and 2026 releases produced resignations and removals without prosecutions. Summers left the [[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 Hotels Corporation|Hyatt]] on February 17, 2026, and Ruemmler resigned as general counsel of [[Goldman Sachs]].[^93][^165][^166][^167]
 
 ### Footnotes
 
@@ -497,104 +503,112 @@ The 2025 and 2026 releases produced resignations and removals without prosecutio
 [^56]: 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
 [^57]: 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
 [^58]: 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
-[^59]: 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
+[^59]: 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://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
 [^60]: 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
-[^61]: Harvard University, Office of the General Counsel, "Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University," May 2020, pp. 4-8. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
-[^62]: Epstein schedule email for February 22, 2013, EFTA00395264 and EFTA01905308, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00395264.pdf
-[^63]: Stephen M. Kosslyn email to Jeffrey Epstein, "thanks," February 23, 2013, EFTA01760981, Data Set 10, and Jeffrey Epstein email reply, "Re: thanks," February 22 to 23, 2013, EFTA00955209, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01760981.pdf
-[^64]: Jeffrey Epstein and Stephen M. Kosslyn emails, September 15, 2014, EFTA00996933 and EFTA00704445, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00704445.pdf
-[^65]: Bob Kerrey and Jeffrey Epstein, "Brunch," September 16, 2014, EFTA02590901 and EFTA02591244, Data Set 11, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02591244.pdf
-[^66]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed November 14, 2014, accession 0001546672-14-000002, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667214000002/primary_doc.xml
-[^67]: 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
-[^68]: 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
-[^69]: 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.
-[^70]: 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
-[^71]: 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
-[^72]: "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
-[^73]: 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
-[^74]: 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/
-[^75]: 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
-[^76]: 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
-[^77]: 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/
-[^78]: 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/
-[^79]: 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
-[^80]: 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
-[^81]: 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
-[^82]: 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
-[^83]: 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
-[^84]: "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
-[^85]: 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/
-[^86]: 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/
-[^87]: 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
-[^88]: "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
-[^89]: 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
-[^90]: 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
-[^91]: 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
-[^92]: 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
-[^93]: 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
-[^94]: 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
-[^95]: 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
-[^96]: 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
-[^97]: 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
-[^98]: 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
-[^99]: "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/
-[^100]: "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
-[^101]: 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
-[^102]: 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
-[^103]: 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
-[^104]: 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
-[^105]: 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
-[^106]: 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
-[^107]: 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
-[^108]: 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
-[^109]: 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
-[^110]: 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
-[^111]: 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
-[^112]: "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
-[^113]: 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
-[^114]: 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
-[^115]: DOJ Epstein Library, file EFTA01285659, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas statement for Jeffrey Epstein, August 1 to 31, 2015, page 1 of 5: "08-06 Outgoing Money Trnsf TO BANK OF AMERICA A/C [redacted] TH E NEW SCHOOL OPERATING ACCOUNT (16,083.00)."
-[^116]: DOJ Epstein Library, file EFTA01286417 (Bates EFTA01286419), Deutsche Bank statement for October 1 to 31, 2016, page 3 of 5: "10-27 Preauthorized Debit ... TUITION THE NEW SCHOOL (17,030.00)."
-[^117]: DOJ Epstein Library, file EFTA01299344 (Bates EFTA01299345), Deutsche Bank statement for May 1 to 31, 2017, page 2 of 5: "05-10 Preauthorized Debit ... TUITION THE NEW SCHOOL (10,856.00)"; "05-11 Outgoing Money Trnsf TO STERLING NATIONAL BANK A/C [redacted] FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (3,589.00)"; "05-19 Preauthorized Debit ... ACH PMT AMEX EPAYMENT (89,103.78)."
-[^118]: DOJ Epstein Library, file EFTA01681865, page marked EFTA01681912 (printed page 49), Deutsche Bank presentation to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, September 12, 2019, Exhibit R, "Tuition Payments on Behalf of Children / Women."
-[^119]: "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/
-[^120]: 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
-[^121]: 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
-[^122]: 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
-[^123]: 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/
-[^124]: "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
-[^125]: "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
-[^126]: *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
-[^127]: *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/
-[^128]: 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
-[^129]: 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
-[^130]: 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
-[^131]: 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/
-[^132]: 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
-[^133]: 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
-[^134]: "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/
-[^135]: "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
-[^136]: 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/
-[^137]: 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/
-[^138]: "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
-[^139]: "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
-[^140]: 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/
-[^141]: 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
-[^142]: 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
-[^143]: 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
-[^144]: 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
-[^145]: "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/
-[^146]: 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
-[^147]: 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
-[^148]: Pamela J. Bondi and Todd Blanche, letter to Congress, January 30, 2026, p. 4. https://www.justice.gov/letter-to-congress.pdf
-[^149]: 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
-[^150]: 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
-[^151]: "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
-[^152]: "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
-[^153]: 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
-[^154]: 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
-[^155]: 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
-[^156]: "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/
-[^157]: "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
-[^158]: 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
-[^159]: *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/
+[^61]: Harvard University, Office of the General Counsel, "Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University," May 2020, pp. 3, 5, 6 to 8, 10 and 26. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
+[^62]: Aadi Kucheria and Ashton Dolce, "Former Stanford academic Stephen Kosslyn Ph.D. '74 visited Epstein in jail, faced allegation of sexual assault," The Stanford Daily, February 5, 2026. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/05/sexual-assault-epstein-kosslyn/
+[^63]: Plaintiff Doe's witness list, Doe v. Epstein, No. 08-CV-80893-CIV-MARRA/JOHNSON (S.D. Fla.), entry 102, EFTA00725731, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00725731.pdf
+[^64]: Jeffrey Epstein and Stephen Kosslyn emails, July 22, 2009, EFTA01816448, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01816448.pdf
+[^65]: Epstein scheduler email "Schedule," April 27, 2011, EFTA00434357 and EFTA00307008, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00434357.pdf
+[^66]: S. M. Kosslyn to Jeffrey Epstein, "Fwd: SAVE-THE-DATE," May 5, 2012, EFTA01176697, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01176697.pdf
+[^67]: Staff email of August 7, 2012, EFTA02162936, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02162936.pdf
+[^68]: Annette Witheridge to Ghislaine Maxwell, March 4, 2011, forwarded in "Re: Fwd: FW: Ghislaine Maxwell," EFTA00653926 and EFTA00653931, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00653926.pdf
+[^69]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, statement of February 16, 2026, as quoted in Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 18, 2026, https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/18/stephen-kosslyn-denies-assault-claim/ ; Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 11, 2026, on the 2016 deposition. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/11/details-sexual-assault-claim-kosslyn/
+[^70]: Epstein schedule email for February 22, 2013, EFTA00395264 and EFTA01905308, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00395264.pdf
+[^71]: Stephen M. Kosslyn email to Jeffrey Epstein, "thanks," February 23, 2013, EFTA01760981, Data Set 10, and Jeffrey Epstein email reply, "Re: thanks," February 22 to 23, 2013, EFTA00955209, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01760981.pdf
+[^72]: Jeffrey Epstein and Stephen M. Kosslyn emails, September 15, 2014, EFTA00996933 and EFTA00704445, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00704445.pdf
+[^73]: Bob Kerrey and Jeffrey Epstein, "Brunch," September 16, 2014, EFTA02590901 and EFTA02591244, Data Set 11, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02591244.pdf
+[^74]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed November 14, 2014, accession 0001546672-14-000002, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667214000002/primary_doc.xml
+[^75]: 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
+[^76]: 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
+[^77]: 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.
+[^78]: 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
+[^79]: 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
+[^80]: "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
+[^81]: 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
+[^82]: 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/
+[^83]: 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
+[^84]: 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
+[^85]: 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/
+[^86]: 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/
+[^87]: 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
+[^88]: 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
+[^89]: 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
+[^90]: 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
+[^91]: 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
+[^92]: "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
+[^93]: 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/
+[^94]: 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/
+[^95]: 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
+[^96]: "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
+[^97]: 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
+[^98]: 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
+[^99]: 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
+[^100]: 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
+[^101]: 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
+[^102]: 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
+[^103]: 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
+[^104]: 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
+[^105]: 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
+[^106]: 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
+[^107]: "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/
+[^108]: "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
+[^109]: 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
+[^110]: 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
+[^111]: 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
+[^112]: 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
+[^113]: 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
+[^114]: 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
+[^115]: 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
+[^116]: 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
+[^117]: 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
+[^118]: 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
+[^119]: 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
+[^120]: "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
+[^121]: 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
+[^122]: 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
+[^123]: DOJ Epstein Library, file EFTA01285659, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas statement for Jeffrey Epstein, August 1 to 31, 2015, page 1 of 5: "08-06 Outgoing Money Trnsf TO BANK OF AMERICA A/C [redacted] TH E NEW SCHOOL OPERATING ACCOUNT (16,083.00)."
+[^124]: DOJ Epstein Library, file EFTA01286417 (Bates EFTA01286419), Deutsche Bank statement for October 1 to 31, 2016, page 3 of 5: "10-27 Preauthorized Debit ... TUITION THE NEW SCHOOL (17,030.00)."
+[^125]: DOJ Epstein Library, file EFTA01299344 (Bates EFTA01299345), Deutsche Bank statement for May 1 to 31, 2017, page 2 of 5: "05-10 Preauthorized Debit ... TUITION THE NEW SCHOOL (10,856.00)"; "05-11 Outgoing Money Trnsf TO STERLING NATIONAL BANK A/C [redacted] FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (3,589.00)"; "05-19 Preauthorized Debit ... ACH PMT AMEX EPAYMENT (89,103.78)."
+[^126]: DOJ Epstein Library, file EFTA01681865, page marked EFTA01681912 (printed page 49), Deutsche Bank presentation to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, September 12, 2019, Exhibit R, "Tuition Payments on Behalf of Children / Women."
+[^127]: "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/
+[^128]: 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
+[^129]: 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
+[^130]: 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
+[^131]: 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/
+[^132]: "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
+[^133]: "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
+[^134]: *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
+[^135]: *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/
+[^136]: 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
+[^137]: 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
+[^138]: 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
+[^139]: 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/
+[^140]: 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
+[^141]: 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
+[^142]: "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/
+[^143]: "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
+[^144]: 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/
+[^145]: 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/
+[^146]: "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
+[^147]: "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
+[^148]: 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/
+[^149]: 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
+[^150]: 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
+[^151]: 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
+[^152]: 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
+[^153]: "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/
+[^154]: 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
+[^155]: 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
+[^156]: Pamela J. Bondi and Todd Blanche, letter to Congress, January 30, 2026, p. 4. https://www.justice.gov/letter-to-congress.pdf
+[^157]: 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
+[^158]: 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
+[^159]: "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
+[^160]: "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
+[^161]: 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
+[^162]: 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
+[^163]: 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
+[^164]: "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/
+[^165]: "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
+[^166]: 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
+[^167]: *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/

10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Peter Milano.md

@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+---
+category: "Organized Crime"
+tags:
+  - Person
+  - OrganizedCrime
+  - LaCosaNostra
+  - LosAngeles
+  - Racketeering
+  - Gambling
+  - IndianGaming
+aliases:
+  - Peter Milano
+  - Peter John Milano
+  - Peter J. Milano
+created: 2026-10-09
+updated: 2026-10-09
+location: "Los Angeles, California"
+summary: "Boss of the Los Angeles crime family by 1986, convicted in a 1970s federal gambling case and a defendant in the 1987 federal racketeering case in Los Angeles in which he reportedly pleaded guilty."
+relations:
+  - type: head_of
+    with: "[[Los Angeles Crime Family]]"
+    start: 1986
+    role: "boss, identified as such in the California Attorney General's 1986 annual report"
+    fn: 3
+  - type: relative_of
+    with: "[[Carmen Milano]]"
+    role: "brother; underboss of the family in 1986"
+    start: 1986
+    fn: 3
+  - type: prosecuted
+    with: "[[Department of Justice]]"
+    reverse: true
+    role: "federal gambling conspiracy case; convicted on two counts, four-year concurrent sentence (United States v. Calaway)"
+    end: 1975
+    fn: 2
+  - type: prosecuted
+    with: "[[Department of Justice]]"
+    reverse: true
+    role: "federal racketeering and loansharking indictment returned May 21, 1987; detained pending trial; reported guilty plea in 1988"
+    start: 1987
+    end: 1988
+    fn: 6
+---
+
+Peter John Milano was identified as the boss of the [[Los Angeles Crime Family]], a [[La Cosa Nostra]] group, in 1986, and was a defendant in federal cases in 1975 and 1987. [[David Amoruso]] wrote in 2012 that Milano died on April 21 at age 86.[^1]
+
+### Gambling conviction, 1970s
+
+The earliest federal case located against Milano is a gambling conspiracy in the [[San Fernando Valley]] area of Los Angeles. The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] heard consolidated appeals in 1975 from five defendants, [[Martin C. Calaway]], [[Luigi Gelfuso]], [[Tony Endreola]], Milano and [[John Joseph Vaccaro]], who had been convicted under a three-count indictment charging conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. 1955, operation of an illegal gambling business, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Vaccaro was convicted on all three counts. Milano, Gelfuso, Calaway and Endreola were convicted on the first two. Milano, Gelfuso and Calaway received concurrent four-year sentences under each count, and Endreola received a suspended two-year sentence and probation.[^2]
+
+The court's account of the evidence says that Gelfuso and Vaccaro had agreed that Gelfuso and Milano would each receive 20 percent of the profits and Vaccaro 60 percent. The evidence suggested that Milano arranged free bail bonds for the operation's arrested employees. The court found that the evidence showed Milano knew of the conspiracy almost from its inception. After [[Coloduros]] told him in an alley near the bail bond office that Deems was cheating at the blackjack table, Milano replied, "I'll look into it." At the bail bond office, referring to a newspaper item, Milano stated that the conspirators had not told him "in the front" that they were using crooked dice. The court described the bail-bond evidence as "highly suspicious" and noted Milano's contention that he was engaged in the legitimate pursuit of his profession, and held the remaining evidence sufficient to support the finding of his participation. The court affirmed the judgments of conviction.[^2]
+
+### Boss of the family, 1986
+
+The [[California Attorney General's Office]] annual report to the legislature, issued in June 1987 covering 1986, described the Southern California Crime Family as "the only functioning traditional organized crime family based in this state." The report lists Peter John Milano as boss, his brother [[Carmen Milano]] as underboss and [[Jack LoCicero]] as consigliere. It names Luigi Gelfuso, [[Vincent Dominic Caci]], [[John Aquilante]] and [[Michael Rizzitello]] as caporegimes, and states that the family consisted of about 20 members. The report says the structure "remained unchanged in 1986."[^3]
+
+The report attributes the family's weakness "largely to police scrutiny and ineffective family leadership."[^3] It states that, in addition to the Southern California family, members and associates of the [[Gambino Crime Family]], the [[Lucchese Crime Family]] and the [[DeCavalcante crime family]] were involved in California businesses including pornography, high-stakes bingo on Indian reservations and vending machines.[^3]
+
+### Piggy's Vending and the Cabazon cardroom
+
+In its discussion of vending machines, the report describes an investigation of [[Piggy's Vending]] in [[Riverside County]]. It states that Keely Smith, also known as Dorothy Prima, the business's owner, had a boyfriend, [[Bobby Milano]], publicly identified as a member of the Southern California Crime Family, and that Bobby Milano's brother, Vincent Dominic Caci, is a caporegime of the family. The report adds in parentheses that Bobby Milano was often seen at the business. It states that [[Steven Cino]], the manager of Piggy's, and [[Rocco Zangari]], who was observed unloading cartons of cigarettes at the business, also have been identified as members of the family.[^4]
+
+On February 9, 1989 the [[Press-Enterprise]] of Riverside reported that Rocco Zangari, the manager of the cardroom of the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]] until 1981, had been sentenced the previous year to five years' probation and a $2,000 fine after pleading guilty to federal racketeering charges in Los Angeles. The article states that he was identified in the indictment in that case as an associate of Peter Milano, whom federal prosecutors identified as the leader of mob activities in Southern California until his conviction for racketeering.[^5]
+
+### The 1987 indictment and the Gelfuso appeal
+
+[[Michael Gelfuso]], Peter John Milano and Luigi Gelfuso were indicted on May 21, 1987 in a multi-count indictment charging them with racketeering and loansharking violations, conspiracy and attempt to distribute cocaine, and distribution of cocaine. They were ordered detained under the Bail Reform Act of 1984. The district court found that no condition or combination of conditions would reasonably assure the safety of the community, and found Michael and Luigi Gelfuso to be flight risks. The defendants did not appeal the denial of their motions to revoke the orders and instead moved the district court three months later for reconsideration, arguing that the length of their detention violated due process. They contended that the government's failure to deliver over 600 hours of taped conversations required them to move for a trial continuance; the district court found the government was not responsible for the delay and denied the motions. The Ninth Circuit affirmed on February 1, 1988 without deciding at what point detention becomes excessive, and noted that the defendants had been detained since June 1987 and that trial was then scheduled for March 1, 1988.[^6]
+
+[[United Press International]] reported on April 5, 1988 that the racketeering trial of Luigi Gelfuso Jr. and co-defendants [[John DeMattia]] and John Vaccaro had opened in Los Angeles federal court. The report stated that eleven other men, including Peter John Milano, described as the reputed boss of the Los Angeles Mafia, had already pleaded guilty, and that the case rested on an 18-count indictment returned the previous May.[^7]
+
+### Family
+
+Carmen Milano is identified in the 1986 report as underboss. In a 1998 federal indictment, the [[Las Vegas Sun]] described Carmen Milano as the reputed underboss of the Los Angeles mob and as the brother of Peter Milano.[^8]
+
+A [[Cleveland, Ohio]] underboss named [[Anthony Milano]] appears in the appendix to the [[President's Commission on Organized Crime]]'s 1986 report on organized crime, business and labor unions, in questions put to a Cleveland witness, who gave the same answer to each. One question described Anthony Milano as the consigliere and underboss of the Cleveland family; the next asked whether the witness was aware that a Carmen Milano, "a relation of Mr. Anthony Milano," was attorney for a joint council. The records found do not establish whether Anthony Milano is related to Peter Milano, or whether the Carmen Milano of the question is the Los Angeles underboss.[^9]
+
+### 1998 Las Vegas indictment
+
+A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in [[Las Vegas]] on February 2, 1998 named 16 defendants, including Carmen Milano, whom the Las Vegas Sun described as the reputed underboss of the Los Angeles mob, the suspected capos Vincent "Jimmy" Caci, 73, and [[Louis Caruso]], 40, and the made members [[Stephen Cino]], 60, [[Charles Caci]], 62, and Rocco Zangari, 65. The newspaper described the indictment as superseding a smaller April 17 indictment and as a 50-count case. The records found do not establish whether the Vincent "Jimmy" Caci of 1998 is the Vincent Dominic Caci named as a caporegime in 1986. It described the investigation as part of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]'s nationwide [[Operation Button-down]] initiative, which used court-approved electronic surveillance, informants and several undercover agents who had penetrated the Los Angeles mob.[^8]
+
+The article states that Peter Milano "was not charged in the two-year probe, which authorities said is continuing." It states that Carmen Milano, who owns a condominium in Las Vegas, surrendered to the FBI that morning. The Sun reported on February 4, 1998 that Carmen Milano told the paper after a hearing, "I'm being framed" and "This is a government conspiracy," and that he was released on a $25,000 bond carried over from a federal money laundering charge against him in Los Angeles.[^10] According to the article, the indictment accused Carmen Milano of trying to share in the profits of the illicit activities after the killing of [[Herbie Blitzstein]], and charged him, with [[Peter Caruso]], with extortion and threats against an undercover agent. The article says the plan to kill Blitzstein was hatched in October, before the January 6, 1997 killing, at a meeting in Las Vegas with Milano, Cino and [[John Branco]], a longtime hoodlum who had become a government informant.[^8]
+
+The Ninth Circuit's appellate opinion in the Blitzstein case recorded that [[Robert Panaro]] and Stephen Cino, along with fourteen co-defendants, were charged in a fifty-count indictment with racketeering-related crimes including murder, conspiracy to commit extortion, money laundering, counterfeiting, wire fraud and mail fraud. The opinion describes count 33, which charged Cino with money laundering by aiding and abetting Vincent Caci's acceptance, in California, of a $2,000 tribute payment from Nevada.[^11]
+
+In March 2000 the Las Vegas Sun reported that Carmen Milano and Dominic Spinale had pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, and that Zangari pleaded guilty to supervising other mob members while they sold $75,000 in counterfeit checks to undercover agents in the fall of 1996. The article describes Carmen Milano as the Los Angeles La Cosa Nostra family underboss.[^12]
+
+### Death
+
+Amoruso, writing for [[Gangsters Inc.]] on August 4, 2012, wrote that Peter John Milano died on April 21 at age 86 and that the death went unnoticed by the media and the public. Amoruso also wrote that Milano became head of the Los Angeles crime family in 1980 after his predecessors were sent to prison on racketeering charges, that he and his crew pleaded guilty in 1988 to racketeering and extortion charges, and that he was released from prison on April 5, 1991.[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: David Amoruso, "Three dead mobsters three different stories," *Gangsters Inc.*, August 4, 2012. https://gangstersinc.org/2012/08/04/three-dead-mobsters-three-different-stories/
+[^2]: *United States v. Calaway*, 524 F.2d 609 (9th Cir. Oct. 3, 1975), consolidated appeals of Martin C. Calaway, Luigi Gelfuso, Tony Endreola, Peter John Milano and John Joseph Vaccaro. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8910026/united-states-v-calaway/ and https://static.case.law/f2d/524/cases/0609-01.json
+[^3]: California Department of Justice, Bureau of Organized Crime and Criminal Intelligence, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987; Attorney General John K. Van de Kamp), pp. 2-3, "Southern California Crime Family" and "Leadership of the Southern California Crime Family," and pp. 6-7, "Traditional Organized Crime Involvement in Businesses." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
+[^4]: California Department of Justice, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987), pp. 19-20, "Piggy's Vending." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
+[^5]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 9, 1989, p. A-1, "Cabazon bingo casino listed as Mafia-tied," reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^6]: *United States v. Michael Gelfuso, Peter John Milano and Luigi Gelfuso*, 838 F.2d 358 (9th Cir. Feb. 1, 1988). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/500776/united-states-v-michael-gelfuso-peter-john-milano-and-luigi-gelfuso/ and https://static.case.law/f2d/838/cases/0358-01.json
+[^7]: United Press International, "Trial begins for reputed members of 'Mickey Mouse Mafia,'" April 5, 1988. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/04/05/Trial-begins-for-reputed-members-of-Mickey-Mouse-Mafia/4166576216000/
+[^8]: Jeff German, "FBI deals crippling blow to L.A. mob," *Las Vegas Sun*, February 3, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/03/fbi-deals-crippling-blow-to-la-mob/
+[^9]: President's Commission on Organized Crime, *The Edge: Organized Crime, Business, and Labor Unions* (1986), appendix hearing transcript (Cleveland witness). https://ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/102922NCJRS.pdf
+[^10]: Jeff German, "Reputed underboss Milano: 'I'm being framed,'" *Las Vegas Sun*, February 4, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/04/reputed-underboss-milano-im-being-framed/
+[^11]: *United States v. Panaro*, 241 F.3d 1104 (9th Cir. Feb. 28, 2001), appeal of Robert Panaro and Stephen Cino. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/772293/united-states-v-robert-panaro-united-states-of-america-v-stephen-cino/ and https://static.case.law/f3d/241/cases/1104-01.json
+[^12]: Kim Smith, "Alleged mobsters plead guilty," *Las Vegas Sun*, March 13, 2000. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/mar/13/alleged-mobsters-plead-guilty/

10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Stephen Kosslyn.md

@@ -0,0 +1,213 @@
+---
+aliases:
+  - Stephen Kosslyn
+  - Stephen M. Kosslyn
+  - Stephen Michael Kosslyn
+  - S. M. Kosslyn
+  - Stephan Kosslyn
+  - Steve Kosslyn
+category: "Scientists & Researchers"
+tags:
+  - Scientist
+  - Psychologist
+  - CognitiveNeuroscience
+  - MentalImagery
+  - Harvard
+  - Stanford
+  - Minerva
+  - JeffreyEpstein
+  - ONR
+  - AFOSR
+  - DARPA
+  - NSF
+  - NIH
+summary: "Cognitive neuroscientist who chaired Harvard's psychology department, directed Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences from 2011 to 2013, and was named founding dean of the Minerva Project in 2013."
+created: 2026-10-09
+updated: 2026-10-09
+relations:
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Harvard University]]"
+    role: "faculty member, chair of the Department of Psychology from 2005, divisional dean for the social sciences from July 1, 2008"
+    start: 1977
+    end: 2010
+    fn: 3
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Stanford University]]"
+    role: "director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences"
+    start: 2011
+    end: 2013
+    fn: 7
+  - type: head_of
+    with: "[[Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences]]"
+    role: "director"
+    start: 2011-01-01
+    end: 2013
+    fn: 7
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Minerva Project]]"
+    role: "founding dean, Minerva School of Arts and Sciences"
+    start: 2013-03-12
+    fn: 1
+  - type: funded
+    with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]"
+    reverse: true
+    role: "two gifts totaling $200,000 to Harvard in support of Kosslyn's research"
+    start: 1998
+    end: 2002
+    fn: 26
+  - type: contractor_to
+    with: "[[Office of Naval Research]]"
+    role: "principal investigator on contracts N00014-79-C-0982, N00014-82-C-0166, N00014-83-K-0095, N00014-85-K-0291 and N00014-91-J-1243"
+    start: 1979
+    end: 1993
+    fn: 11
+  - type: contractor_to
+    with: "[[Air Force Office of Scientific Research]]"
+    role: "principal investigator on AFOSR grants 88-0012, AFOSR-89-0090, AFOSR-91-0100, F49620-98-1-0334 and F49620-99-1-0114"
+    start: 1988
+    end: 2001
+    fn: 15
+  - type: contractor_to
+    with: "[[DARPA]]"
+    role: "principal investigator on award FA8750-05-2-0270, program BICA"
+    start: 2005
+    end: 2007
+    fn: 22
+  - type: funded
+    with: "[[National Science Foundation]]"
+    reverse: true
+    role: "principal investigator on NSF awards 0411725 and 0322611, co-principal investigator on 0106760"
+    start: 2001
+    end: 2009
+    fn: 23
+  - type: funded
+    with: "[[National Institutes of Health]]"
+    reverse: true
+    role: "principal investigator on NIMH, NIA and NINDS grants including R01MH060734 and R01MH039478"
+    start: 1984
+    end: 2009
+    fn: 24
+---
+
+Stephen M. Kosslyn is an American psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist whose research on visual mental imagery was supported for more than three decades by the [[Office of Naval Research]], the [[Air Force Office of Scientific Research]], the [[DARPA|Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]], the [[National Science Foundation]] and the [[National Institutes of Health]]. He chaired the [[Harvard University]] Department of Psychology, served as divisional dean for the social sciences there, directed the [[Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences]] at [[Stanford University]] from 2011 to 2013, and was named founding dean of the [[Minerva Project]] in March 2013.
+
+### Academic appointments
+
+Kosslyn received his doctorate in psychology from Stanford. He was an assistant professor at [[Johns Hopkins University]] and an associate professor at Harvard and [[Brandeis University]], was appointed a full professor at Harvard in 1983, and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and held a Guggenheim Fellowship.[^1] He was at Johns Hopkins from 1976 to 1978 and at Brandeis from 1981 to 1983.[^2] He joined Harvard's faculty in 1977.[^3] His 1983 book is [[Ghosts in the Mind's Machine]], and his book [[Top Brain, Bottom Brain]], written with [[G. W. Miller]], develops a theory of "cognitive modes."[^1]
+
+He was chair of Harvard's Psychology Department in 2005.[^4] On April 24, 2008 he was named divisional dean for the social sciences, effective July 1, 2008, while holding the title of John Lindsley Professor of Psychology and chair of the Department of Psychology.[^5] In July 2010 he was named director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, effective January 1, 2011, succeeding [[Iris Litt]].[^6] He served as director from 2011 to 2013 and launched the Center's annual summit.[^7] A Stanford spokesperson told the [[Stanford Daily]] in February 2026 that he had not held a position at Stanford since his appointment ended in 2013.[^8]
+
+On March 12, 2013 the Minerva Project announced that Kosslyn had been appointed founding dean and would lead the academics and curriculum of the university, joining from Stanford.[^1] [[Ben Nelson]], identified in the release as founder and CEO, said there was "no one more qualified to lead the university's academic efforts." [[Larry Summers]], identified as chairman of the advisory board, said Kosslyn "has demonstrated again and again that great thinkers can be great doers." The release said the curriculum "is based in part on studies of human motivation, learning, and memory."[^1]
+
+By September 2014 his email signature gave his position as dean of the Minerva School of Arts and Sciences at the [[Keck Graduate Institute]].[^9] A July 26, 2013 message from [[Roger Schank]] to [[Jeffrey Epstein]] reported that he "ran into kosslyn wed who is also involved now."[^10]
+
+### Federal and military research funding
+
+### Office of Naval Research contracts
+
+Kosslyn's imagery work at Brandeis University was carried out under Office of Naval Research contract N00014-79-C-0982 (Code 458), as reported in a technical report filed with the [[Defense Technical Information Center]], dated January 24, 1983, titled "Components of Mental Imagery Representation." He is listed with [[Jennifer Brunn|J. L. Brunn]], [[Kyle Cave|K. R. Cave]] and [[Roger Wallach|R. W. Wallach]] as authors, and Brandeis University as the performing organization.[^11] Three technical reports dated August 20, 1984 report work carried out under Office of Naval Research contracts N00014-82-C-0166 and N00014-83-K-0095. They are "Toward a Computational Neuropsychology of High-Level Vision," "A Computational Analysis of Mental Image Generation: Evidence from Functional Dissociations in Split-Brain Patients," written with [[Michael Gazzaniga]], and "Dissociations between Imagery and Language Processing."[^12]
+
+A technical report dated October 31, 1985, titled "Visual Hemispheric Specialization: A Computational Theory," lists contract N00014-85-K-0291. A report dated July 28, 1987, titled "Understanding Charts and Graphs," lists the same contract, program element 61153N, and the Personnel and Training Research Programs, Code 1142PT.[^13] Quarterly letters from Kosslyn to Dr. [[Terry Allard]] of the Office of Naval Research's cognitive science programs, dated August 8, 1991 and February 15, 1992, report on a project titled "PET Studies of Components of High-Level Vision" under contract N00014-91-J-1243. The August 1991 letter states: "we have strong evidence (p = .0001) that primary visual cortex is activated selectively during visual mental imagery."[^14]
+
+### Air Force and AFOSR grants
+
+The Air Force Office of Scientific Research funded the longest run of Kosslyn's imagery work, beginning with AFOSR grant 88-0012. A final technical report titled "Neuropsychological Components of Imagery Processing," with the header "AFOSR/ONR FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT," names Kosslyn as principal investigator for Harvard University and is dated January 25, 1991.[^15] An earlier report dated February 28, 1989 states that the work "was supported by ONR contract N00014-85-K-0291 and AFOSR grant 88-0012."[^16] An annual report for 1989 covers the same grant.[^17]
+
+Two later AFOSR reports are titled "Neuropsychological Components of Object Identification." The annual report dated January 10, 1992 covers December 1, 1990 to December 31, 1991 and lists grant AFOSR-91-0100. The final report, dated January 29, 1993, covers December 1990 to November 1992 and prints "AFOSR 91-0100" as its funding number.[^18] An equipment grant, AFOSR-89-0090, covered December 1, 1988 to November 30, 1989 under the title "DURIP - Computational Modeling of Cognitive Processes." Its report, dated March 6, 1990, says the equipment purchased under the grant consisted of three VAXstations and two Macintosh II systems.[^19]
+
+Grant F49620-98-1-0334 funded a battery of tasks on individual differences in visual cognition, with a reporting period running through November 30, 2000. Its final report states that the period of the grant was reduced before the planned work on real-world tasks could be done.[^20] A second equipment grant, F49620-99-1-0114, covered March 1, 1999 to February 29, 2000. Its final technical report, dated February 9, 2001, states that a frameless stereotactic device purchased with the funds could not be used because the vendor failed to supply the software needed to read the brain imaging data, and that the Harvard Office of the General Counsel negotiated a full refund, received in early February 2001.[^21]
+
+### DARPA award
+
+A final report dated February 2008, titled "High-Level Vision: Top-Down Processing in Neurally Inspired Architectures," states that it was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under DARPA Order No. V026/00. It covers September 2005 to August 2007 under award FA8750-05-2-0270, program element 61101E, project BICA, and is written by Kosslyn with [[Bruce Draper]], [[Giorgio Ganis]] and [[Mark Knobel]], with the [[Air Force Research Laboratory]] at Rome, New York as monitoring agency.[^22]
+
+### National Science Foundation awards
+
+Kosslyn was principal investigator on the following Harvard awards: "Cognitive Style: Individual Differences in Object and Spatial Imagery" ($1,263,430, September 1, 2004 to August 31, 2009); "fMRI and DOI Investigations of Deception" ($899,962, January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2008, with Giorgio Ganis as co-principal investigator); and "The Structure of Mental Imagery Lateralization" ($255,000, August 15, 1990 to January 31, 1994). The abstract of the deception award states that its first goal is "to investigate the neural basis of deception." Earlier awards include four under the title "Visual Images As Memory Structures" between 1976 and 1985, at Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Brandeis, and a 1977 National Needs Postdoctoral Fellowship. A further award, "ROLE: Cognitive Styles and Individual Differences in Imagery" ($2,943,614, September 1, 2001 to August 31, 2009) with [[J. Richard Hackman]] as principal investigator and Kosslyn as co-principal investigator, while the award abstract names Kosslyn as principal investigator.[^23]
+
+### National Institutes of Health grants
+
+Kosslyn was principal investigator on the following NIH awards. R01MH039478, "Visual Images as Memory Structures," was funded by the [[National Institute of Mental Health]] from 1984 to 1986. R01AG012675, "Imagery Processing in Old Age," was funded by the [[National Institute on Aging]] from 1995 to 1997. P01NS017778, "Lateralization of Imagery Processing," was funded by the [[National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke]] in fiscal years 1992 and 1993 under an organization listed as the [[University of California at Davis]]. P01NS027950, "Neuropsychological Components of High-Level Vision," was funded by the same institute in fiscal year 1996. 1F06TW002247, "Does Visual Imagery Activate Area 17? fMRI Studies," was funded by the [[Fogarty International Center]] in 1998. R01MH060734, "Cognitive Neuroscience of Visual Imagery: fMRI and TMS Studies," ran from January 6, 2000 to July 31, 2009. T32MH070328, "Graduate Training in Psychology and Neuroimaging," ran from 2004 to 2009.[^24]
+
+### Imagery research cited in an SRI remote viewing report
+
+A December 1988 [[Stanford Research Institute|SRI International]] final report on forced-choice remote viewing (Objective E, Task 4, SRI Project 1291, covering October 1, 1987 to September 30, 1988), written by [[Edwin May|Edwin C. May]] and [[Virginia Trask|Virginia V. Trask]], is held in the CIA's [[Stargate Project]] document collection. Its general approach section states: "Progress has been made in understanding one area of subjective experience: internal mental imagery. Kosslyn describes successful techniques involving relative internal versus relative external imagery measures to begin to understand this robust mental process." The passage continues: "However, even those techniques cannot yet be applied to remote viewing research, because much of the subjective impressions are reported to precede imagery." The report footnotes Kosslyn's 1983 book, "Ghosts in the Mind's Machine: Creating and Using Images in the Brain" (W. W. Norton).[^25]
+
+### Epstein and Harvard
+
+Harvard's Office of the General Counsel found that Epstein gave Harvard two gifts, in 1998 and 2002, totaling $200,000, "to support Kosslyn's research." Its May 2020 report, [[Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University]], states that Epstein first provided support for Harvard faculty members in 1998, and that between 1998 and 2002 he had given $200,000 "to support Kosslyn's work."[^26]
+
+The report found that Epstein applied on September 1, 2005 to be admitted as a Visiting Fellow, that his application stated he had learned of the status from Kosslyn, and that Kosslyn recommended him in a letter dated September 2, 2005. The letter reads "I have known Jeffrey for about nine years" and "He has been my only collaborator on this project (for some five years now, I believe)." Harvard admitted Epstein for the 2005 to 2006 academic year on September 3, 2005, with tuition and fees of $10,072, and approved a second year on April 21, 2006.[^26] The report says that Kosslyn acknowledged Epstein was not qualified to conduct aspects of his proposed research, particularly the MRI testing, and that in Kosslyn's recollection Epstein "was barely ever around."[^26] The report also states that the Visiting Fellow application form did not require Kosslyn to disclose Epstein's financial support when he endorsed him, and that because Kosslyn was a department chair, his recommendation "proved sufficient to carry the day."[^26] In a November 2008 email, Kosslyn, then divisional dean, noted that he had discussed "Martin [Nowak]'s situation" with [[Benedict Gross]], the chair of the mathematics department, according to the report.[^26]
+
+### Palm Beach County Jail visits
+
+In February 2026 the Stanford Daily reported on files released by the [[Department of Justice]] and said it had found 2,145 mentions of Kosslyn in them. The newspaper reported that the official visitor log of the [[Palm Beach County Jail]], which it reviewed, lists Kosslyn as a visitor to Epstein twice, on September 20 and 21, 2008, while Epstein was serving his sentence there, and that Kosslyn was then Dean of Social Science at Harvard.[^27]
+
+A plaintiff's witness list in a civil suit against Epstein in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida]] (No. 08-CV-80893) carries as entry 102 "All people on inmate visitor log," followed by three names, the third of which is "Stephan Kosslyn."[^28]
+
+The Daily reported that Kosslyn's name appears in the table of contents of a 2003 birthday book assembled for Epstein, with a handwritten message from Kosslyn that included a series of equations, and that his name appears in Epstein's 2004 to 2005 contact book.[^27]
+
+### Correspondence with Epstein, 2009 to 2014
+
+On July 22, 2009, the day the Daily gives as Epstein's release from the jail, Epstein emailed Kosslyn at 10:09 a.m. Eastern time with the message "home and free." Kosslyn replied at 12:05 p.m.: "HI Jeffrey!!!!! THIS IS FABULOUS! I'm currently in San Francisco, about to go to San Diego today. I'll give you a quick call at some point just to check in..." The message continued with the question "How does the 'Center for Enhanced Cognition' sound to you?" and a remark that he could "approach the elderly with a rap about how I'm going to help them keep their marbles rolling in the right direction." Epstein answered: "school of wisdom ? house of learning."[^29]
+
+On May 4, 2010 Kosslyn wrote to Epstein: "You are the first to know: I was just offered it." The Daily reported that the message concerned the Stanford appointment.[^30]
+
+A schedule email for Epstein dated April 27, 2011 lists a 6:30 p.m. dinner for eight on Sunday, May 1 with [[Woody Allen]] and "Prof. Steve Kosslyn," and a 12:00 lunch with "Prof. Kosslyn" on Tuesday, May 3.[^31] On May 5, 2012 Kosslyn forwarded to Epstein the save-the-date for the Center's 2012 summit with the message "I hope you can join us!"[^32] On August 5, 2012 he proposed a plan for a visit the next morning that consisted of a tour of his center at Stanford, lunch in the campus coffee house and a walk around the main campus, and a message from a member of Epstein's staff dated August 7, 2012 states that "we went with Kosslyn until about 2 and took him for lunch."[^33]
+
+On February 22, 2013 Epstein's scheduler listed a 12:00 lunch that day with "Professor Kosslyn, Ben Nelson and Senator [[Bob Kerrey]]." That evening Kosslyn wrote to Epstein that he was "absolutely torn by the situation," that "the idea is good and the rest of the team is A+," and that "I can't stand my day job." Epstein replied: "i see little downside , in taking it, but having all the money you need up front."[^34] In September 2014, after Epstein wrote that Kerrey had said Kosslyn "had rasied 100 m with the condition that if students didn't come the money would be returned," Kosslyn replied: "I know nothing about that condition, and have no idea where he got that idea."[^9]
+
+A scheduler's email of June 6, 2014 lists a reminder that "Prof. Kosslyn" was to stay in "apt 11B" from June 7 to June 16, and an appointment with him at 3:00 p.m. on June 8 in New York; a revised schedule of June 8 lists "3:30pm Appt w/Steve Kosslyn."[^35]
+
+### Allegation and denial
+
+A March 4, 2011 email from the journalist [[Annette Witheridge]], writing on behalf of the [[Mail on Sunday]], put a list of questions to [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] and appears in forwarded form in Epstein's email. Item 5 states that a woman "was required to have sex with friends of Ms Maxwell and Mr Epstein, including Glenn Dubin, Les Wexner, Ehud Barak, former Senator George Mitchell and Stephen Kosslyn."[^36] Witheridge told the Stanford Daily that the allegations were made during an interview between the woman and the journalist [[Sharon Churcher]].[^37] A document in the Department of Justice files that the Daily described as notes from a journalist's off-the-record interview with [[Alan Dershowitz]] contains, at paragraph 47, a capitalized annotation, which the Daily attributed to Dershowitz, stating: "SHE ALSO SAID SHE HAD SEX WITH LESLEY WEXNER, EHUD BARAK, GEORGE MITCHELL, BILL RICHARDSON, MARVIN MINSKY, STEVE KOSSLYN AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE." At paragraph 14 the same document quotes a [[Harvard Crimson]] article in which Dershowitz said he debated mathematics, genetics, law and psychology with Epstein and Kosslyn, and the annotation reads "CORRECT."[^37]
+
+The Daily reported that an unpublished manuscript by the woman, made public in 2019 after the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]] ordered related court documents unsealed, describes meeting Kosslyn on Epstein's island, [[Little St. James]], and being coerced into sex with him, and describes him as a "quirky little man with white hair and a mad scientist look about him." It reported that in a 2016 deposition in a defamation case involving her lawyers and Dershowitz she said she "possibly" met Kosslyn and answered "no" when asked whether she had ever had sex with him.[^38] The Daily reported that a 2020 email from the woman's lawyer to an author stated that her client "did not have sex with Stephen Kosslyn," and that Kosslyn's lawyer, [[Christopher Serbagi]], supplied the email to the newspaper.[^39]
+
+Kosslyn denied the allegation in a statement to the Daily on Monday, February 16, 2026. He wrote that the reporting "may leave readers with the impression that there is a legitimate dispute about whether I had sex with" the woman. "There is no such dispute," he added. "I did not." He wrote that "the court ruled that the reference to my name in a draft manuscript was a 'scrivener's error'; my name was redacted." Serbagi told the Daily that a 2019 court document makes it a "stated term" that the mention was a "scrivener's error." The Daily reported that the woman's lawyers and Maxwell's legal team agreed to redact Kosslyn's name from the manuscript citing "privacy interests," that the woman's side did not support redacting his name from Epstein's 2004 to 2005 contact book because "a redaction would...only serve to highlight the name," and that neither Kosslyn nor Serbagi provided the filings behind the ruling when asked.[^38][^40] Kosslyn wrote that "had I known then what I later learned, I would have had nothing to do with him," that he does not question the woman's broader account of Epstein's abuse, and that his name "does not appear in the published book,".[^40]
+
+The Stanford spokesperson told the Daily that the university "[does] not have additional information about any connections between Stephen Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein."[^8]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Minerva Project, "Minerva Project Names Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn as Founding Dean," March 12, 2013. https://s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Project_Annouces_Stephen_M._Kosslyn.pdf
+[^2]: National Science Foundation award records 7616987 (Johns Hopkins University, September 1, 1976 to February 28, 1978), 7721782 (Harvard University, 1977 to 1980), 8240259 (Brandeis University, October 13, 1981 to August 31, 1983) and 8318452 (Harvard University, December 1, 1983 to May 31, 1985), "Visual Images As Memory Structures." https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8240259
+[^3]: Aadi Kucheria and Ashton Dolce, "Former Stanford academic Stephen Kosslyn Ph.D. '74 visited Epstein in jail, faced allegation of sexual assault," The Stanford Daily, February 5, 2026. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/05/sexual-assault-epstein-kosslyn/
+[^4]: Diane E. Lopez, 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 2020, pp. 3 and 5. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
+[^5]: "Stephen Kosslyn named divisional dean for the social sciences," Harvard Gazette, April 24, 2008. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/04/stephen-kosslyn-named-divisional-dean-for-the-social-sciences
+[^6]: "Kosslyn appointed director of CASBS," The Stanford Daily, July 29, 2010. https://stanforddaily.com/2010/07/29/kosslyn-appointed-director-of-casbs/
+[^7]: Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, "Leadership History," listing Stephen M. Kosslyn as Director, 2011 to 2013. https://casbs.stanford.edu/about/leadership-history
+[^8]: Aadi Kucheria and Ashton Dolce, "Details emerge in contested sexual assault claim by Epstein victim against former Stanford psychology professor," The Stanford Daily, February 11, 2026, reporting a statement from university spokesperson Luisa Rapport. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/11/details-sexual-assault-claim-kosslyn/
+[^9]: Stephen M. Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein emails, September 15, 2014, EFTA00645047 and EFTA00704445, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00704445.pdf
+[^10]: Roger Schank and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: minerva project," July 26, 2013, EFTA00966277, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00966277.pdf
+[^11]: S. M. Kosslyn, J. L. Brunn, K. R. Cave and R. W. Wallach, "Components of Mental Imagery Representation," Technical Report 1, Brandeis University, January 24, 1983, contract N00014-79-C-0982, DTIC accession ADA124616. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA124616.pdf
+[^12]: Kosslyn et al., Technical Reports 3, 4 and 5, Harvard University Department of Psychology, August 20, 1984, contracts N00014-82-C-0166 and N00014-83-K-0095, DTIC accessions ADA145711, ADA145514 and ADA145509. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA145509.pdf
+[^13]: Kosslyn, Technical Report 7, "Visual Hemispheric Specialization: A Computational Theory," October 31, 1985, DTIC ADA161296, and Kosslyn, Technical Report 8, "Understanding Charts and Graphs," July 28, 1987, DTIC ADA183409, contract N00014-85-K-0291. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA183409.pdf
+[^14]: Stephen M. Kosslyn to Dr. Terry Allard, Office of Naval Research, letters of August 8, 1991 and February 15, 1992, "PET Studies of Components of High-Level Vision," contract N00014-91-J-1243, DTIC ADA240202 and ADA246449. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA240202.pdf
+[^15]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Neuropsychological Components of Imagery Processing," AFOSR/ONR Final Technical Report, AFOSR Grant 88-0012, Harvard University, January 25, 1991, DTIC ADA232391 and ADA268426. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA268426.pdf
+[^16]: Kosslyn, "Components of High-Level Vision: A Cognitive Neuroscience Analysis and Accounts of Neurological Syndromes," AFOSR/ONR Tech Report 89-1, February 28, 1989, DTIC ADA207848. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA207848.pdf
+[^17]: Kosslyn, "The Neuropsychology of Imagery Processing," 1989 annual report, AFOSR Grant 88-0012, DTIC ADA216479. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA216479.pdf
+[^18]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Neuropsychological Components of Object Identification," annual technical report, December 1, 1990 to December 31, 1991, dated January 10, 1992, DTIC ADA247049, and final technical report, December 1990 to November 1992, dated January 29, 1993, grant AFOSR 91-0100, DTIC ADA261449. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA261449.pdf
+[^19]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "DURIP - Computational Modeling of Cognitive Processes," final report, AFOSR-89-0090, December 1, 1988 to November 30, 1989, dated March 6, 1990, DTIC ADA219934. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA219934.pdf
+[^20]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Individual Differences in Visual Cognition," final report, AFOSR grant F49620-98-1-0334, period ending November 30, 2000, DTIC ADA387447. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA387447.pdf
+[^21]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "DURIP99 Individual Differences in Visual Cognition," final technical report, grant F49620-99-1-0114, March 1, 1999 to February 29, 2000, dated February 9, 2001, DTIC ADA387134. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA387134.pdf
+[^22]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, Bruce Draper, Giorgio Ganis and Mark Knobel, "High-Level Vision: Top-Down Processing in Neurally Inspired Architectures," AFRL-RI-RS-TR-2008-35, February 2008, award FA8750-05-2-0270, DARPA Order No. V026/00, DTIC ADA478977. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA478977.pdf
+[^23]: National Science Foundation award search, awards 7616987, 7712345, 7721782, 8240259, 8318452, 9009619, 0106760, 0322611 and 0411725, retrieved through the NSF awards API. https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0411725 and https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0322611
+[^24]: National Institutes of Health RePORTER, project search for principal investigator Stephen M. Kosslyn, including projects R01MH039478, R01AG012675, P01NS017778, P01NS027950, 1F06TW002247, R01MH060734 and T32MH070328. https://reporter.nih.gov/
+[^25]: Edwin C. May and Virginia V. Trask, "Forced-Choice Remote Viewing," Final Report, Objective E, Task 4, SRI Project 1291, December 1988, CIA-RDP96-00787R000300010001-9, CIA-RDP96-00789R002200290001-6 and CIA-RDP96-00789R002200280001-7 (the last a copy marked SECRET), and the same report within the "Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, Volume 2 of 2" compilation, CIA-RDP96-00789R003200160001-9. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00789r002200290001-6
+[^26]: Lopez, Gershengorn and Murphy, Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University, May 2020, pp. 3 and 5 (the gifts), 5 to 8 (the Visiting Fellow application, the September 2, 2005 letter, the approvals and Kosslyn's account), 10 (the November 2008 email) and 26 (the recommendation). https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
+[^27]: Kucheria and Dolce, "Former Stanford academic Stephen Kosslyn Ph.D. '74 visited Epstein in jail, faced allegation of sexual assault," The Stanford Daily, February 5, 2026, reporting the Palm Beach County Jail visitor log (page 45, September 20 and 21, 2008), the 2,145 mentions, the 2003 birthday book and the 2004 to 2005 contact book. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/05/sexual-assault-epstein-kosslyn/
+[^28]: Plaintiff Doe's witness list, Doe v. Epstein, No. 08-CV-80893-CIV-MARRA/JOHNSON (S.D. Fla.), entry 102, EFTA00725731 (witness list continuation, page stamped EFTA00725736), U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00725731.pdf
+[^29]: Jeffrey Epstein and Stephen Kosslyn emails, July 22, 2009, EFTA01816448, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10; the Daily reports the exchange in Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 5 and February 18, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01816448.pdf
+[^30]: Stephen Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re:," May 4 to 5, 2010, EFTA00759617, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9; Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 5, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00759617.pdf
+[^31]: Epstein scheduler email "Schedule," April 27, 2011, EFTA00434357, and the same schedule at EFTA00307008, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00434357.pdf
+[^32]: S. M. Kosslyn to Jeffrey Epstein, "Fwd: SAVE-THE-DATE," May 5, 2012, EFTA01176697, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01176697.pdf
+[^33]: S. M. Kosslyn to Lesley Groff and Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: Time, place?," August 5, 2012, EFTA01873275, and staff email of August 7, 2012, EFTA02162936, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02162936.pdf
+[^34]: Lesley Groff, "Priv & Con Feb. 21-March 27," February 21, 2013, EFTA00395264 (Data Set 9); Stephen M. Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein emails, "thanks," February 22 and 23, 2013, EFTA01760981 (Data Set 10), EFTA00652848 and EFTA00955209 (Data Set 9), U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00955209.pdf
+[^35]: Epstein scheduler emails "Schedule," June 6 and June 8, 2014, EFTA00669785 and EFTA00368239 (June 6) and EFTA00368272 (June 8), U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00669785.pdf
+[^36]: Annette Witheridge, on behalf of the Mail on Sunday, to Ghislaine Maxwell, March 4, 2011, forwarded in the thread "Re: Fwd: FW: Ghislaine Maxwell," EFTA00653926 and EFTA00653931, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00653926.pdf
+[^37]: Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 5 and February 11, 2026, reporting Witheridge's interview; "Continuation of Off the Record," paragraphs 14 and 47, EFTA00796700 (pages stamped EFTA00796702 and EFTA00796708), U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00796700.pdf
+[^38]: Kucheria and Dolce, "Details emerge in contested sexual assault claim by Epstein victim against former Stanford psychology professor," The Stanford Daily, February 11, 2026, reporting the unpublished manuscript, its release in 2019, the 2016 deposition and the agreed redaction. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/11/details-sexual-assault-claim-kosslyn/
+[^39]: Kucheria and Dolce, The Stanford Daily, February 5 and February 11, 2026, reporting the 2020 email supplied by Kosslyn's lawyer. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/05/sexual-assault-epstein-kosslyn/
+[^40]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, statement to The Stanford Daily of February 16, 2026, as quoted in Kucheria and Dolce, "Former Stanford professor Stephen Kosslyn Ph.D. '74 denies sexual assault claim," The Stanford Daily, February 18, 2026. https://stanforddaily.com/2026/02/18/stephen-kosslyn-denies-assault-claim/

10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ben Nelson.md

@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+---
+aliases:
+  - Ben Nelson
+category: "Business & Finance"
+tags:
+  - Person
+  - BenNelson
+  - MinervaProject
+  - Minerva
+  - Snapfish
+  - HewlettPackard
+  - EdTech
+  - FormD
+  - Wharton
+  - JeffreyEpstein
+summary: "Founder and chief executive of Minerva Project and former president of Snapfish, whose online photo service Hewlett-Packard bought in 2005."
+location: "San Francisco, California"
+created: 2026-10-09
+updated: 2026-10-09
+relations:
+  - type: founded
+    with: "[[Minerva Project]]"
+    role: "founder"
+    start: 2011
+    fn: 21
+  - type: head_of
+    with: "[[Minerva Project]]"
+    role: "chief executive officer"
+    start: 2012-03
+    fn: 1
+  - type: director_of
+    with: "[[Minerva Project]]"
+    role: "director; executive officer and director on Form D filings from 2012 to 2022"
+    start: 2012-03
+    fn: 1
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Snapfish]]"
+    role: "chief executive from 2005 to 2010, per Minerva biography; president at the time of the 2005 sale, per Computerworld"
+    start: 2005
+    end: 2010
+    fn: 4
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Hewlett-Packard]]"
+    role: "vice president and general manager, Snapfish, Digital Photography and Entertainment"
+    start: 2005-12
+    fn: 7
+  - type: director_of
+    with: "[[Minerva University]]"
+    role: "founder and director, per Form 990 officer lists for fiscal years ending June 2020 to June 2024"
+    start: 2020
+    end: 2024
+    fn: 14
+---
+
+Ben Nelson is the founder and chief executive of [[Minerva Project]], the for-profit company that built [[Minerva University]], and he was president of [[Snapfish]], the online photo service that [[Hewlett-Packard]] agreed to buy in March 2005.[^1][^2]
+
+Not to be confused with Ben Nelson, the former Democratic governor of [[Nebraska]] who served from 1991 to 1999 and was elected to the [[United States Senate]] in November 2000.[^3]
+
+### Snapfish
+
+Minerva's staff biography of Nelson, captured in 2016, states that he spent more than ten years at Snapfish and that he served as chief executive from 2005 through 2010. The biography states that he began that tenure by "leading the company's sale to Hewlett Packard for $300 million."[^4]
+
+On March 22, 2005 [[Computerworld]] reported that Hewlett-Packard had agreed to buy the online photo sharing and printing service. The article identifies Nelson as "Snapfish President Ben Nelson will join HP and lead the new division, HP said." It adds: "Terms of the deal were undisclosed."[^2]
+
+Hewlett-Packard's quarterly report for the period ended July 31, 2005 says that in the first nine months of fiscal 2005 HP acquired two companies and increased its ownership in a consolidated subsidiary, and that "the aggregate purchase price for these transactions was approximately $339 million, which includes direct transaction costs." The filing states that the largest of the transactions was "the acquisition of SAC, LLC, doing business as "Snapfish."" The report for the period ended April 30, 2005 gave the aggregate for the first six months as approximately $332 million.[^5][^6]
+
+In a release dated December 13, 2005, announcing HP's agreement to acquire the European online photo service [[PIXACO]], Nelson is identified as vice president and general manager of Snapfish, Digital Photography and Entertainment, at HP.[^7]
+
+### Minerva Project
+
+Minerva Project, Inc. is incorporated in [[Delaware]]. Nelson is listed on each of its five Form D notices as an executive officer and as a director. The first, filed April 6, 2012, gives March 26, 2012 as the date of first sale, an offering of $25,000,000, and $16,666,667 sold. It lists [[Kevin Harvey]] as a director beside Nelson.[^1]
+
+The notice filed November 14, 2014 gives October 14, 2014 as the first sale, an offering of $78,600,000 and $45,333,330 sold. It adds [[Bangxin Zhang]] as a director.[^8] The notice filed December 5, 2017 gives November 21, 2017 as the first sale, an offering of $75,949,507 and $13,000,104 sold. It adds [[Philip Lader]] and [[Gwynne Shotwell]] as directors.[^9] The notice filed July 12, 2019 gives June 28, 2019 as the first sale, an offering of $7,671,644, all of it sold. It lists [[Rong Luo]], [[Yiming Zhang]] and [[Wendy Kopp]] as directors.[^10] The notice filed September 2, 2022 gives August 18, 2022 as the first sale, an offering of $16,240,000 and $3,065,519 sold. It lists [[Alex Peng]] as a director.[^11]
+
+On October 15, 2014 Minerva announced the first of two closes of a Series B round of $70 million, led by [[TAL Education Group]], [[ZhenFund]] and [[Yongjin Group]], with [[Benchmark Capital]] returning. In the release Nelson, then identified as founder, chairman and chief executive, said: "Bringing together partners for this round of funding that include one of the most respected, top quality, and innovative education companies with TAL and the most forward thinking technology investors with Benchmark, ZhenFund and Yongjin, is a powerful combination committing to Minerva's next stage of development."[^12] The release states: "A representative from TAL will sit on the Minerva Project's Board, joining Nelson and Kevin Harvey, general partner at Benchmark Capital." It says that Nelson would appoint two further board members at a later date.[^12]
+
+In July 2019 Minerva announced a $57 million Series C led by [[ByteDance]]. In reporting on the round, [[EdSurge]] quoted Nelson: "There is a greater appreciation of the potential of education in Asia." The report states that the for-profit company had funded the nonprofit Minerva Schools at KGI to that point, that it would provide no additional funds to them, and that the schools were looking to raise $50 million separately.[^13]
+
+### Minerva University
+
+The Form 990 filings of Minerva University ([[ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer]], EIN 46-2589747) list Nelson among its officers for the fiscal years ending June 2020 through June 2024, with the title "Founder & Director" in three filings and "Founder/director" in two. Each entry shows $0 compensation.[^14]
+
+Minerva's trustees page, captured on October 1, 2023, lists Nelson as "Founder and Board Member."[^15]
+
+[[Minerva Schools at KGI]], the program that began under an arrangement with [[Keck Graduate Institute]] in 2013, became Minerva University in 2021. The Keck Graduate Institute announced on August 2, 2021 that Minerva University, formerly the Minerva Schools at KGI, had gained accreditation.[^16] The accreditation page of Minerva University states that the [[Western Association of Schools and Colleges]] granted it initial accreditation in June 2021 as a freestanding, independent institution.[^17]
+
+### Unit 8200 admissions partnership
+
+A page on Minerva's admissions site, captured on September 21, 2020, is headed "Partner: IDF 8200." It states that "IDF unit 8200 alumni have the mature perspective and technological experience to both benefit from and contribute to Minerva's diverse undergraduate experience."[^18] The page is published under the company's name and carries no statement attributed to Nelson.
+
+### Jeffrey Epstein
+
+Nelson's name appears in the scheduling records of [[Jeffrey Epstein]]. The schedule for Friday, February 22, 2013 lists "12:00pm Lunch w/Professor Kosslyn, Ben Nelson and Senator Bob Kerrey."[^19] The previous day [[Stephen Kosslyn]] had written to Epstein's scheduler: "Ben wants to bring Senator Bob Kerrey with him. Would that be OK with JEE?"[^20] An undated company overview in the Epstein files states that "Minerva was founded by CEO Ben Nelson in 2011 and received a $25 million seed".[^21] The rest of the correspondence between Epstein and Minerva is set out on the Minerva Project page.
+
+### Education and early career
+
+The Minerva biography states that Nelson received a B.S. in economics from the [[Wharton School]] of the [[University of Pennsylvania]], where he later chaired the [[Student Committee on Undergraduate Education]], which the biography describes as "the oldest and only non-elected student government body at the University of Pennsylvania."[^4]
+
+The [[Daily Pennsylvanian]] reported on January 23, 1995 that "Wharton sophomore Ben Nelson" was a member-at-large of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education steering committee.[^22] On January 22, 1997 the paper reported that "outgoing chairman and Wharton senior Ben Nelson said he is pleased to step down from his post and let Silverman take over."[^23]
+
+Before joining Snapfish, the Minerva biography states, Nelson was president and chief executive of Community Ventures, "a network of locally branded portals for American communities."[^4]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed April 6, 2012, accession 0001546672-12-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. Lists Ben Nelson as executive officer and director, signed by him. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667212000001/primary_doc.xml
+[^2]: Computerworld, "HP reels in Snapfish," March 22, 2005. https://www.computerworld.com/article/1459387/hp-reels-in-snapfish.html
+[^3]: National Governors Association, "Ben Nelson," former governor profile, which gives service as governor of Nebraska from January 9, 1991 to January 7, 1999 and states that he was elected to the United States Senate in November 2000. https://www.nga.org/governor/e-benjamin-nelson/
+[^4]: Minerva Schools, "Ben Nelson, Founder, Chairman and CEO," staff biography, captured 2016. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/people/ben-nelson/
+[^5]: Hewlett-Packard Company, Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended July 31, 2005, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR, Note on acquisitions in the first nine months of fiscal 2005. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000047217/000104746905022690/a2160914z10-q.htm
+[^6]: Hewlett-Packard Company, Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended April 30, 2005, filed June 8, 2005, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR, Note 4, Acquisitions. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000047217/000104746905016805/a2155974z10-q.htm
+[^7]: Hewlett-Packard Company, release "HP to Acquire European Online Photo Service PIXACO," December 13, 2005, via Webwire. https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=6832
+[^8]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed November 14, 2014, accession 0001546672-14-000002, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667214000002/primary_doc.xml
+[^9]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed December 5, 2017, accession 0001546672-17-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667217000001/primary_doc.xml
+[^10]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed July 12, 2019, accession 0001546672-19-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667219000001/primary_doc.xml
+[^11]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed September 2, 2022, accession 0001546672-22-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667222000001/primary_doc.xml
+[^12]: Minerva Project, "Minerva Project Announces $70 Million in Additional Funding," October 15, 2014. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Announces_70M_Additional_Funding.pdf
+[^13]: EdSurge, "Minerva Project Raises $57M to Support Its Tech Platform and Spin Off Its School," July 11, 2019. https://edsurge.com/news/2019-07-11-minerva-project-raises-57m-to-support-its-tech-platform-and-spin-off-its-school
+[^14]: Minerva University, Form 990 officer lists for fiscal years ending June 2020 through June 2024, as reproduced by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 46-2589747. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/462589747
+[^15]: Minerva University, "Board of Trustees," page captured October 1, 2023. https://www.minerva.edu/board-of-trustees/
+[^16]: Keck Graduate Institute, "Minerva University, Formerly the Minerva Schools at KGI, Gains Accreditation," August 2, 2021. https://www.kgi.edu/news/2021/minerva-university-formerly-the-minerva-schools-at-kgi-gains-accreditation.html
+[^17]: Minerva University, "Accreditation at Minerva University," accreditation milestones page. https://www.minerva.edu/accreditation/
+[^18]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Partner: IDF 8200," page captured September 21, 2020. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/partners/partner-idf-8200/
+[^19]: Epstein schedule emails for Friday, February 22, 2013, EFTA00395264, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00395264.pdf
+[^20]: Stephen M. Kosslyn email to Jeffrey Epstein's scheduler, "Re: complication," February 21, 2013, EFTA02147246, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02147246.pdf
+[^21]: The Minerva Project, "An Overview," undated, EFTA01144731, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01144731.pdf
+[^22]: Daily Pennsylvanian, article dated January 23, 1995, on the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education steering committee. https://www.thedp.com/article/1995/01/scue_elects_new_board
+[^23]: Daily Pennsylvanian, article dated January 22, 1997, on the change of Student Committee on Undergraduate Education chairman (byline Stephanie Cooperman). https://www.thedp.com/article/1997/01/scue_elects_new_chairperson_board

10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Dr. John Philip Nichols.md

@@ -22,38 +22,50 @@ relations:
   - type: relative_of
     with: "[[John Paul Nichols]]"
     role: "father"
-    fn: 9
+    fn: 13
 created: 2025-08-05
 updated: 2026-10-09
 ---
 John Philip Nichols, a non-Indian, was the tribal administrator of the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]] at Indio, California, under Tribal Chairman [[Arthur Welmas]], and managed the tribe's business affairs; in the early 1980s the only building on the reservation was a casino.[^1]
 
-Nichols told Los Angeles Magazine in September 1983 that a friend referred the tribe to the baseball manager [[Leo Durocher]] for help setting up the cardroom, that Durocher "brought in a guy named Rocco Zangari," and that the tribe eventually fired him.[^2] The California Attorney General's office paper states that Nichols hired [[Rocco Zangari]], a Southern California organized crime figure, to operate the cardroom, and that Zangari and Nichols accused each other of financial wrongdoing.[^3] The 1988 Press-Enterprise reports that Nichols (the article does not specify which) said he had admitted a mistake in hiring Zangari as the first manager.[^4]
+Nichols told [[Los Angeles Magazine]] in September 1983 that a friend referred the tribe to the baseball manager [[Leo Durocher]] for help setting up the cardroom, that Durocher "brought in a guy named Rocco Zangari," and that the tribe eventually fired him.[^2] He told the magazine that on the night the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]] opened "the city police came out in force," that "They had riot guns, helmets," and that they arrested 118 people.[^2] The California Attorney General's office paper states that Nichols hired [[Rocco Zangari]], a Southern California organized crime figure, to operate the cardroom, and that Zangari and Nichols accused each other of financial wrongdoing.[^3]
 
 ### The Wackenhut Joint Venture
 
 In April 1981 the [[Wackenhut Corporation]] entered into a joint venture with the Cabazon Security Corporation, signed by [[Robert Frye]] for Wackenhut and Welmas for the tribe's company; its stated primary purpose was to "qualify for, bid on, and obtain government guard service contracts." Early on Nichols wanted the joint venture to sell night-vision equipment, and it pursued sales to representatives of Guatemala and Honduras; as far as the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s special counsel could tell, no sales were made. The venture also pursued the manufacture of combustible cartridge cases with [[Peter Zokosky]] of Armtec Defense Products, which took people from the joint venture to Picatinny Arsenal in 1981.[^1] Investigating [[Michael Riconosciuto]]'s claims for the Justice Department between 1991 and 1993, Special Counsel [[Nicholas Bua]] found that any business relationship Riconosciuto had was with Nichols or the Cabazons rather than with Wackenhut, and that no witness could "even corroborate that Riconosciuto had access to computer equipment while on the Cabazon reservation."[^1]
 
+Bua's report states that "A non-Indian man, John Philip Nichols, was the Tribal Administrator and managed the business affairs of the tribe."[^4] It states that when investigators spoke with Nichols at his home, he "was not comfortable (in light of his past criminal problems, apparently) having an extended interview without his lawyer present," and that he "was, however, willing to comment freely about Riconosciuto and the allegations he is making."[^5] The Los Angeles Magazine article of September 1983 states that Nichols "claims to be in the final stages of receiving a Defense Department clearance for building an arms-and-munitions plant," and describes this as "a claim verified by Bob Frye at Wackenhut."[^6]
+
 ### Arrest and Conviction
 
-The Indio police arrested Nichols in January 1985 on charges of soliciting murder; an April 1985 clipping in his [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] file described him as in state prison for diagnostic evaluation to help decide his sentence "on two counts of murder solicitation," and a later 1985 clipping reported that he was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading no contest to charges that he arranged contract murders for two people, in a plot authorities said was unrelated to tribal business.[^5] A paper submitted to a February 8, 1989 Senate hearing by the California Attorney General's office states that he pleaded no contest in May 1985 to two charges of solicitation for murder, that the intended victims were undercover Indio police officers, and that he was sentenced to four years.[^3] The FBI recorded that he had been convicted and was serving his sentence.[^6] The same file preserves a 1985 report that the California State Board of Equalization was seeking about 2 million dollars in cigarette taxes from Nichols and his son, [[John Paul Nichols]], over a reservation smoke shop run until 1980.[^7]
+The Indio police arrested Nichols in January 1985 on charges of soliciting murder; an April 1985 clipping in his [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] file described him as in state prison for diagnostic evaluation to help decide his sentence "on two counts of murder solicitation," and a later 1985 clipping reported that he was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading no contest to charges that he arranged contract murders for two people, in a plot authorities said was unrelated to tribal business.[^7] A paper submitted to a February 8, 1989 Senate hearing by the California Attorney General's office states that he pleaded no contest in May 1985 to two charges of solicitation for murder, that the intended victims were undercover Indio police officers, and that he was sentenced to four years.[^3] The FBI recorded that he had been convicted and was serving his sentence.[^8] The same file preserves a 1985 report that the California State Board of Equalization was seeking about 2 million dollars in cigarette taxes from Nichols and his son, [[John Paul Nichols]], over a reservation smoke shop run until 1980.[^9]
+
+A Federal Bureau of Investigation memorandum from the Los Angeles office, dated November 5, 1986 and captioned "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," states that "John Phillip Nichols, his wife and three sons, were hired as the management personnel by the Cabazon Band." It states that Nichols was arrested by the Indio Police Department in January 1985 "on a murder charge for which he was convicted," that his wife had since died, and that the bingo and gambling parlor continued to operate in Indio, managed by a person whose name is redacted in the released copy.[^8]
+
+A July 19, 1983 airtel from the Los Angeles office to the Director, captioned "PAN AMERICAN MANAGEMENT INC." and cross-referenced to Tampa file 183A-1010, is a synopsis of Los Angeles Division activity on bingo and card parlors on Indian reservations. It includes the Cabazon card parlor and the account of a loan repayment set out on the John Paul Nichols page.[^10]
 
 ### The Alvarez Murders
 
-On July 1, 1981, Tribal Vice Chairman [[Fred Alvarez]], 32, his friend [[Ralph Boger]], 42, and [[Patricia Castro]], 44, were found shot to death at 35040 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage. The California Attorney General's office paper submitted to the Senate Special Committee on Investigations in February 1989 states that Alvarez and two others were found dead on July 2, 1981, shot in the head the evening before.[^3] A grand jury in the mid-1980s brought no charges. After new documents surfaced in 2007, the former Cabazon security chief [[Jimmy Hughes]] was arrested at Miami International Airport on September 26, 2009, on his way to Honduras, and charged with conspiring with three other men to commit the murders to keep Alvarez from exposing alleged illegal activities by Nichols. On July 1, 2010, after Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy said prosecutors had "lost confidence to proceed," Judge Dale R. Wells dismissed the charges. No one has been convicted of the murders.[^8]
+On July 1, 1981, Tribal Vice Chairman [[Fred Alvarez]], 32, his friend [[Ralph Boger]], 42, and [[Patricia Castro]], 44, were found shot to death at 35040 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage. The California Attorney General's office paper submitted to the Senate Special Committee on Investigations in February 1989 states that Alvarez and two others were found dead on July 2, 1981, shot in the head the evening before.[^3] A grand jury in the mid-1980s brought no charges. After new documents surfaced in 2007, the former Cabazon security chief [[Jimmy Hughes]] was arrested at Miami International Airport on September 26, 2009, on his way to Honduras, and charged with conspiring with three other men to commit the murders to keep Alvarez from exposing alleged illegal activities by Nichols. On July 1, 2010, after Deputy Attorney General Mike Murphy said prosecutors had "lost confidence to proceed," Judge Dale R. Wells dismissed the charges. No one has been convicted of the murders.[^11]
+
+[[Sam Cross]], the Indio police chief in 1981, told the FBI on October 6, 1992 that he first met Michael Riconosciuto at the home of Peter Zokosky in mid to late 1984, that Riconosciuto then talked about the murder of Fred Alvarez, and that Riconosciuto believed John Nichols Sr. was involved in it and that there would be additional murders in the future.[^12]
 
 ### Arms, the Mob and the Alibi
 
-Michael Riconosciuto described Nichols as a former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] agent. The writer Cheri Seymour wrote that the joint venture was formalized on April 1, 1981, as "[[Cabazon Arms]]," to manufacture arms and explosives for export under the reservation's sovereign status, with a [[Department of Defense]] secret facility clearance, and that it proposed 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols, laser-sighted assault weapons, sniper rifles, portable rockets and biological weapons; that Nichols introduced Riconosciuto to Frye, and that Riconosciuto did a railgun exercise for [[Dr. Harry Fair]] at Picatinny; and that the murder solicitation involved five intended victims and drugs and that Nichols served 18 months, his son acting as administrator. Seymour also wrote that he had done business in [[Saudi Arabia]], [[South Africa]], [[Panama]], [[Nicaragua]], [[Guatemala]], [[Mexico]], [[Chile]], [[Brazil]], the [[Netherlands]], [[England]], [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]] and [[Taiwan]], had managed a Coca-Cola bottling plant in São Paulo in 1960 and led in the Chilean Pentecostal movement, had written himself a ten-year contract with the tribe in 1978 for half the profits of any business he brought in, and had proposed security for [[Crown Prince Fahd]]'s palace, and that Indio police surveillance in August 1981 observed him with [[Tommy Marson]], [[Vincent Caci Bologna]], [[Anthony Fratianno]] and [[Daniel Magano]]. Zokosky's timeline placed Nichols in Canada with him from June 22 to June 30, 1981, which [[John Belton]] said had been arranged as an alibi. Hughes said he had been told in Nichols's presence to take 5,000 dollars as partial payment for the Alvarez killings, and that the tribe's gambling enterprises were fronts for government-sanctioned covert military activity. Riconosciuto said Nichols's office was broken into to retrieve [[Phyllis Riconosciuto]]'s diary with passwords for [[Tyme Shares]], and that Nichols and Zokosky blamed him for the murder of [[Paul Morasca]].[^9]
+Michael Riconosciuto described Nichols as a former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] agent. The writer Cheri Seymour wrote that the joint venture was formalized on April 1, 1981, as "[[Cabazon Arms]]," to manufacture arms and explosives for export under the reservation's sovereign status, with a [[Department of Defense]] secret facility clearance, and that it proposed 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols, laser-sighted assault weapons, sniper rifles, portable rockets and biological weapons; that Nichols introduced Riconosciuto to Frye, and that Riconosciuto did a railgun exercise for [[Dr. Harry Fair]] at Picatinny; and that the murder solicitation involved five intended victims and drugs and that Nichols served 18 months, his son acting as administrator. Seymour also wrote that he had done business in [[Saudi Arabia]], [[South Africa]], [[Panama]], [[Nicaragua]], [[Guatemala]], [[Mexico]], [[Chile]], [[Brazil]], the [[Netherlands]], [[England]], [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]] and [[Taiwan]], had managed a Coca-Cola bottling plant in São Paulo in 1960 and led in the Chilean Pentecostal movement, had written himself a ten-year contract with the tribe in 1978 for half the profits of any business he brought in, and had proposed security for [[Crown Prince Fahd]]'s palace, and that Indio police surveillance in August 1981 observed him with [[Tommy Marson]], [[Vincent Caci Bologna]], [[Anthony Fratianno]] and [[Daniel Magano]]. Zokosky's timeline placed Nichols in Canada with him from June 22 to June 30, 1981, which [[John Belton]] said had been arranged as an alibi. Hughes said he had been told in Nichols's presence to take 5,000 dollars as partial payment for the Alvarez killings, and that the tribe's gambling enterprises were fronts for government-sanctioned covert military activity. Riconosciuto said Nichols's office was broken into to retrieve [[Phyllis Riconosciuto]]'s diary with passwords for [[Tyme Shares]], and that Nichols and Zokosky blamed him for the murder of [[Paul Morasca]].[^13]
 
 ### Footnotes
 
 [^1]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.,* March 1993, pp. 54-64.
-[^2]: *Los Angeles Magazine*, September 1983, pp. 126 ff. Reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^2]: Jan Golab, "Close-Up," *Los Angeles*, September 1983, pp. 116 to 128 (the Durocher and Zangari passage runs from immediately before the page 126 heading to page 128). Reprinted in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
 [^3]: *Federal Government's Relationship with American Indians*, Hearings before the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, S. Hrg. 101-126, Part 2 (February 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1989), Robert Morehouse, "High Stakes Bingo on Indian Reservations in California," pp. 417 to 419. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0182
-[^4]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), January 24, 1988, p. B-1, "Bingo profits rising as legal fight brews." Reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^5]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), April 17, 1985 ("Court ruling may ...") and 1985 article "Cabazon leader scoffs at report." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^6]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, memorandum, "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," November 5, 1986, reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^7]: Federal Bureau of Investigation. File on John Philip Nichols, FOIPA Request No. 1344360-000, files 183A-LA-1746 and 198D-LA-96, released August 3, 2016. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^8]: "Only On 3: 'Octopus Murder' Suspect Caught On Hidden Camera." KESQ, September 29, 2009, https://kesq.com/news/2009/09/29/only-on-3-octopus-murder-suspect-caught-on-hidden-camera/ ; "Jimmy Hughes Speaks To KESQ After Charges Dropped." KESQ, July 2, 2010. https://kesq.com/news/2010/07/02/jimmy-hughes-speaks-to-kesq-after-charges-dropped/
-[^9]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. The CIA claim is not supported by his FBI file. The venture's name and date are corrected by the special counsel's report, and the book dates the murders to June 29, 1981.
+[^4]: United States Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (March 1993), section "(i) The Wackenhut-Cabazon Joint Venture," p. 55. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
+[^5]: Same report, pp. 54 to 55. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
+[^6]: Jan Golab, "Close-Up," *Los Angeles*, September 1983, pp. 116 to 128 (the passage falls immediately before the page 126 heading). Reprinted in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^7]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), April 17, 1985 ("Court ruling may ...") and 1985 article "Cabazon leader scoffs at report." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^8]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, memorandum, "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," November 5, 1986, reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^9]: Federal Bureau of Investigation. File on John Philip Nichols, FOIPA Request No. 1344360-000, files 183A-LA-1746 and 198D-LA-96, released August 3, 2016. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^10]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, airtel to the Director, July 19, 1983, "Pan American Management Inc.," file 183-1746 (cross-reference Tampa 183A-1010). Reprinted in file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^11]: "Only On 3: 'Octopus Murder' Suspect Caught On Hidden Camera." KESQ, September 29, 2009, https://kesq.com/news/2009/09/29/only-on-3-octopus-murder-suspect-caught-on-hidden-camera/ ; "Jimmy Hughes Speaks To KESQ After Charges Dropped." KESQ, July 2, 2010. https://kesq.com/news/2010/07/02/jimmy-hughes-speaks-to-kesq-after-charges-dropped/
+[^12]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Sam Cross, file 74-86438, interview October 6, 1992 (transcribed December 10, 1992). https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt
+[^13]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. The CIA claim is not supported by his FBI file. The venture's name and date are corrected by the special counsel's report, and the book dates the murders to June 29, 1981.

10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/John Paul Nichols.md

@@ -1,28 +1,46 @@
 ---
+aliases:
+  - John Paul Nichols
 category: "Business & Finance"
 tags:
   - Person
   - PROMIS
   - Lawyer
 summary: "John Paul Nichols was the 'Project Manager' for the Cabazon/Wackenhut Corporation Joint Venture, also known as Cabazon Arms."
+updated: 2026-10-09
+relations:
+  - type: relative_of
+    with: "[[Dr. John Philip Nichols]]"
+    role: "son"
+    fn: 1
+  - type: relative_of
+    with: "[[Mark Nichols]]"
+    role: "brother"
+    fn: 1
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Cabazon Indian Casino]]"
+    role: "Project Manager; signed the Chapter 11 petition"
+    start: 1981-12-10
+    fn: 3
 ---
 [[John Paul Nichols]] was the son of [[Dr. John Philip Nichols]]. He took over his father's position as acting administrator of the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon tribe]] when Dr. John Philip Nichols was incarcerated. In 1989, [[Mark Nichols]] inherited the position of administrator from John Paul Nichols.[^1]
 
 John Paul Nichols was the "Project Manager" for the Cabazon/[[Wackenhut Corporation]] Joint Venture, also known as [[Cabazon Arms]]. On April 4, 1983, he wrote a letter to the Army Discharge Review Board asking for [[Jimmy Hughes]]' military record, as Hughes required security clearances to work in the Joint Venture. He stated that Hughes had been instrumental in developing their reservation security force and providing training, and was becoming involved in matters requiring security clearances for government contracts.[^1]
 
-The Chapter 11 petition filed for the Cabazon Indian Casino on December 10, 1981 was signed by John Paul Nichols as "Project Manager." A January 1988 article gives the casino's debts as $567,577 owed to 45 creditors, against assets of $123,859.[^2]
+The Chapter 11 petition filed for the Cabazon Indian Casino on December 10, 1981 was signed by John Paul Nichols as "Project Manager." The [[Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit]] quoted the petition's description of the casino as "a co-partnership consisting of" a list of members, which named "John Paul Nichols, Project Manager/Employee" among them. The panel wrote: "The record reflects that Mr. Nichols is a non-Indian and, therefore, ostensibly not a member of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians."[^2] A March 20, 1988 article gives the casino's debts as $567,577 owed to 45 creditors, against assets of $123,859, and quotes Nichols, identified as the Cabazon tribal administrator: "Nichols said incompetent management caused the downfall of the poker business and he has admitted a mistake in his hiring of Rocco Zangari as the first manager."[^3]
 
 John Paul Nichols was also involved in the Cabazon Indian Reservation and [[Indio Bingo Palace]]. He made a $30,000 withdrawal from the Bingo Palace's account by check payable to cash. He also wrote a letter to [[Wayne Reeder]] and his attorney, reminding Reeder of an agreement to "get rid" of Jimmy Hughes so Hughes couldn't expose Dr. John Philip Nichols' illegal activities.[^1]
 
-The [[Miami Herald]] reported in May 1983 that [[Tommy Marson]]'s wife had loaned $50,000 to John Paul Nichols in November 1980 to help finance the casino.[^3] In 1985 John Paul Nichols told the Riverside newspaper that Marson had no dealings with the tribe, and that the $50,000 was a personal loan to him from Marson's wife.[^4] [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that Marson, a known [[Gambino Crime Family]] associate, lent Dr. John Philip Nichols $50,000 to start the Cabazon Casino, according to John Paul Nichols.[^1] The Press-Enterprise reported on February 9, 1989 that, according to the California Attorney General's office, John Paul Nichols had admitted receiving a $50,000 loan from Marson.[^5]
+The [[Miami Herald]] reported in May 1983 that [[Tommy Marson]]'s wife had loaned $50,000 to John Paul Nichols in November 1980 to help finance the casino.[^4] A July 19, 1983 airtel from the Los Angeles office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Director, captioned "PAN AMERICAN MANAGEMENT INC.," states that a Palm Springs resident described as a La Cosa Nostra operative put up $90,000 to start the Cabazon card parlor, and that when asked about the $90,000 he replied that it was $70,000 and a loan from his wife. It states that, allegedly, "a Los Angeles LCN member approached Cabazon Indian manager JOHN PAUL NICHOLS (originally from Florida) to demand the repayment of the loan," and adds: "Since then, the loan has supposedly been paid off."[^5] The names of the lender and of the person to whom the loan was to be repaid are redacted in the released copy. In 1985 John Paul Nichols told the Riverside newspaper that Marson had no dealings with the tribe, and that the $50,000 was a personal loan to him from Marson's wife.[^6] [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that Marson, a known [[Gambino Crime Family]] associate, lent Dr. John Philip Nichols $50,000 to start the Cabazon Casino, according to John Paul Nichols.[^1] The Press-Enterprise reported on February 9, 1989 that, according to the California Attorney General's office, John Paul Nichols had admitted receiving a $50,000 loan from Marson.[^7]
 
-In 1985 John Paul Nichols said that when tribal leaders learned of alleged organized crime ties of the former cardroom manager [[Rocco Zangari]], "he was fired," and that the tribe banned the organized crime figures from the reservation.[^4]
+In 1985 John Paul Nichols said that when tribal leaders learned of alleged organized crime ties of the former cardroom manager [[Rocco Zangari]], "he was fired," and that the tribe banned the organized crime figures from the reservation.[^6]
 
----
 ### Footnotes
 
 [^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
-[^2]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), January 24, 1988, p. B-1, "Bingo profits rising as legal fight brews." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols; and *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. December 29, 1983), https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json
-[^3]: *The Miami Herald*, May 29, 1983 (series on Indian bingo and Wackenhut Corporation). Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^4]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), 1985, "Cabazon leader scoffs at report." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^5]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 9, 1989, p. A-1, "Cabazon bingo casino listed as Mafia-tied." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^2]: *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. December 29, 1983), BAP No. CC-82-1578-GVAb, Part II. https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json
+[^3]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), March 20, 1988, p. B-1 with jump page, "Manager proposes plush Indian casino, club," by Mike Kataoka. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols; and *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. December 29, 1983), https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json
+[^4]: *The Miami Herald*, May 29, 1983 (series on Indian bingo and Wackenhut Corporation). Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^5]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, airtel to the Director, July 19, 1983, "Pan American Management Inc.," file 183-1746 (cross-reference Tampa 183A-1010). Reprinted in file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^6]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), 1985, "Cabazon leader scoffs at report." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^7]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 9, 1989, p. A-1, "Cabazon bingo casino listed as Mafia-tied." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols

10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Mark Nichols.md

@@ -1,13 +1,44 @@
 ---
-category: "Other"
+aliases:
+  - Mark Nichols
+category: "Business & Finance"
 tags:
   - Person
   - PROMIS
+  - Cabazon
+  - IndianGaming
 summary: "Administrator of the Cabazon Tribal Council who inherited the position from his brother John Paul Nichols in 1989."
+updated: 2026-10-09
+relations:
+  - type: relative_of
+    with: "[[John Paul Nichols]]"
+    role: "brother"
+    fn: 1
+  - type: relative_of
+    with: "[[Dr. John Philip Nichols]]"
+    role: "son"
+    fn: 2
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Cabazon Indian Casino]]"
+    role: "bingo parlor manager"
+    start: 1984
+    fn: 3
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]]"
+    role: "chief executive officer"
+    start: 1989
+    fn: 4
 ---
 [[Mark Nichols]] inherited the position of administrator of the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon tribe]] from his brother, [[John Paul Nichols]], in 1989.[^1]
 
----
+[[Los Angeles Magazine]] reported in September 1983 that Mark Nichols was present while his father, [[Dr. John Philip Nichols]], related how [[Rocco Zangari]] came to the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]]; the article quotes him on the casino ("This place is such a mom-and-pop organization it's ridiculous") and on [[Fred Alvarez]] ("I would describe him as a sociopath").[^2] *Gaming & Wagering Business* of October 1984 identifies him as the Cabazons' bingo parlor manager and quotes him that the Cabazons "have not experienced a whole lot of direct heat out of Vegas."[^3]
+
+The Press-Enterprise of July 29, 1989 names him chief executive officer for the Cabazons; of [[Don Speer]], charged that month in Los Angeles County, he said: "We are of a mind to see his innocence, however." The same article reports that [[Southwest Gaming Inc.]] lifted the tribe out of bankruptcy court in March 1988 with a loan to pay off creditors.[^4] On September 20, 1989 the paper quoted him on the dismissal of the charges: "We're glad (Speer) is not going to jail or be sentenced."[^5]
+
 ### Footnotes
 
-[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
+[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
+[^2]: Jan Golab, "Close-Up," *Los Angeles*, September 1983, pp. 116 to 128. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^3]: *Gaming & Wagering Business*, October 1984. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^4]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), July 29, 1989, p. B-1, "Poker club firm chief accused of embezzling." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^5]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), September 20, 1989, p. B-1, "Felony charges being dropped in poker club case." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols

10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Martin Nowak.md

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ summary: "Martin Nowak is a Harvard mathematical biologist who directed the Prog
 born: 1965-04-07
 location: "Cambridge, Massachusetts"
 created: 2026-06-20
-updated: 2026-09-25
+updated: 2026-10-09
 relations:
   - type: employed_by
     with: "[[Harvard University]]"
@@ -112,9 +112,9 @@ Epstein's will, dated August 8, 2019, two days before his death, left Nowak 5 mi
 [^4]: Nowak, Martin A. "Five Rules for the Evolution of Cooperation," *Science* 314, no. 5805 (2006): 1560-1563, on kin selection, direct and indirect reciprocity, network reciprocity, and group selection. https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1133755
 [^5]: Nowak, Martin A., Corina E. Tarnita, and Edward O. Wilson. "The Evolution of Eusociality," *Nature* 466 (2010): 1057-1062, the paper that drew a rebuttal signed by more than 130 biologists.
 [^6]: "Why did Jeffrey Epstein cultivate famous scientists?," *Scientific American,* 2019, on the establishment of PED under Summers and Epstein's account to Vanity Fair. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-did-jeffrey-epstein-cultivate-famous-scientists/
-[^7]: "Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University," Harvard University Office of the General Counsel, May 2020, on the donation totals, the establishment of PED, and the gift policy. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208
+[^7]: "Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University," Harvard University Office of the General Counsel, May 2020, on the donation totals, the establishment of PED, and the gift policy. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
 [^8]: "Martin Nowak Sanctioned for Jeffrey Epstein Involvement," *Harvard Magazine,* March 2021, on the policy violations, the website descriptions, and the terms of the sanctions. https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2021/03/martin-nowak-sanctioned-for-jeffrey-epstein-involvement
-[^9]: Lopez, Diane E., Ara B. Gershengorn, and Martin F. Murphy. *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University.* Harvard OGC and Foley Hoag LLP, May 2020, pp. 5, 10-17, 26-27, on Nowak's prior support at the Institute for Advanced Study, his understanding of Faust's decision, the 2010 and 2014 emails, the Black and Falconwood gifts, his Templeton advisory role, and the false-information finding. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 ; mirror: https://archive.org/download/epstein-docs_20240108/1.%20Harvard%20Epstein%20Report.pdf
+[^9]: Lopez, Diane E., Ara B. Gershengorn, and Martin F. Murphy. *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University.* Harvard OGC and Foley Hoag LLP, May 2020, pp. 5, 10-17, 26-27, on Nowak's prior support at the Institute for Advanced Study, his understanding of Faust's decision, the 2010 and 2014 emails, the Black and Falconwood gifts, his Templeton advisory role, and the false-information finding. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf ; mirror: https://archive.org/download/epstein-docs_20240108/1.%20Harvard%20Epstein%20Report.pdf
 [^10]: "Harvard Places Math Professor Martin Nowak on Paid Administrative Leave Over Epstein Ties," *The Harvard Crimson,* February 25, 2026, on the 2023 restoration and the renewed leave. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/2/25/nowak-leave-epstein/
 [^11]: "Martin Nowak Placed on Leave a Second Time," *Harvard Magazine,* February 2026, on the Nature reporting, the page-proof advice on the eusociality paper, the 2014 island travel, and the second leave announced February 27, 2026. https://www.harvardmagazine.com/university-news/martin-nowak-harvard-administrative-leave-epstein
 [^12]: "Professor Corina Tarnita on the Epstein Files: 'I Wish I Had Never Known Him'," *Princeton Alumni Weekly,* 2026, on the March 10, 2014 "spy"/"torture" email exchange, Nowak's Civilization II explanation, and Tarnita's account of the scholarships. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/professor-corina-tarnita-epstein-files-i-wish-i-had-never-known-him

10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Steven Pinker.md

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ summary: "Steven Pinker is a Harvard psychologist and linguist whose 2007 readin
 born: 1954
 location: "Cambridge, Massachusetts"
 created: 2026-09-25
-updated: 2026-09-25
+updated: 2026-10-09
 relations:
   - type: employed_by
     with: "[[Harvard University]]"
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Pinker taught at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] before moving to
 
 Pinker's first contact with Epstein came through Brockman. "In 02, my lit agent invited me to join a group of east-coast TED speakers Epstein flew to CA," Pinker wrote in 2019. The group on the 2002 flight to the [[TED Conference]] included [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]] and the Brockmans.[^5][^6]
 
-Epstein held an appointment as a Visiting Fellow in Harvard's Psychology Department, Pinker's department, for 2005 and 2006, on the recommendation of its chair, [[Stephen Kosslyn]], whose research Epstein had funded with 200,000 dollars; Kosslyn acknowledged that Epstein lacked the qualifications for the research he proposed. Epstein also served on Harvard's Mind, Brain, and Behavior advisory committee, and his foundation's press releases billed him as a "Harvard philanthropist."[^2][^7]
+Epstein held an appointment as a Visiting Fellow in Harvard's Psychology Department, Pinker's department, for the 2005-2006 academic year, with a second year approved on April 21, 2006, on the recommendation of its chair, [[Stephen Kosslyn]], whose research Epstein had funded with 200,000 dollars; Kosslyn acknowledged that Epstein lacked the qualifications for the research he proposed. Epstein also served on Harvard's Mind, Brain, and Behavior advisory committee, and his foundation's press releases billed him as a "Harvard philanthropist."[^2][^7]
 
 ### The 2007 Defense Letter
 
@@ -66,6 +66,6 @@ After the November 2025 release of Epstein's emails, Pinker restated his positio
 [^4]: Aldhous, Peter. "How Jeffrey Epstein Bankrolled The Exclusive Edge Foundation And Reaped The Benefits," *BuzzFeed News,* 2019, on Epstein-linked foundations supplying 638,000 dollars of the roughly 857,000 dollars Edge received from 2001 to 2017 and on Brockman's client roster. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-john-brockman-edge-foundation
 [^5]: "Release of emails renews interest in Harvard professor Steven Pinker's link to Jeffrey Epstein," *The Boston Globe,* November 19, 2025, on the December 31, 2010 Brockman email, the 2002 TED flight passengers, and Pinker's 2025 statements. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/19/metro/steven-pinker-epstein-ties/
 [^6]: Pinker, Steven (@sapinker), reply to @HeerJeet, X (Twitter), July 11, 2019, as reproduced in 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
-[^7]: 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 2020, pp. 3-8, on Epstein's Visiting Fellow appointment in the Psychology Department and Kosslyn's recommendation. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208
+[^7]: 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 2020, pp. 3, 5 and 6 to 8, on Epstein's Visiting Fellow appointment in the Psychology Department and Kosslyn's recommendation. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
 [^8]: 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, on the prosecution memorandum, the draft indictment and the September 24, 2007 agreement; 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,* Executive Summary, November 2020, pp. i-xi. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4502088/doe-v-united-states/ ; https://www.justice.gov/opr/page/file/1336471/dl
 [^9]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein's Links To Scientists Are Even More Extensive Than We Thought," *BuzzFeed News,* August 27, 2019, on the 2014 Origins Project gala photograph and the Epstein and Black funding of the project. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements

10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/John Vandewerker.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: John Vandewerker
 aliases:
   - John Vandewerker
 created: 2026-05-17
-updated: 2026-05-17
+updated: 2026-10-09
 category: "Intelligence & Government"
 tags:
   - Person
@@ -18,9 +18,12 @@ John Vandewerker was a former CIA officer who once employed [[Richard Wilker]] a
 
 Vandewerker said he knew Lister and Wilker were involved in some business activity in El Salvador. "It was kind of touchy... as far as getting out of the country and all that kind of stuff." He did not elaborate. Coincidentally, Vandewerker's name was found in the notebooks of investigative reporter [[Danny Casolaro]] after his death, in connection with the goings-on at the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]].[^1]
 
-Vandewerker also confirmed to journalist Nick Schou that Ronald Lister and [[William Nelson]] knew each other. When Lister was running to Fluor Corporation's headquarters in 1982 and 1983, it was Nelson - the CIA's former deputy director of operations - with whom he was meeting.[^2]
+[[Peter Zokosky]] told FBI agents in 1992 that those present at the September 10, 1981 night-vision demonstration for the Cabazon venture included a "Mr. VANDERWORKER," and that [[Jimmy Hughes|Jim Hughes]] acted as interpreter for three Spanish-speaking males described as the customers. The records found do not establish whether he is John Vandewerker. The demonstration is described on the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]] page.[^2]
+
+Vandewerker also confirmed to journalist Nick Schou that Ronald Lister and [[William Nelson]] knew each other. When Lister was running to Fluor Corporation's headquarters in 1982 and 1983, it was Nelson - the CIA's former deputy director of operations - with whom he was meeting.[^3]
 
 ### Footnotes
 
 [^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty"
-[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"
+[^2]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Peter Zokosky, file 74-86438, interview October 5, 1992 (transcribed December 9, 1992). https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt
+[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"

10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Rocco Zangari.md

@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ relations:
     role: "federal racketeering charges in Los Angeles; guilty plea, five years probation and a $2,000 fine"
     end: 1988
     fn: 3
+  - type: member_of
+    with: "[[Los Angeles Crime Family]]"
+    start: 1986
+    role: "identified by the California Attorney General's office as a member of the Southern California Crime Family"
+    fn: 16
 ---
 
 Rocco Zangari managed the cardroom of the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]] on the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]] at [[Indio, California]] from September 1980 until he was discharged in November 1981. [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that he was a former bookie.[^1] In 1988 he pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges in [[Los Angeles]], and in 1989 a [[Riverside County]] newspaper and a California Attorney General's office official testifying to a [[United States Senate]] committee each described him as an organized crime figure.[^2][^3]
@@ -49,11 +54,11 @@ On or about September 25, 1980, Zangari entered into an agreement to manage a ca
 
 ### Discharge and the bankruptcy case
 
-According to the appellate panel, Zangari was discharged from his managerial position on November 5, 1981, following legal difficulties between the casino and the City of Indio. A [[Press-Enterprise]] article from January 1988 gives the date as November 15, 1981, and reports that Zangari sued for breach of contract, claiming he was owed $260,000.[^5][^10]
+According to the appellate panel, Zangari was discharged from his managerial position on November 5, 1981, following legal difficulties between the casino and the City of Indio. A [[Press-Enterprise]] article of March 20, 1988 gives the date as November 15, 1981, and reports that Zangari sued for breach of contract, claiming he was owed $260,000.[^5][^10]
 
-On December 10, 1981, the Cabazon Indian Casino filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The petition was signed by John Paul Nichols as "Project Manager." The January 1988 article gives the casino's debts as $567,577 owed to 45 creditors, and its assets as $123,859, and reports that Nichols said incompetent management caused the downfall of the poker business and that he had admitted a mistake in hiring Zangari as the first manager.[^5][^10]
+On December 10, 1981, the Cabazon Indian Casino filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The petition was signed by John Paul Nichols as "Project Manager." The article gives the casino's debts as $567,577 owed to 45 creditors, and its assets as $123,859, and quotes John Paul Nichols, identified as the Cabazon tribal administrator: "Nichols said incompetent management caused the downfall of the poker business and he has admitted a mistake in his hiring of Rocco Zangari as the first manager."[^5][^10]
 
-Zangari filed a complaint on January 28, 1982, objecting to the discharge of any amounts the casino owed him under the September 25, 1980 agreement. The casino counterclaimed for damages under the same agreement. On September 22, 1982, the casino moved for summary judgment, arguing that the agreement bound only PN Associates and that, even if it bound the casino, it was void under [[25 U.S.C. § 81]], the federal statute that restricts payments for services relating to tribal lands. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants. On December 29, 1983, the appellate panel reversed and remanded, finding a material question of fact about the nature of the debtor and its relationship with the Cabazon Band, and holding that the lower court erred in applying the statute to a partnership that included persons outside its protection. The panel recorded that Zangari admitted he could not expect to collect anything from tribal funds.[^5] The January 1988 article reports that Zangari's claim was dismissed and that he received no money, according to bankruptcy court records. The article also reports that Zangari and Nichols accused each other in court papers of mishandling casino funds for personal profit at the tribe's expense.[^10]
+Zangari filed a complaint on January 28, 1982, objecting to the discharge of any amounts the casino owed him under the September 25, 1980 agreement. The casino counterclaimed for damages under the same agreement. On September 22, 1982, the casino moved for summary judgment, arguing that the agreement bound only PN Associates and that, even if it bound the casino, it was void under [[25 U.S.C. § 81]], the federal statute that restricts payments for services relating to tribal lands. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants. On December 29, 1983, the appellate panel reversed and remanded, finding a material question of fact about the nature of the debtor and its relationship with the Cabazon Band, and holding that the lower court erred in applying the statute to a partnership that included persons outside its protection. The panel recorded that Zangari admitted he could not expect to collect anything from tribal funds.[^5] The article reports: "Ultimately, Zangari's claim was dismissed and he received no money, according to Bankruptcy Court records." The article also reports that Zangari and Nichols accused each other in court papers of mishandling casino funds for personal profit at the tribe's expense.[^10]
 
 ### Press accounts in 1983 and 1985
 
@@ -67,7 +72,7 @@ A July 19, 1983 airtel from the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Los Ange
 
 An FBI Los Angeles memorandum dated November 5, 1986, titled "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," states that Nichols hired a manager and associates for the parlor, whose names are redacted in the released copy, and that the on-site manager was among those identified as alleged organized crime individuals or associates. It states that information received after the parlor opened indicated that a person whose name is redacted had loaned the Cabazon Band $90,000 toward opening the parlor, that the manager was fired by Nichols and filed a breach of contract suit which he won, and that Nichols maintained the loan had been repaid in full. The memorandum states that John Philip Nichols was arrested by the [[Indio Police Department]] in January 1985 on a murder charge, was convicted, and was serving time in the state penitentiary system. It further states that local bookmakers frequented the bingo and gambling parlor, one of them described as a La Cosa Nostra associate.[^13]
 
-Neither document names the manager. The other records place side by side with them are these. Zangari's agreement is dated September 25, 1980, and the casino was established in October 1980. He was discharged on November 5, 1981 and sued the casino for breach of contract. The trial court granted summary judgment against him, the appellate panel reversed in December 1983 (after the July 1983 airtel), and the January 1988 article reports that his claim was dismissed and he received no money. The Miami Herald reported a $50,000 loan to John Paul Nichols from Marson's wife in November 1980.[^5][^10][^11]
+Neither document names the manager. The other records place side by side with them are these. Zangari's agreement is dated September 25, 1980, and the casino was established in October 1980. He was discharged on November 5, 1981 and sued the casino for breach of contract. The trial court granted summary judgment against him, the appellate panel reversed in December 1983 (after the July 1983 airtel), and the March 1988 article reports that his claim was dismissed and he received no money. The Miami Herald reported a $50,000 loan to John Paul Nichols from Marson's wife in November 1980.[^5][^10][^11]
 
 ### Senate hearing, February 8, 1989
 
@@ -81,9 +86,13 @@ The same article describes Zangari as an organized crime figure who managed the
 
 Welmas wrote to the committee that the Cabazon Band "categorically denies" that its gaming enterprises are controlled, infiltrated or in any way connected with organized crime. His letter, reported by the Press-Enterprise on February 11, 1989, called the testimony "unsubstantiated hearsay" and stated that it made evident that Marty "has no first-hand knowledge whatsoever of the history or the current operation of our bingo parlor or card room." Welmas also noted that the witness had wrongly called the Cabazon reservation a "rancheria."[^14]
 
+### Southern California Crime Family, 1986
+
+The California Attorney General's annual report to the legislature, issued in June 1987 and covering 1986, names the [[Los Angeles Crime Family]] as the Southern California Crime Family and lists Peter Milano as its boss, with his brother [[Carmen Milano]] as underboss.[^15] In a discussion of vending machines, the report describes an investigation of [[Piggy's Vending]] in Riverside County. It states that the company's manager, [[Steven Cino]], and Rocco Zangari, who was observed unloading cartons of cigarettes at the business, "also have been identified as members of the Southern California Crime Family."[^16]
+
 ### A Rocco Zangari in the 1998 Las Vegas case
 
-A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in Las Vegas on February 2, 1998 named 16 defendants, among them the reputed Los Angeles underboss Carmen Milano, a brother of Peter Milano, and, as "made members," Stephen Cino, Charles Caci and a Rocco Zangari, aged 65. The Las Vegas Sun reported the indictment as a 50-count case that followed a January 1997 killing in Las Vegas; Zangari was not among the six charged in that killing.[^15] On March 10, 2000, a Rocco Zangari pleaded guilty to supervising other mob members while they sold $75,000 in counterfeit checks to undercover agents in the fall of 1996.[^16] The records found do not establish whether this Rocco Zangari is the former Cabazon cardroom manager. The Las Vegas Sun gives his age as 65 in 1998, and the 1983 Los Angeles Magazine text places an arrest of the Cabazon cardroom manager in 1946.[^8][^15]
+A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in Las Vegas on February 2, 1998 named 16 defendants, among them the reputed Los Angeles underboss Carmen Milano, a brother of Peter Milano, and, as "made members," Stephen Cino, Charles Caci and a Rocco Zangari, aged 65. The Las Vegas Sun reported the indictment as a 50-count case that followed a January 1997 killing in Las Vegas; Zangari was not among the six charged in that killing.[^17] On March 10, 2000, a Rocco Zangari pleaded guilty to supervising other mob members while they sold $75,000 in counterfeit checks to undercover agents in the fall of 1996.[^18] The records found do not establish whether this Rocco Zangari is the former Cabazon cardroom manager. The Las Vegas Sun gives his age as 65 in 1998, and the 1983 Los Angeles Magazine text places an arrest of the Cabazon cardroom manager in 1946.[^8][^17]
 
 ### Footnotes
 
@@ -94,12 +103,14 @@ A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in Las Vegas on February 2, 1998 name
 [^5]: *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. December 29, 1983), BAP No. CC-82-1578-GVAb; Bankruptcy No. SB 81-03397 WH; Adv. No. SB 82-0174-WH. https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json and https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8517251/zangari-v-cabazon-indian-casino-in-re-cabazon-indian-casino/
 [^6]: *In re Cabazon Indian Casino*, 57 B.R. 398 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. February 5, 1986), BAP No. CC-85-1006-MVAb. https://static.case.law/br/57/cases/0398-01.json
 [^7]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Wayne Reeder, October 5, 1992 (transcribed December 9, 1992), file 74-86438, reprinted in the INSLAW Cabazon Wackenhut file, https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt. Reeder is described as a real estate developer in United States Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, report of Judge Nicholas J. Bua (1993), https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
-[^8]: *Los Angeles Magazine*, September 1983, pp. 126 ff. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746 (John Philip Nichols), Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^8]: Jan Golab, "Close-Up," *Los Angeles*, September 1983, pp. 116 to 128 (the quoted passage runs from immediately before the page 126 heading to page 128). Reprinted in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746 (John Philip Nichols), Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
 [^9]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), undated article citing *Los Angeles Magazine*, reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^10]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), January 24, 1988, p. B-1, "Bingo profits rising as legal fight brews," by Andrew Nelson. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^10]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), March 20, 1988, p. B-1 with jump page, "Manager proposes plush Indian casino, club," by Mike Kataoka. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
 [^11]: *The Miami Herald*, May 29, 1983 (series "Seminole Bingo" on Indian bingo and Wackenhut Corporation; the FBI transmittals date installments May 29, 30 and 31, 1983). Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
 [^12]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), 1985, "Cabazon leader scoffs at report." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
 [^13]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, airtel to the Director, July 19, 1983, "Pan American Management Inc.," file 183-1746; and FBI Los Angeles memorandum, "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," November 5, 1986. Both reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
 [^14]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 11, 1989, "Indians deny link to crime," by David Boyles. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^15]: "FBI deals crippling blow to L.A. mob," *Las Vegas Sun*, February 3, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/03/fbi-deals-crippling-blow-to-la-mob/
-[^16]: Kim Smith, "Alleged mobsters plead guilty," *Las Vegas Sun*, March 13, 2000. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/mar/13/alleged-mobsters-plead-guilty/
+[^15]: California Department of Justice, Bureau of Organized Crime and Criminal Intelligence, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987; Attorney General John K. Van de Kamp), pp. 2-3, "Leadership of the Southern California Crime Family." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
+[^16]: California Department of Justice, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987), pp. 19-20, "Piggy's Vending." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
+[^17]: "FBI deals crippling blow to L.A. mob," *Las Vegas Sun*, February 3, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/03/fbi-deals-crippling-blow-to-la-mob/
+[^18]: Kim Smith, "Alleged mobsters plead guilty," *Las Vegas Sun*, March 13, 2000. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/mar/13/alleged-mobsters-plead-guilty/

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/INTERNATIONAL/Unit 8200.md

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ category: "Intelligence Operation"
 summary: "Unit 8200 is Israel's primary signals intelligence and code-breaking unit, housed at a base near Tel Aviv adjacent to a Mossad facility, operating under strict compartmentalized need-to-know protocols."
 start: 1952
 location: "near Tel Aviv, Israel"
+updated: 2026-10-09
 ---
 [[Unit 8200]] is an [[Israel|Israeli]] Signals Intelligence (Sigint) unit, specializing in code-breaking. It is housed in a base located near a country club north of [[Tel Aviv]], with a nearby building known as "the villa" belonging to [[Mossad]], where top-secret security meetings were held. The unit operates on a need-to-know basis, with departments requiring special permission to access each other's areas.[^1]
 
@@ -20,5 +21,10 @@ In 1972, Col. [[Reuben Yirador]] decoded a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] intercept (VE
 
 In 1976, [[Ari Ben-Menashe]], while on duty in [[Unit 8200]], intercepted a telegram detailing [[Lockheed Aircraft Company|Lockheed]] bribes paid to Defense Minister [[Shimon Peres]]. This information was subsequently covered up by superiors, including [[Yoel Ben-Porat|Buffy]] and [[Sasson Yishaek|Lt. Col. Yishaek]].[^1]
 
+### Minerva University admissions
+
+A page on the admissions site of [[Minerva Project]] was headed "Partner: IDF 8200" in a capture of September 21, 2020. The page states that "IDF unit 8200 alumni have the mature perspective and technological experience to both benefit from and contribute to Minerva's diverse undergraduate experience." It is published under the company's name and carries no statement attributed to [[Ben Nelson]].[^2]
+
 ### Footnotes
 [^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
+[^2]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Partner: IDF 8200," page captured September 21, 2020. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/partners/partner-idf-8200/

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Cabazon Indian Casino.md

@@ -0,0 +1,214 @@
+---
+title: Cabazon Indian Casino
+aliases:
+  - Cabazon Indian Casino
+  - Cabazon Indian Casino (Indio)
+  - Desert Oasis Indian Casino
+  - Cabazon cardroom
+  - Cabazon Indian poker club
+created: 2026-10-09
+updated: 2026-10-09
+category: "Private Organization"
+tags:
+  - Organization
+  - Gambling
+  - Bankruptcy
+  - CabazonBand
+  - Cardroom
+  - Indio
+  - California
+  - SupremeCourt
+  - IndianGamingRegulatoryAct
+  - Wackenhut
+  - PROMIS
+summary: "The Cabazon Band's card parlor near Indio, California, opened in October 1980, filed for Chapter 11 in December 1981, and was the subject of the 1987 Supreme Court decision in California v. Cabazon Band."
+location: "Indio, California"
+start: 1980-10-01
+relations:
+  - type: owned
+    with: "[[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1980-10-01
+    role: "unincorporated tribal enterprise on trust land"
+    fn: 1
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[Rocco Zangari]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1980-09-25
+    end: 1981-11-05
+    role: "cardroom manager under the September 25, 1980 agreement with PN Associates, Inc."
+    fn: 2
+  - type: employed_by
+    with: "[[John Paul Nichols]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1981-12-10
+    role: "Project Manager, signed the Chapter 11 petition"
+    fn: 2
+  - type: contractor_to
+    with: "[[Wayne Reeder]]"
+    reverse: true
+    role: "builder of the casino, paid a percentage under an agreement made when he built it"
+    fn: 5
+  - type: contractor_to
+    with: "[[Southwest Gaming Inc.]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1986-07-01
+    role: "five-year management contract, cardroom renamed Desert Oasis Indian Casino"
+    fn: 6
+  - type: subject_of
+    with: "[[Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. City of Indio]]"
+    end: 1982-12-14
+    role: "October 18, 1980 police entry and citations at the card club"
+    fn: 4
+  - type: subject_of
+    with: "[[California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]]"
+    end: 1987-02-25
+    role: "card club at issue in the Supreme Court decision"
+    fn: 3
+---
+
+The Cabazon Indian Casino was an unincorporated card parlor, restaurant and bar on the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]] near [[Indio, California]]. The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians established it in October 1980.[^1] It filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on December 10, 1981.[^2] Its operation was the subject of [[California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]], decided by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in 1987.[^3]
+
+### Agreement with PN Associates and Opening
+
+On or about September 25, 1980, [[Rocco Zangari]] entered into an agreement to manage the cardroom. The [[Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit]] stated in 1983 that the agreement "appears to have been only between Zangari and PN Associates, Inc., a Delaware corporation," and that [[Arthur Welmas]], Chairman of the Cabazon Band, also signed it. The panel noted that the trial court had assumed, without making a finding, that the agreement was also between Zangari and the casino.[^2] The Band's Tribal Ordinance No. 5.7, enacted May 24, 1980, authorized and regulated the card games of draw poker, lowball draw poker and panguingue and provided for one or more card clubs on the reservation.[^4]
+
+A 1986 opinion of the same panel describes the Band establishing the casino "in October of 1980" as an unincorporated company on tribal trust land, with approximately 75 employees paid from casino revenues.[^1] A dissenting member of the panel described it as "established and solely owned by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians."[^1] [[Wayne Reeder]], a real estate developer, told [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agents on October 5, 1992 that he had built the casino for the Cabazon Indians and had received a percentage under an agreement made when he built it.[^5] The [[Press-Enterprise]] reported in March 1988 that the existing 7,000-square-foot cardroom had been built originally as the Cabazons' discount cigarette business in the late 1970s.[^6] The Bua report describes the casino building as the only building on the reservation in the early 1980s, with a mobile trailer behind it used as a small office for the Cabazons and the casino operation.[^7]
+
+### Raids, the City of Indio and the County
+
+Indio Chief of Police [[Sam Cross|C. Samuel Cross]] and several members of the [[Indio Police Department]] entered the card club on October 18, 1980 and issued citations to more than 100 members, employees and non-members of the Band for violating the Indio City Code. The Band sued the same month for declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court denied a temporary restraining order and granted a preliminary injunction, then granted summary judgment to the [[City of Indio]] and dissolved the injunction, and later restored the injunction pending appeal. On December 14, 1982 the [[Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals]] reversed in [[Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. City of Indio]], 694 F.2d 634, holding that the city's 1970 annexation proceedings, conducted without the consent of the United States or the Band, were void ab initio.[^4]
+
+[[Dr. John Philip Nichols]] told [[Los Angeles Magazine]] in September 1983 that on the night the casino opened "the city police came out in force," that "They had riot guns, helmets," and that they arrested 118 people. The same article states that the casino "has been raided and closed four times by police, but on each occasion a federal restraining order has put it back in business."[^8] A 1984 trade article in [[Gaming & Wagering Business]] describes the casino as the "subject of three raids" and reports that the Cabazons claimed the city had encroached upon reservation territory and illegally annexed part of it in 1970. According to that article, two separate hearings before [[Laughlin Waters]] of the federal district court in [[Los Angeles]] determined that the 1970 annexation was not legal and that city laws did not apply on Indian territory.[^9]
+
+An editorial in the [[Indio Daily News]], dated January 29, 1985 in the FBI's transmittal, stated that the casino was raided by Indio police within days of its opening, was reopened by court injunction shortly afterward, and that the city "eventually lost its bid to shut down the casino for good when a federal judge ruled that the reservation was not within the city limits."[^10] An FBI Los Angeles memorandum of November 5, 1986 states that the card parlor "was raided and closed by the Indio Police Department but reopened by virtue of a restraining order against the City of Indio by a Federal District Judge in Los Angeles, California," an order "later reaffirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals," and describes the parlor as on reservation land "which lies within the City limits of Indio, California." The memorandum dates the expansion to include bingo to 1982.[^11] The editorial dates a bingo parlor to 1983.[^10]
+
+In a letter of May 6, 1985 to the Daily News, [[John W. Fritz]], Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the [[Department of the Interior]], wrote that California is a [[Public Law 280]] state and that the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] was "without authority to act on the matters described in your editorial which are of a criminal nature," and referred the correspondence to the FBI.[^12]
+
+The trade article reports that [[Riverside County, California]] then claimed, as an arm of the state, the right to regulate the cardrooms, and that two days before the Bingo Palace was to open the county staged its own raid. The Band obtained a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction against the county. The state of [[California]] joined the county's suit, and the Band countersued Riverside County for $12.5 million in civil rights damages.[^9] A 1989 [[United States Senate|Senate]] record reports that the [[Riverside County Sheriff's Department]] had attempted to shut down the Cabazon and [[Morongo Band of Mission Indians|Morongo]] gaming operations after declaring them illegal, and that the operations were reopened after a court ruling.[^13]
+
+### Zangari and the First Management Contract
+
+Dr. John Philip Nichols told Los Angeles Magazine in September 1983 that the tribe had hired the baseball manager [[Leo Durocher]] as a consultant to set up the cardroom and that Durocher "brought in a guy named Rocco Zangari."[^8] The Press-Enterprise reported on March 20, 1988: "Nichols said incompetent management caused the downfall of the poker business and he has admitted a mistake in his hiring of Rocco Zangari as the first manager." The article had earlier quoted [[John Paul Nichols]] as the Cabazon tribal administrator. It reports that Zangari "was fired Nov. 15, 1981" and sued for breach of contract, claiming he was owed $260,000, and that in court papers Zangari and Nichols accused each other of mishandling casino funds for personal profit at the tribe's expense.[^6] The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel gives the discharge date as November 5, 1981, after "legal difficulties between the Casino and the City of Indio."[^2]
+
+Zangari filed a complaint on January 28, 1982 objecting to the general discharge of the casino and to the discharge of any amounts owed him under the September 25, 1980 agreement. The casino counterclaimed for damages. On September 22, 1982 the casino moved for summary judgment on two grounds: that the agreement was only with PN Associates, and that it was void under 25 U.S.C. § 81. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants. On appeal, the panel reversed on December 29, 1983 and found that "a material question of fact exists in this case concerning the nature of the debtor and its relationship with the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians."[^2]
+
+The panel also wrote that "the rights and defenses available to individual partners are not automatically transferred to the partnership or to its other members," in a passage addressed to whether the casino was a partnership with members outside the protection of 25 U.S.C. § 81. The petition itself describes the casino as "a co-partnership consisting of" tribal members and Nichols, a non-Indian.[^2]
+
+A July 19, 1983 airtel from the FBI Los Angeles office to the Director describes a bookmaker placed as manager of the card parlor, who was fired and afterwards won an $80,000 civil suit for breach of contract.[^14] The FBI memorandum of November 5, 1986 describes a manager who was fired by Nichols and filed a breach of contract suit "which he won," and states that Nichols maintained the loan had been repaid in full.[^11] Neither document names the manager. The Press-Enterprise article of March 20, 1988 states: "Ultimately, Zangari's claim was dismissed and he received no money, according to Bankruptcy Court records."[^6]
+
+[[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that Zangari was a former bookie.[^15] In 1988 Zangari pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges in Los Angeles. The Press-Enterprise of February 9, 1989 reports a sentence of five years' probation and a $2,000 fine, and an indictment that identified him as an associate of [[Peter Milano]].[^16] The California Attorney General's office paper submitted to the Senate in February 1989 describes the 1988 charge as "extortion," and states that Zangari was "fired by the Tribe for alleged wrong doings in financial dealings."[^13]
+
+The [[Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs]] heard a witness listed under the name "Marty" on February 8, 1989. According to the Press-Enterprise, the witness described a bingo casino in the western United States skimming for a crime family and gave no specifics on Cabazon.[^16] Welmas replied in writing that the testimony was unsubstantiated hearsay.[^17]
+
+A [[Las Vegas Sun]] article of February 3, 1998 names a Rocco Zangari, 65, among four defendants in a Los Angeles indictment that included [[Carmen Milano]], described in the article as a La Cosa Nostra underboss.[^18] A Las Vegas Sun article of March 13, 2000 reports that Zangari pleaded guilty on March 10, 2000 to supervising other members while they sold $75,000 in counterfeit checks.[^19] The records found do not establish whether this is the same Rocco Zangari who managed the Cabazon cardroom.
+
+### Nichols Management
+
+The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel describes John Paul Nichols as signing the petition as "Project Manager," and as a non-Indian who was ostensibly not a member of the Band.[^2] The 1993 report of Judge [[Nicholas J. Bua]] describes Dr. John Philip Nichols as "a non-Indian man" who "was the Tribal Administrator and managed the business affairs of the tribe."[^7] The FBI memorandum of November 5, 1986 states that Nichols, his wife and three sons were hired as the management personnel by the Band.[^11] Los Angeles Magazine of September 1983 reports that [[Mark Nichols]] was present while his father, Dr. Nichols, related the story of hiring Zangari.[^8] *Gaming & Wagering Business* of October 1984 names Mark Nichols as the bingo parlor manager.[^9]
+
+The editorial of January 1985 states that a group of dissident tribal members filed a complaint in the bankruptcy case alleging that non-Indians running the cardroom were reaping most of the profits. It also states that "Despite the two bankruptcies," Nichols and the tribe built a skeet-shooting range in 1982 and a bingo parlor in 1983.[^10]
+
+The Senate paper of February 1989 states that Dr. Nichols pleaded no contest in May 1985 to two counts of solicitation for murder.[^13] In July 1989 Mark Nichols was chief executive officer for the Cabazons.[^20]
+
+### Bankruptcy
+
+The tribe filed the bankruptcy case on December 10, 1981, citing casino debts of $567,577 owed to 45 creditors and assets of $123,859, according to the Press-Enterprise of March 20, 1988.[^6] In 1986 the casino appeared before the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel as a Chapter 11 debtor-in-possession.[^1]
+
+The tax dispute reached the panel in the same year. The casino claimed exemption from federal unemployment tax and the employer's share of Social Security tax as an Indian tribe. The trial court held that it was not exempt. The panel affirmed on February 5, 1986, over a dissent, and stated: "we adopt the reasoning of these two courts to hold that the income generated by the Casino is not directly derived from the land." The [[Internal Revenue Service]] claim, filed February 4, 1983, was for 1981 employment taxes of $181,530.24 (FICA) and $5,614.11 (FUTA).[^1]
+
+The Press-Enterprise of March 20, 1988 reports that settlement of the case depended on a $200,000 loan from [[Southwest Gaming Inc.]] to the tribe. It reports Nichols's statement that the Internal Revenue Service had been paid the $62,500 claimed in back taxes, that the original IRS debt was $160,000 and had been trimmed by payments over four years, that the state [[Employment Development Department]] had claimed $37,000, and that trade creditors would receive 70 percent of what they were owed under the proposed settlement. The article states that the proposed settlement was to be considered by the bankruptcy court in San Bernardino that Friday.[^6] Southwest Gaming lifted the tribe out of bankruptcy court in March 1988 by providing a loan to pay off creditors.[^20]
+
+### Desert Oasis and Southwest Gaming
+
+[[Don Speer]], who had a background in casino management and marketing in Las Vegas, entered into a contract with the Cabazons in July 1986 and renamed the poker club the Desert Oasis Indian Casino to avoid confusing its location with the town of Cabazon. The Press-Enterprise reports that, according to court papers, the contract was approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Speer's background was cleared by the FBI before he joined the venture. It describes a five-year management contract under which the tribe was initially guaranteed $225,000 a year, and states that the terms of the renegotiated contract in the reorganization plan filed with the bankruptcy court guaranteed the Cabazons $765,000 on the first $3,656,000 or less of gross revenues in the first year, with a $65,000 annual fee for cashier services.[^6] Speer, president of Southwest Gaming of [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], planned to spend at least $3 million to convert the cardroom into a nightclub with live entertainment and gourmet dining.[^6]
+
+At his arraignment on July 20, 1989, Speer pleaded innocent in Los Angeles County to charges of conspiracy to commit grand theft, grand theft and attempted grand theft in connection with operations at the [[California Bell Club]] in southeast Los Angeles County, which Southwest Gaming also managed.[^20] Mark Nichols said: "We are of a mind to see his innocence, however."[^20] The Press-Enterprise of September 20, 1989 reports that charges against Speer and Southwest Gaming vice president [[Michael Riordan]] were to be dismissed on September 28 when they repaid around $70,000 they had been accused of embezzling from the club, under a civil compromise that included no admission of wrongdoing. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney [[Pamela Ferrero]] said the evidence was weak that Speer and Riordan had criminal intent, and Mark Nichols said: "We're glad (Speer) is not going to jail or be sentenced."[^21]
+
+### Cabazon Band v. County of Riverside, Ninth Circuit
+
+The Band, the state and the county litigated whether state and county gambling laws applied on the reservations. On November 5, 1984, Judge Laughlin Waters ruled in Los Angeles for the Cabazon and Morongo bands, and the state's deputy attorneys general said they would appeal; the Press-Enterprise quoted Waters as saying that he did not agree with arguments that Indians' historic rights of sovereignty over reservation lands applied to gambling, and as saying "Indians are no different from anybody else" and "They've shown that, if they have the opportunity to make a buck, they'll act on it."[^22] The district court granted the Band's motion for summary judgment and issued a permanent injunction restraining the state and the county from applying their gambling laws on the reservations. The Ninth Circuit affirmed in [[Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. County of Riverside]], 783 F.2d 900 (9th Cir. 1986).[^23]
+
+The panel held that "the gambling activities of the Tribes on the Indian reservation do not violate California public policy," and that California's bingo statute "is civil/regulatory in nature and does not apply, under Public Law 280, on the Indian reservations." On tribal interests, the court wrote that "the games are the major source of employment for the reservation Indians and the sole source of revenue for operating their tribal governments." The court extended its reasoning to the card parlor: "We find no basis upon which to distinguish the Tribe's bingo activities from the Tribes' card parlor games."[^23]
+
+### California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, 1987
+
+The Court heard the state's appeal from judgments in favor of both the Cabazon Band and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. The opinion of the Court, by Justice [[Byron White]] and joined by Chief Justice [[William Rehnquist]], [[Harry Blackmun]], [[Lewis Powell]], [[Thurgood Marshall]] and [[William Brennan]], states that the Cabazon Band "has also opened a card club at which draw poker and other card games are played." The Court held that Congress had not consented to the application of state gambling law through Public Law 280 or the [[Organized Crime Control Act of 1970]].[^3]
+
+The Court found that California "regulates rather than prohibits gambling in general and bingo in particular," and characterized the bingo statute as civil/regulatory rather than criminal/prohibitory. The majority wrote: "California does not allege any present criminal involvement in the Cabazon and Morongo enterprises, and the Ninth Circuit discerned none." It found that "the tribal games provide the sole source of revenues for the operation of the tribal governments and are the major sources of employment for tribal members."[^3]
+
+The majority rejected the state's stated interest in keeping organized crime out of tribal games: "We conclude that the State's interest in preventing the infiltration of the tribal bingo enterprises by organized crime does not justify state regulation of the tribal bingo enterprises in light of the compelling federal and tribal interests supporting them." It added that "State regulation would impermissibly infringe on tribal government, and this conclusion applies equally to the county's attempted regulation of the Cabazon card club."[^3]
+
+Justice [[John Paul Stevens]], joined by Justices [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] and [[Antonin Scalia]], dissented. Stevens wrote: "Unless and until Congress exempts Indian-managed gambling from state law and subjects it to federal supervision, I believe that a State may enforce its laws prohibiting high-stakes gambling on Indian reservations within its borders." The dissent also describes the Cabazon Tribe as having "only 25 enrolled members."[^3] The Bua report gives approximately 30 voting members of the tribe as of 1981.[^7]
+
+The Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings on February 25, 1987.[^3]
+
+### Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 1988
+
+The [[Indian Gaming Regulatory Act]] was enacted on October 17, 1988, as Public Law 100-497, nearly twenty months after the Supreme Court decision. Its first finding states that "numerous Indian tribes have become engaged in or have licensed gaming activities on Indian lands as a means of generating tribal governmental revenue." Its fifth finding states that "Indian tribes have the exclusive right to regulate gaming activity on Indian lands if the gaming activity is not specifically prohibited by Federal law and is conducted within a State which does not, as a matter of criminal law and public policy, prohibit such gaming activity."[^24]
+
+### Joint Venture with Wackenhut Corporation
+
+Bua's report describes the Cabazons forming [[Cabazon Security Corporation]] in early 1981. [[Robert Frye|A. Robert Frye]], then president of [[Wackenhut Services, Inc.]], a subsidiary of [[Wackenhut Corporation]], responded to the request for capabilities statements. The report states that Wackenhut was interested because the corporation, as a qualified minority contractor, would be eligible for government contract work under set-aside programs. In April 1981 Wackenhut and Cabazon Security Corporation signed a joint venture agreement, signed by Frye for Wackenhut and by Tribal Chairman Welmas for the corporation. The report states that the agreement gives as the primary purpose of the venture to "qualify for, bid on, and obtain government guard service contracts," and that the joint venture bid on two government security contracts that it did not receive.[^7]
+
+The report states that Wackenhut's files contain documents showing Nichols's efforts to market night-vision goggles and rifle scopes to individuals identified as representatives of the governments of [[Guatemala]] and [[Honduras]], and that "It was Nichols' view that the Cabazon's, as a sovereign nation, were not subject to the usual export and import controls." It states that the files also contain internal Wackenhut memoranda expressing the opinion that any such sales would require State Department approval, and preliminary applications Wackenhut filed with the [[United States Department of State|State Department]], and that "As far as we could tell, no sales were ever made."[^7]
+
+The report places a night-vision demonstration on the evening of September 10, 1981 at the Lake Cahuilla gun range in Indio.[^7] A [[Riverside County District Attorney's Office]] report dated October 10, 1991 carries a title naming [[Earl Brian]]: "Nicaraguans and Earl Brian at Lake Cahuilla-9/10/81."[^25] The FBI FD-302 of an interview with Wayne Reeder places the demonstration at the Indio Police Department range, as do the FD-302s of interviews with Sam Cross, the Indio police chief in 1981, and Sergeant [[Dave Baird]].[^5][^26] Cross told agents that he assigned four or five officers to attend the demonstration and that, if automatic weapons were present, they were expected to arrest Nichols.[^26] [[Peter Zokosky]] told agents that those present included a "Mr. VANDERWORKER," and that [[Jimmy Hughes|Jim Hughes]] acted as interpreter for three Spanish-speaking males described as the customers.[^27] The records found do not establish whether the Mr. Vanderworker named by Zokosky is the former CIA officer [[John Vandewerker]].
+
+[[Michael Riconosciuto]] executed an affidavit on March 21, 1991 in which, as the Bua report summarizes it, he claimed to have been Director of Research for a joint venture between Wackenhut Corporation and the Cabazon Indians. He described the venture as engaged in the development and manufacture of certain military type materials intended for sale to foreign governments and forces. The affidavit went on to describe the role that [[Peter Videnieks]] and Brian played in converting and distributing stolen Inslaw software, and described Videnieks as a frequent visitor to the reservation and a "close associate" of Brian.[^7]
+
+The report states that "the joint venture had no employees at any time" and that "The only individual employed by Wackenhut was Frye." Of Riconosciuto's claim about Brian, it states: "We found no evidence to support Riconosciuto's claim that he and Earl Brian were employed by Wackenhut or by the joint venture."[^7]
+
+The 1992 House Report on the INSLAW affair states that the committee "is not in a position to make findings of fact on Dr. Brian's role."[^28] The report quotes Welmas in the [[Washington Business Journal]] of March 30, 1992 as saying that "Brian must have been involved."[^28]
+
+### Fred Alvarez
+
+[[Fred Alvarez]] was the tribe's vice chairman and security chief at the cardroom.[^13] The Senate paper states that in about May 1981 he publicly criticized the Cabazon management, told local newspapers his life was in danger, and was removed as vice chairman. According to the paper, Alvarez and two other men decided to consult a lawyer about a suit to open the casino's books.[^13]
+
+The same paper states that on July 2, 1981 Alvarez and two non-Indians were found dead, and that the three had been shot in the head with a .38 caliber revolver the evening before. The paper states the case has never been solved.[^13] Seymour wrote that the killings occurred on June 29, 1981.[^15] An undated newspaper clipping reproduced in the FBI file gives Alvarez's age as 32 and reports that shortly before his death he had told the Indio Daily News that he feared for his life.[^29] The Daily News editorial of January 1985 states that he walked into the newspaper's editorial offices almost four years earlier, that a month later, shortly after the fifth in a series of meetings with editors, he and two other persons were murdered in the back yard of his home, and that no one had been charged.[^10]
+
+Gene Gilbert, an investigator for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, told FBI agents on October 7, 1992 that he was investigating the murder of Alvarez in 1991 when he came in contact with Riconosciuto, and that he interviewed Riconosciuto in prison in [[Springfield, Missouri]] and again in [[Spokane, Washington]].[^25]
+
+### Casolaro and the INSLAW Context
+
+Seymour wrote that [[Danny Casolaro]] was investigating the Cabazon and Wackenhut projects as part of his investigation of [[The Octopus]] when he was found dead in a [[West Virginia]] motel room in 1991.[^15]
+
+The Bua report states that the West Virginia State Police Crime Laboratory found a folded piece of paper inside Casolaro's left shoe, indented as if something had been written on a page on top of it, and reproduced the impressions. The report states that the writing was Casolaro's and gives the text, which includes the lines "Outline Chapter on 1980," "John Philip Nichols after arrival Indian Reservation," "Fred Alvarez" and "Finish up chapter w/ Paul M. & Fred A." The report states that there is no indication when Casolaro wrote the words or why he placed the paper in his shoe.[^7] The House Report cites the Riverside County District Attorney's Office Special Operations Report of October 10, 1991, pages 2 to 4, in note 221.[^28]
+
+### Later Operations
+
+The Cabazon Band's corporation [[Cabazon Bingo, Inc.]] operated [[Fantasy Springs Resort Casino|Fantasy Springs Casino]] on tribal land; a California appellate opinion records bingo being played there on or about September 17, 1995.[^30] *Indian Country Today* described Fantasy Springs Resort Casino at Indio as the Band's casino in 2008.[^31] Southwest Gaming managed the Desert Oasis Indian Casino under the 1986 contract as of July 1989.[^20]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: *In re Cabazon Indian Casino*, 57 B.R. 398 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Feb. 5, 1986), BAP No. CC-85-1006-MVAb (Meyers, B.J., for the majority; Volinn, B.J., dissenting). https://static.case.law/br/57/cases/0398-01.json
+[^2]: *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Dec. 29, 1983), BAP No. CC-82-1578-GVAb. https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json
+[^3]: *California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians*, 480 U.S. 202 (1987), No. 85-1708, argued Dec. 9, 1986, decided Feb. 25, 1987. https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/480/202
+[^4]: *Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. City of Indio*, 694 F.2d 634 (9th Cir. Dec. 14, 1982). https://static.case.law/f2d/694/cases/0634-01.json
+[^5]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Wayne Reeder, file 74-86438, interview October 5, 1992 (transcribed December 9, 1992). https://archive.org/download/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt/DOCID-70002059%20INSLAW%20Cabazon%20Wackenhunt_djvu.txt
+[^6]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), March 20, 1988, p. B-1 with jump page, "Manager proposes plush Indian casino, club," by Mike Kataoka, reproduced in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^7]: United States Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (March 1993), section "(i) The Wackenhut-Cabazon Joint Venture," printed pp. 55 to 58; section "(ii) Riconosciuto's March 21, 1991 Affidavit," pp. 44 to 45; Casolaro paper, pp. 166 to 167. Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/download/doj-oip-inslaw-1993/DOJ-OIP-INSLAW_1993_djvu.txt
+[^8]: Jan Golab, "Close-Up," *Los Angeles*, September 1983, pp. 116 to 128, reproduced in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^9]: "Gaming & Wagering Business," October 1984, reproduced in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^10]: "The Cabazons: Time to clear the air," editorial, *Daily News* (Indio, California), dated January 29, 1985 in the FBI transmittal, enclosed with a letter of February 5, 1985 to Secretary of the Interior William Clark, in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 198D-LA-96, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_198D-LA-96_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^11]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, memorandum, "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," November 5, 1986, in file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^12]: Letter from John W. Fritz, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs, United States Department of the Interior, to the Daily News, Indio, May 6, 1985, in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 198D-LA-96, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_198D-LA-96_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^13]: *Federal Government's Relationship with American Indians*, Hearings before the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, S. Hrg. 101-126, Part 2 (February 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1989), statement of Robert Morehouse, California Attorney General's office, "High Stakes Bingo on Indian Reservations in California," pp. 415 to 419 (Cabazon Band section at pp. 417 to 419). https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0182
+[^14]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, airtel to the Director, July 19, 1983, "Pan American Management Inc.," file 183-1746, in file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^15]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010.
+[^16]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 9, 1989, p. A-1, "Cabazon bingo casino listed as Mafia-tied," reproduced in file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^17]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 11, 1989, "Indians deny link to crime," by David Boyles, reproduced in file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^18]: "FBI deals crippling blow to LA mob," *Las Vegas Sun*, February 3, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/03/fbi-deals-crippling-blow-to-la-mob/
+[^19]: "Alleged mobsters plead guilty," *Las Vegas Sun*, March 13, 2000. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/mar/13/alleged-mobsters-plead-guilty/
+[^20]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), July 29, 1989, p. B-1, "Poker club firm chief accused of embezzling," by Mike Kataoka, reproduced in file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^21]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), September 20, 1989, p. B-1, "Felony charges being dropped in poker club case," reproduced in file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^22]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), November 6, 1984, p. B-1, "Judge upholds Indian bands right to operate bingo parlors," reproduced in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^23]: *Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. County of Riverside*, 783 F.2d 900 (9th Cir. 1986). https://static.case.law/f2d/783/cases/0900-01.json
+[^24]: Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Pub. L. 100-497, § 2, Oct. 17, 1988, 102 Stat. 2467, codified at 25 U.S.C. § 2701. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/25/2701
+[^25]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Gene Gilbert, Riverside County District Attorney's Office, file 74-86438, interview October 7, 1992 (transcribed December 28, 1992). https://archive.org/download/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt/DOCID-70002059%20INSLAW%20Cabazon%20Wackenhunt_djvu.txt
+[^26]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Sam Cross, file 74-86438, interview October 6, 1992 (transcribed December 10, 1992); FD-302 of the interview of Sergeant Dave Baird, interview October 6, 1992 (transcribed December 9, 1992). https://archive.org/download/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt/DOCID-70002059%20INSLAW%20Cabazon%20Wackenhunt_djvu.txt
+[^27]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Peter Zokosky, file 74-86438, interview October 5, 1992 (transcribed December 9, 1992). https://archive.org/download/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt/DOCID-70002059%20INSLAW%20Cabazon%20Wackenhunt_djvu.txt
+[^28]: H. Rept. 102-857, *The INSLAW Affair*, House Committee on the Judiciary (1992), notes 218 to 222. https://archive.org/download/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport/TheInslawAffair_djvu.txt
+[^29]: Undated newspaper clipping reproduced in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/download/JohnPhilipNichols/1344360-0_-_183A-LA-1746_-_Section_1_djvu.txt
+[^30]: *Trudgeon v. Fantasy Springs Casino*, 71 Cal. App. 4th 632 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 21, 1999). https://static.case.law/cal-app-4th/71/cases/0632-01.json
+[^31]: "Cabazon Band adds sleek cuisine and sexy nightlife," *Indian Country Today*, April 16, 2008. https://ictnews.org/archive/expanding-the-fantasy-3/

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Los Angeles Crime Family.md

@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+---
+category: "Organized Crime"
+tags:
+  - Organization
+  - OrganizedCrime
+  - LaCosaNostra
+  - LosAngeles
+  - Racketeering
+aliases:
+  - Los Angeles Crime Family
+  - Los Angeles crime family
+  - Southern California Crime Family
+  - Los Angeles mob
+  - Los Angeles Mafia
+  - Los Angeles La Cosa Nostra
+  - Mickey Mouse Mafia
+created: 2026-10-09
+updated: 2026-10-09
+location: "Los Angeles, California"
+summary: "The Los Angeles Crime Family, called the Southern California Crime Family by California authorities, was a La Cosa Nostra group whose boss in 1986 was Peter John Milano."
+relations:
+  - type: head_of
+    with: "[[Peter Milano]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1986
+    role: "boss, identified in the California Attorney General's 1986 annual report"
+    fn: 1
+  - type: member_of
+    with: "[[Carmen Milano]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1986
+    role: "underboss, identified in the California Attorney General's 1986 annual report"
+    fn: 1
+  - type: member_of
+    with: "[[Jack LoCicero]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1986
+    role: "consigliere, identified in the California Attorney General's 1986 annual report"
+    fn: 1
+  - type: member_of
+    with: "[[Luigi Gelfuso]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1986
+    role: "caporegime, identified in the California Attorney General's 1986 annual report"
+    fn: 1
+  - type: member_of
+    with: "[[Rocco Zangari]]"
+    reverse: true
+    start: 1986
+    role: "identified as a member of the Southern California Crime Family"
+    fn: 5
+---
+
+The Los Angeles Crime Family was a [[La Cosa Nostra]] group in Los Angeles that California authorities called the Southern California Crime Family. The [[California Attorney General's Office]] described it in June 1987 as "the only functioning traditional organized crime family based in this state."[^1]
+
+### Structure in 1986
+
+The Attorney General's report for 1986 lists [[Peter Milano]] as boss, his brother [[Carmen Milano]] as underboss and [[Jack LoCicero]] as consigliere. It names [[Luigi Gelfuso]], [[Vincent Dominic Caci]], [[John Aquilante]] and [[Michael Rizzitello]] as caporegimes, and states that the family consisted of about 20 members, five of whom were recruited during the last three years. The report says the structure "remained unchanged in 1986" and states that the family's weakness "is due largely to police scrutiny and ineffective family leadership."[^1]
+
+The report states that the Chicago Crime Syndicate had represented the family's interests on the La Cosa Nostra Commission until recently, and that it "is believed to have been replaced in this role by one of the New York crime families, probably because the breakdown in its structure diminished its influence in California."[^2]
+
+### Las Vegas and the Chicago mob
+
+The report states that [[Anthony Spilotro]], the Chicago syndicate's lieutenant, "led a cadre of key personnel in Southern California and Las Vegas who were heavily involved in bookmaking and loansharking" during the 1970s and early 1980s, and that he and his brother Michael were found beaten to death in a shallow grave in Indiana in June 1986.[^2]
+
+The [[Las Vegas Sun]] wrote on February 3, 1998 that "the FBI offensive smashed a bid by the Los Angeles crime family to muscle in on the street rackets once controlled by the Chicago mob," and that no mob family had moved so heavily into [[Las Vegas]] since Spilotro's 1986 murder.[^3]
+
+### Gambling conspiracy, 1975
+
+In 1975 the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] affirmed convictions in a gambling conspiracy in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles that involved Peter Milano, Luigi Gelfuso and [[John Joseph Vaccaro]]. Milano and Gelfuso received concurrent four-year sentences.[^4]
+
+### Cardroom and vending machines
+
+The 1986 report identified [[Rocco Zangari]], who was observed unloading cartons of cigarettes at [[Piggy's Vending]] in [[Riverside County]], and the manager of that business, [[Steven Cino]], as members of the family.[^5] On February 9, 1989 the [[Press-Enterprise]] reported that Zangari, the manager of the cardroom of the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]] until 1981, was identified in a federal racketeering indictment in Los Angeles as an associate of Peter Milano, whom federal prosecutors identified as the leader of mob activities in Southern California until his conviction for racketeering.[^6]
+
+### Indictment and pleas, 1987 to 1988
+
+On May 21, 1987 [[Michael Gelfuso]], Peter John Milano and Luigi Gelfuso were indicted on racketeering and loansharking violations, conspiracy and attempt to distribute cocaine, and distribution of cocaine. They were ordered detained, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of reconsideration of the detention orders on February 1, 1988.[^7]
+
+[[United Press International]] reported on April 5, 1988 that the racketeering trial of Luigi Gelfuso Jr. and co-defendants had opened in Los Angeles federal court, and that eleven other men, including Peter John Milano, described as the reputed boss of the Los Angeles Mafia, had already pleaded guilty.[^8]
+
+### Blitzstein murder and the 1998 indictment
+
+A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in Las Vegas on February 2, 1998 named 16 defendants, including Carmen Milano as the reputed underboss of the Los Angeles mob. The Sun reported that the FBI had alleged that Los Angeles and Buffalo mobsters murdered [[Herbie Blitzstein]] to take control of his loansharking and auto insurance fraud operations.[^3]
+
+The Ninth Circuit's opinion in the appeal of [[Robert Panaro]] and Stephen Cino describes a fifty-count indictment with fourteen co-defendants, charged with racketeering-related crimes including murder, conspiracy to commit extortion and money laundering.[^9]
+
+In March 2000 the Las Vegas Sun reported that Carmen Milano and [[Dominic Spinale]] had pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, and that Zangari pleaded guilty to supervising other mob members while they sold $75,000 in counterfeit checks to undercover agents in the fall of 1996.[^10]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: California Department of Justice, Bureau of Organized Crime and Criminal Intelligence, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987; Attorney General John K. Van de Kamp), pp. 2-3, "Southern California Crime Family" and "Leadership of the Southern California Crime Family." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
+[^2]: California Department of Justice, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987), pp. 4-5, "The Chicago Crime Syndicate." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
+[^3]: Jeff German, "FBI deals crippling blow to L.A. mob," *Las Vegas Sun*, February 3, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/03/fbi-deals-crippling-blow-to-la-mob/
+[^4]: *United States v. Calaway*, 524 F.2d 609 (9th Cir. Oct. 3, 1975). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8910026/united-states-v-calaway/ and https://static.case.law/f2d/524/cases/0609-01.json
+[^5]: California Department of Justice, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987), pp. 19-20, "Piggy's Vending." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
+[^6]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 9, 1989, p. A-1, "Cabazon bingo casino listed as Mafia-tied," reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^7]: *United States v. Michael Gelfuso, Peter John Milano and Luigi Gelfuso*, 838 F.2d 358 (9th Cir. Feb. 1, 1988). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/500776/united-states-v-michael-gelfuso-peter-john-milano-and-luigi-gelfuso/ and https://static.case.law/f2d/838/cases/0358-01.json
+[^8]: United Press International, "Trial begins for reputed members of 'Mickey Mouse Mafia,'" April 5, 1988. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/04/05/Trial-begins-for-reputed-members-of-Mickey-Mouse-Mafia/4166576216000/
+[^9]: *United States v. Panaro*, 241 F.3d 1104 (9th Cir. Feb. 28, 2001). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/772293/united-states-v-robert-panaro-united-states-of-america-v-stephen-cino/ and https://static.case.law/f3d/241/cases/1104-01.json
+[^10]: Kim Smith, "Alleged mobsters plead guilty," *Las Vegas Sun*, March 13, 2000. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/mar/13/alleged-mobsters-plead-guilty/

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Minerva Project.md

@@ -48,31 +48,31 @@ relations:
     reverse: true
     role: "seed financing, $25 million"
     start: 2012-03
-    fn: 12
+    fn: 14
   - type: funded
     with: "[[TAL Education Group]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "minority equity investment, $18,000,003"
     start: 2014-10
-    fn: 16
+    fn: 18
   - type: funded
     with: "[[ZhenFund]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "co-led second round"
     start: 2014-10
-    fn: 11
+    fn: 13
   - type: funded
     with: "[[Yongjin Group]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "co-led second round"
     start: 2014-10
-    fn: 11
+    fn: 13
   - type: funded
     with: "[[ByteDance]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "led $57 million Series C"
     start: 2019-07
-    fn: 17
+    fn: 19
   - type: director_of
     with: "[[Kevin Harvey]]"
     reverse: true
@@ -84,249 +84,259 @@ relations:
     reverse: true
     role: "director; TAL chairman and chief executive officer"
     start: 2014-10
-    fn: 7
+    fn: 9
   - type: director_of
     with: "[[Philip Lader]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "director"
     start: 2015
-    fn: 21
+    fn: 23
   - type: director_of
     with: "[[Gwynne Shotwell]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "director"
     start: 2017-12
-    fn: 8
+    fn: 10
   - type: director_of
     with: "[[Yiming Zhang]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "director"
     start: 2019-07
-    fn: 18
+    fn: 20
   - type: director_of
     with: "[[Wendy Kopp]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "director"
     start: 2019-07
-    fn: 18
+    fn: 20
   - type: director_of
     with: "[[Rong Luo]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "director; name matches TAL chief financial officer"
     start: 2019-07
-    fn: 9
+    fn: 11
   - type: director_of
     with: "[[Alex Peng]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "director"
     start: 2022-09
-    fn: 10
+    fn: 12
   - type: head_of
     with: "[[Bob Kerrey]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "executive chairman, The Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship"
     start: 2013-01-14
-    fn: 12
+    fn: 14
   - type: member_of
     with: "[[Bob Kerrey]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "advisory board"
     start: 2011
-    fn: 12
+    fn: 14
   - type: member_of
     with: "[[Larry Summers]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "chairman, advisory board"
     start: 2012-04-04
-    fn: 11
+    fn: 13
   - type: member_of
     with: "[[Patrick Harker]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "advisory board"
     start: 2012-04-04
-    fn: 11
+    fn: 13
   - type: member_of
     with: "[[Lee Shulman]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "advisory board"
     start: 2012-04-04
-    fn: 11
+    fn: 13
   - type: head_of
     with: "[[Stephen Kosslyn]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "founding dean, Minerva School of Arts and Sciences"
     start: 2013-03-12
-    fn: 45
+    fn: 47
   - type: employed_by
     with: "[[Teri Cannon]]"
     reverse: true
     role: "chief policy and accreditation officer; acting president, Minerva Institute"
     start: 2012
-    fn: 34
+    fn: 36
   - type: partner_of
     with: "[[Hong Kong University of Science and Technology]]"
     role: "HKUST-Minerva Scholars Program"
     start: 2018-04-30
-    fn: 36
+    fn: 38
   - type: partner_of
     with: "[[Keck Graduate Institute]]"
     role: "WSCUC-approved affiliation for Minerva Schools at KGI"
     start: 2014-02
-    fn: 31
+    fn: 33
 ---
 
-Minerva Project, Inc. is a for-profit corporation incorporated in Delaware and based in San Francisco.[^1] Its founder and chief executive, [[Ben Nelson]], was president of [[Snapfish]] when [[Hewlett-Packard]] agreed to buy the online photo service in 2005.[^2] Minerva's biography of Nelson states that he was Snapfish chief executive from 2005 through 2010 and led the sale to Hewlett-Packard for $300 million.[^3] The company's school began as the Minerva Schools at KGI, an arrangement with the [[Keck Graduate Institute]], and became an independent institution, Minerva University, that was accredited in 2021.[^4][^5] Its investors have included [[Benchmark Capital]], which provided the seed round, and investors from China and South Korea.
+Minerva Project, Inc. is a for-profit corporation incorporated in Delaware and based in San Francisco.[^1] Its founder and chief executive, [[Ben Nelson]], was president of [[Snapfish]] when [[Hewlett-Packard]] agreed to buy the online photo service in 2005.[^2] Minerva's biography of Nelson states that he was Snapfish chief executive from 2005 through 2010 and began that tenure by "leading the company's sale to Hewlett Packard for $300 million." [[Computerworld]] reported on March 22, 2005 that "Terms of the deal were undisclosed."[^2][^3] The company's school began as the Minerva Schools at KGI, an arrangement with the [[Keck Graduate Institute]], and became an independent institution, Minerva University, that was accredited in 2021.[^4][^5] Its investors have included [[Benchmark Capital]], which provided the seed round, and investors from China and South Korea.
 
 ### Corporate filings
 
 The company has filed five Form D notices with the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]], in April 2012, November 2014, December 2017, July 2019 and September 2022.[^6] Each lists Nelson as an executive officer and director.
 
+Hewlett-Packard's quarterly report for the period ended July 31, 2005 says that in the first nine months of fiscal 2005 HP acquired two companies and increased its ownership in a consolidated subsidiary, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $339 million, including direct transaction costs. The report says that the largest of these transactions was the acquisition of SAC, LLC, doing business as "Snapfish." The report for the period ended April 30, 2005 gave the aggregate for the first six months as approximately $332 million.[^7][^8]
+
 The April 2012 notice gives March 26, 2012 as the date of first sale and an offering of $25,000,000, of which $16,666,667 had been sold. It lists [[Kevin Harvey]] as a director beside Nelson.[^1]
 
-The notice filed November 14, 2014 gives October 14, 2014 as the first sale, an offering of $78,600,000 and $45,333,330 sold. It adds [[Bangxin Zhang]] as a director, and the business address moves to 1145 Market Street in San Francisco.[^7]
+The notice filed November 14, 2014 gives October 14, 2014 as the first sale, an offering of $78,600,000 and $45,333,330 sold. It adds [[Bangxin Zhang]] as a director, and the business address moves to 1145 Market Street in San Francisco.[^9]
 
-The notice filed December 5, 2017 gives November 21, 2017 as the first sale, an offering of $75,949,507 and $13,000,104 sold. Its directors are Nelson, Harvey, Zhang, [[Philip Lader]] and [[Gwynne Shotwell]].[^8]
+The notice filed December 5, 2017 gives November 21, 2017 as the first sale, an offering of $75,949,507 and $13,000,104 sold. Its directors are Nelson, Harvey, Zhang, [[Philip Lader]] and [[Gwynne Shotwell]].[^10]
 
-The notice filed July 12, 2019 gives June 28, 2019 as the first sale of an offering of $7,671,644, all of which was sold. Its directors are Nelson, Harvey, Lader, Shotwell, [[Rong Luo]], [[Yiming Zhang]] and [[Wendy Kopp]].[^9]
+The notice filed July 12, 2019 gives June 28, 2019 as the first sale of an offering of $7,671,644, all of which was sold. Its directors are Nelson, Harvey, Lader, Shotwell, [[Rong Luo]], [[Yiming Zhang]] and [[Wendy Kopp]].[^11]
 
-The notice filed September 2, 2022 gives August 18, 2022 as the first sale of an offering of $16,240,000, of which $3,065,519 had been sold. Its directors are Nelson, Harvey, Kopp, Shotwell, Lader and [[Alex Peng]], and it lists four further executive officers.[^10]
+The notice filed September 2, 2022 gives August 18, 2022 as the first sale of an offering of $16,240,000, of which $3,065,519 had been sold. Its directors are Nelson, Harvey, Kopp, Shotwell, Lader and [[Alex Peng]], and it lists four further executive officers.[^12]
 
 ### Funding rounds
 
-On April 4, 2012 the company announced that it had "secured $25 million in early stage funding from Benchmark Capital, the largest seed investment in the firm's history," and named [[Larry Summers]] chairman of its advisory board.[^11] The January 2013 release repeats the seed figure: "In early 2012, Minerva secured $25 million in seed financing from Benchmark Capital, the largest seed investment in the firm's history."[^12]
+On April 4, 2012 the company announced that it had "secured $25 million in early stage funding from Benchmark Capital, the largest seed investment in the firm's history," and named [[Larry Summers]] chairman of its advisory board.[^13] The January 2013 release repeats the seed figure: "In early 2012, Minerva secured $25 million in seed financing from Benchmark Capital, the largest seed investment in the firm's history."[^14]
 
-On October 15, 2014 Minerva announced "the first of two closes in a Series B round that will generate $70M in new financing," led by "a consortium of three investors from China": [[TAL Education Group]], [[ZhenFund]] and [[Yongjin Group]]. Benchmark Capital returned with an additional commitment. The release says that 70 percent of the round had been allocated and that the remaining 30 percent would be allocated by the beginning of 2015.[^13] TAL's filing of October 22, 2014 states that it led "the Series B funding for Silicon Valley-based Minerva Project together with ZhenFund and Yongjin Group."[^14]
+On October 15, 2014 Minerva announced "the first of two closes in a Series B round that will generate $70M in new financing," led by "a consortium of three investors from China": [[TAL Education Group]], [[ZhenFund]] and [[Yongjin Group]]. Benchmark Capital returned with an additional commitment. The release says that 70 percent of the round had been allocated and that the remaining 30 percent would be allocated by the beginning of 2015.[^15] TAL's filing of October 22, 2014 states that it led "the Series B funding for Silicon Valley-based Minerva Project together with ZhenFund and Yongjin Group."[^16]
 
-TAL's annual report for the year ended February 28, 2015 records "a minority equity investment of $18.0 million in Minerva" made in October 2014, with total consideration of $18,000,003 for an equity interest in Minerva Project, Inc., "a Delaware corporation," carried at cost. Its reports for the years ended February 2016, 2017 and 2018 carry the same figure.[^15][^16]
+TAL's annual report for the year ended February 28, 2015 records "a minority equity investment of $18.0 million in Minerva" made in October 2014, with total consideration of $18,000,003 for an equity interest in Minerva Project, Inc., "a Delaware corporation," carried at cost. Its reports for the years ended February 2016, 2017 and 2018 carry the same figure.[^17][^18]
 
-The company announced a $57 million Series C in July 2019. It was led by [[ByteDance]], with existing investors TAL and Yongjin Group and new investors Pinpoint Ventures, Kakao Ventures, Tan Tan Ventures and Lighthouse Combined from Korea.[^17][^18] EdSurge described Yongjin Group as one of "a host of Korean firms," and reported that the investors "hail from Asia." Nelson said that "There is a greater appreciation of the potential of education in Asia." EdSurge also quoted him on the company's structure: "now we are in a separation phase where the schools will soon be operating independently from the company."[^17] The Form D filed the following day records $7,671,644 offered and sold, from a first sale on June 28, 2019.[^9]
+The company announced a $57 million Series C in July 2019. It was led by [[ByteDance]], with existing investors TAL and Yongjin Group and new investors Pinpoint Ventures, Kakao Ventures, Tan Tan Ventures and Lighthouse Combined from Korea.[^19][^20] EdSurge described Yongjin Group as one of "a host of Korean firms," and reported that the investors "hail from Asia." Nelson said: "There is a greater appreciation of the potential of education in Asia." EdSurge reported that the for-profit company had funded the Minerva Schools at KGI to that point, that it would provide no additional funds to them, and that the schools were looking to raise $50 million separately.[^19] The Form D filed the following day records $7,671,644 offered and sold, from a first sale on June 28, 2019.[^11]
 
 ### Board and advisory board
 
-The October 2014 release states that "a representative from TAL will sit on the Minerva Project's Board, joining Nelson and Kevin Harvey, general partner at Benchmark Capital," and that Nelson would appoint two further members later. It quotes "Bangxin Zhang, chairman and CEO at TAL Education Group."[^13] The Form D filed on November 14, 2014 lists Bangxin Zhang as a director of Minerva Project, Inc. beside Nelson and Harvey, and the notice of December 2017 lists him again.[^7][^8] TAL's annual report names "Bangxin Zhang, our chairman and chief executive officer," and "Rong Luo, our chief financial officer."[^15] Zhang, the TAL chairman and chief executive, is the director named in the Form D notices.
+The October 2014 release states that "a representative from TAL will sit on the Minerva Project's Board, joining Nelson and Kevin Harvey, general partner at Benchmark Capital," and that Nelson would appoint two further members later. It quotes "Bangxin Zhang, chairman and CEO at TAL Education Group."[^15] The Form D filed on November 14, 2014 lists Bangxin Zhang as a director of Minerva Project, Inc. beside Nelson and Harvey, and the notice of December 2017 lists him again.[^9][^10] TAL's annual report names "Bangxin Zhang, our chairman and chief executive officer," and "Rong Luo, our chief financial officer."[^17] Zhang, the TAL chairman and chief executive, is the director named in the Form D notices.
 
-Rong Luo became TAL's chief financial officer in November 2014 and held the post through its report for the year ended February 2021.[^19] The Form D of July 12, 2019 lists him as a Minerva director in place of Zhang.[^9] The notice gives no biography; the identification of that director with TAL's chief financial officer rests on the identical full name and on TAL's board seat.
+Rong Luo became TAL's chief financial officer in November 2014 and held the post through its report for the year ended February 2021.[^21] The Form D of July 12, 2019 lists him as a Minerva director in place of Zhang.[^11] The notice gives no biography; the identification of that director with TAL's chief financial officer rests on the identical full name and on TAL's board seat.
 
-Harvey's biography in the 2025 proxy statement of [[Upwork]] lists among his other affiliations "Director, Minerva Project Inc., education innovation company."[^20]
+Harvey's biography in the 2025 proxy statement of [[Upwork]] lists among his other affiliations "Director, Minerva Project Inc., education innovation company."[^22]
 
-The 2016 proxy statement of [[AES Corporation]] lists the directorships of Philip Lader, including "UC RUSAL (from 2006 to the present)" and "the Minerva Project (from 2015 to the present)."[^21] Lader's biography on the [[Renaissance Weekend]] site describes him as Trustee Emeritus of the [[RAND Corporation]] and lists the [[Atlantic Council]] among his boards, and it says that he was "president of Business Executives for National Security."[^22]
+The 2016 proxy statement of [[AES Corporation]] lists the directorships of Philip Lader, including "UC RUSAL (from 2006 to the present)" and "the Minerva Project (from 2015 to the present)."[^23] Lader's biography on the [[Renaissance Weekend]] site describes him as Trustee Emeritus of the [[RAND Corporation]] and lists the [[Atlantic Council]] among his boards, and it says that he was "president of Business Executives for National Security."[^24]
 
-Shotwell is listed in the 2020 proxy statement of [[Polaris Inc.]] as a director of the Minerva Project. The same statement says that she held positions with Microcosm and with [[The Aerospace Corporation]] before she became vice president of business development at [[SpaceX]] in August 2002.[^23] [[Bob Kerrey]] was a trustee of The Aerospace Corporation from 2001 to 2002, according to the proxy statements of [[Tenet Healthcare]] for those years.[^24]
+Shotwell is listed in the 2020 proxy statement of [[Polaris Inc.]] as a director of the Minerva Project. The same statement says that she held positions with Microcosm and with [[The Aerospace Corporation]] before she became vice president of business development at [[SpaceX]] in August 2002.[^25] [[Bob Kerrey]] was a trustee of The Aerospace Corporation from 2001 to 2002, according to the proxy statements of [[Tenet Healthcare]] for those years.[^26]
 
 ### The Minerva Institute and Kerrey's appointment
 
-On January 14, 2013 the company announced the launch of The Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, which it described as a non-profit institute, and named Kerrey its executive chairman. The release says that Kerrey had joined the company's advisory board in 2011. It names Larry Summers as "chairman of Minerva's Advisory Board," and it quotes Kerrey: "I believe the Minerva Project is the single most important innovation in higher education in my lifetime."[^12]
+On January 14, 2013 the company announced the launch of The Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, which it described as a non-profit institute, and named Kerrey its executive chairman. The release says that Kerrey had joined the company's advisory board in 2011. It names Larry Summers as "chairman of Minerva's Advisory Board," and it quotes Kerrey: "I believe the Minerva Project is the single most important innovation in higher education in my lifetime."[^14]
 
-The April 2012 release had already listed Kerrey on the advisory board, with [[Patrick Harker]], then president of the University of Delaware, and [[Lee Shulman]], under Summers as chairman.[^11] An undated company overview in the [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] files names the same advisory board members and says that the company "was founded by CEO Ben Nelson in 2011."[^25] The January 2013 release gives the founding year as 2010, the October 2014 release as 2012, and the 2012 Form D records incorporation in 2011.[^1][^12][^13]
+The April 2012 release had already listed Kerrey on the advisory board, with [[Patrick Harker]], then president of the University of Delaware, and [[Lee Shulman]], under Summers as chairman.[^13] An undated company overview in the [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] files names the same advisory board members and says that the company "was founded by CEO Ben Nelson in 2011."[^27] The January 2013 release gives the founding year as 2010, the October 2014 release as 2012, and the 2012 Form D records incorporation in 2011.[^1][^14][^15]
 
-On November 11, 2014 the Institute announced the appointment of [[Stacey Childress]], then chief executive of NewSchools Venture Fund, and [[Michael Horn]] of the Clayton Christensen Institute to its board.[^26] Minerva's Institute page of 2020 lists as board members [[Bertil Andersson]], Childress, Horn, [[Diane Tavenner]], Phil Bronner and Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, with Kerrey as executive chairman and Nelson as founder. The 2021 page adds [[Venki Ramakrishnan]] and lists Kerrey as chairman.[^27][^28] The 2023 Board of Trustees page lists Tavenner as chair, Kerrey as chair emeritus, Nelson as founder and board member, and, among others, [[Randy Schekman]] and Zhang Yiming; the same page states that "the Minerva name, logo, and trade dress are trademarks of Minerva Project."[^29] On December 7, 2020 Minerva announced that [[Reed Hastings]] would support the Institute.[^30]
+On November 11, 2014 the Institute announced the appointment of [[Stacey Childress]], then chief executive of NewSchools Venture Fund, and [[Michael Horn]] of the Clayton Christensen Institute to its board.[^28] Minerva's Institute page of 2020 lists as board members [[Bertil Andersson]], Childress, Horn, [[Diane Tavenner]], Phil Bronner and Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, with Kerrey as executive chairman and Nelson as founder. The 2021 page adds [[Venki Ramakrishnan]] and lists Kerrey as chairman.[^29][^30] The 2023 Board of Trustees page lists Tavenner as chair, Kerrey as chair emeritus, Nelson as founder and board member, and, among others, [[Randy Schekman]] and Zhang Yiming; the same page states that "the Minerva name, logo, and trade dress are trademarks of Minerva Project."[^31] On December 7, 2020 Minerva announced that [[Reed Hastings]] would support the Institute.[^32]
 
-Minerva's accreditation history states that the Institute "assumed responsibility for funding and operating Minerva Schools in preparation for independent accreditation."[^31] Minerva's own announcement of July 22, 2021 describes the Institute as "a non-profit, tax-exempt entity" that "was founded in 2013."[^32]
+Minerva's accreditation history states that the Institute "assumed responsibility for funding and operating Minerva Schools in preparation for independent accreditation."[^33] Minerva's own announcement of July 22, 2021 describes the Institute as "a non-profit, tax-exempt entity" that "was founded in 2013."[^34]
 
 ### Accreditation through Keck Graduate Institute
 
 EdSurge reported in July 2013 that the company had partnered with Keck Graduate Institute, a graduate school in the [[Claremont Colleges]], to launch the Minerva Schools at KGI. The report said the [[Western Association of Schools and Colleges]] (WSCUC), which accredited KGI, would begin reviewing Minerva's programs for approval, and it described the arrangement as similar to the way the [[Stanford University]] School of Engineering operates within its university. The report also says that "while Minerva is a for-profit school, KGI is a nonprofit organization."[^4]
 
-Minerva's accreditation page records that WSCUC approved the affiliation between KGI and Minerva in February 2014. It records that WSCUC granted initial accreditation to Minerva University in June 2021, "recognizing it as a freestanding, independent, accredited institution." A WSCUC action letter, listed on the same page as February 2026, followed a special site visit in the winter of 2026.[^31]
+Minerva's accreditation page records that WSCUC approved the affiliation between KGI and Minerva in February 2014. It records that WSCUC granted initial accreditation to Minerva University in June 2021, "recognizing it as a freestanding, independent, accredited institution." A WSCUC action letter, listed on the same page as February 2026, followed a special site visit in the winter of 2026.[^33]
 
-Minerva's Institute page of 2021 describes the Institute as "a private, non-profit, tax-exempt entity that operates Minerva Schools at KGI," and states that it "will become the home of Minerva University when WSCUC grants it accreditation separate from KGI."[^33] KGI's own account of August 2, 2021 says that Minerva University is "now a freestanding, independent institution." Its president, [[Sheldon Schuster]], said of the arrangement: "This was not a financial arrangement."[^5]
+Minerva's Institute page of 2021 describes the Institute as "a private, non-profit, tax-exempt entity that operates Minerva Schools at KGI," and states that it "will become the home of Minerva University when WSCUC grants it accreditation separate from KGI."[^35] KGI's own account of August 2, 2021 says that Minerva University is "now a freestanding, independent institution." Its president, [[Sheldon Schuster]], said of the arrangement: "This was not a financial arrangement."[^5]
 
-[[Teri Cannon]] is "Chief Policy and Accreditation Officer/ALO for MSKGI and Acting President, Minerva Institute." She joined Minerva in 2012 after working as a higher education consultant and, before that, as executive vice president of the accrediting commission itself, then WASC.[^34][^35]
+[[Teri Cannon]] is "Chief Policy and Accreditation Officer/ALO for MSKGI and Acting President, Minerva Institute." She joined Minerva in 2012 after working as a higher education consultant and, before that, as executive vice president of the accrediting commission itself, then WASC.[^36][^37]
 
 ### Institutional partners
 
-On April 30, 2018 Minerva and the [[Hong Kong University of Science and Technology]] announced the HKUST-Minerva Scholars Program, under which HKUST students take four Minerva Cornerstone courses on Minerva's Active Learning Forum platform and Minerva students may spend part of their fourth year at HKUST. Nelson is quoted: "I am especially proud that our first partnership is with HKUST."[^36]
+On April 30, 2018 Minerva and the [[Hong Kong University of Science and Technology]] announced the HKUST-Minerva Scholars Program, under which HKUST students take four Minerva Cornerstone courses on Minerva's Active Learning Forum platform and Minerva students may spend part of their fourth year at HKUST. Nelson is quoted: "I am especially proud that our first partnership is with HKUST."[^38]
 
-A page on Minerva's admissions site, captured in September 2020, is headed "Partner: IDF 8200" and states: "IDF unit 8200 alumni have the mature perspective and technological experience to both benefit from and contribute to Minerva's diverse undergraduate experience."[^37] The company's case study for the Korean Institute for Energy Technology (KENTECH) says that Minerva "partnered with" it "to create a selective university" for students pursuing energy careers.[^38] On September 28, 2023 Minerva University announced a partnership with Rise, "an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust," to provide four-year scholarships.[^39]
+A page on Minerva's admissions site, captured in September 2020, is headed "Partner: IDF 8200" and states: "IDF unit 8200 alumni have the mature perspective and technological experience to both benefit from and contribute to Minerva's diverse undergraduate experience."[^39] The company's case study for the Korean Institute for Energy Technology (KENTECH) says that Minerva "partnered with" it "to create a selective university" for students pursuing energy careers.[^40] On September 28, 2023 Minerva University announced a partnership with Rise, "an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust," to provide four-year scholarships.[^41]
 
 ### Federal aid and student visas
 
-Minerva's financial aid page says: "Minerva does not participate in U.S. Title IV federal financial aid programs at this time."[^40] The WSCUC directory entry for Minerva University reads "Distributes Federal Financial Aid: No."[^41] The 2013 release had said that the company "will not rely on the federal government for assistance."[^12]
+Minerva's financial aid page says: "Minerva does not participate in U.S. Title IV federal financial aid programs at this time."[^42] The WSCUC directory entry for Minerva University reads "Distributes Federal Financial Aid: No."[^43] The 2013 release had said that the company "will not rely on the federal government for assistance."[^14]
 
-The university's About page states: "Minerva is also authorized by SEVP to host international students on F-1 visas, supporting its undergraduate residential program."[^42]
+The university's About page states: "Minerva is also authorized by SEVP to host international students on F-1 visas, supporting its undergraduate residential program."[^44]
 
 ### Stephen M. Kosslyn
 
-[[Stephen Kosslyn|Stephen M. Kosslyn]] was named divisional dean for the social sciences at [[Harvard University]], effective July 1, 2008, after serving as chair of the psychology department from 2005; he was John Lindsley Professor of Psychology.[^43] In February 2013 his email signature gave his position as director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.[^44] On March 12, 2013 Minerva announced his appointment as Founding Dean; the release quotes Summers, "chairman of the Minerva Project Advisory Board": "I cannot imagine a better leader for Minerva's effort to develop new scalable approaches to higher education."[^45] By September 2014 his signature gave his position as dean of the Minerva School of Arts and Sciences at the Keck Graduate Institute, with a business address at 1145 Market Street.[^46]
+[[Stephen Kosslyn|Stephen M. Kosslyn]] was named divisional dean for the social sciences at [[Harvard University]], effective July 1, 2008, after serving as chair of the psychology department from 2005; he was John Lindsley Professor of Psychology.[^45] In February 2013 his email signature gave his position as director of the [[Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences]] at Stanford.[^46] On March 12, 2013 Minerva announced his appointment as Founding Dean; the release quotes Summers, "chairman of the Minerva Project Advisory Board": "I cannot imagine a better leader for Minerva's effort to develop new scalable approaches to higher education."[^47] By September 2014 his signature gave his position as dean of the Minerva School of Arts and Sciences at the Keck Graduate Institute, with a business address at 1145 Market Street.[^48]
 
-A final technical report filed with the [[Defense Technical Information Center]] under the title "Neuropsychological Components of Imagery Processing" names Kosslyn as principal investigator on AFOSR Grant 88-0012, performed at Harvard University. The report's cover header reads "AFOSR/ONR FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT," and the funding and monitoring organization is listed as the [[Air Force Office of Scientific Research]] at Bolling Air Force Base. The report carries a 1991 DTIC processing stamp.[^47]
+Kosslyn's directorship of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences ran from January 1, 2011, succeeding [[Iris Litt]], to 2013.[^49][^50]
 
-The 2020 report of Harvard's Office of the General Counsel found that Epstein had given Harvard two gifts, in 1998 and 2002, totaling $200,000 "to support Kosslyn's research," and that Kosslyn, as chair of the psychology department, recommended him for admission as a Visiting Fellow for 2005-2006. Kosslyn's letter of September 2, 2005 states: "I have known Jeffrey for about nine years," and "He has been my only collaborator on this project (for some five years now, I believe)," the project being a "theory of social prosthetic systems." Epstein's application of September 1, 2005 was approved on September 3, and a second year was approved on April 21, 2006. The report states that Kosslyn recalled Epstein as someone who "was barely ever around," and that the application form did not require Kosslyn to disclose the gifts. In November 2008, after President [[Drew Faust]] had concluded that Harvard should no longer accept gifts from Epstein, Kosslyn, then divisional dean, noted in an email: "If [President] Drew [Faust] weren't opposed to taking JEE's money, there wouldn't be a problem . . [.] but she is."[^48]
+A final technical report filed with the [[Defense Technical Information Center]] names Kosslyn as principal investigator on AFOSR Grant 88-0012, performed at Harvard University. Its title page reads "Neuropsychological Components of Imagery Processing," the cover header reads "AFOSR/ONR FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT," and the funding and monitoring organization is listed as the [[Air Force Office of Scientific Research]] at Bolling Air Force Base. The report is dated January 25, 1991 and carries a 1991 DTIC processing stamp.[^51] DTIC technical reports from 1983 to 1992 name the [[Office of Naval Research]] as the monitoring office for Kosslyn's imagery work under five contracts: N00014-79-C-0982 at Brandeis University (report of January 24, 1983), N00014-82-C-0166 and N00014-83-K-0095 (three reports of August 20, 1984), N00014-85-K-0291 (reports of October 31, 1985 and July 28, 1987, the latter under the Personnel and Training Research Programs, Code 1142PT) and N00014-91-J-1243 (quarterly letters of August 8, 1991 and February 15, 1992 to Dr. Terry Allard of the Office of Naval Research).[^52] A February 28, 1989 report states that its work "was supported by ONR contract N00014-85-K-0291 and AFOSR grant 88-0012."[^53]
+
+The 2020 report of Harvard's Office of the General Counsel found that Epstein had given Harvard two gifts, in 1998 and 2002, totaling $200,000 "to support Kosslyn's research," and that Kosslyn, as chair of the psychology department, recommended him for admission as a Visiting Fellow for 2005-2006. Kosslyn's letter of September 2, 2005 states: "I have known Jeffrey for about nine years," and "He has been my only collaborator on this project (for some five years now, I believe)," the project being a "theory of social prosthetic systems." Epstein's application of September 1, 2005 was approved on September 3, and a second year was approved on April 21, 2006. The report states that Kosslyn recalled Epstein as someone who "was barely ever around," and that the application form did not require Kosslyn to disclose the gifts. In November 2008, after President [[Drew Faust]] had concluded that Harvard should no longer accept gifts from Epstein, Kosslyn, then divisional dean, noted in an email: "If [President] Drew [Faust] weren't opposed to taking JEE's money, there wouldn't be a problem . . [.] but she is."[^54]
 
 ### Jeffrey Epstein's correspondence with Minerva, 2013 and 2014
 
-On February 21, 2013 Kosslyn wrote to [[Lesley Groff]], the scheduler of Jeffrey Epstein, that "Ben wants to bring Senator Bob Kerrey with him. Would that be OK with JEE?" Groff replied: "Jeffrey says YES to all! 12:00 and bring along Sen. Bob Kerrey."[^49] The schedule for Friday, February 22, 2013 lists "12:00pm Lunch w/Professor Kosslyn, Ben Nelson and Senator Bob Kerrey." An earlier version had listed a "TENTATIVE Lunch w/Professor Kosslyn and Ben Nelson" at 11:30.[^50]
+On February 21, 2013 Kosslyn wrote to [[Lesley Groff]], the scheduler of Jeffrey Epstein, that "Ben wants to bring Senator Bob Kerrey with him. Would that be OK with JEE?" Groff replied: "Jeffrey says YES to all! 12:00 and bring along Sen. Bob Kerrey."[^55] The schedule for Friday, February 22, 2013 lists "12:00pm Lunch w/Professor Kosslyn, Ben Nelson and Senator Bob Kerrey." An earlier version had listed a "TENTATIVE Lunch w/Professor Kosslyn and Ben Nelson" at 11:30.[^56]
 
-On February 23, 2013 Kosslyn wrote to Epstein: "I'm absolutely torn by the situation." He added that "the rest of the team is A+," and that he had "met with the head guy at Benchmark, and they are very positive about the project." He reported that the managing director of the [[Mayfield Fund]] had been "very high on the idea" although the fund "turned them down for internal reasons." Epstein replied: "i see little downside , in taking it, but having all the money you need up front."[^44][^51] Minerva announced Kosslyn as Founding Dean on March 12, 2013.[^45]
+On the evening of February 22, 2013 Kosslyn wrote to Epstein: "I'm absolutely torn by the situation." He added that "the rest of the team is A+," and that he had "met with the head guy at Benchmark, and they are very positive about the project." He reported that the managing director of the [[Mayfield Fund]] had been "very high on the idea" although the fund "turned them down for internal reasons." Epstein replied: "i see little downside , in taking it, but having all the money you need up front."[^46][^57] Minerva announced Kosslyn as Founding Dean on March 12, 2013.[^47]
 
-On February 27, 2013 Epstein wrote to Kosslyn: "i have bill gates at the house tonight after 10," and asked whether [[Bill Gates]] knew Kerrey and whether Kerrey "would he like to come."[^52]
+On February 27, 2013 Epstein wrote to Kosslyn: "i have bill gates at the house tonight after 10," and asked whether [[Bill Gates]] knew Kerrey and whether Kerrey "would he like to come."[^58]
 
-On March 12, 2013 Groff asked Epstein whether she should "touch base with Bob Kerrey of the Minvera [sic] Project," and Epstein answered "ok."[^53]
+On March 12, 2013 Groff asked Epstein whether she should "touch base with Bob Kerrey of the Minvera [sic] Project," and Epstein answered "ok."[^59]
 
-On July 26, 2013 the educator [[Roger Schank]] wrote to Epstein under the subject "minerva project": "am to meet bob kerrey (who I know) monday" and "ran into kosslyn wed who is also involved." Epstein replied that he thought the project "nuts" and asked: "he and kosslyn are only init for the money nu?" Schank answered: "He has enough I would have thought (Maybe not Steve)."[^54] On August 12, 2013 a LinkedIn update forwarded to Epstein stated that "Bob Kerrey is now Executive Chairman at The Minerva Institute."[^55]
+On July 26, 2013 the educator [[Roger Schank]] wrote to Epstein under the subject "minerva project": "am to meet bob kerrey (who I know) monday" and "ran into kosslyn wed who is also involved." Epstein replied that he thought the project "nuts" and asked: "he and kosslyn are only init for the money nu?" Schank answered: "He has enough I would have thought (Maybe not Steve)."[^60] On August 12, 2013 a LinkedIn update forwarded to Epstein stated that "Bob Kerrey is now Executive Chairman at The Minerva Institute."[^61]
 
-On September 15, 2014 Epstein wrote to Kosslyn: "met with kerrey, too used to not being questioned properly." Later that day he reported what Kerrey had said: "he tried to describe minerva to cass sunstein, total fluff, but did say you had rasied 100 m with the condition that if students didn't come the money would be returned." Kosslyn replied: "I know nothing about that condition, and have no idea where he got that idea.. But maybe he knows something I don't know." He added: "I wish I had been able to explain Minerva to Sunstein (whom I've never met)."[^56]
+On September 15, 2014 Epstein wrote to Kosslyn: "met with kerrey, too used to not being questioned properly." Later that day he reported what Kerrey had said: "he tried to describe minerva to cass sunstein, total fluff, but did say you had rasied 100 m with the condition that if students didn't come the money would be returned." Kosslyn replied: "I know nothing about that condition, and have no idea where he got that idea.. But maybe he knows something I don't know." He added: "I wish I had been able to explain Minerva to Sunstein (whom I've never met)."[^62]
 
-On September 16, 2014 Kerrey wrote to Epstein after a brunch: "Thanks for a wonderful brunch and another great conversation." Epstein asked whether Kerrey had said that Kosslyn "had raised 100 million" and whether the money would be returned. Kerrey answered: "He has not closed the round yet but has very strong interest that will enable him to close. He will not lower standards to bring in the first large class in 2015 and will return unspent money from the second round if we fail to recruit at the standard we have set." Epstein forwarded the exchange to Kosslyn the same day.[^46][^57]
+On September 16, 2014 Kerrey wrote to Epstein after a brunch: "Thanks for a wonderful brunch and another great conversation." Epstein asked whether Kerrey had said that Kosslyn "had raised 100 million" and whether the money would be returned. Kerrey answered: "He has not closed the round yet but has very strong interest that will enable him to close. He will not lower standards to bring in the first large class in 2015 and will return unspent money from the second round if we fail to recruit at the standard we have set." Epstein forwarded the exchange to Kosslyn the same day.[^48][^63]
 
-The Form D notice for the round records a first sale on October 14, 2014, four weeks after that exchange, and an offering of $78,600,000.[^7]
+The Form D notice for the round records a first sale on October 14, 2014, four weeks after that exchange, and an offering of $78,600,000.[^9]
 
 ### Footnotes
 
 [^1]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed April 6, 2012, accession 0001546672-12-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667212000001/primary_doc.xml
 [^2]: Computerworld, "HP reels in Snapfish," March 22, 2005. https://www.computerworld.com/article/1459387/hp-reels-in-snapfish.html
-[^3]: Minerva Schools, "Ben Nelson, Founder, Chairman and CEO," staff biography, 2016. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/people/ben-nelson/ Computerworld reports that the president joined HP and that the price was not disclosed.
+[^3]: Minerva Schools, "Ben Nelson, Founder, Chairman and CEO," staff biography, 2016. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/people/ben-nelson/
 [^4]: EdSurge, "Validating a Virtual Startup School," July 23, 2013. https://edsurge.com/news/2013-07-23-validating-a-virtual-startup-school
 [^5]: Keck Graduate Institute, "Minerva University, Formerly the Minerva Schools at KGI, Gains Accreditation," August 2, 2021. https://www.kgi.edu/news/2021/minerva-university-formerly-the-minerva-schools-at-kgi-gains-accreditation.html
 [^6]: EDGAR submissions index for CIK 0001546672, listing five Form D filings (2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2022). https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0001546672.json
-[^7]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed November 14, 2014, accession 0001546672-14-000002, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667214000002/primary_doc.xml
-[^8]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed December 5, 2017, accession 0001546672-17-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667217000001/primary_doc.xml
-[^9]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed July 12, 2019, accession 0001546672-19-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667219000001/primary_doc.xml
-[^10]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed September 2, 2022, accession 0001546672-22-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667222000001/primary_doc.xml
-[^11]: Minerva Project, "The Minerva Project Redefines Elite Higher Education for Students Worldwide; Secures $25 Million from Benchmark Capital," April 4, 2012. https://s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva-Project-Redefines-Higher-Education-Secures-25-Million.pdf
-[^12]: PR Newswire, "Minerva Project Launches The Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship; Appoints Former Senator of Nebraska Bob Kerrey as Executive Chairman of the Institute," January 14, 2013. https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/minerva-project-launches-the-minerva-institute-for-research-and-scholarship-appoints-former-senator-of-nebraska-bob-kerrey-as-executive-chairman-of-the-institute-186768111.html
-[^13]: Minerva Project, "Minerva Project Announces $70 Million in Additional Funding," October 15, 2014. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Announces_70M_Additional_Funding.pdf
-[^14]: TAL Education Group, Form 6-K filed October 22, 2014, Exhibit 99.1, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000110465914072864/a14-22783_1ex99d1.htm
-[^15]: TAL Education Group, annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended February 28, 2015, filed May 28, 2015, Item 3 and Item 6, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000104746915005065/a2224838z20-f.htm
-[^16]: TAL Education Group, annual report on Form 20-F filed May 31, 2016, notes to consolidated financial statements, Note 10, Long-term investments, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000114420416105878/v439035_20f.htm
-[^17]: EdSurge, "Minerva Project Raises $57M to Support Its Tech Platform and Spin Off Its School," July 11, 2019. https://edsurge.com/news/2019-07-11-minerva-project-raises-57m-to-support-its-tech-platform-and-spin-off-its-school
-[^18]: Built In, "Higher ed tech startup Minerva raises $57 million in Series C round." https://builtin.com/articles/higher-ed-tech-startup-minerva-raises-57-million-series-c-round
-[^19]: TAL Education Group, annual reports on Form 20-F for the years ended February 2019, 2020 and 2021, Item 6, directors and senior management, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000114420419026826/tv518838_20f.htm and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000110465921063077/tal-20210228x20f.htm
-[^20]: Upwork Inc., definitive proxy statement filed April 25, 2025, director biographies, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1627475/000162747525000025/upwk-20250424.htm
-[^21]: AES Corporation, definitive proxy statement filed March 7, 2016, director biographies (Philip Lader), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874761/000087476116000083/a2016proxystatement.htm
-[^22]: Renaissance Weekend, "Philip Lader," biography. https://renaissanceweekend.org/bios/philip-lader
-[^23]: Polaris Inc., definitive proxy statement filed March 13, 2020, director biographies (Gwynne Shotwell), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/931015/000130817920000032/lpii2020_def14a.htm
-[^24]: Tenet Healthcare Corporation, Schedule 14A proxy statements filed August 21, 2001 and August 14, 2002 (Kerrey as trustee of The Aerospace Corporation). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70318/000091205701529713/a2056401zdef14a.htm and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70318/000089710102000565/tenet023987_def14a.htm
-[^25]: The Minerva Project, "An Overview," undated, EFTA01144731, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01144731.pdf
-[^26]: Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, "Michael Horn and Stacey Childress Appointed to the Board of The Minerva Institute," November 11, 2014. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Institute_Board_Announcement.pdf
-[^27]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Institute Board Members," page captured September 21, 2020. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/about/institute/institute-board-members/
-[^28]: Minerva University, "Institute Board Members," page captured September 21, 2021. https://www.minerva.edu/institute-board-members/
-[^29]: Minerva University, "Board of Trustees," page captured October 1, 2023. https://www.minerva.edu/board-of-trustees/
-[^30]: Minerva University, "Netflix Founder Reed Hastings to Support Minerva Institute," December 7, 2020 (headline and date). https://www.minerva.edu/announcements/netflix-founder-reed-hastings-to-support-minerva-institute/
-[^31]: Minerva University, "Accreditation at Minerva University," accreditation milestones and documents page. https://www.minerva.edu/accreditation/
-[^32]: Minerva University, "Minerva University Granted Accreditation by WSCUC," July 22, 2021. https://www.minerva.edu/announcements/minerva-university-granted-accreditation-by-wscuc
-[^33]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Minerva Institute," page captured March 19, 2021. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/minerva-institute/
-[^34]: WSCUC, staff page for Teri Cannon. https://www.wscuc.org/team/teri-cannon
-[^35]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Teri Cannon, Chief Accreditation Officer," staff biography, 2016. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/people/teri-cannon/
-[^36]: Minerva Project and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, joint announcement, April 30, 2018. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_KHUST_Announcement.pdf
-[^37]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Partner: IDF 8200," page captured September 21, 2020. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/partners/partner-idf-8200/
-[^38]: Minerva Project, "Case Study: KENTECH," 2023. https://www.minervaproject.com/case-study-kentech/
-[^39]: Minerva University, "Minerva University Announces Partnership with Rise," September 28, 2023. https://www.minerva.edu/announcements/minerva-university-announces-partnership-with-rise/
-[^40]: Minerva University, "Financial Aid," undergraduate financial aid page. https://www.minerva.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid
-[^41]: WSCUC, institution directory entry for Minerva University. https://wscuc.org/institutions/minerva-university
-[^42]: Minerva University, About page. https://www.minerva.edu/about
-[^43]: Harvard Gazette, "Stephen Kosslyn named divisional dean for the social sciences," April 2008. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/04/stephen-kosslyn-named-divisional-dean-for-the-social-sciences
-[^44]: Stephen M. Kosslyn email to Jeffrey Epstein, "thanks," February 23, 2013, EFTA01760981, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10 (same text in EFTA00652848, Data Set 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01760981.pdf
-[^45]: Minerva Project, "Minerva Project Names Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn as Founding Dean," March 12, 2013. https://s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Project_Annouces_Stephen_M._Kosslyn.pdf
-[^46]: Stephen M. Kosslyn email to Jeffrey Epstein, September 16, 2014, EFTA02365655, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 11. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02365655.pdf
-[^47]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, principal investigator, "Neuropsychological Components of Imagery Processing," AFOSR/ONR Final Technical Report, AFOSR Grant 88-0012, Harvard University, DTIC accession AD-A232 391. https://archive.org/download/DTIC_ADA232391/DTIC_ADA232391_djvu.txt and https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA232391.pdf
-[^48]: Harvard University, Office of the General Counsel, "Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University," May 2020, pp. 4-8 and 10-11. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
-[^49]: Stephen M. Kosslyn and scheduler emails, "Re: complication," February 21, 2013, EFTA02147246, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02147246.pdf
-[^50]: Epstein schedule emails for Friday, February 22, 2013, EFTA00395264 and EFTA01905308 (final version), EFTA00954261 and EFTA01800702 (earlier version), and Google Calendar reminder EFTA02148035, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00395264.pdf
-[^51]: Jeffrey Epstein email to Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Re: thanks," February 22 to 23, 2013, EFTA00955209, Data Set 9; and EFTA01900925, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00955209.pdf
-[^52]: Stephen M. Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein emails, February 27, 2013, EFTA00652828, Data Set 9, and EFTA01761690, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00652828.pdf
-[^53]: Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: Bob Kerrey w/the Minerva Project," March 12, 2013, EFTA00393723, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00393723.pdf
-[^54]: Jeffrey Epstein and Roger Schank, "Re: minerva project," July 26, 2013, EFTA00966277, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00966277.pdf
-[^55]: LinkedIn update forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, August 12, 2013, EFTA00652362, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00652362.pdf
-[^56]: Jeffrey Epstein and Stephen M. Kosslyn emails, September 15, 2014, EFTA00996933 and EFTA00704445, Data Set 9, and EFTA02353638, Data Set 11, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00704445.pdf
-[^57]: Bob Kerrey and Jeffrey Epstein, "Brunch," September 16, 2014, EFTA02590688, EFTA02590901 and EFTA02591244, Data Set 11, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library; forwarded to Stephen M. Kosslyn as EFTA00996971, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02591244.pdf
+[^7]: Hewlett-Packard Company, Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended July 31, 2005, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR, Note 4, Acquisitions. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000047217/000104746905022690/a2160914z10-q.htm
+[^8]: Hewlett-Packard Company, Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended April 30, 2005, filed June 8, 2005, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR, Note 4, Acquisitions. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000047217/000104746905016805/a2155974z10-q.htm
+[^9]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed November 14, 2014, accession 0001546672-14-000002, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667214000002/primary_doc.xml
+[^10]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed December 5, 2017, accession 0001546672-17-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667217000001/primary_doc.xml
+[^11]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed July 12, 2019, accession 0001546672-19-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667219000001/primary_doc.xml
+[^12]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed September 2, 2022, accession 0001546672-22-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1546672/000154667222000001/primary_doc.xml
+[^13]: Minerva Project, "The Minerva Project Redefines Elite Higher Education for Students Worldwide; Secures $25 Million from Benchmark Capital," April 4, 2012. https://s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva-Project-Redefines-Higher-Education-Secures-25-Million.pdf
+[^14]: PR Newswire, "Minerva Project Launches The Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship; Appoints Former Senator of Nebraska Bob Kerrey as Executive Chairman of the Institute," January 14, 2013. https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/minerva-project-launches-the-minerva-institute-for-research-and-scholarship-appoints-former-senator-of-nebraska-bob-kerrey-as-executive-chairman-of-the-institute-186768111.html
+[^15]: Minerva Project, "Minerva Project Announces $70 Million in Additional Funding," October 15, 2014. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Announces_70M_Additional_Funding.pdf
+[^16]: TAL Education Group, Form 6-K filed October 22, 2014, Exhibit 99.1, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000110465914072864/a14-22783_1ex99d1.htm
+[^17]: TAL Education Group, annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended February 28, 2015, filed May 28, 2015, Item 3 and Item 6, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000104746915005065/a2224838z20-f.htm
+[^18]: TAL Education Group, annual report on Form 20-F filed May 31, 2016, notes to consolidated financial statements, Note 10, Long-term investments, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000114420416105878/v439035_20f.htm
+[^19]: EdSurge, "Minerva Project Raises $57M to Support Its Tech Platform and Spin Off Its School," July 11, 2019. https://edsurge.com/news/2019-07-11-minerva-project-raises-57m-to-support-its-tech-platform-and-spin-off-its-school
+[^20]: Built In, "Higher ed tech startup Minerva raises $57 million in Series C round." https://builtin.com/articles/higher-ed-tech-startup-minerva-raises-57-million-series-c-round
+[^21]: TAL Education Group, annual reports on Form 20-F for the years ended February 2019, 2020 and 2021, Item 6, directors and senior management, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000114420419026826/tv518838_20f.htm and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1499620/000110465921063077/tal-20210228x20f.htm
+[^22]: Upwork Inc., definitive proxy statement filed April 25, 2025, director biographies, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1627475/000162747525000025/upwk-20250424.htm
+[^23]: AES Corporation, definitive proxy statement filed March 7, 2016, director biographies (Philip Lader), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/874761/000087476116000083/a2016proxystatement.htm
+[^24]: Renaissance Weekend, "Philip Lader," biography. https://renaissanceweekend.org/bios/philip-lader
+[^25]: Polaris Inc., definitive proxy statement filed March 13, 2020, director biographies (Gwynne Shotwell), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/931015/000130817920000032/lpii2020_def14a.htm
+[^26]: Tenet Healthcare Corporation, Schedule 14A proxy statements filed August 21, 2001 and August 14, 2002 (Kerrey as trustee of The Aerospace Corporation). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70318/000091205701529713/a2056401zdef14a.htm and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70318/000089710102000565/tenet023987_def14a.htm
+[^27]: The Minerva Project, "An Overview," undated, EFTA01144731, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01144731.pdf
+[^28]: Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, "Michael Horn and Stacey Childress Appointed to the Board of The Minerva Institute," November 11, 2014. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Institute_Board_Announcement.pdf
+[^29]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Institute Board Members," page captured September 21, 2020. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/about/institute/institute-board-members/
+[^30]: Minerva University, "Institute Board Members," page captured September 21, 2021. https://www.minerva.edu/institute-board-members/
+[^31]: Minerva University, "Board of Trustees," page captured October 1, 2023. https://www.minerva.edu/board-of-trustees/
+[^32]: Minerva University, "Netflix Founder Reed Hastings to Support Minerva Institute," December 7, 2020 (headline and date). https://www.minerva.edu/announcements/netflix-founder-reed-hastings-to-support-minerva-institute/
+[^33]: Minerva University, "Accreditation at Minerva University," accreditation milestones and documents page. https://www.minerva.edu/accreditation/
+[^34]: Minerva University, "Minerva University Granted Accreditation by WSCUC," July 22, 2021. https://www.minerva.edu/announcements/minerva-university-granted-accreditation-by-wscuc
+[^35]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Minerva Institute," page captured March 19, 2021. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/minerva-institute/
+[^36]: WSCUC, staff page for Teri Cannon. https://www.wscuc.org/team/teri-cannon
+[^37]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Teri Cannon, Chief Accreditation Officer," staff biography, 2016. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/people/teri-cannon/
+[^38]: Minerva Project and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, joint announcement, April 30, 2018. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_KHUST_Announcement.pdf
+[^39]: Minerva Schools at KGI, "Partner: IDF 8200," page captured September 21, 2020. https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/partners/partner-idf-8200/
+[^40]: Minerva Project, "Case Study: KENTECH," 2023. https://www.minervaproject.com/case-study-kentech/
+[^41]: Minerva University, "Minerva University Announces Partnership with Rise," September 28, 2023. https://www.minerva.edu/announcements/minerva-university-announces-partnership-with-rise/
+[^42]: Minerva University, "Financial Aid," undergraduate financial aid page. https://www.minerva.edu/undergraduate/financial-aid
+[^43]: WSCUC, institution directory entry for Minerva University. https://wscuc.org/institutions/minerva-university
+[^44]: Minerva University, About page. https://www.minerva.edu/about
+[^45]: Harvard Gazette, "Stephen Kosslyn named divisional dean for the social sciences," April 2008. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/04/stephen-kosslyn-named-divisional-dean-for-the-social-sciences
+[^46]: Stephen M. Kosslyn email to Jeffrey Epstein, "thanks," February 23, 2013, EFTA01760981, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10 (same text in EFTA00652848, Data Set 9). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01760981.pdf
+[^47]: Minerva Project, "Minerva Project Names Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn as Founding Dean," March 12, 2013. https://s3.minervaproject.com/press-releases/Minerva_Project_Annouces_Stephen_M._Kosslyn.pdf
+[^48]: Stephen M. Kosslyn email to Jeffrey Epstein, September 16, 2014, EFTA02365655, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 11. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02365655.pdf
+[^49]: "Kosslyn appointed director of CASBS," The Stanford Daily, July 29, 2010. https://stanforddaily.com/2010/07/29/kosslyn-appointed-director-of-casbs/
+[^50]: Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, "Leadership History," listing Stephen M. Kosslyn as Director, 2011 to 2013. https://casbs.stanford.edu/about/leadership-history
+[^51]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, principal investigator, "Neuropsychological Components of Imagery Processing," AFOSR/ONR Final Technical Report, AFOSR Grant 88-0012, Harvard University, DTIC accession AD-A232 391. https://archive.org/download/DTIC_ADA232391/DTIC_ADA232391_djvu.txt and https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA232391.pdf
+[^52]: Kosslyn technical reports and letters, DTIC accessions ADA124616 (January 24, 1983), ADA145711, ADA145514 and ADA145509 (August 20, 1984), ADA161296 (October 31, 1985), ADA183409 (July 28, 1987), ADA240202 (August 8, 1991) and ADA246449 (February 15, 1992). https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA124616.pdf
+[^53]: Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Components of High-Level Vision: A Cognitive Neuroscience Analysis and Accounts of Neurological Syndromes," AFOSR/ONR Tech Report 89-1, February 28, 1989, DTIC ADA207848. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA207848.pdf
+[^54]: Harvard University, Office of the General Counsel, "Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University," May 2020, pp. 3, 5, 6 to 8, 10 and 26. https://ogc.harvard.edu/files/ogc/files/report_concerning_jeffrey_e._epsteins_connections_to_harvard_university.pdf
+[^55]: Stephen M. Kosslyn and scheduler emails, "Re: complication," February 21, 2013, EFTA02147246, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02147246.pdf
+[^56]: Epstein schedule emails for Friday, February 22, 2013, EFTA00395264 and EFTA01905308 (final version), EFTA00954261 and EFTA01800702 (earlier version), and Google Calendar reminder EFTA02148035, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00395264.pdf
+[^57]: Jeffrey Epstein email to Stephen M. Kosslyn, "Re: thanks," February 22 to 23, 2013, EFTA00955209, Data Set 9; and EFTA01900925, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00955209.pdf
+[^58]: Stephen M. Kosslyn and Jeffrey Epstein emails, February 27, 2013, EFTA00652828, Data Set 9, and EFTA01761690, Data Set 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00652828.pdf
+[^59]: Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: Bob Kerrey w/the Minerva Project," March 12, 2013, EFTA00393723, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00393723.pdf
+[^60]: Jeffrey Epstein and Roger Schank, "Re: minerva project," July 26, 2013, EFTA00966277, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00966277.pdf
+[^61]: LinkedIn update forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, August 12, 2013, EFTA00652362, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00652362.pdf
+[^62]: Jeffrey Epstein and Stephen M. Kosslyn emails, September 15, 2014, EFTA00996933 and EFTA00704445, Data Set 9, and EFTA02353638, Data Set 11, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00704445.pdf
+[^63]: Bob Kerrey and Jeffrey Epstein, "Brunch," September 16, 2014, EFTA02590688, EFTA02590901 and EFTA02591244, Data Set 11, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library; forwarded to Stephen M. Kosslyn as EFTA00996971, Data Set 9. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02591244.pdf

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Wackenhut Corporation.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ aliases:
   - Wackenhut
   - G4S Secure Solutions
 created: 2026-05-17
-updated: 2026-10-08
+updated: 2026-10-09
 category: "Private Organization"
 tags:
   - Organization
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ relations:
   - type: owned
     with: "[[Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation]]"
     role: "wholly owned subsidiary at Reston, Virginia"
-    fn: 40
+    fn: 42
 ---
 Wackenhut Corporation is a security and investigative firm founded in 1954 by [[George R. Wackenhut]] and three other former [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Special Agents. Initially named [[Special Agent Investigators]], it expanded to physical security and was renamed Wackenhut Corporation in 1958. Headquartered in [[Coral Gables, Florida|Coral Gables]], [[Florida]], Wackenhut grew to become one of the world's largest security and investigative firms, with operations across the United States and internationally. The [[San Francisco]] Chronicle described it as being "led by former officials of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, Defense Department and federal law enforcement."[^1][^2]
 
@@ -126,11 +126,17 @@ Spy reported in 1992 that Bruce Berckmans, assigned to the CIA station in Mexico
 
 The 1993 report of Judge [[Nicholas J. Bua]] for the Department of Justice states that Frye, then president of Wackenhut Services, Inc., responded for Wackenhut when the Cabazon Security Corporation solicited capability statements in early 1981, that the April 1981 joint venture agreement was signed by Frye and by Tribal Chairman Arthur Welmas, and that the joint venture had no employees. It states that the only individual employed by Wackenhut was Frye and that the investigators found "no evidence to support Riconosciuto's claim that he and Earl Brian were employed by Wackenhut or by the joint venture."[^34] The report also states that the firms Michael Riconosciuto named in a call to the Hamiltons, Wackenhut Research, Inc., and Wackenhut Security, Inc., "do not exist."[^34] Riconosciuto's March 21, 1991 affidavit, which the report summarizes, states that he was director of research for the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture and that he modified PROMIS software for Wackenhut in 1983 and 1984.[^35]
 
+The Bua report states that Wackenhut was interested because Cabazon Security Corporation, as a qualified minority contractor, would be eligible for government contract work under set-aside programs. The April 1981 agreement gives the primary purpose of the venture as to "qualify for, bid on, and obtain government guard service contracts," and the joint venture bid on two government security contracts that it did not receive.[^37]
+
+The report states that Wackenhut's files contain documents showing efforts by John Philip Nichols to market night-vision goggles and rifle scopes to individuals identified as representatives of the governments of Guatemala and [[Honduras]], internal Wackenhut memoranda expressing the opinion that any such sales would require State Department approval, and preliminary applications Wackenhut filed with the State Department. It quotes Nichols's view "that the Cabazon's, as a sovereign nation, were not subject to the usual export and import controls" and states: "As far as we could tell, no sales were ever made."[^37]
+
+The report places a night-vision demonstration on the evening of September 10, 1981 at the Lake Cahuilla gun range in Indio.[^37] FBI FD-302s of interviews with [[Wayne Reeder]], Indio police chief [[Sam Cross]] and Sergeant [[Dave Baird]], taken in October 1992, place it at the Indio Police Department range.[^38]
+
 ### PROMIS Software Modification
 
 Within the Cabazon Joint Venture, Michael Riconosciuto claimed to have modified the proprietary [[PROMIS]] computer software. This modification, allegedly spearheaded by [[Earl Brian]] and made available through [[Peter Videnieks]] of the [[Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]], was intended to facilitate the worldwide implementation of PROMIS in law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Riconosciuto's affidavit detailed his work on the software, including specific modifications for the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|RCMP]] and the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service|CSIS]] in [[Canada]]. This alleged pirating and modification of the PROMIS software became a central component of the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]].[^1]
 
-It was here that the "trap door" was built into the U.S. version of PROMIS, based on [[Israel|Israeli]] information. This operation was conducted by a small CIA group, headed by [[Robert Gates]], who sought to keep it secret from the NSA due to interagency competition.[^37]
+It was here that the "trap door" was built into the U.S. version of PROMIS, based on [[Israel|Israeli]] information. This operation was conducted by a small CIA group, headed by [[Robert Gates]], who sought to keep it secret from the NSA due to interagency competition.[^39]
 
 ### Danny Casolaro Investigation
 
@@ -142,19 +148,19 @@ Beyond the Cabazon venture, Wackenhut was also implicated in other international
 
 ### Epstein
 
-On July 13, 2009, [[Story Cowles]] wrote to [[Jeffrey Epstein]]: "Would you like to meet the wackenhut security candidates at your house, FSF or Jacks office. Friday is best for them." Epstein replied: "jacks off."[^38] A 24-page set of security officer reports on forms headed "G4S Wackenhut" covers the post at "358 El Brillo," Epstein's house in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]]; one report, for the night shift of November 16, 2009, marks the officer as armed and records hourly perimeter checks, an office door found ajar and a gym door open, and the officer monitoring the main entrance.[^39]
+On July 13, 2009, [[Story Cowles]] wrote to [[Jeffrey Epstein]]: "Would you like to meet the wackenhut security candidates at your house, FSF or Jacks office. Friday is best for them." Epstein replied: "jacks off."[^40] A 24-page set of security officer reports on forms headed "G4S Wackenhut" covers the post at "358 El Brillo," Epstein's house in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]]; one report, for the night shift of November 16, 2009, marks the officer as armed and records hourly perimeter checks, an office door found ajar and a gym door open, and the officer monitoring the main entrance.[^41]
 
 ### Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation
 
-[[Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation]] (WATCO) was a wholly owned subsidiary at Reston, Virginia, which the corporation's annual reports for 1985 and 1986 describe as a unique technical consulting firm offering advanced security and engineering services to government and industry, including sensor design, signal processing, systems integration, robotics and mobile intrusion detection systems, special weapons systems security and technology transfer. It contained the NUSAC division (nuclear material control and accounting, quality assurance), a Security Programs division and a Systems division.[^40] The 1985 report states that the Security Programs division was selected to formulate the conceptual design of the security system for the nuclear device assembly facility to be built at the Department of Energy's Nevada Test Site; the 1986 report adds selection for the security system conceptual analysis and design engineering of the new National Training Center of the Department of State's Foreign Service Institute, and completion of a turnkey integrated perimeter and access control system for the federal government at an overseas location.[^40]
+[[Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation]] (WATCO) was a wholly owned subsidiary at Reston, Virginia, which the corporation's annual reports for 1985 and 1986 describe as a unique technical consulting firm offering advanced security and engineering services to government and industry, including sensor design, signal processing, systems integration, robotics and mobile intrusion detection systems, special weapons systems security and technology transfer. It contained the NUSAC division (nuclear material control and accounting, quality assurance), a Security Programs division and a Systems division.[^42] The 1985 report states that the Security Programs division was selected to formulate the conceptual design of the security system for the nuclear device assembly facility to be built at the Department of Energy's Nevada Test Site; the 1986 report adds selection for the security system conceptual analysis and design engineering of the new National Training Center of the Department of State's Foreign Service Institute, and completion of a turnkey integrated perimeter and access control system for the federal government at an overseas location.[^42]
 
-The Florida corporation behind it, document 599071, was filed on December 29, 1978, the day after the corporation announced that it had bought the assets of NUSAC, Inc., a nuclear safeguards consultancy founded in 1968 as the Nuclear Surveillance and Auditing Corporation and headed by [[Ralph F. Lumb]]. It was renamed Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation on May 8, 1984, Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center, Inc. on January 9, 1990, and dissolved administratively on August 26, 1994.[^41][^42] In spring 1984 the Journal of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management reported that [[Ralph E. Caudle]], formerly director of the Department of Energy's Office of Safeguards and Security, had been named WATCO's president and that the Systems Division, Advanced Technologies Division, Security Programs Division and NUSAC had been merged into it.[^43]
+The Florida corporation behind it, document 599071, was filed on December 29, 1978, the day after the corporation announced that it had bought the assets of NUSAC, Inc., a nuclear safeguards consultancy founded in 1968 as the Nuclear Surveillance and Auditing Corporation and headed by [[Ralph F. Lumb]]. It was renamed Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation on May 8, 1984, Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center, Inc. on January 9, 1990, and dissolved administratively on August 26, 1994.[^43][^44] In spring 1984 the Journal of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management reported that [[Ralph E. Caudle]], formerly director of the Department of Energy's Office of Safeguards and Security, had been named WATCO's president and that the Systems Division, Advanced Technologies Division, Security Programs Division and NUSAC had been merged into it.[^45]
 
-The Wackenhut annual report covering 1984 states that the Department of Energy chose Wackenhut that year to establish and operate a Safeguards and Security Central Training Academy at Albuquerque under a three-year, $5 million contract that Wackenhut Services, Inc., won against 92 companies, and that Wackenhut had guarded the Nevada Test Site since 1965.[^44] An annual report for 1989 lists Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center, Inc., at Fairfax, Virginia, with Joseph A. Navarro as president and with a Defense Systems Analysis Group serving the Army's Belvoir Research, Development and Engineering Center and the Army Survivability Management Office.[^45] A Defense Technical Information Center record lists the Fairfax company as the performing organization for a 1989 "Guide to Camouflage for Developers."[^46] The Fourth Circuit described the Center in 1992 as a subsidiary of Wackenhut International, Inc.[^47] The corporation's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 1995, states that the Wackenhut Monitoring Systems and Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center divisions were sold or discontinued in 1993, with combined operating losses of about $2 million that year.[^48]
+The Wackenhut annual report covering 1984 states that the Department of Energy chose Wackenhut that year to establish and operate a Safeguards and Security Central Training Academy at Albuquerque under a three-year, $5 million contract that Wackenhut Services, Inc., won against 92 companies, and that Wackenhut had guarded the Nevada Test Site since 1965.[^46] An annual report for 1989 lists Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center, Inc., at Fairfax, Virginia, with Joseph A. Navarro as president and with a Defense Systems Analysis Group serving the Army's Belvoir Research, Development and Engineering Center and the Army Survivability Management Office.[^47] A Defense Technical Information Center record lists the Fairfax company as the performing organization for a 1989 "Guide to Camouflage for Developers."[^48] The Fourth Circuit described the Center in 1992 as a subsidiary of Wackenhut International, Inc.[^49] The corporation's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 1995, states that the Wackenhut Monitoring Systems and Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center divisions were sold or discontinued in 1993, with combined operating losses of about $2 million that year.[^50]
 
-A Wackenhut newsletter describes WATCO as specializing in applied research and development in nuclear safeguards and security policy, programs and systems, places it beside Stellar Systems, Inc., of Santa Clara, California, and states that its Security Programs Division worked with the Wackenhut Training Institute. WATCO developed a Touchscreen Station, a security station replacing multiple keystroke entries with single touch commands for alarms, access control, closed-circuit television and other sensors, and the newsletter notes that three WATCO officers, each a former Army officer with law enforcement or security experience, earned Certified Protection Professional status in the same year.[^49] A Wackenhut nuclear services brochure in the same papers also lists a Wackenhut Anti-Terrorism and Crisis Management Division.[^50]
+A Wackenhut newsletter describes WATCO as specializing in applied research and development in nuclear safeguards and security policy, programs and systems, places it beside Stellar Systems, Inc., of Santa Clara, California, and states that its Security Programs Division worked with the Wackenhut Training Institute. WATCO developed a Touchscreen Station, a security station replacing multiple keystroke entries with single touch commands for alarms, access control, closed-circuit television and other sensors, and the newsletter notes that three WATCO officers, each a former Army officer with law enforcement or security experience, earned Certified Protection Professional status in the same year.[^51] A Wackenhut nuclear services brochure in the same papers also lists a Wackenhut Anti-Terrorism and Crisis Management Division.[^52]
 
-From September 1987 WATCO's vice president for national security studies and programs was [[James B. Motley]], a retired Army colonel who in 1984 and 1985 had been director of terrorist research and low-intensity conflict studies at the [[National Institute for Public Policy]]. A June 20, 1990 resume packet of [[Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.]], the Washington firm of the former FBI counterterrorism supervisor [[Carter Cornick]] and the Letelier prosecutor [[Eugene Propper]], lists him as an associate of that firm and states that at WATCO he directs operational analyses and assessments of national security issues.[^51]
+From September 1987 WATCO's vice president for national security studies and programs was [[James B. Motley]], a retired Army colonel who in 1984 and 1985 had been director of terrorist research and low-intensity conflict studies at the [[National Institute for Public Policy]]. A June 20, 1990 resume packet of [[Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.]], the Washington firm of the former FBI counterterrorism supervisor [[Carter Cornick]] and the Letelier prosecutor [[Eugene Propper]], lists him as an associate of that firm and states that at WATCO he directs operational analyses and assessments of national security issues.[^53]
 
 ### End of Wackenhut
 
@@ -195,21 +201,23 @@ The Wackenhut/Cabazon Joint Venture was terminated on October 1, 1984, following
 [^31]: Golrick, Philip D. Memorandum to David G. Marwell, "Phone Conversation with Joseph Oster," January 19, 1996, and letters and subpoena to Southern Research Company, Assassination Records Review Board electronic files of Philip G. Golrick (OSTER.WPD, SOURES.WPD); Central Intelligence Agency, report of investigation, September 13, 1960, JFK record 104-10109-10379, p. 14; Orleans Parish Grand Jury, testimony of Arthur Bidderson, January 9, 1969; Assassination Records Review Board, file inventory (082395.WPD). All consulted at the Mary Ferrell Foundation archive.
 [^32]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Domestic Intelligence Division, informative note, April 14, 1967, JFK record 124-10369-10048; Assassination Records Review Board, public hearing transcript, testimony of James DiEugenio, p. 89; FBI Miami, memorandum of May 10, 1967, headquarters file 62-109060, section 129, p. 166.
 [^33]: Osborn, Howard J. Memorandum for the record, November 8, 1967, JFK record 104-10133-10076.
-[^34]: United States Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, report of Judge Nicholas J. Bua on the INSLAW matter (1993), section on the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture, printed pp. 55 to 58 and footnotes 32 and 35. Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nsa/DOJ-OIP-INSLAW_1993.pdf
-[^35]: Report of Judge Nicholas J. Bua on the INSLAW matter (1993), printed pp. 42 to 43 (March 21, 1991 affidavit, paragraph 44 as quoted).
-[^36]: John Connolly, "Inside the Shadow CIA," *Spy,* September 1992, pp. 46-54. Sole source for the Special Projects Division passage and the Pastora identification and retraction. https://www.prop1.org/legal/prisons/92wack.htm
-[^37]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
-[^38]: Epstein, Jeffrey, reply to Story Cowles, "Re: Wackenhut," email, July 13, 2009, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01829732. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01829732.pdf
-[^39]: G4S Wackenhut, Security Officer Reports, client facility "358 El Brillo," November 2009, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01157725. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01157725.pdf
-[^40]: The Wackenhut Corporation, annual reports for 1985 and 1986, sections on Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-CompanyReportsannualQuarterly," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
-[^41]: Nuclear Materials Management (Journal of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management), vol. 8, no. 1 (Spring 1979), "Wackenhut Corporation Purchases NUSAC, Inc."; vol. 4, no. 1 (Spring 1975), "NUSAC" (company established 1968 as the Nuclear Surveillance and Auditing Corporation). https://resources.inmm.org/system/files/jnmm/vol_08/V-8_1.pdf and https://resources.inmm.org/system/files/jnmm/vol_04/V-4_1.pdf
-[^42]: Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, "Detail by Entity Name" and "Name History," document 599071. https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResults/EntityName/WACKENHUT%20ADVANCED/Page1
-[^43]: Nuclear Materials Management, vol. 13, no. 1 (Spring 1984), "Ralph E. Caudle Heads Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation." https://resources.inmm.org/system/files/jnmm/vol_13/V-13_1.pdf
-[^44]: The Wackenhut Corporation, annual report covering 1984, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-CompanyReportsannualQuarterly," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (passages on the Safeguards and Security Central Training Academy and the Nevada Test Site).
-[^45]: The Wackenhut Corporation, annual report placed as 1989, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-CompanyReportsannualQuarterly," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (the last pages carry 1989 results and a first-quarter 1990 interim report), pages on the Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center and the list of major subsidiaries.
-[^46]: Defense Technical Information Center, accession ADA216700, citation record. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA216700
-[^47]: Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center, Inc. v. Sygnetron Protection Systems, Inc., 979 F.2d 980 (4th Cir. 1992). https://static.case.law/f2d/979/cases/0980-01.json
-[^48]: The Wackenhut Corporation, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 1995, filed March 23, 1995. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/104030/0000912057-95-001626.txt
-[^49]: Wackenhut newsletter (titled *Pipeline* in the scan), undated issue, passages on The Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation, WATCO's Touchscreen Station and "New CPP's at WATCO," Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-Newsletters," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
-[^50]: Wackenhut Corporation, nuclear services brochure, undated, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut - Newsletters," https://archive.org/details/ddosecrets_casolaro_files.
-[^51]: CounterTerrorism Consultants, L.P., "Proudly Presents The Resumes of its Associates," fax copy dated June 20, 1990, pages 141 P10 and 141 P11, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Promotional Material," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
+[^34]: United States Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (March 1993), section on the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture, printed pp. 55 to 58 and footnotes 32 and 35. Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nsa/DOJ-OIP-INSLAW_1993.pdf
+[^35]: United States Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (March 1993), printed pp. 42 to 43 (March 21, 1991 affidavit, paragraph 44 as quoted).
+[^36]: John Connolly, "Inside the Shadow CIA," *Spy,* September 1992, pp. 46-54. https://www.prop1.org/legal/prisons/92wack.htm
+[^37]: United States Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (March 1993), section on the Wackenhut-Cabazon Joint Venture, printed pp. 55 to 58. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
+[^38]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302s, file 74-86438: Wayne Reeder (October 5, 1992), Sam Cross and Dave Baird (October 6, 1992). https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt
+[^39]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
+[^40]: Epstein, Jeffrey, reply to Story Cowles, "Re: Wackenhut," email, July 13, 2009, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01829732. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01829732.pdf
+[^41]: G4S Wackenhut, Security Officer Reports, client facility "358 El Brillo," November 2009, U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01157725. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01157725.pdf
+[^42]: The Wackenhut Corporation, annual reports for 1985 and 1986, sections on Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-CompanyReportsannualQuarterly," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
+[^43]: Nuclear Materials Management (Journal of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management), vol. 8, no. 1 (Spring 1979), "Wackenhut Corporation Purchases NUSAC, Inc."; vol. 4, no. 1 (Spring 1975), "NUSAC" (company established 1968 as the Nuclear Surveillance and Auditing Corporation). https://resources.inmm.org/system/files/jnmm/vol_08/V-8_1.pdf and https://resources.inmm.org/system/files/jnmm/vol_04/V-4_1.pdf
+[^44]: Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, "Detail by Entity Name" and "Name History," document 599071. https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResults/EntityName/WACKENHUT%20ADVANCED/Page1
+[^45]: Nuclear Materials Management, vol. 13, no. 1 (Spring 1984), "Ralph E. Caudle Heads Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation." https://resources.inmm.org/system/files/jnmm/vol_13/V-13_1.pdf
+[^46]: The Wackenhut Corporation, annual report covering 1984, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-CompanyReportsannualQuarterly," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (passages on the Safeguards and Security Central Training Academy and the Nevada Test Site).
+[^47]: The Wackenhut Corporation, annual report placed as 1989, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-CompanyReportsannualQuarterly," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (the last pages carry 1989 results and a first-quarter 1990 interim report), pages on the Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center and the list of major subsidiaries.
+[^48]: Defense Technical Information Center, accession ADA216700, citation record. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA216700
+[^49]: Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center, Inc. v. Sygnetron Protection Systems, Inc., 979 F.2d 980 (4th Cir. 1992). https://static.case.law/f2d/979/cases/0980-01.json
+[^50]: The Wackenhut Corporation, Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 1995, filed March 23, 1995. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/104030/0000912057-95-001626.txt
+[^51]: Wackenhut newsletter (titled *Pipeline* in the scan), undated issue, passages on The Wackenhut Advanced Technologies Corporation, WATCO's Touchscreen Station and "New CPP's at WATCO," Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-Newsletters," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
+[^52]: Wackenhut Corporation, nuclear services brochure, undated, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut - Newsletters," https://archive.org/details/ddosecrets_casolaro_files.
+[^53]: CounterTerrorism Consultants, L.P., "Proudly Presents The Resumes of its Associates," fax copy dated June 20, 1990, pages 141 P10 and 141 P11, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Promotional Material," https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.

60 - PLACES/REGIONS/Cabazon Indian Reservation.md

@@ -28,27 +28,47 @@ On April 1, 1981, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians formalized a joint venture
 
 [[Dr. John Nichols]], the Cabazon tribal administrator and a former [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] agent who claimed involvement in the agency's Chilean destabilization program in the 1970s, was instrumental in this venture. He obtained a [[Department of Defense]] secret facility clearance for the reservation to conduct various research projects. Nichols proposed to Wackenhut the production of a range of weapons systems, including 120mm combustible cartridge cases, 9mm machine pistols, laser-sighted assault weapons, sniper rifles, portable rocket systems, night-vision scopes, and battlefield communications systems. The joint venture also explored the development of biological weapons.[^1][^2]
 
+The Justice Department's special counsel, [[Nicholas J. Bua|Nicholas Bua]], reported that "During early 1981 the Cabazons formed a company known as Cabazon Security Corporation ("CSC")." According to [[Robert Frye|A. Robert Frye]], as the report records, CSC solicited capabilities statements from a number of security firms, and Frye, then president of [[Wackenhut Services]], responded for Wackenhut. The report states that "The joint venture agreement indicates that it was the primary purpose of the joint venture to 'qualify for, bid on, and obtain government guard service contracts.'"[^3] A [[Los Angeles Magazine]] article by Jan Golab, September 1983, describes "the Cabazon Indian Security Corporation, a joint venture with Wackenhut that handles security at the reservation and bids for government contracts set aside for minority groups."[^4]
+
+The Bua report states that Wackenhut was interested because Cabazon Security Corporation, as a qualified minority contractor, would be eligible for government contract work under set-aside programs, and that the joint venture bid on two government security contracts that it did not receive. It states that Wackenhut's files contain documents showing Nichols's efforts to market night-vision goggles and rifle scopes to individuals identified as representatives of the governments of [[Guatemala]] and [[Honduras]], and that "It was Nichols' view that the Cabazon's, as a sovereign nation, were not subject to the usual export and import controls." The files also contain internal Wackenhut memoranda expressing the opinion that such sales would require State Department approval and preliminary applications filed with the State Department; "As far as we could tell, no sales were ever made."[^3]
+
+The report places the September 10, 1981 night-vision demonstration at the Lake Cahuilla gun range in Indio.[^3] FBI FD-302s of interviews with Wayne Reeder, Indio police chief [[Sam Cross]] and Sergeant [[Dave Baird]], conducted in October 1992, place it at the Indio Police Department range. Cross told agents that he assigned four or five officers to attend and that, if automatic weapons were present, they were expected to arrest Nichols.[^5]
+
 In May 1983, the Cabazons solicited San Diego arms manufacturer [[Tim LaFrance]] to build an arms factory on their reservation. Their letter to LaFrance Specialties stated: "We need the know-how from an organization engaged in the manufacturing of armaments of various types, all consisting of technology not currently found on the marketplace."[^2]
 
-The casino's first cardroom manager was [[Rocco Zangari]], who managed the cardroom from September 1980 until his discharge in November 1981.[^3] [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that he was a former bookie.[^1] In 1988 he pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges in Los Angeles; the 1989 Press-Enterprise reports the plea, a sentence of five years' probation and a $2,000 fine, and an indictment that identified him as an associate of [[Peter Milano]].[^4]
+The casino's first cardroom manager was [[Rocco Zangari]], who managed the cardroom from September 1980 until his discharge in November 1981.[^6] [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that he was a former bookie.[^1] In 1988 he pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges in Los Angeles; the 1989 Press-Enterprise reports the plea, a sentence of five years' probation and a $2,000 fine, and an indictment that identified him as an associate of [[Peter Milano]].[^7]
 
-[[Wayne Reeder]], a real estate developer, told FBI agents on October 5, 1992 that he had built the casino for the Cabazon Indians and had received a percentage under an agreement made when he built it.[^5] The Bua report describes the casino building as the only building on the reservation in the early 1980s, with a mobile trailer behind it used as a small office for the Cabazons and the casino operation.[^6]
+[[Wayne Reeder]], a real estate developer, told FBI agents on October 5, 1992 that he had built the casino for the Cabazon Indians and had received a percentage under an agreement made when he built it.[^8] The Bua report describes the casino building as the only building on the reservation in the early 1980s, with a mobile trailer behind it used as a small office for the Cabazons and the casino operation.[^9]
 
 ### Casino Establishment and Bankruptcy
 
-In October 1980 the Cabazon Band established on the reservation the Cabazon Indian Casino, an unincorporated company consisting of a card parlor, restaurant and bar, employing about 75 people whose wages were paid from casino revenues.[^7] The casino was located on tribal trust land. On December 10, 1981, the casino filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11. The petition was signed by [[John Paul Nichols]] as "Project Manager," and it described the casino as a co-partnership whose listed members included the tribal chairman and other tribal members alongside Nichols, a non-Indian.[^3]
+In October 1980 the Cabazon Band established on the reservation the Cabazon Indian Casino, an unincorporated company consisting of a card parlor, restaurant and bar, employing about 75 people whose wages were paid from casino revenues.[^10] The casino was located on tribal trust land. On December 10, 1981, the casino filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11. The petition was signed by [[John Paul Nichols]] as "Project Manager," and it described the casino as a co-partnership whose listed members included the tribal chairman and other tribal members alongside Nichols, a non-Indian.[^6]
 
-A Ninth Circuit bankruptcy appellate panel reversed summary judgment in a suit brought by the discharged cardroom manager in 1983, finding a material question of fact about whether the casino was a partnership with members outside the protection of 25 U.S.C. § 81.[^3] In February 1986 a Ninth Circuit bankruptcy appellate panel affirmed a ruling that the casino was not exempt from federal unemployment and employment taxes, on an Internal Revenue Service proof of claim for 1981 employment taxes of $181,530.24 (FICA) and $5,614.11 (FUTA).[^7]
+A Ninth Circuit bankruptcy appellate panel reversed summary judgment in a suit brought by the discharged cardroom manager in 1983, finding a material question of fact about whether the casino was a partnership with members outside the protection of 25 U.S.C. § 81.[^6] In February 1986 a Ninth Circuit bankruptcy appellate panel affirmed a ruling that the casino was not exempt from federal unemployment and employment taxes, on an Internal Revenue Service proof of claim for 1981 employment taxes of $181,530.24 (FICA) and $5,614.11 (FUTA).[^10]
 
-A January 1988 article reports that the tribe then owed casino debts of $567,577 to 45 creditors against assets of $123,859, and that settlement of the case depended on a $200,000 loan from Southwest Gaming Inc.[^8]
+A March 20, 1988 article reports that the tribe then owed casino debts of $567,577 to 45 creditors against assets of $123,859, and that settlement of the case depended on a $200,000 loan from Southwest Gaming Inc.[^11]
+
+### Cardroom Management Agreement
+
+The [[Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit]] wrote that "Although this agreement appears to have been only between Zangari and PN Associates, Inc., a Delaware corporation, it was also signed by [[Arthur Welmas]], Chairman of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians." The agreement was dated September 25, 1980. The panel stated that it did not have "a sufficient record to determine whether Zangari's agreement was with the Casino or only with PN Associates, Inc." It noted that the casino's Chapter 11 petition described the casino as "a co-partnership consisting of" a list of members that included "Arthur Welmas, President/chairman" and "John Paul Nichols, Project Manager/Employee." The panel stated: "If it were merely one enterprise of the Cabazon Band, as its counsel argues, the filing should have been on behalf of the entire tribe."[^6]
+
+### Raids and Litigation, 1980 to 1988
+
+On May 24, 1980 the Cabazon Band enacted Tribal Ordinance No. 5.7, which regulated the card games of draw poker, lowball draw poker and panguingue and provided for card clubs on the reservation. On October 18, 1980 Indio Chief of Police C. Samuel Cross and several members of the [[Indio Police Department]] entered the card club and issued citations to more than 100 members, employees and non-members of the Band. The Band sued in October 1980; the district court denied a temporary restraining order, granted a preliminary injunction, then granted summary judgment to the [[City of Indio]], and later restored the injunction pending appeal. On December 14, 1982 the [[Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals]] reversed in [[Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. City of Indio]], 694 F.2d 634, holding the city's 1970 annexation of part of the reservation void for want of the consent of the United States and the Band.[^12]
+
+Dr. John Philip Nichols told Los Angeles Magazine in September 1983 that on the night the casino opened "the city police came out in force" and "They had riot guns, helmets."[^4] On November 5, 1984 Judge [[Laughlin Waters]] ruled in Los Angeles for the Cabazon and [[Morongo Band of Mission Indians|Morongo]] bands against Riverside County and the state, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed in [[Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. County of Riverside]], 783 F.2d 900 (1986).[^13][^14] The Supreme Court affirmed in [[California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians]], 480 U.S. 202 (February 25, 1987), holding that "the State's interest in preventing the infiltration of the tribal bingo enterprises by organized crime does not justify state regulation of the tribal bingo enterprises in light of the compelling federal and tribal interests supporting them."[^15] The [[Indian Gaming Regulatory Act]] was enacted on October 17, 1988 as Public Law 100-497.[^16]
 
 ### Contra Connection
 
 Contra leader [[Eden Pastora]] visited a firing range near the reservation for a weapons demonstration in 1981, a claim Pastora has both confirmed and denied on separate occasions. Wackenhut was using the Cabazon reservation's tax-exempt status and its freedom from federal oversight to gain a competitive advantage in soliciting federal weapons projects.[^2]
 
+### Desert Oasis Indian Casino and Southwest Gaming
+
+In July 1986 [[Don Speer]] of [[Southwest Gaming Inc.]] of [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] entered into a contract with the Cabazons and renamed the poker club the Desert Oasis Indian Casino. According to court papers cited by the Press-Enterprise, the contract was approved by the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] and Speer's background was cleared by the FBI before he joined the venture. The article describes a five-year management contract under which the tribe was initially guaranteed $225,000 a year; the reorganization plan filed with the bankruptcy court guaranteed the Cabazons $765,000 on the first $3,656,000 or less of gross revenues in the first year.[^11] Southwest Gaming lifted the tribe out of bankruptcy court in March 1988 by providing a loan to pay off creditors.[^17] On July 20, 1989 Speer pleaded innocent in Los Angeles County to charges of conspiracy to commit grand theft, grand theft and attempted grand theft in connection with operations at the [[California Bell Club]], which Southwest Gaming also managed; on September 20, 1989 the Press-Enterprise reported that the charges would be dismissed on September 28 when Speer and a Southwest Gaming vice president repaid around $70,000 they had been accused of embezzling, under a civil compromise with no admission of wrongdoing.[^17][^18]
+
 ### PROMIS Software Modification
 
-[[Michael Riconosciuto]] stated in a March 21, 1991 affidavit that he had served as the Director of Research for this joint venture; the report of Judge [[Nicholas J. Bua]] found no evidence that he was employed by Wackenhut or the joint venture, which had no employees.[^9] He claimed to have modified the proprietary [[PROMIS]] computer software at the Wackenhut facility on the reservation. This modified software, allegedly made available by [[Earl Brian]] through [[Peter Videnieks]] of the [[Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]], was intended for worldwide implementation in law enforcement and intelligence agencies, leading to the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]]. Riconosciuto's affidavit detailed specific modifications for the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|RCMP]] and the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service|CSIS]] in [[Canada]].[^1]
+[[Michael Riconosciuto]] stated in a March 21, 1991 affidavit that he had served as the Director of Research for this joint venture; the report of Judge Nicholas J. Bua found no evidence that he was employed by Wackenhut or the joint venture, which had no employees.[^19] He claimed to have modified the proprietary [[PROMIS]] computer software at the Wackenhut facility on the reservation. This modified software, allegedly made available by [[Earl Brian]] through [[Peter Videnieks]] of the [[Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]], was intended for worldwide implementation in law enforcement and intelligence agencies, leading to the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]]. Riconosciuto's affidavit detailed specific modifications for the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|RCMP]] and the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service|CSIS]] in [[Canada]].[^1]
 
 Frequent visitors to the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture included Peter Videnieks and Earl Brian. The venture maintained close liaison with elements of the [[United States]], including representatives of intelligence, military, and law enforcement agencies.[^1]
 
@@ -56,22 +76,37 @@ Frequent visitors to the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture included Peter Videniek
 
 Investigative journalist [[Danny Casolaro]] was investigating the Cabazon/Wackenhut projects as part of his "[[The Octopus]]" investigation at the time he was found dead in a [[West Virginia]] motel room in 1991. He had told friends he was convinced that "spies, arms merchants and others were using the reservation as a low-profile site on which to develop weapons for Third World armies, including the Nicaraguan Contras." His notes contained cryptic references to slow-acting brain viruses, like Mad Cow Disease, which he believed could be used against targeted individuals, and he was concerned he might have been a target of such a virus. The notebooks Casolaro left behind contained the name of former CIA officer [[John Vandewerker]].[^1][^2]
 
+The Bua report states that the West Virginia State Police Crime Laboratory found a folded piece of paper inside Casolaro's left shoe, indented as if something had been written on a page on top of it, and reproduced the impressions. The report states that the writing was Casolaro's and gives the text, which includes the lines "Outline Chapter on 1980," "John Philip Nichols after arrival Indian Reservation," "Fred Alvarez" and "Finish up chapter w/ Paul M. & Fred A." The report states that there is no indication when Casolaro wrote the words or why he placed the paper in his shoe.[^3]
+
 ### Termination and Investigations
 
 The Wackenhut/Cabazon Joint Venture was terminated on October 1, 1984. Following its termination, the activities conducted on the Cabazon Indian Reservation became the subject of numerous investigations by various governmental and law enforcement bodies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the [[United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee on Inslaw]], [[U.S. Customs]], and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as police agencies and media worldwide.[^1]
 
-On February 8, 1989, the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, chaired by Senator [[Dennis DeConcini]], heard a witness listed under the fictitious name "Marty." The Press-Enterprise reported that he said the Cabazon reservation was involved with organized crime and gave no specifics on Cabazon.[^4] Robert Morehouse of the California Attorney General's office submitted a paper to the same hearing describing the casino's hiring of Zangari, the 1981 bankruptcy and John Philip Nichols's May 1985 plea of no contest to two charges of solicitation for murder.[^10] [[Arthur Welmas]] replied in writing that the testimony was unsubstantiated hearsay.[^11]
+On February 8, 1989, the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, chaired by Senator [[Dennis DeConcini]], heard a witness listed under the fictitious name "Marty." The Press-Enterprise reported that he said the Cabazon reservation was involved with organized crime and gave no specifics on Cabazon.[^7] Robert Morehouse of the California Attorney General's office submitted a paper to the same hearing describing the casino's hiring of Zangari, the 1981 bankruptcy and John Philip Nichols's May 1985 plea of no contest to two charges of solicitation for murder.[^20] Arthur Welmas replied in writing that the testimony was unsubstantiated hearsay.[^21]
+
+The House Judiciary Committee's 1992 report on the INSLAW matter refers to "a number of speculative reports and fragmentary records purporting to link Robert Booth Nichols, through a company called Meridian Arms Corporation, and Michael Riconosciuto to certain covert intelligence activities."[^22] In its section on a possible connection between Earl Brian, Michael Riconosciuto, [[Robert Booth Nichols]] and the Cabazon reservation, the report states that in a sworn affidavit of April 2, 1991, Brian "stated that he had never heard of, or was associated with, the so-called Wackenhut/Cabazon Indian joint venture," and that "the committee is not in a position to make findings of fact on Dr. Brian's role."[^22]
 
 ### Footnotes
 
 [^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010.
 [^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty."
-[^3]: *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. December 29, 1983), BAP No. CC-82-1578-GVAb. https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json
-[^4]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 9, 1989, p. A-1, "Cabazon bingo casino listed as Mafia-tied." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^5]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Wayne Reeder, October 5, 1992, file 74-86438. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt
-[^6]: United States Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, report of Judge Nicholas J. Bua (1993), section "(i) The Wackenhut-Cabazon Joint Venture." https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
-[^7]: *In re Cabazon Indian Casino*, 57 B.R. 398 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. February 5, 1986), BAP No. CC-85-1006-MVAb. https://static.case.law/br/57/cases/0398-01.json
-[^8]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), January 24, 1988, p. B-1, "Bingo profits rising as legal fight brews." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
-[^9]: United States Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, report of Judge Nicholas J. Bua on the INSLAW matter (1993), printed pp. 42 to 43 and 55 to 58, footnote 35. Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nsa/DOJ-OIP-INSLAW_1993.pdf
-[^10]: *Federal Government's Relationship with American Indians*, Hearings before the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, S. Hrg. 101-126, Part 2 (February 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1989), Robert Morehouse, "High Stakes Bingo on Indian Reservations in California," pp. 417 to 419. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0182
-[^11]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 11, 1989, "Indians deny link to crime," by David Boyles. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^3]: United States Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (March 1993), section "(i) The Wackenhut-Cabazon Joint Venture," printed pp. 55 to 58; Casolaro paper, pp. 166 to 167. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
+[^4]: Jan Golab, "Close-Up," *Los Angeles*, September 1983, pp. 116 to 128. Reprinted in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^5]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302s, file 74-86438: Wayne Reeder (interview October 5, 1992), Sam Cross and Dave Baird (interviews October 6, 1992). https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt
+[^6]: *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. December 29, 1983), BAP No. CC-82-1578-GVAb. https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json
+[^7]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 9, 1989, p. A-1, "Cabazon bingo casino listed as Mafia-tied." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^8]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Wayne Reeder, October 5, 1992, file 74-86438. https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt
+[^9]: United States Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (March 1993), section "(i) The Wackenhut-Cabazon Joint Venture." https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
+[^10]: *In re Cabazon Indian Casino*, 57 B.R. 398 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. February 5, 1986), BAP No. CC-85-1006-MVAb. https://static.case.law/br/57/cases/0398-01.json
+[^11]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), March 20, 1988, p. B-1 with jump page, "Manager proposes plush Indian casino, club," by Mike Kataoka. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^12]: *Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. City of Indio*, 694 F.2d 634 (9th Cir. Dec. 14, 1982). https://static.case.law/f2d/694/cases/0634-01.json
+[^13]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), November 6, 1984, p. B-1, "Judge upholds Indian bands right to operate bingo parlors." Reprinted in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^14]: *Cabazon Band of Mission Indians v. County of Riverside*, 783 F.2d 900 (9th Cir. 1986). https://static.case.law/f2d/783/cases/0900-01.json
+[^15]: *California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians*, 480 U.S. 202 (1987). https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/480/202
+[^16]: Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Pub. L. 100-497, § 2, Oct. 17, 1988, 102 Stat. 2467, codified at 25 U.S.C. § 2701. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/25/2701
+[^17]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), July 29, 1989, p. B-1, "Poker club firm chief accused of embezzling," by Mike Kataoka. Reprinted in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^18]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), September 20, 1989, p. B-1, "Felony charges being dropped in poker club case." Reprinted in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^19]: United States Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.* (March 1993), printed pp. 42 to 43 and 55 to 58, footnote 35. Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/nsa/DOJ-OIP-INSLAW_1993.pdf
+[^20]: *Federal Government's Relationship with American Indians*, Hearings before the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, S. Hrg. 101-126, Part 2 (February 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1989), Robert Morehouse, "High Stakes Bingo on Indian Reservations in California," pp. 417 to 419. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0182
+[^21]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 11, 1989, "Indians deny link to crime," by David Boyles. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
+[^22]: United States House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, *The INSLAW Affair*, H. Rept. 102-857 (1992), pp. 72 to 73. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport