diff --git a/00 - META/CHANGELOG.md b/00 - META/CHANGELOG.md index 0f0e2934..df82c800 100644 --- a/00 - META/CHANGELOG.md +++ b/00 - META/CHANGELOG.md @@ -1,100 +1,100 @@ -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[_manifest]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[PROMIS Software Scandal]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Hashemi Sting]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[FARC]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[William Sargant]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[358 El Brillo Way]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Southern Trust Company]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[JPMorgan Chase]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[International Assets Group]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Economic Development Commission]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Carol Thomas-Jacobs]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Marvin Minsky]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Howard Lutnick]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Darren Indyke]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Cecile de Jongh]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Vincent Frazer]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Great St. James]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[9 East 71st Street]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Lolita Express]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Epstein Files]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Towers Financial Corporation]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Office of Professional Responsibility]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Order of Nine Angles]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Atomwaffen Division]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Richard Thornburgh]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Nicholas Tartaglione]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Leslie Wexner]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Tova Noel]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Thomas Stanton]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Robert W. Sweet]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Michele Sindona]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Joseph Recarey]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[John Newcomer]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Jeffrey Sloman]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Anthony Pasciuto]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Alfredo Rodriguez]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Steven Hoffenberg]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Robert Morgenthau]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Peter Mandelson]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Lawrence Krauss]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Kenneth Marra]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Joi Ito]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[John F. Kennedy]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Harry Jones]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Gerald Lefcourt]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[George de Mohrenschildt]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Benjamin Hannam]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Andrew Lourie]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Virginia Giuffre]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Sam Bankman-Fried]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Monzer Al-Kassar]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Maria Farmer]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Marc Andreessen]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Leon Black]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Jeffrey Epstein]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Geoffrey Berman]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Cornelius Blackshear]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Bill Clinton]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Alexander Acosta]] -- 2026-09-25T2155 · [[Alan Dershowitz]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Richard M. Berman]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Paul Engelmayer]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Jed Rakoff]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Loretta Preska]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[United States v. Maxwell]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Doe v. United States]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Paul Cassell]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Lilly Ann Sanchez]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Kenneth Starr]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Jack Goldberger]] -- 2026-09-25T2153 · [[Jay Lefkowitz]] -- 2026-09-25T2144 · [[St. Thomas]] -- 2026-09-25T2144 · [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] -- 2026-09-25T2144 · [[Palm Beach, Florida]] -- 2026-09-25T2144 · [[Mar-a-Lago]] -- 2026-09-25T2144 · [[Harry Beller]] -- 2026-09-25T2144 · [[Erika Kellerhals]] -- 2026-09-25T2144 · [[Kenneth Mapp]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Henry Smock]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Jay Clayton]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Julie K. Brown]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Alan Greenberg]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Seth Lloyd]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Bard College]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Wexner Foundation]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[DP World]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Nicole Junkermann]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Mark Epstein]] -- 2026-09-25T2138 · [[Larry Visoski]] -- 2026-09-25T2136 · [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]] -- 2026-09-25T2136 · [[Florida Department of Law Enforcement]] -- 2026-09-25T2136 · [[Florida Science Foundation]] +- 2026-09-25T2335 · [[_NOTES_Y_EFTA]] +- 2026-09-25T2323 · [[_manifest]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Transhumanism]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Extropianism]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Ilopango Airbase]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Zorro Ranch]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Little St. James]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[9 East 71st Street]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Lolita Express]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[FISA Section 702]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Frogman Case]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[World Transhumanist Association]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Time]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Southern Trust Company]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[JPMorgan Chase]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[John Templeton Foundation]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Gratitude America]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Financial Trust Company]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Dechert]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Boies Schiller Flexner]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[State Department]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Economic Development Commission]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[DEA]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Larry Visoski]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Ricky Ross]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Renato Pena]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Loretta Preska]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Haley Robson]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Lawrence Krauss]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[John de Jongh]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Gerald Lefcourt]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Darren Indyke]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Cecile de Jongh]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Walter Grasheim]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Sandalio Gonzalez]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Nick Bostrom]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Maurene Comey]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Lesley Groff]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Jeffrey Epstein]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Douglas Aukland]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Debra Black]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Danilo Blandon]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Celerino Castillo]] +- 2026-09-25T2322 · [[Bill Gates]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Apollo Global Management]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Jonathan Buma]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Celestino White]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Robert W. Sweet]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Michael Reiter]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Kash Patel]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Jed Rakoff]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Henry Smock]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Kenneth Marra]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Erika Kellerhals]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Alison Nathan]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Ron DeSantis]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Richard M. Berman]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Paul Engelmayer]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[José A. Cabranes]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[James Comer]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Carlton Dowe]] +- 2026-09-25T2321 · [[Alan Dershowitz]] +- 2026-09-25T2320 · [[Stacey Plaskett]] +- 2026-09-25T2320 · [[Ben Sasse]] +- 2026-09-25T2317 · [[United States v. Epstein]] +- 2026-09-25T2317 · [[Drew Oosterbaan]] +- 2026-09-25T2317 · [[Federal Prison Camp Bryan]] +- 2026-09-25T2317 · [[Epstein Victims' Compensation Program]] +- 2026-09-25T2317 · [[Robert Garcia]] +- 2026-09-25T2317 · [[Jamie Raskin]] +- 2026-09-25T2317 · [[Nancy Mace]] +- 2026-09-25T2314 · [[Charlotte Amalie]] +- 2026-09-25T2314 · [[St. Croix]] +- 2026-09-25T2314 · [[Southern Financial LLC]] +- 2026-09-25T2314 · [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation]] +- 2026-09-25T2314 · [[University of the Virgin Islands]] +- 2026-09-25T2314 · [[Legislature of the Virgin Islands]] +- 2026-09-25T2314 · [[Virgin Islands Port Authority]] +- 2026-09-25T2314 · [[David Bornn]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Benedict Gross]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Drew Faust]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Woody Allen]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Marc Rowan]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[James Cayne]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Thorbjørn Jagland]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Amir Elichai]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Tom Barrack]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Glenn Dubin]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Highbridge Capital Management]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Andrew Farkas]] +- 2026-09-25T2305 · [[Juan Alessi]] +- 2026-09-25T2303 · [[Hyperion Air]] +- 2026-09-25T2303 · [[JEGE, Inc.]] +- 2026-09-25T2303 · [[Black Family Foundation]] +- 2026-09-25T2303 · [[Air Ghislaine, Inc.]] +- 2026-09-25T2258 · [[Jay Howell]] +- 2026-09-25T2258 · [[Scott Rothstein]] +- 2026-09-25T2258 · [[Goodwin Procter]] diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Alan Dershowitz.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Alan Dershowitz.md index 5fa43469..164b10e1 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Alan Dershowitz.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Alan Dershowitz.md @@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ tags: alias: - Alan M. Dershowitz - Alan Morton Dershowitz - - Professor Dershowitz summary: "Alan Dershowitz is a Harvard law professor emeritus who was on Jeffrey Epstein's 2006 to 2008 defense team, was accused by Virginia Giuffre, denied it, and settled the litigation in 2016 and 2022." born: 1938-09-01 location: "Brooklyn, New York (born)" diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Amir Elichai.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Amir Elichai.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..4622bd92 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Amir Elichai.md @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ +--- +category: "Technologists" +tags: + - Person + - AmirElichai + - Carbyne + - Reporty + - EhudBarak + - JeffreyEpstein + - Israel + - Surveillance +alias: + - Amir Elichai +summary: "Israeli founder and chief executive of Carbyne, formerly Reporty Homeland Security, whose board included Ehud Barak and a former Unit 8200 commander and in which Jeffrey Epstein invested." +location: "Tel Aviv, Israel" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: director_of + with: "[[Carbyne]]" + start: 2015-12-23 + role: "director of Reporty Homeland Security Ltd., later chief executive" + fn: 1 +--- + +Amir Elichai is an Israeli entrepreneur, the founder and chief executive of [[Carbyne]], an emergency-call and 911-dispatch technology company incorporated as Reporty Homeland Security Ltd. In December 2015 he sat on Reporty's board with the former Israeli prime minister and defense minister [[Ehud Barak]] and [[Pinhas Buchris]], a former commander of the signals-intelligence [[Unit 8200]]. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] invested about one million dollars in Reporty in 2015 through an arrangement Barak brokered, and increased his stake through an Israeli limited partnership in 2019. In January 2019 Elichai prepared the Carbyne presentation that Barak sent to [[Jabor Al Thani]] of [[Qatar]], with Epstein copied, for security work at the [[2022 FIFA World Cup]]. [[Axon Enterprise]] bought Carbyne for 625 million dollars in February 2026.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Reporty Homeland Security + +The minutes of a meeting of the board of directors of Reporty Homeland Security Ltd. held on December 23, 2015 list as directors present "Mr. Amir Elichai, Mr. Alex Dizengof, Mr. Ehud Barak, Mr. Pinchas Bouchris," with the company's lawyer also attending. The board watched a demonstration of "the Reporty system (version 0.7/0.8 noncommercial version)," discussed the company's "current business relationships and partners such as Haifa Municipality, Microsoft, Taldor as well as integrators," and resolved to explore non-exclusive partnerships with integrators and to buy demonstration equipment. The minutes were preserved among Epstein's records.[^1] + +Buchris later served as director general of the Israeli [[Ministry of Defense (Israel)|Ministry of Defense]]. Barak served on the boards of Reporty and Carbyne and left in 2019.[^2][^4] + +### The Epstein Investment + +*[[Forbes]]* reported in February 2026 that Barak helped Epstein invest about one million dollars in Reporty in 2015, after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea and his registration as a sex offender in [[Florida]], and that the stake could have grown in value to as much as 100 million dollars.[^2] The stake was held through SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership, whose general partner was Ergo (E.B. 2014) Ltd. On February 28, 2019 the partnership's lawyer, [[Tomer Toor]], wrote to Epstein's attorney [[Darren Indyke]] that at the time of the initial investment "in Carbyne Ltd. (formerly Reporty Ltd.)" the partnership had received warrants for 61,251 Preferred A shares at an aggregate exercise price of 3.5 million dollars, and that exercising them would raise its holding "from about 13% to about 26.33%, on a fully diluted basis." In March 2019 Epstein's Virgin Islands company [[Southern Trust Company]] signed the Additional Investment Agreement and transferred 2.4 million dollars of the 3.6 million dollars raised, and Indyke confirmed to the partnership's bank that Epstein was "the controlling person" of Southern Trust.[^5] On February 18, 2019 [[Nicole Junkermann]], whose firm had taken part in Carbyne's Series A round, wrote to Epstein: "Carbyne invested 1.5 m (1m you and 0.5m me) net of fees is3.9m your share, Ehud carry1.5 m and my share 2m."[^6] + +Forbes reported that Carbyne's website listed Junkermann as a director until 2020. Elichai said that "she is not and was never a board member," attributed the listing to a mistake by the company's marketing team, and said she no longer held a stake.[^2] + +### The Qatar Pitch + +On May 21, 2018 Epstein wrote to [[Peter Thiel]], whose [[Founders Fund]] was a Carbyne investor: "FYI trae is meeting carbyne Ehud Barak co."[^7] On January 1, 2019 Barak forwarded to Jabor Al Thani, with Epstein copied, a presentation prepared by Elichai, writing: "Please find attached short presentation of Carbine. Public safety company of which I'm the chairman and leading investor. We are interested in participating in the security effort for the 2022 Games. We can work through a European company of your choice and minimize Israeli profile."[^3] Jabor Al Thani replied on January 20 that "Our security services company" wished to begin discussions and asked for help with "any anti-drone services or technologies." On February 3 Barak, signing "Ehud Barak, Carbyne, Chairman," named Elichai as the contact and promised a separate email on "the anti-drone issue"; Elichai wrote, "Ehud, thanks for the intro." On February 4 Jabor Al Thani named the country manager of [[Lysys WLL]] as his side's contact. Epstein was a recipient of the January 1, February 3 and February 4 messages.[^8] + +### The Axon Sale + +Axon Enterprise, the maker of the [[Taser]] and police body cameras, agreed to buy Carbyne for 625 million dollars in cash, and the purchase closed in February 2026. Axon's founder and chief executive, [[Rick Smith]], described the deal as "uniting cloud infrastructure and AI to redefine the 911 experience." Carbyne's product has been used by U.S. police and emergency agencies including the [[Miami-Dade Police Department]].[^2][^4][^9] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01074544, DataSet 9, minutes of the meeting of the board of directors of Reporty Homeland Security Ltd., December 23, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01074544.pdf +[^2]: Brewster, Thomas. "Epstein Could Have Made $100 Million On A Secret Police Tech Investment With Ehud Barak." *Forbes,* February 10, 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/02/10/epstein-police-surveillance-investments-with-ehud-barak/ +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02607775, DataSet 11, email from Ehud Barak to Jabor Al Thani, copied to Jeffrey Epstein, "Fwd: Qatar Presentation <> Carbyne 911," January 1, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02607775.pdf +[^4]: *Coverager,* on Axon's agreement to acquire Carbyne for 625 million dollars. https://coverager.com/axon-to-acquire-carbyne-for-625-million/ ; *CTech (Calcalist),* on the Axon acquisition. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rj4vnuokwg +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email chain "Carbyne warrants" among Tomer Toor, NJF Capital, Darren Indyke, and Jeffrey Epstein, February 28 to March 14, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02630791, DataSet 11, email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Nicole Junkermann, February 18, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02630791.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01052344, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, May 21, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01052344.pdf +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02628648, DataSet 11, email thread among Ehud Barak, Jabor Al Thani, Amir Elichai, and Jeffrey Epstein, "Qatar Presentation <> Carbyne 911," January 1 to February 4, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02628648.pdf +[^9]: Axon Enterprise. "Axon to Acquire Carbyne, Uniting Cloud Infrastructure and AI to Redefine the 911 Experience." Press release, *PR Newswire.* https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/axon-to-acquire-carbyne-uniting-cloud-infrastructure-and-ai-to-redefine-the-911-experience-302604614.html diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Andrew Farkas.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Andrew Farkas.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..331ce21e --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Andrew Farkas.md @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ +--- +category: "Business & Finance" +tags: + - Person + - AndrewFarkas + - JeffreyEpstein + - IslandGlobalYachting + - VirginIslands + - RealEstate + - JPMorgan +alias: + - Andrew Farkas +summary: "New York real estate investor who founded Island Global Yachting and brought Jeffrey Epstein into a St. Thomas marina deal months after his 2006 Florida charge." +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Island Global Yachting]]" + start: 2005 + fn: 1 + - type: partner_of + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + start: 2006 + role: "business partner in the American Yacht Harbor marina, St. Thomas" + fn: 1 +--- + +Andrew Farkas is a New York real estate investor who founded the marina company [[Island Global Yachting]] in 2005 on [[St. Thomas]] in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] and, months after [[Jeffrey Epstein]] was charged in [[Florida]] in 2006, invited him into the purchase of the [[American Yacht Harbor]] marina at [[Red Hook, St. Thomas|Red Hook]]. The two men exchanged nearly 2,000 emails over more than a decade, and Farkas visited Epstein in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] while Epstein was serving his county jail sentence. [[JPMorgan Chase]]'s 2019 internal review of Epstein's correspondence listed Farkas among the people Epstein had referred to the bank. After the [[U.S. Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s release of Epstein records on January 30, 2026, Farkas said, "I deeply regret ever associating with Jeffrey Epstein."[^1][^2] + +### The Marina + +In 2005 Farkas, a boater, started Island Global Yachting to enter the luxury marina business, basing it on St. Thomas, where Epstein had owned the private island [[Little St. James]] since 1998. In July 2006 Epstein was charged in Florida with felony solicitation of prostitution. About four months later Farkas wrote to him: "We are now in contract to buy American Yacht Harbor, where you keep your tenders." Epstein answered, "I would like to be in on that." A later message from Farkas read: "IGY finance and tax guy are going to speak with your guys to reconcile the tax treatment for you." *[[The New York Times]]* reported that Epstein's Virgin Islands tax arrangements cut his tax bill by as much as 90 percent and, according to the JPMorgan litigation, saved him more than 300 million dollars.[^1] + +In February 2020 the [[Virgin Islands Daily News]] reported that Epstein owned 50 percent of American Yacht Harbor, where his company [[Southern Trust Company]] kept its office, and that the marina was still receiving tax breaks from the territory's [[Economic Development Commission]].[^3] Farkas sold Island Global Yachting in 2022 and later sought to buy it back. A legal filing accused him of a "bribery scheme" involving payments of up to 3 million dollars in connection with that effort; Farkas called the allegations "false and meritless."[^1] + +### The Correspondence + +The emails released in 2026 show Farkas calling Epstein "one of the blessings" in his life and "one of the bravest men I've ever known." A New Year's note read: "You are one of the blessings in my life and I cherish our friendship." During Epstein's 2008 to 2009 jail sentence in Palm Beach County, Farkas wrote of "regular pilgrimages to Palm Beach to visit a dear friend," and in November 2008 Epstein wrote to him, "great seeing you,, sorry it was such a schlep." Farkas said, "I did not visit him inside prison."[^1] + +Epstein's office recorded a "2:30pm call w/Andrew Farkas" on March 15, 2019, four months before his arrest.[^4] On January 16, 2019, in a pre-dawn exchange with [[Cecile de Jongh]] about a matter involving "Albert," hurricane repairs and a septic connection on his property, Epstein wrote, "I have spent time walking back Farkas"; de Jongh replied that she would speak with [[David Bornn]], identified in the exchange as "Albert's legal counsel."[^5] + +### The JPMorgan Referrals + +After Epstein's July 2019 arrest JPMorgan's compliance staff reviewed his emails with the bank's executives under the code name Project Jeep. In a June 7, 2023 letter motion to Judge [[Jed Rakoff]], the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] told the court that the review's summary set out "more than four pages of Epstein referrals to JPMorgan," including Farkas, [[Boris Nikolic]], [[Bill Gates]] and [[Peter Mandelson]], while the bank's chief executive, [[Jamie Dimon]], had testified, "We did not need introductions to anybody." JPMorgan's lawyers at [[WilmerHale]] answered that the emails showed Epstein mentioning prominent people but did not show that he had referred them or that they became clients because of him.[^2][^6] + +### Statements + +In 2019 Farkas told his investors that his negotiations with Epstein had begun "before he was charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime." The released emails date the marina offer to several months after the July 2006 charge. After the 2026 release he issued no denial of the friendship and said, "I deeply regret ever associating with Jeffrey Epstein," while disputing that he had been obliged to disclose the marina partnership. In a second statement he said the exchanges could "be mischaracterized" if "taken out of context or without understanding my broader communication style," and added, "At no time have I conducted myself inappropriately."[^1] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "Billionaire Called Epstein a 'Blessing' as They Made Deals," *The New York Times* (Debra Kamin), February 9, 2026, as republished by *GV Wire.* https://gvwire.com/2026/02/09/billionaire-called-epstein-a-blessing-as-they-made-deals/ +[^2]: 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), letter motion of Motley Rice to Judge Jed S. Rakoff seeking leave to reopen depositions, ECF No. 191, June 7, 2023 (filed June 20, 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)/EFTA02808715.pdf +[^3]: Suzanne Carlson, "Epstein estate could be ordered to repay more than $144 million in tax breaks," *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 13, 2020, reproduced as Exhibit 36, ECF No. 158-36 (filed May 23, 2023), in No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.). 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 +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02278860, DataSet 11, calendar alert, "2:30pm call w/Andrew Farkas," March 15, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02278860.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01026946 and EFTA01026933, DataSet 9, email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Cecile de Jongh, January 16, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01026946.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01026933.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02808625, Court Records (Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904), letter of John J. Butts, WilmerHale, opposing the motion to reopen depositions, ECF No. 187, June 9, 2023 (filed June 15, 2023), citing Dimon deposition transcript 395:14-21. 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 diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Benedict Gross.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Benedict Gross.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7f363daa --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Benedict Gross.md @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ +--- +category: "Scientists & Researchers" +tags: + - Person + - BenedictGross + - Mathematics + - Harvard + - JeffreyEpstein + - ProgramForEvolutionaryDynamics + - MartinNowak +alias: + - Benedict Gross + - Benedict H. Gross + - Dick Gross +summary: "Harvard number theorist and dean of Harvard College who co-proposed the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics with Jeffrey Epstein and in 2013 asked Harvard to resume taking Epstein's money." +born: 1950 +died: 2025-12 +location: "South Orange, New Jersey (born); California (died)" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Harvard University]]" + start: 1985 + role: "professor of mathematics, dean of Harvard College 2003 to 2007, later chair of the mathematics department" + fn: 1 +--- + +Benedict H. "Dick" Gross (1950, [[South Orange, New Jersey]] to December 2025, California) was an American number theorist and administrator at [[Harvard University]], where he was dean of Harvard College from 2003 to 2007 and later chair of the mathematics department. The [[Program for Evolutionary Dynamics]], funded in 2003 by [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s 6.5 million dollar gift, described itself as established by President [[Larry Summers|Lawrence H. Summers]] "following an imaginative proposal by Jeffrey Epstein and Benedict Gross." In December 2013, after Epstein's conviction, Gross asked the university to reconsider its bar on Epstein's gifts, and in 2017 [[Martin Nowak]] asked Epstein whether he could make Gross Harvard's next president.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Career + +Gross entered Harvard as a 17-year-old freshman in 1967, graduated in 1971 and earned his Ph.D. there in 1978. He taught at [[Princeton University|Princeton]] and [[Brown University|Brown]] before returning to Harvard in 1985. He received a [[MacArthur Fellowship]] in 1986 and the [[American Mathematical Society]]'s Cole Prize in 1987. He served as dean of undergraduate education from 2002 to 2003 and dean of Harvard College from 2003 to 2007, held the George Vasmer Leverett Professorship for nearly twenty years, and was named a Harvard College Professor in 2011. He later chaired the mathematics department. He died at his home in California in December 2025, aged 75.[^1][^2] + +### The Program for Evolutionary Dynamics + +Epstein's 2003 gift of 6.5 million dollars, his largest to Harvard, established the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics under Nowak, whom Harvard recruited from the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] in Princeton, where Epstein had already funded his work. The program's original website stated that it "was established in 2003 by Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers following an imaginative proposal by Jeffrey Epstein and Benedict Gross," under the auspices of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, [[William Kirby]]. The gift paid for a separate facility in a leased building at [[One Brattle Square]] in [[Harvard Square]].[^3] + +### The 2013 Request + +President [[Drew Faust]] decided no later than November 2008 that Harvard would accept no more gifts from Epstein, but recorded the decision nowhere. In December 2013 Gross, as chair of the mathematics department, and the divisional dean [[Jeremy Bloxham]] asked [[Michael D. Smith]], Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, to petition the Gift Policy Committee to reconsider, writing that "Epstein has served his time for his crime, and that his wealth has been obtained legally." Smith declined. In March 2014 Gross told Nowak there was "a temporary hold on contributions from Jeffrey Epstein, although I hope it will be lifted by summer." In December 2014 Nowak asked Gross "confidentially" whether there was "an update concerning Jeffrey being an acceptable donor for Harvard?" Epstein gave nothing further directly; donors he introduced, including [[Leon Black]], paid the program's rent from 2010 to 2015.[^5] + +### The 2017 Email + +On June 15, 2017, the day after Faust announced that she would step down, Nowak wrote to Epstein: "drew faust (harvard president) will step down end of the academic year can you bring summers back? or dick gross?" No reply appears in the record.[^4][^6] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "Dick Gross, number theorist and former College dean, dies at 75," *Harvard Gazette,* January 2026. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/newsplus/dick-gross-number-theorist-and-former-college-dean-dies-at-75/ +[^2]: Connolly, Sebastian B., and Summer E. Rose. "Former College Dean Benedict H. Gross Remembered as 'One of the Kindest People in All of Academia,'" *The Harvard Crimson,* January 26, 2026. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/1/26/benedict-gross-obituary/ +[^3]: 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, 9-10, 13, 18-19, 21, quoting the original PED website text. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00635064, DataSet 9, email from Martin A. Nowak to Jeffrey Epstein, June 15, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00635064.pdf +[^5]: Lopez, Gershengorn and Murphy, *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University,* May 2020, pp. 10-17, on Faust's decision, the December 10, 2013 development-office memorandum, Smith's refusal, Gross's and Nowak's 2014 exchanges, and the Black and Falconwood gifts. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^6]: "Drew Faust to step down as Harvard president next June," *Harvard Gazette,* June 14, 2017. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/06/drew-faust-to-step-down-as-harvard-president-next-june/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Bill Gates.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Bill Gates.md index 31b72ff9..0e92d6e1 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Bill Gates.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Bill Gates.md @@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Epstein was trying to establish a large donor-advised charitable fund with JPMor On July 27, 2011, Epstein outlined the structure to [[Jes Staley]] and [[Mary Erdoes]] of JPMorgan, copying Nikolic: "the mimimum donation would be 100 million. a portfolio will be established for each donor.according to their own critieria, there will be established silos for Medicine, Science , Women issues, Education, etc." Donors could "make presentations for larger gifts , in an on-line forum ( the worlds most exclusive Blog ).. the charitable fees. audit fees, investment mgmt fees, trustee fees, will all be JPM."[^6] On August 27, 2011 he wrote to the same two bankers: "Careful, the people at Gates-", naming four foundation staff members, two of them "the senior people," who "say they are getting confusing messages from JPM. They say that JPM wants to use the current foundation to do other things. Bill is at his country house. and most likely will not deal with it before wed. There are too many people without direction. lets speak,,"[^7] -After Epstein's 2019 arrest JPMorgan conducted an internal review code-named "Project Jeep." In a June 7, 2023 letter to Judge [[Jed Rakoff]] in the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands|U.S. Virgin Islands]]' suit against the bank, the territory's counsel, [[Motley Rice]], wrote that the review's e-communications summary confirmed "more than four pages of Epstein referrals to JPMorgan," including "Andrew Farkas, Boris Nikolic, Bill Gates, and [[Peter Mandelson]]," and quoted the testimony of JPMorgan's chief executive, [[Jamie Dimon]]: "We did not need introductions to anybody."[^8] JPMorgan later said that "the firm didn't need him as a client" and "didn't need him for introductions," and that "knowing what we know today, we wish we had never done business with him."[^3] +After Epstein's 2019 arrest JPMorgan conducted an internal review code-named "Project Jeep." In a June 7, 2023 letter to Judge [[Jed Rakoff]] in the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands|U.S. Virgin Islands]]' suit against the bank, the territory's counsel, [[Motley Rice]], wrote that the review's e-communications summary confirmed "more than four pages of Epstein referrals to JPMorgan," including "[[Andrew Farkas]], Boris Nikolic, Bill Gates, and [[Peter Mandelson]]," and quoted the testimony of JPMorgan's chief executive, [[Jamie Dimon]]: "We did not need introductions to anybody."[^8] JPMorgan later said that "the firm didn't need him as a client" and "didn't need him for introductions," and that "knowing what we know today, we wish we had never done business with him."[^3] ### The MIT Media Lab Gift diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Carlton Dowe.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Carlton Dowe.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7cbc869e --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Carlton Dowe.md @@ -0,0 +1,108 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - CarltonDowe + - VirginIslands + - VirginIslandsPortAuthority + - JeffreyEpstein + - GovernmentCapture + - BankFraud +alias: + - Carlton "Ital" Dowe + - Senator Carlton Dowe +summary: "Virgin Islands senator and two-term Port Authority executive director whose 2019 return Cecile de Jongh asked Epstein to support, acquitted of wire fraud in 2004 and indicted for bank fraud in 2026." +location: "St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Virgin Islands Fire Service]]" + start: 1995-01 + end: 1999-01 + role: "director" + fn: 3 + - type: member_of + with: "[[Legislature of the Virgin Islands]]" + end: 2013 + role: "senator" + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Virgin Islands Port Authority]]" + start: 2013-01-16 + end: 2016-12 + role: "executive director" + fn: 2 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Virgin Islands Port Authority]]" + start: 2019-07-08 + end: 2026-04-10 + role: "executive director" + fn: 2 + - type: prosecuted + with: "[[United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands]]" + reverse: true + start: 2004-08-12 + role: "two-count wire fraud indictment; acquitted at trial" + fn: 3 + - type: subject_of + with: "[[Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands]]" + start: 2023-11-22 + end: 2025-03-21 + role: "defendant" + fn: 1 + - type: prosecuted + with: "[[United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico]]" + reverse: true + start: 2026-03-12 + role: "bank fraud, false statements on loan applications, aggravated identity theft" + fn: 7 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Carlton Dowe is a [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] politician who directed the [[Virgin Islands Fire Service]] from 1995 to 1999, sat as a senator in the [[Legislature of the Virgin Islands]], and was twice executive director of the [[Virgin Islands Port Authority]], from January 2013 to December 2016 and from July 2019 to April 2026. He was acquitted in 2004 of a federal wire fraud charge brought while he was a sitting senator. In December 2018 [[Cecile de Jongh]], the office manager of [[Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein's]] territorial companies, asked Epstein whether he would support Dowe's return to the Port Authority, and Dowe met and spoke with Epstein while he held the post. He announced his retirement on March 20, 2026, the day a federal bank fraud indictment against him was unsealed.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Fire Service and the 2004 Indictment + +On August 12, 2004 a federal grand jury sitting on [[St. Thomas]] returned a two-count wire fraud indictment against "Senator Carlton Dowe," announced jointly by [[David M. Nissman]], the [[United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands]], and Assistant Attorney General [[Christopher Wray]] of the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] Criminal Division. The indictment charged Dowe with stealing 75,207.75 dollars in government funds. It alleged that from January 2000 through February 2002 he "concocted and engaged in a fraudulent scheme to resubmit a $50,000 court judgment for back pay to the Virgin Islands Fire Service," where he had been director from January 1995 through January 1999, "after receiving payment in full through the Legal Judgments Special Fund administered by the [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice|Virgin Islands Attorney General]]." According to the indictment he "instructed a Fire Service employee to alter his payroll records to reflect a retroactive increase in his hourly wage," combined the payment with an unrelated claim, and received "a lump sum duplicate payment from the territorial government in the pre-tax amount of $75,207.75," and when the Office of the Virgin Islands Inspector General began investigating, he "coaxed the Fire Service employee who calculated and processed the fraudulent claim at his direction to lie to investigators." The case was handled by the [[Public Integrity Section]]. Dowe went to trial and was acquitted.[^3][^5] + +A 2016 profile in the *[[Virgin Islands Daily News]]* described Dowe as a former firefighter, fire chief and Fire Service director and a former deputy [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. marshal]], who served five terms as a senator and chaired the Finance Committee. He holds associate degrees in fire science and fire administration from [[Miami Dade College|Miami Dade Community College]] and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from [[John Jay College of Criminal Justice]].[^5] + +### The Senate and the 2012 Sex-Offender Law + +The federal court that heard the 2023 trafficking suit recorded, citing the parties' filings, that Dowe was a senator "from 2001 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2013"; the public broadcaster [[WTJX]] reported in 2026 that he served from 2009 to 2013. He was in the Legislature when it passed Bill 29-0239, enacted as Act No. 7372, which expanded the monitoring of sex offenders and required 21 days' advance notice of travel. The second amended complaint in [[Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] quotes a July 1, 2012 email from Cecile de Jongh to Epstein: "Will need to work through Dowe and White" to change the legislation, and "In the meantime, we will work with Vincent to give the discretion for status quo for you - thats the least he can do." Attorney General [[Vincent Frazer]] reduced Epstein's notice period to 24 hours on August 14, 2012. The complaint alleged that "Epstein was thus allowed to circumvent the recently passed legislation with assistance of Senator Carlton Dowe, Senator Celestino White, and Attorney General Vincent Frazer."[^1][^4][^6][^7] + +### The Port Authority + +The Port Authority's board selected Dowe as executive director on January 16, 2013, and he served until December 2016, when he was dismissed during the governorship of [[Kenneth Mapp]]; David W. Mapp Sr. held the post from 2017 to 2019. On April 8, 2014 a special assistant to the executive director wrote to Cecile de Jongh, who forwarded the message to Epstein: "Executive Director Dowe has requested that I schedule Mr. Epstein's appointment. Director Dowe is available to meet with Mr. Epstein on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 12:30 p.m., at the Virgin Islands Port Authority in the office of the executive director." On April 21, 2015 Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] wrote to him under the subject line "Carlton Dowe": "Carlton Dowe returned your call."[^2][^5][^8][^9] + +On December 24, 2018, after [[Albert Bryan]] had won the governorship, Cecile de Jongh wrote to Epstein, according to the Doe complaint: "John wanted to know whether you would support Carlton Dowe's bid to go back to the VIPA [VI Port Authority]. . . He would be a good person for us at VIPA." Her husband, [[John de Jongh]], had been governor from 2007 to 2015. Dowe returned as executive director on July 8, 2019. The complaint's chart of defendants listed Dowe, jointly with Delegate [[Stacey Plaskett]], as having participated through "Waiver sex offender registry" and "Changed sex trafficking law in accord with Epstein's lawyer's recommendations," with the benefit "Epstein supported bid for USVI Port Authority job."[^2][^4] + +Epstein's aviation company, [[Thomas World Air]], held a hangar facility lease with the Port Authority at [[Cyril E. King Airport]], and in August 2017 it asked the authority's police chief for badge escort privileges on the ramp for an assistant to his chief pilot, [[Larry Visoski]]. A 2022 complaint to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], released in January 2026, alleged that Dowe was "paid off" by Epstein in connection with a hangar at the airport. *The Virgin Islands Consortium* reported that the hangar described was owned by a private aviation company built under a public-private partnership with the Port Authority, not by Epstein, and that "Epstein previously sought approval to construct a hangar at the airport, but that proposal was rejected by Dowe and VIPA."[^10][^11] + +### The Estate Case + +In an October 2, 2023 interview with the FBI, released in January 2026, the former Attorney General [[Denise George]] said Governor Bryan sent Dowe, then director of the Port Authority, to press her to settle the territory's suit against Epstein's estate. According to the FBI notes, Dowe told her he knew she "would only do things if they are right," but that he "does things for Bryan too but has a line he won't cross." George told him Bryan "would have to fire her to get what he wants," and Dowe replied that "it would be political suicide to fire her at least before the election," after which he stopped talking to her. Bryan removed George on December 31, 2022, days after she sued [[JPMorgan Chase]].[^12] + +### The Trafficking Suit + +Six women identified as Jane Does named Dowe, as a former senator, among the defendants in their November 22, 2023 suit in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]] against the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]], the de Jonghs, Mapp, Frazer, [[Celestino White]] and Plaskett, alleging violations of the [[Trafficking Victims Protection Act]]. On March 21, 2025 Judge [[Arun Subramanian]] dismissed the claims against Dowe for lack of personal jurisdiction, noting that "plaintiffs' counsel stated at the September 30 conference that the 'sole basis' for jurisdiction over Carlton Dowe 'is conspiracy jurisdiction' and the SAC does not allege that he received any payments from Epstein." Final judgment was entered on May 5, 2026, and the plaintiffs appealed to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|Second Circuit]] under No. 26-1316.[^1][^13] + +### The 2026 Indictment + +A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Dowe in the [[U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico]] on March 12, 2026; it was unsealed on March 20, when he appeared in District Court on St. Thomas. He was charged with four counts of bank fraud, four counts of making a false statement on a loan application and one count of aggravated identity theft, for conduct alleged between March 18, 2021 and November 10, 2023. The indictment alleged that he submitted loan applications with false income statements to [[Banco Popular de Puerto Rico]] to refinance his mortgages, including a claimed monthly payment of 4,500 dollars under a fake lease bearing the forged signature of a purported tenant, and a claimed 15,500 dollars a month under an invalid lease with a second person. The same day Dowe gave the Port Authority board chairman, Willard John, notice of his retirement effective April 10; John said he had not known of it. The attorney Joseph DiRuzzo III of [[Fort Lauderdale]] appeared as his counsel. No public statement by Dowe on the charges was found.[^7] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Opinion and Order, ECF No. 202 (March 21, 2025), pp. 1 to 2, 10. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.202.0.pdf +[^2]: Virgin Islands Port Authority, "Our History," including the list of executive directors, accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.viport.com/our-history +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Virgin Islands Senator Indicted on Fraud and Theft Charges," press release 04-560, August 13, 2004. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2004/August/04_crm_560.htm +[^4]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), paragraphs 4 to 6 and charts (Exhibits F and G), pp. 2 to 8, and paragraph 161. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^5]: Austin, Jonathan. "Dowe's history." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* December 22, 2016. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/dowes-history/article_119980ee-db41-51d0-9042-dc3ce986ec3f.html +[^6]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 83, ECF No. 194-24 (filed June 20, 2023), pp. 36 to 47 (Hodge and Frazer correspondence of July and August 2012 on Act No. 7372). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011719/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/194-24.pdf +[^7]: Eader, Tom. "VIPA ED Carlton Dowe indicted on bank fraud, tells board of retirement same day as court appearance." *WTJX,* March 20, 2026, on the indictment in United States v. Dowe, No. 3:26-cr-00084 (D.P.R.), the release conditions, the retirement letter and Dowe's Senate service; United States v. Dowe, No. 3:26-cr-00084 (D.P.R.), docket. https://newsfeed.wtjx.org/2026-03-20/vipa-ed-carlton-dowe-indicted-on-bank-fraud-tells-board-of-retirement-same-day-as-court-appearance ; https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72610038/united-states-v-dowe/ +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01929537, DataSet 10, email chain from the special assistant to the executive director of the Virgin Islands Port Authority to Cecile de Jongh, forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, April 8, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01929537.pdf +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00858918, DataSet 9, email from Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, "Carlton Dowe," April 21, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00858918.pdf +[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00799380, DataSet 9, letter from Thomas World Air, LLC to Chief Edred J. Wilkes Jr., Virgin Islands Port Authority Police Division, Cyril E. King Airport, August 18, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00799380.pdf +[^11]: Gilbert, Ernice. "Former Gov. Kenneth Mapp Visited Epstein's Island, Sought $50,000 for Final Election Push, DOJ Records Show." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* January 31, 2026. https://viconsortium.com/vi-federal/virgin-islands-former-gov--kenneth-mapp-visited-epstein-s-island--sought--50-000-for--final-push---doj-records-show +[^12]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026 (FBI notes of an October 2, 2023 interview with Denise George). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html +[^13]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), docket, including Judgment, ECF No. 229 (May 5, 2026); Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 26-1316 (2d Cir.), docket. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68031620/doe-1-v-government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands/ ; https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73544397/doe-1-v-government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Celerino Castillo.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Celerino Castillo.md index 6f25462d..46ee1772 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Celerino Castillo.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Celerino Castillo.md @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ In March 1986, a cable from the [[Costa Rica|Costa Rican]] DEA office reported t ### Investigation Shut Down -U.S. Ambassador [[Edwin Corr]], to whom Castillo reported, sent a secret "back channel" cable to the [[State Department]] requesting an internal DEA review. The DEA informed Corr that Castillo's information was "totally inaccurate" and he was told to close his investigation. When Castillo continued investigating, Corr personally ordered him to "stop the witch hunt." Three years later, when Castillo opened a new investigation into drug trafficking at Hangar No. 5, the CIA refused to allow him on the base and assured him there was no drug activity. Castillo was subsequently investigated by the DEA for administrative violations and forced into disability retirement. The DEA later claimed under FOIA it had no reports from Castillo about drug trafficking at Ilopango - a claim the Justice Department Inspector General exposed as false.[^1] +U.S. Ambassador [[Edwin Corr]], to whom Castillo reported, sent a secret "back channel" cable to the [[State Department]] requesting an internal DEA review. The DEA informed Corr that Castillo's information was "totally inaccurate" and he was told to close his investigation. When Castillo continued investigating, Corr personally ordered him to "stop the witch hunt." Three years later, when Castillo opened a new investigation into drug trafficking at Hangar No. 5, the CIA refused to allow him on the base and assured him there was no drug activity. Castillo was subsequently investigated by the DEA for administrative violations and forced into disability retirement. The DEA later claimed under FOIA it had no reports from Castillo about drug trafficking at Ilopango - a claim the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] exposed as false.[^1] ### Grasheim Raid and CIA Infiltration diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Danilo Blandon.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Danilo Blandon.md index 1c4b2892..955bb881 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Danilo Blandon.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Danilo Blandon.md @@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ Blandón's wife Chepita Blandón was identified by the [[DEA]] as being closely Blandón entered the United States on a business visa on June 17, 1979, and applied for asylum in Los Angeles on February 15, 1980. The INS denied the request on January 25, 1983; on June 27, 1983, he filed a new application before an immigration judge, who granted it on August 19, 1985, finding that he had "a well-founded fear of prosecution" if returned to Nicaragua. The earliest information on him in DEA files dated from March 1983, but the Justice Department's inspector general concluded that "the DEA had not conducted investigations of him before 1986."[^16] Gary Webb wrote that the DEA opened a NADDIS file on Blandón on May 24, 1983, after a confidential informant named him as a member of a cocaine trafficking organization.[^6] His attorney [[Brad Brunon|Bradley Brunon]] stated in court in 1992 that the DEA's knowledge of Blandón's drug dealing stretched back even further: "I have some 300 DEA-6 reports regarding Mr. Blandón, and the reports relate to activities between approximately 1981 and May 1992." In early 1984, while Blandón's asylum application was under review, the DEA learned from an informant that he was "the head" of his own cocaine distribution organization based in Los Angeles.[^6] -The same pattern occurred with Blandón's wife, Chepita. In early 1985 she was reported to the DEA as a "member of a cocaine distribution organization," and the agency opened a NADDIS file on her on March 15, 1985. Later that same year she was granted political asylum. Immigration experts noted that normally even the slightest hint of drug involvement results in deportation, and [[State Department]] policy requires checking with the DEA before approving asylum applications. When the Justice Department's Inspector General examined the Blandóns' immigration records, he found them "in disarray."[^6] +The same pattern occurred with Blandón's wife, Chepita. In early 1985 she was reported to the DEA as a "member of a cocaine distribution organization," and the agency opened a NADDIS file on her on March 15, 1985. Later that same year she was granted political asylum. Immigration experts noted that normally even the slightest hint of drug involvement results in deportation, and [[State Department]] policy requires checking with the DEA before approving asylum applications. When the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department's Inspector General]] examined the Blandóns' immigration records, he found them "in disarray."[^6] ### Move to Rialto and Business Fronts diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/David Bornn.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/David Bornn.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..54085573 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/David Bornn.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - DavidBornn + - VirginIslands + - AlbertBryan + - JeffreyEpstein + - RevolvingDoor + - GovernmentCapture +alias: + - David A. Bornn + - David A. Bornn, Esq. + - Attorney David Bornn +summary: "St. Thomas lawyer, partner of Epstein's territorial counsel Erika Kellerhals from 2017, then Governor Albert Bryan's chief legal counsel, whom Epstein's circle contacted in 2019 and who relayed Kellerhals's inquiry to Attorney General Denise George." +location: "St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin]]" + start: 2017-01-04 + role: "partner" + fn: 2 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]]" + start: 2019-01 + role: "chief legal counsel to the Governor" + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Winston & Strawn]]" + role: "of counsel, Washington, D.C." + fn: 1 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +David A. Bornn is a [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] lawyer who practiced corporate, real estate, government relations and tax incentive law on [[St. Thomas]] for more than four decades, became a partner in January 2017 of [[Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin]], the firm of [[Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein's]] territorial counsel [[Erika Kellerhals]], and served as chief legal counsel to Governor [[Albert Bryan]] from 2019. Nine days after Bryan's inauguration, [[Cecile de Jongh]] told Epstein she would speak with "David Bornn, Albert's legal counsel," about a cease-and-desist matter. According to notes of a 2023 [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] interview, Bornn later called Attorney General [[Denise George]] to relay that Kellerhals wanted to know what George was investigating in the territory's case against Epstein's estate. He later joined [[Winston & Strawn]], whose profile of him describes his "inner knowledge of the intentions and needs of the Bryan/Roach Administration."[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Practice and the Kellerhals Firm + +Bornn received a bachelor's degree from [[Trinity College (Connecticut)|Trinity College]] in 1974 and a law degree from the [[Villanova University School of Law|Villanova University]] in 1981, and is admitted to practice only in the Virgin Islands. In private practice he specialized in "corporate, real estate, government relations, local and federal administrative matters, trusts and estates, employment relations, and USVI tax incentive programs." He is a past co-chairman of the Ethics and Grievance Committee of the [[Virgin Islands Bar Association]].[^1] + +On January 4, 2017 Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin announced that "David A. Bornn, Esq. has become a Partner of the Firm," and that it would operate a branch office from the Bornn Building on Norre Gade in [[Charlotte Amalie]]. Kellerhals had presented Epstein to the [[Economic Development Commission]] at its November 15, 2012 hearing on the tax-incentive application of [[Southern Trust Company]], at which he was sworn in by the commission's legal counsel, [[Henry Smock]]. Delegate [[Stacey Plaskett]], the commission's general counsel from 2007 to 2014, had also worked for Kellerhals.[^2][^3][^5] + +### Chief Legal Counsel + +Bryan was inaugurated on January 7, 2019, and named Bornn his chief legal counsel. According to Bornn's firm profile, in that role he "managed all law firms serving the USVI administration," directed "much of the work undertaken for the Office of the Governor, the VI Public Finance Authority, and other governmental agencies" by those outside firms, and was part of the territory's congressional and federal relations team and of the working groups that sought federal and private funding after the 2017 hurricanes and during the COVID-19 crisis.[^1][^6] + +On January 16, 2019 Epstein wrote to Cecile de Jongh, the office manager of his territorial companies and wife of former Governor [[John de Jongh]], in a chain that reads in part: "hurricane repair still ongoing ie co[n]ne[c]ting new septic" and "Albert promised!" De Jongh answered at 5:06 a.m.: "I'll speak with David Bornn, Albert's legal counsel." Epstein wrote, "I will call Albert in order to be respectful." At 12:23 p.m. de Jongh wrote, "I spoke to Erika this morning and I will be speaking with David Bo[r]n[n] as well," and at 2:17 p.m.: "I spoke to David Bornn briefly. He asked that I send him the C&D and that he will get back to me after 2PM." The documents do not identify the cease-and-desist. The territory's Coastal Zone Management program had issued a stop-work order on Epstein's [[Great St. James]] construction on December 21, 2018, in the last weeks of the administration of Governor [[Kenneth Mapp]].[^4][^7] + +### The Estate Investigation + +George, whom Bryan appointed Attorney General in 2019, filed the territory's civil enforcement suit against Epstein's estate on January 15, 2020 and retained the law firm [[Motley Rice]]. In her October 2, 2023 interview with the FBI, released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] in January 2026, George said that estate employees "had nondisclosure agreements and were informed if questioned by law enforcement to say nothing and alert Kellerhals." When Motley Rice began interviewing estate employees, she received a call from Bornn, described in the FBI notes as Bryan's chief legal counsel and a former employee of Kellerhals, relaying that Kellerhals wanted to know what George was investigating. George replied that it was none of Kellerhals's business. She said Bryan told her to settle the case for 80 million dollars with Smock as mediator; the estate settled on November 30, 2022 for more than 105 million dollars. Bornn has not been charged with any offense, and no public response by him to George's account was found.[^3][^8] + +### Winston & Strawn + +After four years in the Bryan administration, which began its second term in January 2023, Bornn joined Winston & Strawn, whose website carried the name Winston Taylor in 2026, as of counsel in its Washington office, practicing under the supervision of members of the [[District of Columbia Bar]] while his own application was pending. The firm continued to represent the territorial government. His profile states that he "provides a measure of continuity and inner knowledge of the intentions and needs of the Bryan/Roach Administration as he assists the firm with its continuing representation of the USVI Government and maintains access to key local players within the Virgin Islands Government and the [[Legislature of the Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands Legislature]]," that he "is familiar with all Virgin Islands Government department and agency heads, sub-heads, and many of the rank-and-file civil service workers key to achieving efficient results for clients," and that he "continues to enjoy deep respect from the Governor and other senior officials serving in the current administration, as well as those in the Virgin Islands political establishment."[^1] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Winston & Strawn LLP (Winston Taylor LLP), "David A. Bornn," attorney profile, accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.winston.com/en/professionals/bornn-david-a +[^2]: Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, "Welcome David Bornn," January 4, 2017, captured August 20, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190820054157/https://www.kellfer.com/blog/2017/01/04/welcome-david-bornn/ +[^3]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026 (FBI notes of an October 2, 2023 interview with Denise George; Plaskett's employment with Kellerhals). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01026946, DataSet 9, email chain between Jeffrey Epstein and Cecile de Jongh, January 16, 2019 (duplicate EFTA01026933). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01026946.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01026933.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02812344, Court Records, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904 (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 290, ECF No. 245-15 (filed July 25, 2023): Economic Development Commission, Public Hearing transcript, November 15, 2012, pp. 1-2, 6-9. 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)/EFTA02812344.pdf +[^6]: "Governor Albert Bryan Jr." Biography submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, hearing of March 24, 2021. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/II/II00/20210324/111384/HHRG-117-II00-Bio-BryanJrA-20210324.pdf +[^7]: "DPNR planning visit to Epstein's island." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* 2019 (December 21, 2018 stop-work order). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/dpnr-planning-visit-to-epstein-s-island/ +[^8]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate of Jeffrey Epstein and Co-Defendants for Over $105 Million." *Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Debra Black.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Debra Black.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..d0789e43 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Debra Black.md @@ -0,0 +1,75 @@ +--- +category: "Business & Finance" +tags: + - Person + - DebraBlack + - LeonBlack + - JeffreyEpstein + - Philanthropy + - BlackFamilyPartners + - Harvard +alias: + - Debra Black +summary: "Wife of Leon Black, trustee in the Black family's 2007 restructuring, co-donor of Harvard and Arizona State gifts that Jeffrey Epstein arranged, and holder of accounts that wired Epstein's fees." +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: spouse_of + with: "[[Leon Black]]" + fn: 1 + - type: funded + with: "[[Program for Evolutionary Dynamics]]" + start: 2011-11-22 + end: 2014-12-29 + role: "co-donor with Leon Black of 6 million dollars" + fn: 3 + - type: funded + with: "[[Origins Project]]" + start: 2014 + end: 2015 + role: "co-donor with Leon Black of 2 million dollars" + fn: 5 +--- + +Debra Black is the wife of [[Leon Black]], the co-founder of [[Apollo Global Management]] who paid [[Jeffrey Epstein]] between 158 and 170 million dollars from 2012 to 2017 for tax and estate advice. She is named as a trustee in the 2007 transfer of family holdings into Black Family Partners, L.P., one of the entities whose [[Bank of America]] accounts later sent Epstein's fees; she held one of those accounts herself. With her husband she gave [[Harvard University]]'s [[Program for Evolutionary Dynamics]] 6 million dollars in 2011 and 2014, after Harvard had stopped accepting Epstein's money, in gifts arranged through Epstein's office, and gave 2 million dollars to [[Lawrence Krauss]]'s [[Origins Project]] at [[Arizona State University]]. Leon Black cited "my wife Debra's and my health issues" when he stepped down as Apollo's chief executive in March 2021.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### Black Family Partners + +An "Assignment and Assumption Agreement" dated June 7, 2007, preserved among Epstein's records, transferred the assignors' limited partner, limited liability company and stockholder interests to Black Family Partners, L.P. Its signature pages, repeated across multiple entities and trusts, carry blocks for "Debra Black, Trustee" and a co-trustee. The following month, according to Black's representative, Epstein ceased to be a trustee of the [[Black Family Foundation]], a position he had held since 1997.[^2][^3] + +### The Fee Accounts + +The minority staff of the [[Senate Finance Committee]] under Senator [[Ron Wyden]], drawing on bank records, counted eighteen wires totaling 169.8 million dollars from Black's Bank of America accounts to Epstein between 2012 and 2017, about 140 million dollars of it in 2013 through 2015 to accounts of [[Southern Trust Company]] at [[Deutsche Bank]] and other wires to [[Financial Trust Company]] accounts at [[JPMorgan Chase]]. The accounts that sent the money were held by Black, "his wife Debra Black," Black Family Partners L.P., Narrows Holdings LLC, the family office [[Elysium Management]], and one other individual.[^1] + +### The Harvard Gifts + +[[Drew Faust]], Harvard's president, decided no later than November 2008 that the university would take no further gifts from Epstein. Between 2010 and 2015 donors whom Epstein introduced gave Harvard 9.5 million dollars, of which 7.5 million dollars went to the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics of [[Martin Nowak]]. Harvard's 2020 review recorded the following gifts to the program:[^3][^4] + +| Date | Amount | Donor | +|---|---|---| +| September 10, 2010 | 500,000 dollars | [[Falconwood Foundation]] | +| November 22, 2011 | 2,000,000 dollars | Leon and Debra Black | +| December 29, 2014 | 4,000,000 dollars | Leon and Debra Black | +| October 30, 2015 | 1,000,000 dollars | Black Family Foundation | + +Epstein's accountant arranged gift letters that allowed Nowak to spend the Black money on the program's rent, which ordinary research grants could not cover, and Harvard development staff thanked Epstein in December 2014 "for trying to expedite this gift." Black's representative told Harvard that "none of the funds were provided by Mr. Epstein."[^3][^4] + +### The Origins Project + +Leon and Debra Black gave 2 million dollars in personal gifts to the Origins Project at Arizona State University in 2014 and 2015. Epstein's Virgin Islands foundation, [[Enhanced Education]], gave the project 250,000 dollars between 2010 and 2017, and one Origins accounting record listed Epstein's employer as "Leon D. Black, [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|Enhanced Education]]." After Arizona State closed the project in 2018 it returned 25,000 dollars in unspent funds to Enhanced Education and about 460,000 dollars to the Blacks at their request.[^5][^6] + +### Apollo + +On March 22, 2021 Leon Black left the chief executive's post at Apollo, after the law firm [[Dechert]] had reviewed his payments to Epstein for the firm's conflicts committee.[^7] Apollo announced that [[Marc Rowan]] would become chief executive and [[Jay Clayton]] non-executive chairman; Black cited "my wife Debra's and my health issues."[^8] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Ranking Member Ron Wyden, "Looking the Other Way: How Wall Street Banks Enabled Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking," August 4, 2026, pp. 4, 9-14, 56-61. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_wall_street_epstein_report.pdf +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01128080, DataSet 9, Assignment and Assumption Agreement to Black Family Partners, L.P., June 7, 2007. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01128080.pdf +[^3]: 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. 10-17 and nn. 9, 15, on Faust's decision, the table of Epstein-facilitated gifts, the gift-letter language on rent, the statement of Black's representative, and Epstein's trusteeship of the Black Family Foundation. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^4]: 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 +[^5]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein's Links To Scientists Are Even More Extensive Than We Thought," *BuzzFeed News,* August 27, 2019, on the Black gifts, the "Leon D. Black, Enhanced Education" accounting entry, and the refunds. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements +[^6]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein Called Himself A 'Science Philanthropist' And Donated Millions To These Researchers," *BuzzFeed News,* July 11, 2019, updated July 13, 2019, on the 250,000 dollars obtained by public records request. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-science-donations +[^7]: Dechert LLP, Memorandum to the Apollo Conflicts Committee, "Investigation of Epstein/Black Relationship and Any Relationship Between Epstein and Apollo Global Management, Inc.," January 22, 2021, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to Apollo Global Management, Inc. Form 8-K, January 25, 2021. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1411494/000119312521016405/d118102dex991.htm +[^8]: Apollo Global Management, "Marc Rowan Assumes Role of CEO of Apollo; Jay Clayton Named Non-Executive Chair of Board," press release, March 22, 2021. https://ir.apollo.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/105/marc-rowan-assumes-role-of-ceo-of-apollo diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Douglas Aukland.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Douglas Aukland.md index 0cfb6cba..b54fe6f0 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Douglas Aukland.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Douglas Aukland.md @@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ Aukland was sitting in his office when a stranger arrived with a story "right ou ### Building the Case -Though Aukland had never worked a drug case, he recognized a major crime. He checked on Meneses with San Francisco FBI agent Donald Hale, who confirmed years of frustrated surveillance and said he had three informants willing to testify against the drug lord. Convinced his informant was reliable, Aukland pleaded with supervisors for an off-site location, pen registers on Blandón's phones, and surveillance teams. He received permission to investigate and $10,000 for his informant - and nothing else. "Aukland said he did not get much help on the case from his supervisors or other agents, who were already spread thin," the Justice Department Inspector General wrote. [[DEA]] agent Thomas Schrettner was told to keep his eyes on heroin cases and let the FBI worry about the Contras.[^1] +Though Aukland had never worked a drug case, he recognized a major crime. He checked on Meneses with San Francisco FBI agent Donald Hale, who confirmed years of frustrated surveillance and said he had three informants willing to testify against the drug lord. Convinced his informant was reliable, Aukland pleaded with supervisors for an off-site location, pen registers on Blandón's phones, and surveillance teams. He received permission to investigate and $10,000 for his informant - and nothing else. "Aukland said he did not get much help on the case from his supervisors or other agents, who were already spread thin," the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] wrote. [[DEA]] agent Thomas Schrettner was told to keep his eyes on heroin cases and let the FBI worry about the Contras.[^1] ### Partnership with the Majors diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Drew Faust.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Drew Faust.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..8827885f --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Drew Faust.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +--- +category: "Scientists & Researchers" +tags: + - Person + - DrewFaust + - Harvard + - JeffreyEpstein + - MartinNowak + - ProgramForEvolutionaryDynamics + - Historian +alias: + - Drew Faust + - Drew Gilpin Faust + - Drew G. Faust +summary: "Historian and president of Harvard from 2007 to 2018 who barred Jeffrey Epstein's gifts no later than November 2008 without recording the decision, while donors Epstein introduced gave 9.5 million dollars." +location: "Cambridge, Massachusetts" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Harvard University]]" + start: 2007-07-01 + end: 2018-06-30 + role: "28th president" + fn: 1 +--- + +Drew Gilpin Faust is an American historian of the Civil War and the American South who was president of [[Harvard University]] from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2018, the first woman to hold the office. She succeeded [[Larry Summers]], under whom Harvard had accepted [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s 6.5 million dollar gift establishing the [[Program for Evolutionary Dynamics]] in 2003. Faust decided no later than November 2008, after Epstein's Florida guilty plea, that Harvard would accept no further gifts from him, but recorded the decision nowhere and did not formally notify the program's director, [[Martin Nowak]]. Between 2010 and 2015 donors whom Epstein introduced gave Harvard 9.5 million dollars. When she announced her departure in June 2017, Nowak wrote to Epstein asking whether he could "bring summers back."[^1][^2][^3] + +### Career + +Faust was the founding dean of Harvard's [[Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study]] before she was nominated in February 2007 to become president the following July 1. She announced on June 14, 2017 that she would step down on June 30, 2018. Her successor, [[Lawrence Bacow]], commissioned the review of Harvard's ties to Epstein in September 2019.[^1][^4] + +### The Decision on Epstein's Gifts + +Epstein gave Harvard 9,179,000 dollars between 1998 and 2008, including 736,000 dollars after his 2006 arrest and before his 2008 conviction. Harvard's May 2020 review found that Faust decided no later than November 2008 that the university would take no more of his money, but that she recorded the decision nowhere and did not formally notify Nowak, who understood that she opposed taking Epstein's money but regarded the question as "unclear." Between 2010 and 2014 Nowak and others sought to reopen it. In December 2013 the mathematics chair, [[Benedict Gross]], and the divisional dean, [[Jeremy Bloxham]], asked the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, [[Michael D. Smith]], to petition the Gift Policy Committee, writing that "Epstein has served his time for his crime, and that his wealth has been obtained legally." Smith declined. In March 2014 Gross told Nowak there was "a temporary hold on contributions from Jeffrey Epstein, although I hope it will be lifted by summer."[^2][^5] + +In the same period donors Epstein introduced, the [[Falconwood Foundation]] and [[Leon Black]], [[Debra Black]] and the [[Black Family Foundation]], gave the program 7.5 million dollars from 2010 to 2015, which paid its rent, and Black gave 2 million dollars for the geneticist [[George 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 kept a keycard, a passcode and an office at the program's building at [[One Brattle Square]] into 2018 and visited more than forty times after his 2008 conviction.[^2][^6] + +### The Letter to the President + +Epstein's publicists sought links from Harvard web pages because "it would be very helpful in terms of Google results if his name were attached to a Harvard.edu url," and in 2014 the program posted a "Friends" page on which Epstein was the only name. In March 2014 an anti-trafficking organization wrote to Faust objecting to "almost daily press releases" from "a pedophile [who] feels entitled to identify himself as a 'Harvard philanthropist.'" The program removed the page in October 2014 after sexual-assault survivor advocates contacted it and the president's office.[^7] + +### The Succession + +On June 15, 2017, the day after Faust's announcement, Nowak wrote to Epstein at his personal email address: "drew faust (harvard president) will step down end of the academic year can you bring summers back? or dick gross?" No reply appears in the record.[^3] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "Drew Faust to step down as Harvard president next June," *Harvard Gazette,* June 14, 2017. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/06/drew-faust-to-step-down-as-harvard-president-next-june/ +[^2]: 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. https://www.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Reportconcerning-Jeffrey-Epstein.pdf ; https://ogc.harvard.edu/report-concerning-Epstein +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00635064, DataSet 9, email from Martin A. Nowak to Jeffrey Epstein, June 15, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00635064.pdf +[^4]: "Harvard Asked Its Lawyers to Review the University's Ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Here's What They Found," *The Harvard Crimson,* May 2, 2020. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/5/2/harvard-concludes-epstein-review/ +[^5]: Lopez, Gershengorn and Murphy, *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University,* May 2020, pp. 10-13, on Faust's decision, the December 10, 2013 development-office memorandum, Smith's refusal, and Gross's and Nowak's 2014 exchanges. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^6]: Lopez, Gershengorn and Murphy, *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University,* May 2020, pp. 13-15 and nn. 9, 15, on the table of Epstein-facilitated gifts, the gift-letter language on rent, and the statement of Black's representative. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^7]: Lopez, Gershengorn and Murphy, *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University,* May 2020, pp. 20-23 and n. 16, on the publicist's requests, the "Friends" page, the March 2014 letter to Faust, and the October 2014 removal. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Glenn Dubin.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Glenn Dubin.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..05392ec6 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Glenn Dubin.md @@ -0,0 +1,69 @@ +--- +category: "Business & Finance" +tags: + - Person + - GlennDubin + - HighbridgeCapital + - HedgeFund + - JeffreyEpstein + - GhislaineMaxwell + - JPMorgan + - HarvardKennedySchool +alias: + - Glenn Dubin +summary: "Hedge fund manager who co-founded Highbridge Capital Management, in which Jeffrey Epstein invested; married to Epstein's former girlfriend Eva Andersson-Dubin; named and denied in Giuffre's deposition." +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: spouse_of + with: "[[Eva Andersson-Dubin]]" + fn: 4 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]]" + reverse: true + start: 2020-09-03 + role: "subpoenaed for records of transactions and communications with Epstein" + fn: 4 +--- + +Glenn Dubin is a [[New York City|New York]] hedge fund manager who founded [[Highbridge Capital Management]] with [[Henry Swieca]] in 1992 and led it until 2013. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] was a founding investor in the fund and advised Dubin and Swieca in their 2004 negotiations over the sale of a majority stake to [[JPMorgan Chase]]. Dubin's wife, [[Eva Andersson-Dubin]], had a romantic relationship with Epstein before her marriage, and she has called Epstein the "godfather of my three children." [[Virginia Giuffre]] named Dubin in a 2016 deposition among the men to whom, she said, [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] and Epstein directed her; the Dubins have denied the allegation, and no charge has been brought.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Highbridge + +Dubin and Swieca grew up in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]] and launched Highbridge in September 1992; by June 2004 it managed about 6 billion dollars.[^1] A JPMorgan memorandum of March 18, 2004 to [[Jamie Dimon]], [[William B. Harrison Jr.]] and [[David Coulter]] stated that "Highbridge has approached JB, JPMC based on an existing relationship with the founders/owners, and with Jeffrey Epstein [a founding investor in Highbridge]." A June 16, 2004 email to [[Jes Staley]] read: "One concern that we have is that Jeffrey has been educating Glenn & Henry about our structure and valuation thoughts." JPMorgan bought a majority stake in 2004, and Dubin ran the fund until 2013.[^2][^4][^5] + +On January 28, 2014 Dubin's office sent Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] an "Updated Contact Information for Glenn Dubin" notice giving his new office as Dubin & Company, 767 Fifth Avenue, 45th Floor.[^6] + +### The Epstein Household + +Epstein's [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] house manager, [[Juan Alessi]], told the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] in 2019 that when he began working for Epstein around 1990 Epstein had a girlfriend "named Eva Anderson."[^7] Andersson-Dubin's romantic history with Epstein dated to the early 1980s. Flight logs show that the Dubins flew on Epstein's aircraft at least eighteen times between 1996 and 2005.[^4] + +In her April 22, 2016 deposition in *[[Giuffre v. Maxwell]]*, Maxwell was asked, "Do you know Glenn Dubin?" and answered, "I do." Asked how she knew him, she said, "He is the husband of Eva Dubin," and agreed that Eva Dubin was one of her friends. Asked, "Did you ever bring any females to the Dubin's house that were not your friends' children that were under the age of 18?" she answered, "I have never, to my knowledge, brought anybody under the age of 18 that's not a friend of my family or my nieces or nephews to the Dubin household."[^3] + +The Dubins' former household manager, Rinaldo Rizzo, testified that in 2005 Maxwell and Epstein brought a 15-year-old girl to the Dubins' house, and that the girl told Rizzo and his wife that she had been taken to Epstein's island and threatened. Rizzo testified that he later saw the girl "on a flight to Sweden with the Dubin family."[^8] + +### The Giuffre Allegation + +Giuffre's 2016 deposition, unsealed in August 2019, "listed Dubin among several businessmen and politicians who she alleges Maxwell and Epstein directed her to have sex with." *[[The Harvard Crimson]]* noted that "the available court record contains no direct evidence substantiating the allegations against Dubin." A spokesperson answered: "Glenn and Eva Dubin are outraged by the allegations against them in the unsealed court records and categorically reject them."[^8] + +Maxwell denied the allegation as to herself in her own deposition. Asked, "Did you ever send Virginia to Glenn's condo at the Breakers to give him a massage?" she answered, "No," and asked whether she had instructed Giuffre to have sex with him, "I have never instructed Virginia to have sex with anybody ever." Asked whether it was "an obvious lie that Virginia was paid to go to give a massage to Glenn Dubin at the Breakers," she said, "I cannot testify to what Virginia did outside of . . . I can't testify to what she did, who she gave massages to," and "Of course I don't know." Asked, "Can Jeffrey Epstein confirm or deny whether you sent Virginia to give Glenn Dubin a massage?" she answered, "I can't say what Jeffrey would say, I can tell you I didn't." Asked whether Epstein had "ever sent anybody to Glenn Dubin to perform a massage for him," she said, "I couldn't possibly recollect whether he did anything like that," and asked whether she had sent anyone else "over to Glenn Dubin's home for a massage," she answered, "Not to the best of my knowledge." The transcript was filed in the unsealed record on May 3, 2022.[^3] + +### The Virgin Islands Subpoenas + +On September 3, 2020 the Virgin Islands attorney general, [[Denise George]], suing Epstein's estate on behalf of the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]], subpoenaed Dubin, Andersson-Dubin and Highbridge for records of "financial transactions and communications between the Dubins and Epstein" from 1998 to the present, including three wire transfers between 2014 and 2016. A spokesperson said the Dubins "are horrified by and were completely unaware of Jeffrey Epstein's unspeakable conduct."[^4] + +### Harvard Kennedy School + +In 2010 Dubin gave 5 million dollars to establish the Dubin Graduate Fellowships for Emerging Leaders at the [[Center for Public Leadership]] of the [[Harvard Kennedy School]], and he sat on the school's Dean's Executive Committee. In August 2019 a Kennedy School spokesperson declined to comment on his role at the school.[^8] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "Inside Highbridge," *Institutional Investor,* June 10, 2004. https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2btgk245bciyr1qqsdukg/home/inside-highbridge +[^2]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Plaintiff's Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 221 (filed July 24, 2023), paras. 33, 55, 98-99, 111, 129-131. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.221.0.pdf +[^3]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 1:15-cv-07433-LAP (S.D.N.Y.), videotaped deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell, April 22, 2016, transcript pp. 57-58, 61, 236-237, 303-304, 339, filed as ECF No. 1257-15 (May 3, 2022). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.447706/gov.uscourts.nysd.447706.1257.15.pdf +[^4]: "US Virgin Islands wants Jeffrey Epstein-related documents from NY hedge fund billionaire," *ABC News,* September 9, 2020. https://abcnews.com/US/us-virgin-islands-jeffrey-epstein-related-documents-ny/story?id=72892602 +[^5]: Staley v The Financial Conduct Authority [2025] UKUT 00203 (TCC), Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber), decision released June 26, 2025. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685d21fec2633bd820a92a52/Staley_v_FCA_decision_for_release.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00375258, DataSet 9, forwarded notice "Updated Contact Information for Glenn Dubin," January 28, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00375258.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00157603, DataSet 9, FBI FD-302, interview of Juan Alessi, investigation on July 13, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00157603.pdf +[^8]: McCafferty, Molly C., and Jania J. Tumey. "Harvard Kennedy School Donor Glenn Dubin Implicated in Epstein's Alleged Sex Ring, Unsealed Filings Allege," *The Harvard Crimson,* August 18, 2019. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/8/18/dubin-epstein-unsealed-docs/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Cayne.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Cayne.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..16ca195d --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Cayne.md @@ -0,0 +1,59 @@ +--- +category: "Business & Finance" +tags: + - Person + - JamesCayne + - BearStearns + - JeffreyEpstein + - FinancialTrustCompany + - WallStreet + - Bridge +alias: + - James Cayne + - James E. Cayne + - James Eliot Cayne + - Jimmy Cayne +summary: "Bear Stearns chief executive from 1993 to 2008 who mentored Jeffrey Epstein at the firm, was named a co-executor in a codicil to Epstein's will, and told him in 2007 to 'hold tight.'" +born: 1934-02-14 +died: 2021-12-28 +location: "Evanston, Illinois (born); Long Branch, New Jersey (died)" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: appointed + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + role: "named co-executor of Epstein's will with Henry Jarecki in a first codicil" + fn: 5 +--- + +James Eliot Cayne (February 14, 1934, [[Evanston, Illinois]] to December 28, 2021, [[Long Branch, New Jersey]]) was an American investment banker and champion bridge player who was chief executive of [[Bear Stearns]] from 1993 to January 2008, two months before the firm's collapse into [[JPMorgan Chase]]. With [[Alan Greenberg]] he mentored [[Jeffrey Epstein]] at Bear Stearns from 1976 until Epstein's departure in 1981, and he remained one of Epstein's principal contacts at the firm until its failure. A first codicil to Epstein's will named Cayne and [[Henry Jarecki]] as co-executors of Epstein's estate. In August 2007, as two Bear Stearns hedge funds collapsed, Cayne told Epstein by telephone to "hold tight," according to the complaint Epstein's company later filed against the firm.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### Career + +Cayne studied engineering at [[Purdue University]] and left without a degree, then served in the [[United States Army|Army]] in [[Japan]]. He was a champion bridge player, and at Bear Stearns he became the first Wall Street chief executive to own a stake in his company worth more than one billion dollars. He steered the firm to five years of record profits before it lost heavily on housing-market bets in 2007 and ran out of cash in 2008. He stepped down as chief executive in January 2008; two months later JPMorgan Chase agreed to buy Bear Stearns for 10 dollars a share, after Cayne's last-minute efforts to get a better price.[^1][^2] + +### Epstein at Bear Stearns + +Epstein came to Bear Stearns in 1976 from the [[Dalton School]] through Greenberg and rose under Greenberg and Cayne to limited partner. He resigned on March 12, 1981, the day after [[Seagram Company|Seagram]] announced its tender offer for [[St. Joe Minerals]]. When the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] took his testimony on April 1, 1981 in its insider-trading inquiry, it questioned him on whether Cayne had inside information about St. Joe, and Epstein denied knowledge of any. The SEC brought no insider-trading charges against anyone at Bear Stearns in the matter.[^2][^3] + +Accounts of the departure conflict. Cayne said: "Jeffrey Epstein left Bear Stearns of his own volition. It was never suggested that he leave by any member of management, and management never looked into any improprieties by him." Contemporaries told *[[Vanity Fair]]* of internal rumors that the executive committee had asked for his resignation after his two supporters, Greenberg and Cayne, were outvoted, and a former Bear Stearns executive told [[Fox Business]] in 2019 that Epstein "left at our invitation ... it was very serious stuff." Vanity Fair listed Cayne in 2003 among Epstein's admirers.[^3][^6] + +### The Will + +Drafts of Epstein's will and codicils preserved in the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s records include a base will dated December 11, 2001, in which Epstein, "of [[Little St. James]] Island," named Paul Hoffman and one other individual as executors. A first codicil substituted a new Article Third: "I appoint HENRY JARECKI and JAMES CAYNE as Executors of this will. If either HENRY JARECKI or JAMES CAYNE fails to qualify or ceases for any reason to act as Executor, I hereby designate PAUL HOFFMAN as successor Executor." A further amendment added a third individual as co-executor alongside Jarecki and Cayne.[^5] + +### "Hold Tight" + +After 1981 Epstein conducted, by his company's account, "hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions with Bear Stearns" and dealt "with the senior management of Bear Stearns." In the summer of 2007 his company [[Financial Trust Company]] held 120,000 Bear Stearns shares in a [[Merrill Lynch]] account while two [[Bear Stearns Asset Management]] funds collapsed. Financial Trust's August 5, 2009 verified complaint alleged that on August 6, 2007 Epstein spoke by telephone with Cayne, who told him the funds' problems were "contained to those two funds," cited a pending one billion dollar capital infusion from [[CITIC Group|China Citic Group]], and advised him to "hold tight." The complaint also alleged that the day after the Enhanced Leverage Fund's disintegration was announced on July 17, 2007, "Cayne and Spector commenced participating in a 10-day bridge tournament in Nashville, Tennessee," referring to the firm's president, [[Warren Spector]]. Financial Trust sold its last 100,000 shares on March 17, 2008 at 3.41 dollars and sued Bear Stearns in the [[District Court of the Virgin Islands]] for fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation, naming Cayne, Greenberg, Spector, [[Samuel Molinaro]] and [[Alan Schwartz]] as the officers whose statements Epstein had relied on.[^4] + +Epstein had also put about 60 million dollars into the Enhanced Leverage Fund, making him one of its largest investors.[^6] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Nguyen, Lananh, and Kate Kelly. "James Cayne, who ran the ill-fated Bear Stearns, dies," *The New York Times,* via *Antelope Valley Press,* December 2021. https://www.avpress.com/news/newsline/james-cayne-who-ran-the-ill-fated-bear-stearns-dies/article_90bf74aa-6d12-11ec-bd4b-37c8139dec2c.html +[^2]: Vicky Ward, "The Talented Mr. Epstein," *Vanity Fair,* March 2003, as republished by the author, on Epstein's hiring through Greenberg, his limited partnership, the March 12, 1981 resignation, the April 1, 1981 SEC testimony, Cayne's statement, and the St. Joe Minerals outcome. https://vickyward.com/article/the-talented-mr-epstein/ +[^3]: Ward, Vicky. "The Talented Mr. Epstein." *Vanity Fair,* March 2003. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/jeffrey-epstein-200303 (archived: http://web.archive.org/web/20260916130321/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/03/jeffrey-epstein-200303) +[^4]: Financial Trust Company, Inc. v. The Bear Stearns Companies Inc., Civil No. 2009/106 (D.V.I.), Verified Complaint dated August 5, 2009, paragraphs 2, 6 to 13, 16 to 17, 32 to 40, 50 to 53; reproduced as Exhibit 253, ECF No. 244-8 (filed July 25, 2023), in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011822/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/244-08.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00016841, DataSet 8, drafts of the will of Jeffrey E. Epstein dated December 11, 2001, with codicils. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00016841.pdf +[^6]: Charles Gasparino and Lydia Moynihan, "The woes of Jeffrey Epstein: How he maintained Wall Street connections while downplaying child sex accusations," *Fox Business,* August 10, 2019. https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/jeffrey-epstein-wall-street-connections-child-sex-trafficking diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Comer.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Comer.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..8a8b2b42 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Comer.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - JamesComer + - Congress + - HouseOversightCommittee + - JeffreyEpstein + - EpsteinFiles + - Subpoena +alias: + - Rep. James Comer +summary: "Kentucky Republican congressman and chairman of the House Oversight Committee who in 2025 subpoenaed the Justice Department and Jeffrey Epstein's estate for Epstein records and released the estate's productions." +born: 1972-08-19 +location: "Kentucky" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: investigated + with: "[[Department of Justice]]" + role: "subpoena for Epstein and Maxwell case records" + start: 2025-08-05 + fn: 3 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Darren Indyke]]" + role: "subpoena to the Epstein estate, addressed to its co-executors" + start: 2025-08-25 + fn: 3 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Richard Kahn]]" + role: "subpoena to the Epstein estate, addressed to its co-executors" + start: 2025-08-25 + fn: 3 +--- + +James Comer (born August 19, 1972) is a Republican member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from the first district of [[Kentucky]], seated on November 14, 2016, and the chairman of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]] in the 119th Congress. In 2025 his committee requested, and then subpoenaed, the [[Department of Justice]]'s records on [[Jeffrey Epstein]] and [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], subpoenaed Epstein's estate, and released the estate's productions. A tip reported to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] threatened to kill him unless the "[[Epstein Files]]" were released.[^1][^2][^3] + +### The 2025 Requests and Subpoenas + +On February 11, 2025 Comer and Representative [[Anna Paulina Luna]], chair of the committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, wrote to Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]] requesting a briefing on Epstein investigation records in the department's possession. On February 21, 2025 the FBI's congressional affairs staff reported "receipt of five letters from Chairman Comer and Chairwoman Luna requesting briefings on the declassification process of documents regarding various FBI equities and to view the relevant documents"; the attachments concerned the [[September 11 attacks]], an assassination file, the origins of [[COVID-19]], unidentified anomalous phenomena and Epstein. The next day a bureau official asked for "a RIDS inventory of what we have on these five subjects," covering "Vault posts / Preprocessed / Requests in progress / UAP state of play / Any open litigations and status," with a deadline of close of business the following Monday.[^3][^4] + +On May 8, 2025 Comer and Luna wrote again demanding public release of "the entirety of the Epstein files." On July 7, 2025 the Justice 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." On July 23 the committee's Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee voted 8 to 2, on a motion by the Democrat Summer Lee joined by Republicans [[Nancy Mace]], Scott Perry and Brian Jack, to subpoena the department's Epstein files; committee rules required Comer's signature to issue it, and he was not present for the vote.[^3][^5][^6] + +On August 5, 2025 the committee subpoenaed Bondi for documents in [[United States v. Epstein]] (19-cr-490) and [[United States v. Maxwell]] (20-cr-330) and documents relating to Epstein's death. On August 25 Comer subpoenaed Epstein's estate, in a letter to its co-executors [[Darren Indyke]] and [[Richard Kahn]] in care of Daniel Weiner of [[Hughes Hubbard and Reed]], for the "birthday book," financial and flight records and other material, returnable September 8. The letter recited that "[r]ecent reporting indicates the estate of Mr. Epstein has access to documents relevant to the Committee's investigation," and described the committee's purposes as reviewing "the possible mismanagement of the federal government's investigation," "the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr. Epstein's death," "the operation of sex-trafficking rings," and "potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials," toward legislation reforming "the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations." It was copied to the committee's ranking member, [[Robert Garcia]].[^3] + +### The September 2025 Release + +On September 8, 2025 the committee released the estate's first production. Comer's statement said: "It's appalling Democrats on the Oversight Committee are cherry-picking documents and politicizing information received from the Epstein Estate today. Oversight Committee Republicans are focused on running a thorough investigation to bring transparency and accountability for survivors of Epstein's heinous crimes and the American people. President Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing and Democrats are ignoring the new information the Committee received today. The Committee will pursue additional Epstein bank records based on this new information. Democrats must decide if their priority is justice for the survivors or politics." The release said the committee had "also obtained information about Epstein's bank accounts."[^7] + +A later estate production released by the committee in November 2025 included Epstein's text messages to Delegate [[Stacey Plaskett]] during the committee's hearing of February 27, 2019 with [[Michael Cohen]]. On March 4, 2026 the full committee voted 24 to 19, on Mace's motion, to subpoena Bondi to testify on the department's handling of the files.[^8][^9] + +### The Threat + +An intake record of a tip to the FBI, undated in the released excerpt, reports a message from a sender styling itself "The Queen of Canada," a group whose stated objective was "peace through death": "We are the Queen of Canada and demand Sen. Comer release the Epstein Files on [[Donald Trump]] in 30 days or we will Execute James Comer and Scott Bessent and his partner [name withheld]." The record lists as targets "James Comer and Scott Bessent and his partner [name withheld]," naming the Treasury Secretary [[Scott Bessent]] and his partner.[^10] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, legislators-current.json (birth date and terms, compiled from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json +[^2]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, committee-membership-current.json, 119th Congress, accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/committee-membership-current.json +[^3]: James Comer, Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, subpoena cover letter to the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein, August 25, 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025.08.25-Subpoena-Cover-Letter-to-Epstein-Estate.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01655627, DataSet 10, internal FBI email chain, "Letters to The Honorable Kash Patel," February 21 to 23, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01655627.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation, unsigned memorandum on the review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein, July 7, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline +[^6]: Caitlin Yilek, "House committee votes to subpoena Justice Department for Jeffrey Epstein files," *CBS News,* July 23, 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-committee-votes-to-subpoena-justice-department-for-epstein-files/ ; Veronica Stracqualursi, Manu Raju, Annie Grayer and Ted Barrett, "House Oversight subcommittee votes to subpoena DOJ for Epstein files," *CNN,* July 23, 2025, as syndicated by KTVZ. https://ktvz.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2025/07/23/house-oversight-subcommittee-votes-to-subpoena-doj-for-epstein-files/ +[^7]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Oversight Committee Releases Records Provided by the Epstein Estate, Chairman Comer Provides Statement," press release, September 8, 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-records-provided-by-the-epstein-estate-chairman-comer-provides-statement/ +[^8]: Annie Grayer and Kaanita Iyer, "House Democrat exchanged texts with Epstein during 2019 congressional hearing," *CNN,* November 14, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/14/politics/epstein-texts-stacey-plaskett +[^9]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Democratic staff, "Ranking Member Robert Garcia Statement on Securing Subpoena for Attorney General Pam Bondi to Testify Before Oversight in Epstein Files Cover-Up," press release, March 4, 2026. https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-robert-garcia-statement-on-securing-subpoena-for-attorney-general-pam-bondi-to-testify-before-oversight-in-epstein-files-cover-up +[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00161527, DataSet 9, FBI tip intake record reporting a threat, undated excerpt. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00161527.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jeffrey Epstein.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jeffrey Epstein.md index 228620b0..1fbd1d98 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jeffrey Epstein.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jeffrey Epstein.md @@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ Epstein's residences functioned as the physical infrastructure of the traffickin Zorro Ranch in New Mexico was, according to a 2019 New York Times report, the site Epstein discussed for a project to "seed the human race with his DNA" by impregnating many women, a scheme he described to scientists and associates and that never came to fruition. New Mexico reopened a criminal inquiry into the ranch in 2025. On August 19, 2010, two days after Epstein registered as a sex offender in New Mexico, the state Department of Public Safety told the Santa Fe County sheriff that he was not required to register, because the state treated the Florida offense as registrable only if the minor was under 16; the minor in the plea was 17. Little St. James, called "Pedophile Island" in local accounts, was where Epstein hosted a 2002 science conference and where multiple victims said abuse occurred; under the 2022 settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands the island was sold and half the proceeds, about 11 million dollars, paid to the territory.[^18][^19][^20] -At his last address verification as a registered sex offender, in July 2018, Epstein refused to let Virgin Islands Department of Justice investigators, assisted by [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]], go beyond the dock of Little St. James, calling the dock his "front door," and had them meet him at his office on [[St. Thomas]]. His organization objected to the territory's inspections of unpermitted construction on Great St. James as "invasions" of his constitutional right to privacy in a home "which he described defined as the entire island." Island employees signed confidentiality agreements barring them from speaking with law enforcement and were told to notify the organization and use its counsel if contacted.[^11] +At his last address verification as a registered sex offender, in July 2018, Epstein refused to let [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]] investigators, assisted by [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]], go beyond the dock of Little St. James, calling the dock his "front door," and had them meet him at his office on [[St. Thomas]]. His organization objected to the territory's inspections of unpermitted construction on Great St. James as "invasions" of his constitutional right to privacy in a home "which he described defined as the entire island." Island employees signed confidentiality agreements barring them from speaking with law enforcement and were told to notify the organization and use its counsel if contacted.[^11] ### The Trafficking Operation and the Recruitment Network @@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ The [[Palm Beach Police Department]] opened an investigation in 2005 after a par Epstein's Boeing 727, the [[Lolita Express]], and additional aircraft were flown by the pilots [[Larry Visoski]] and [[David Rodgers]], whose logbooks recorded passengers on flights among New York, Palm Beach, the Virgin Islands, and Europe. The logs surfaced through the civil litigation of 2009 to 2015 and became the basis for much of the public mapping of Epstein's contacts, though a log entry records travel and not conduct. Visoski testified at the 2021 Maxwell trial that he had never witnessed sexual activity aboard the aircraft, and the logs by themselves establish who flew, not what occurred.[^17][^24] -The 727 was registered N908JE to [[JEGE, Inc.]], of which Epstein was president, sole director and sole shareholder, from January 2001 until the registration was cancelled on October 5, 2019; Epstein was named chief executive on JEGE's Part 125 operating certificate, and Darren Indyke signed its 2013 re-registration. The Gulfstream N909JE was held by [[Hyperion Air, Inc.]], also wholly his. Other aircraft were held by Hyperion Air LLC, JEGE, LLC, Plan D LLC and Air Ghislaine Inc. (renamed Shmitka Air Inc. and then Freedom Air International Inc. in 2010), with Visoski signing filings as manager or director of aviation; Hyperion Air LLC bought back a Sikorsky helicopter on June 13, 2019, three weeks before Epstein's arrest. The 2007 draft federal indictment identified each charged flight by the corporate owner of the aircraft, and according to NBC News a May 2007 prosecution memorandum proposed charging JEGE, Inc. and Hyperion Air, Inc. alongside Epstein; the non-prosecution agreement ended the federal case, and both companies continued to hold his aircraft until after his death.[^25][^26][^27] +The 727 was registered N908JE to [[JEGE, Inc.]], of which Epstein was president, sole director and sole shareholder, from January 2001 until the registration was cancelled on October 5, 2019; Epstein was named chief executive on JEGE's Part 125 operating certificate, and Darren Indyke signed its 2013 re-registration. The Gulfstream N909JE was held by [[Hyperion Air, Inc.]], also wholly his. Other aircraft were held by [[Hyperion Air|Hyperion Air LLC]], JEGE, LLC, Plan D LLC and Air Ghislaine Inc. (renamed Shmitka Air Inc. and then [[Air Ghislaine, Inc.|Freedom Air International Inc.]] in 2010), with Visoski signing filings as manager or director of aviation; Hyperion Air LLC bought back a Sikorsky helicopter on June 13, 2019, three weeks before Epstein's arrest. The 2007 draft federal indictment identified each charged flight by the corporate owner of the aircraft, and according to NBC News a May 2007 prosecution memorandum proposed charging JEGE, Inc. and Hyperion Air, Inc. alongside Epstein; the non-prosecution agreement ended the federal case, and both companies continued to hold his aircraft until after his death.[^25][^26][^27] A bound contact directory, the "little black book," held roughly 1,900 entries of names, telephone numbers, and addresses spanning finance, politics, royalty, science, and entertainment. A former house manager at the Palm Beach property, [[Alfredo Rodriguez]], copied the directory and offered it for sale, calling it "the Holy Grail or Golden Nugget." The complaint against him, filed December 1, 2009, bears the name of Assistant U.S. Attorney [[Ann Marie Villafana]], the line prosecutor on the Epstein investigation; it records that Rodriguez offered the material through a cooperating witness to an "associate" who was an undercover FBI employee, and that he had given it to no "law enforcement agency or any of the civil attorneys." The charged obstruction ran from January 18, 2007, while the federal grand jury investigation was open, to November 3, 2009. He pleaded guilty and Judge [[Kenneth Marra]] sentenced him on June 21, 2010 to eighteen months. At Maxwell's 2021 trial a copy of the directory was admitted as Government Exhibit 52 after authentication by the earlier Palm Beach house manager [[Juan Alessi]]. Redacted versions of the directory and of the flight manifests circulated publicly and were cited in reporting and litigation to identify members of Epstein's social circle.[^17][^24] @@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ From the late 1990s Epstein financed and embedded himself in elite science throu 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][^57][^58] -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." Black also gave 2 million dollars to Krauss's Origins Project at [[Arizona State University]] in 2014 and 2015, where one accounting entry listed Epstein's employer as "Leon D. Black, Enhanced Education," and, by the account of internal [[MIT Media Lab]] emails, 5.5 million dollars to the Media Lab in 2014 at Epstein's direction.[^55][^59][^60][^61] +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." 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.[^55][^59][^60][^61] 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][^59][^62][^63] @@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ Accounts from victims and household staff describing cameras in the properties, 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][^91][^92] -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][^93][^94][^95] +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][^93][^94][^95] 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."[^96] @@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ After a July 22, 2019 New York Times article on Epstein's ties to Wall Street fi 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.[^99][^100] -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][^99][^101][^102][^103] +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][^99][^101][^102][^103] ### The Virgin Islands Government diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jonathan Buma.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jonathan Buma.md index 888aec21..0ef9fec8 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jonathan Buma.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jonathan Buma.md @@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Kurganov gained operational access to a sitting technology billionaire's philant Buma publicly accused the FBI of pro-Trump political bias, specifically alleging that the Bureau had suppressed or slow-walked investigations into Trump-aligned figures and causes. [[PBS|PBS NewsHour]] reported on Buma's public statements, and the Whistleblowers Blog documented Buma's account of warnings the FBI allegedly missed.[^3][^8] -The [[Office of the Inspector General|DOJ Office of Inspector General]] arrested Buma on March 17, 2025 at JFK Airport as he attempted to board an international flight. The criminal complaint, filed in the [[Central District of California]], charged Buma with unlawfully disclosing confidential information on or about October 27, 2023. [[CBS News]] reported that FBI investigators assessed Buma may have compromised as many as 130 FBI files through his disclosures. Buma is out on 100,000 dollar bond. The DOJ's position is that the disclosures violated the criminal prohibition on unauthorized release of confidential FBI information; Buma's position is that the disclosures constituted protected whistleblowing about FBI misconduct. The case is ongoing.[^1][^3][^9] +The [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|DOJ Office of Inspector General]] arrested Buma on March 17, 2025 at JFK Airport as he attempted to board an international flight. The criminal complaint, filed in the [[Central District of California]], charged Buma with unlawfully disclosing confidential information on or about October 27, 2023. [[CBS News]] reported that FBI investigators assessed Buma may have compromised as many as 130 FBI files through his disclosures. Buma is out on 100,000 dollar bond. The DOJ's position is that the disclosures violated the criminal prohibition on unauthorized release of confidential FBI information; Buma's position is that the disclosures constituted protected whistleblowing about FBI misconduct. The case is ongoing.[^1][^3][^9] ### Footnotes diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/José A. Cabranes.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/José A. Cabranes.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..29f821a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/José A. Cabranes.md @@ -0,0 +1,89 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - JoseCabranes + - FederalJudge + - SecondCircuit + - ForeignIntelligenceSurveillanceCourtOfReview + - GhislaineMaxwell + - GiuffreVMaxwell + - YaleUniversity +alias: + - Jose A. Cabranes + - José Alberto Cabranes + - Jose Alberto Cabranes +summary: "Second Circuit judge, formerly Yale's general counsel and presiding judge of the FISA Court of Review, who sat on five appellate panels in the Giuffre v. Maxwell unsealing fight and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal appeal." +born: 1940 +location: "Connecticut" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Yale University]]" + role: "general counsel and director of government relations" + start: 1975 + end: 1979 + fn: 1 + - type: appointed + with: "[[Jimmy Carter]]" + reverse: true + role: "U.S. District Judge, District of Connecticut" + start: 1979-12-10 + end: 1994-08-10 + fn: 1 + - type: appointed + with: "[[Bill Clinton]]" + reverse: true + role: "U.S. Circuit Judge, Second Circuit" + start: 1994-08-10 + fn: 1 + - type: member_of + with: "[[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review]]" + role: "judge; presiding judge from 2018" + start: 2013 + end: 2020 + fn: 1 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Giuffre v. Maxwell]]" + role: "Second Circuit panel judge" + start: 2019-03-11 + end: 2025-07-23 + fn: 2 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[United States v. Maxwell]]" + role: "Second Circuit panel judge" + start: 2024-03-12 + end: 2024-09-17 + fn: 6 +--- + +José Alberto Cabranes (born 1940, in [[Mayagüez, Puerto Rico]]) is a senior judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]]. A former general counsel of [[Yale University]], he was appointed to the District of Connecticut by [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1979 and to the Second Circuit by [[Bill Clinton]] in 1994, and from 2013 to 2020 sat on the [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review]], presiding over it from 2018. Between 2019 and 2025 he sat on five Second Circuit panels in the litigation arising from [[Jeffrey Epstein]] and [[Ghislaine Maxwell]]: the unsealing appeals in [[Giuffre v. Maxwell]] and Maxwell's criminal appeal in [[United States v. Maxwell]].[^1] + +### Career + +Cabranes moved from Puerto Rico to the [[South Bronx]] at the age of five. He graduated from [[Columbia University]] in 1961 and [[Yale Law School]] in 1965 and took a master of letters in international law at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] (Queens' College) in 1967. He practiced law in New York from 1967 to 1971, taught at [[Rutgers University|Rutgers]] Law School from 1971 to 1973, and from 1973 to 1975 was special counsel to the Governor of Puerto Rico, [[Rafael Hernández Colón]], and head of the governor's Washington office. From 1975 to 1979 he was general counsel and director of government relations of Yale.[^1] + +Carter nominated him on November 6, 1979 to the District of Connecticut seat vacated by Jon O. Newman; he was confirmed on December 5 and commissioned on December 10, 1979, the first Puerto Rican appointed to an Article III judgeship in the continental [[United States]]. He was chief judge of the district from 1992 to 1994. Clinton nominated him on May 24, 1994 to the Second Circuit seat vacated by Richard J. Cardamone; he was confirmed on August 9 and commissioned on August 10, 1994. He served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, which hears the government's appeals from the [[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]], from 2013 to 2020, as its presiding judge from 2018. He assumed senior status on March 9, 2023.[^1] + +### The Epstein and Maxwell Panels + +On March 11, 2019 a panel of Cabranes, [[Rosemary S. Pooler]] and [[Christopher F. Droney]] issued an order to show cause in Giuffre v. Maxwell (No. 18-2868) on the unsealing of the summary judgment record, on the appeals of the [[Miami Herald]] and its reporter [[Julie K. Brown]] and of [[Alan Dershowitz]] and Mike Cernovich. A printout of the order from Bloomberg Law, time-stamped "3/11/19, 5:28 PM," is among the documents released from Epstein's own files.[^2] + +The same panel heard argument on March 6, 2019 and decided Brown v. Maxwell; Dershowitz v. Giuffre on July 3, 2019 (929 F.3d 41). It wrote that "we recognize the potential damage to privacy and reputation that may accompany public disclosure of hard-fought, sensitive litigation," and ruled: "we VACATE the District Court's orders entered on November 2, 2016, May 3, 2017, and August 27, 2018, ORDER the unsealing of the summary judgment record as described further herein, and REMAND the cause to the District Court for particularized review of the remaining sealed materials." Pooler concurred except as to ordering immediate unsealing without remand. The summary judgment record, about 2,000 pages, was unsealed on August 9, 2019. Epstein was found dead in the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York|Metropolitan Correctional Center]] the next morning.[^3][^4] + +On October 19, 2020 a panel of Cabranes, Pooler and [[Reena Raggi]] affirmed by summary order Judge [[Loretta Preska]]'s July 23, 2020 order unsealing Maxwell's April 2016 deposition, three months after her arrest.[^5] + +On September 17, 2024 a panel of Cabranes, [[Richard C. Wesley]] and [[Raymond J. Lohier Jr.]], which had heard argument on March 12, 2024, affirmed Maxwell's conviction and 240-month sentence (118 F.4th 256). It held that "the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|NPA]] did not bar Maxwell's prosecution by [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|USAO-SDNY]]," applying United States v. Annabi (1985) for the rule that a plea agreement binds only the U.S. Attorney's office for the district in which it was made unless it "affirmatively appears" to reach further, and concluded: "Identifying no errors in the District Court's conduct of this complex case, we AFFIRM the District Court's June 29, 2022, judgment of conviction."[^6] + +On July 23, 2025 a panel of Cabranes, Raggi and [[Myrna Pérez]] decided the consolidated appeals of [[Virginia Giuffre]] and the Herald per curiam (146 F.4th 165). It held that "a judicial document determination is properly made by evaluating the relevant materials at the time of their filing with the court," and vacated "the district court's December 2019 and January 2020 Orders in their entirety," the orders that had set Preska's unsealing protocol.[^7] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Federal Judicial Center, "Cabranes, José Alberto," Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges. https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/cabranes-jose-alberto +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00802958, DataSet 9, Bloomberg Law printout of Order to Show Cause, Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 18-2868 (2d Cir. March 11, 2019). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00802958.pdf +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00092308, DataSet 9, opinion, Brown v. Maxwell; Dershowitz v. Giuffre, Nos. 18-2868-cv, 16-3945-cv(L), 17-1625(CON), 17-1722(CON) (2d Cir. July 3, 2019). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00092308.pdf ; Brown v. Maxwell, 929 F.3d 41 (2d Cir. 2019). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4636340/brown-v-maxwell-dershowitz-v-giuffre/ +[^4]: 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. 18 to 20. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf +[^5]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 20-2413-cv, Summary Order, Doc. 140-1 (2d Cir. Oct. 19, 2020) (Cabranes, Pooler, Raggi, JJ.). https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Maxwell-ca2.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02842688, Court Records (United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y. 2020)), opinion, United States v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426-cr (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2024). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/United%20States%20v.%20Maxwell%2C%20No.%20120-cr-00330%20(S.D.N.Y.%202020)/EFTA02842688.pdf ; United States v. Maxwell, 118 F.4th 256 (2d Cir. 2024). https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2024/09/17/united_states_v._maxwell.pdf +[^7]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, 146 F.4th 165 (2d Cir. 2025) (per curiam), Nos. 24-182-cv(L), 24-203-cv(con) (July 23, 2025). https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-2nd-circuit/117500106.html diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Juan Alessi.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Juan Alessi.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..089c79e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Juan Alessi.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +category: "Crime & Abuse Networks" +tags: + - Person + - JuanAlessi + - JeffreyEpstein + - GhislaineMaxwell + - PalmBeach + - LesWexner + - Witness +alias: + - Juan Alessi +summary: "Palm Beach house manager for Jeffrey Epstein from about 1990 to 2002, referred through Leslie Wexner, who testified at Ghislaine Maxwell's 2021 trial and authenticated Epstein's contact book." +location: "Palm Beach, Florida" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + start: 1990 + end: 2002 + role: "contractor, then house and estate manager at 358 El Brillo Way" + fn: 1 +--- + +Juan Alessi is a former house manager of [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s residence at [[358 El Brillo Way]] in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]], [[Florida]], where he worked from about 1990 until 2002. According to his 2019 interview with the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], he came to Epstein through [[Leslie Wexner]], one of the Palm Beach clients for whom he did repair work, and [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] took charge of the household soon after he started. He testified for the government at Maxwell's criminal trial in December 2021 about the household rules, the daily scheduling of massages and a teenage girl who visited the house, and he authenticated Epstein's contact book, admitted as Government Exhibit 52.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Hiring Through Wexner + +Agents of the FBI's New York office interviewed Alessi on July 13, 2019, a week after Epstein's arrest, and memorialized the interview on July 15. The report states: "JUAN ALESSI was a repairman for millionaires throughout Palm Beach. JUAN ALESSI had about 20-30 customers, one of which was LESLIE WEXNER. It is through WEXNER, that EPSTEIN learns of JUAN ALESSI. EPSTEIN reached out to JUAN ALESSI around 1989 and asked him to come work at his house." Alessi worked first as a part-time contractor, became full time at about 45,000 dollars a year, and became estate manager as his duties moved indoors. His wife was hired to shop and to "take care of the girls who come to clean the house." He recalled that Epstein had a girlfriend at the time "named Eva Anderson," and that "around 1993, Ghislaine Maxwell came to the house and she took over, becoming in charge of the whole house." The report's header gives the interview date as July 30, 2014, which conflicts with the July 2019 dates in its footer.[^2] + +### The Household + +At the trial Alessi, then 71, testified that he worked at the house for twelve years from 1990 and left in 2002, and that Maxwell arrived about a year after he started: "From the day she came to his house, she right away took over." She told him "she was going to be the lady of the house" and that "she was in charge of the other properties," and she wrote a "58-page book of rules and duties" for him, which he called "enough for 10 people." One instruction read: "Remember that you see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, except to answer a question directed to you." He took it as "a kind of warning that I was supposed to be blind." Maxwell told him, "Jeffrey doesn't like to be looked in his eyes," and instructed him to "never look in his eyes."[^1] + +His duties included arranging Epstein's massages. Epstein had one a day in 1991 and three a day by 2002: "It was a massage in the morning, a massage in the afternoon and a massage after the movies," with sessions "scheduled to come anytime, at 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock at night." He was never in the room, because the doors were kept closed, but went in afterward to "clean up," collecting "towels, sex toys, costumes and pornographic materials," and cleaned the sex toys and returned them and the massage oils to Epstein's and Maxwell's dressing rooms. He estimated that "75% to 80%" of the women he saw at the pool "hundreds of times" were topless, and said photographs of topless women were kept at Maxwell's desk. "I know everything that happened in that house," he said.[^1] + +Alessi testified that he met the accuser who testified under the pseudonym "Jane" in the mid-1990s, when she came to the house with her mother, and that he was later sent to collect her "from school to bring her to the mansion." "She appeared to be young, 14, 15," he said. Her name was listed as a massage therapist in the house contact book he used to book Epstein's massages.[^1] + +### Government Exhibit 52 + +The government called Alessi to authenticate Epstein's contact book. He was examined by the government and questioned on voir dire by the defense on December 8, 2021, and Judge [[Alison Nathan]] admitted the book as Government Exhibit 52 over defense objections to authentication and on hearsay grounds in a memorandum opinion and order of December 9 (ECF No. 535). A copy of the same book had been kept by Alessi's successor as house manager, [[Alfredo Rodriguez]], who offered it for sale through a cooperating witness to an undercover FBI employee and was sentenced in 2010 to eighteen months for concealing it from federal investigators. On December 29, 2021 the jury in *[[United States v. Maxwell]]* convicted Maxwell on five of six counts.[^3][^4][^5] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Hurtado, Patricia, and Mary Biekert. *Bloomberg* report on the trial testimony of Juan Alessi, republished by *Fortune,* December 3, 2021. https://fortune.com/2021/12/03/ghislaine-maxwell-rules-jeffrey-epstein-florida-mansion-be-blind-say-nothing +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00157603, DataSet 9, FBI FD-302, interview of Juan Alessi, File 31E-NY-3027571, investigation on July 13, 2019, dictated July 15, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00157603.pdf +[^3]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), Memorandum Opinion and Order re Government Exhibit 52, ECF No. 535 (Dec. 9, 2021). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ +[^4]: *United States v. Rodriguez*, No. 9:10-cr-80015-KAM (S.D. Fla.), Criminal Complaint, ECF No. 3 (Dec. 1, 2009); Plea Agreement, ECF No. 25 (March 18, 2010); Judgment, ECF No. 31 (June 21, 2010). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15913423/united-states-v-rodriguez/ +[^5]: "Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Jury finds she sex trafficked a minor for Jeffrey Epstein, guilty on five of six counts," *CNN,* December 29, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/29/us/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-wednesday diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Lesley Groff.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Lesley Groff.md index 195eda48..f4b5dabc 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Lesley Groff.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Lesley Groff.md @@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ tags: - HouseOversightCommittee alias: - Lesley Groff + - Leslie Groff summary: "Jeffrey Epstein's New York executive assistant from 2001 to 2019, named and immunized as a potential co-conspirator in his 2007 non-prosecution agreement, never charged, who denies knowing of his crimes." location: "New York, New York" relations: @@ -34,6 +35,24 @@ relations: role: "interviewee" start: 2026-06 fn: 2 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]" + reverse: true + role: "agents interviewed her at home and served a grand jury subpoena" + start: 2007-08-21 + fn: 3 + - type: investigated + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]]" + reverse: true + role: "grand jury subpoena resolved by interview" + start: 2007-09-12 + fn: 19 + - type: represented + with: "[[Jonathan Whitcomb]]" + reverse: true + role: "counsel in Doe v. Indyke and before the House Oversight Committee" + start: 2021-10-24 + fn: 18 created: 2026-09-25 updated: 2026-09-25 --- @@ -42,27 +61,69 @@ Lesley Groff is an American former executive assistant to [[Jeffrey Epstein]], w ### Employment -Groff managed Epstein's calendar and travel from New York. A 2005 [[Chicago Tribune]] article reported salaries of about 200,000 dollars for Epstein's assistants and quoted Epstein describing them as "an extension of my brain."[^3] +Groff began working for Epstein in February 2001, at the age of 35, as his executive secretary at a salary of 50,000 dollars, replacing his previous assistant. She told congressional investigators that she answered to Epstein alone. From 2001 to 2009 she worked at Epstein's offices at 457 Madison Avenue, entered through the Villard House in the courtyard of the Helmsley Palace hotel, where her office adjoined his; the suite also held the offices of Epstein's lawyers [[Darren Indyke]] and [[Jeff Schantz]], his accountants, first [[Eric Gany]] and then [[Richard Kahn]], [[Harry Beller]], whom she understood to be his trader, the controller [[Emad Hanna]], and [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], with whom she described her relationship as "purely professional." She then worked at 301 East 66th Street, at an office on Lexington Avenue from about 2011 to 2013, and from about 2013 at Epstein's house at [[9 East 71st Street]].[^3] + +Groff managed Epstein's calendar and travel from New York. A 2005 [[Chicago Tribune]] article reported salaries of about 200,000 dollars for Epstein's assistants and quoted Epstein describing them as "an extension of my brain."[^4] Groff told the [[House Oversight Committee]] that she was paid 50,000 dollars until 2005, with a 10,000 dollar bonus in her first year, 120,000 dollars until 2009, 108,000 dollars thereafter, and from 2015 about 130,000 dollars and perhaps as much as 150,000 dollars. Asked about correspondence in the released files showing that she had been paid "through a loan that you arranged with Richard Kahn," which "says in the correspondence that it was forgivable upon his death," she answered "Yes." She testified that "in 2016, I believe that my salary did change to a loan plus a small paycheck," that she "was told it was a new structure," and that the loan was 100,000 dollars in 2016, "the same for 2017, 2018," and 110,000 dollars in 2019, while "the salary portion became less."[^3] A [[Deutsche Bank]] know-your-customer page for "The 2013 Butterfly Trust," produced to the federal grand jury in New York, listed her among the trust's "Current Potential Beneficiaries," with Indyke and Epstein's pilot [[Larry Visoski]].[^5] + +### Duties and the Scheduling Record + +Groff described her duties to the committee: "I scheduled his business meetings. I scheduled breakfasts, lunches, dinners. If he was going to have a party, I might coordinate with that. I coordinated with his staff at all the homes. On his island, I coordinated with his pilots. I would sometimes coordinate trips to, say, a TED conference." She said she informed the pilots of departure times and could have told them who would be traveling, that she never traveled on Epstein's airplanes, and that she took "the one helicopter ride," from [[St. Thomas]] to his island to see a construction project. She recalled Epstein speaking with Senator [[John Kerry]], General [[Wesley Clark]], [[George Mitchell]] and the governor of [[New Mexico]]; of [[Donald Trump]] she said that "early on, he spoke with Trump, but that was before he became President," and "I would connect phone calls. That was it." She said Epstein spoke with [[Prince Andrew]] when Andrew was in town.[^3] + +Messages from her desk in the [[Epstein Files]] released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] include: + +- April 27, 2011: "Howard Lutnick will come see" Epstein on a Sunday at 5 p.m., a visit by the chief executive of [[Cantor Fitzgerald]], [[Howard Lutnick]].[^6] +- February 22, 2012: to the defense lawyer [[Roy Black]], "Jeffrey would like to meet with you along with [[Reid Weingarten]] on Friday March 2nd in Miami"; Black replied, "No problem I can do Friday afternoon."[^7] +- June 24, 2013: "[[Julian Leese]] is in NY... OK to schedule in Julian Leese?"[^8] +- March 24, 2014: arranging a call between Epstein and [[Jacqui Safra]] on a Swiss mobile number.[^9] +- August 14, 2014: to the Virgin Islands lawyer [[Stacey Plaskett]], copying [[Erika Kellerhals]], "will you be able to meet with Jeffrey on his island on Monday Aug. 18th at 11am?"; Plaskett replied, "Please share details on time and transportation to Jeffrey." Plaskett was elected the territory's delegate to Congress that November.[^10] +- April 21, 2015: "Carlton Dowe returned your call," a reference to the executive director of the [[Virgin Islands Port Authority]], [[Carlton Dowe]].[^11] +- August 5, 2015: "Jeffrey Epstein attended Reid Hoffman/Peter Thiel's dinner party this past Sunday night at Baume Restaurant. At the party Mark requested Jeffrey send his contact details to him," with [[Mark Zuckerberg]] named among the recipients; the hosts were [[Reid Hoffman]] and [[Peter Thiel]].[^12] +- August 28, 2016: "Vitaly Churkin will also join the lunch tomorrow...it is now JE, [redacted], Tom Barrack and Churkin. 4 total," a lunch with the Russian ambassador to the [[United Nations]], [[Vitaly Churkin]], and [[Tom Barrack]].[^13] +- November 29, 2016: to [[Joi Ito]] of the [[MIT Media Lab]], arranging a visit by [[Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem]], chairman of [[DP World]], to Epstein at [[Martin Nowak]]'s office at [[Harvard University|Harvard]], "1 Brattle Square."[^14] +- June 13, 2019: a calendar entry routed to her, "need Thorbjorn Jagland to confirm dinner on June 20th," with the former Norwegian prime minister and secretary general of the [[Council of Europe]], [[Thorbjørn Jagland]], three weeks before Epstein's arrest.[^15] ### Allegations and Denials [[Marina Lacerda]], who has said she dropped out of school before the ninth grade and was abused by Epstein as a minor, has said she "had to go through Lesley Groff," who called repeatedly to arrange massages. A victim who was a minor at the time told the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] that she "felt it was pretty obvious Lesley knew what was going on." Groff's attorney [[Michael Bachner]] has said that she "never knowingly booked travel for anyone under the age of 18" and "had no knowledge of the alleged illegal activity whatsoever," and that after the 2019 arrest she "felt betrayed and disgusted."[^2] -Groff was a named defendant, with Epstein, [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], and [[Sarah Kellen]], in the federal sex-trafficking suit filed in January 2017 by [[Sarah Ransome]], who alleged that the four told her Epstein would secure her admission to the [[Fashion Institute of Technology]] in exchange for massages. The suit was dismissed with prejudice by stipulation on December 20, 2018.[^4] +Groff was a named defendant, with Epstein, Maxwell, and [[Sarah Kellen]], in the federal sex-trafficking suit filed in January 2017 by [[Sarah Ransome]], who alleged that the four told her Epstein would secure her admission to the [[Fashion Institute of Technology]] in exchange for massages. The suit was dismissed with prejudice by stipulation on December 20, 2018.[^16] In October 2019 [[Jennifer Araoz]], who has said Epstein abused her when she was 14 and 15, amended her [[Child Victims Act]] suit in New York state court to name Groff, "who worked as his secretary," Maxwell and two other women; Araoz alleged that Groff "often contacted her to set up sexual encounters with him." Bachner responded that Groff had worked "as part of a professional staff that included in-house attorneys, accountants" and other office staff, and that she never engaged in "any misconduct" during her employment.[^17] On October 14, 2021 a plaintiff represented by [[Gloria Allred]] sued Groff with Indyke and Kahn in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] (Doe v. Indyke, No. 1:21-cv-08469, before Judge [[P. Kevin Castel]]); [[Jonathan Whitcomb]], [[Danielle Charlot]] and Bachner appeared for Groff, and the case was closed on April 4, 2024.[^18] + +### The 2007 Investigation + +On August 21, 2007, according to a document read to her by committee counsel, FBI agents came to Groff's home. She testified that she let them in and sat with them, then "went upstairs and I called Darren Indyke, who is the in-house counsel," who told her not to speak to them without an attorney; the agents left, and "Mr. Epstein got me an attorney, and I went and spoke to him once."[^3] The prosecutors' chronology of the case records a September 12, 2007 email between Assistant U.S. Attorney [[Ann Marie Villafana]] and the defense lawyer [[Nathan Dershowitz|Nathan Z. Dershowitz]] stating that "Ms. Groff will proceed by interview."[^19] + +At the 2026 interview committee counsel introduced a "plea proffer from [[United States v. Epstein|United States v. Jeffrey Epstein]]," Bates number EFTA00213369, released by the Justice Department in January 2026, which stated that after the agents arrived Groff went upstairs and called Epstein, who "instructed Ms. Groff not to speak with the agents," "applied pressure to keep Ms. Groff from complying with the grand jury subpoena that the agents had served upon her," and "warned Ms. Groff against turning over documents and electronic evidence responsive to the subpoena and pressured her to delay her appearance before the Federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida." Asked whether the document was incorrect, Groff said: "I believe it is. I don't know how they would know that. I really believe that I called Mr. Indyke," adding, "I wouldn't call Mr. Epstein." Asked whether she remembered Epstein pressuring her over the subpoena, she answered: "None. No."[^3] ### Immunity and the 2019 Investigation The 2007 agreement provided that the [[United States]] would not charge "any potential co-conspirators of Epstein, including but not limited to Sarah Kellen, [[Adriana Ross]], Lesley Groff, or [[Nadia Marcinkova]]." In 2024 the [[Second Circuit]] held, in rejecting Maxwell's reliance on the clause, that it bound only the Southern District of Florida.[^1] -Four days after Epstein's July 2019 arrest, Bachner informed the government that Groff "would invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination" if called before a grand jury. She spoke with investigators about two years after the 2019 subpoena and told them that scheduling massages was "around 1%" of her duties. She was not charged.[^2] +Four days after Epstein's July 2019 arrest, Bachner informed the government that Groff "would invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against compelled self-incrimination" if called before a grand jury. She spoke with investigators about two years after the 2019 subpoena and told them that scheduling massages was "around 1%" of her duties. She was not charged.[^2] She told the committee that she resigned through Indyke and did not speak to Epstein.[^3] ### Congressional Interview -In June 2026 Groff was interviewed by the [[House Oversight Committee]]. She said she wished to "dispel the false notions" that she "knowingly enabled or conspired with him to commit his evil acts," adding: "Nothing could be further from the truth." She called Epstein a "master manipulator and deceiver," said of the 2007 clause, "I am not a conspirator and I never would have agreed to this language," recalled that Epstein had described the accusations against him as "a shakedown" for money, and said of his accusers, "I believe them." She also said: "In hindsight, I wish he had fired me."[^2] +In June 2026 Groff was interviewed by the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Oversight Committee]]. She said she wished to "dispel the false notions" that she "knowingly enabled or conspired with him to commit his evil acts," adding: "Nothing could be further from the truth." She called Epstein a "master manipulator and deceiver," said of the 2007 clause, "I am not a conspirator and I never would have agreed to this language," recalled that Epstein had described the accusations against him as "a shakedown" for money, and said of his accusers, "I believe them." She also said: "In hindsight, I wish he had fired me."[^2] + +The transcribed interview took place on June 9, 2026 in the Rayburn House Office Building, with Chairman [[James Comer]] and Ranking Member [[Robert Garcia]] among seventeen members present; the chaplain of the House, [[Margaret Kibben]], was listed as also present. Groff appeared with Bachner and Whitcomb. Asked by Representative [[James Walkinshaw]] whether she had ever arranged or logged travel for Trump or his family, or anyone acting for him, on Epstein's aircraft, she answered "No," and told Representative [[Rashida Tlaib]], "I never booked travel for Mr. Trump." Asked whether she had known of meetings between Epstein and [[Virginia Giuffre]], she said: "It's possible. I don't know. It was a really long time ago. But it's possible," adding that "[[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] was not really my area of where I was booking appointments"; asked whether she might have scheduled such meetings, she said, "An appointment. It's possible." She testified that a fund Epstein set up had paid her lawyers' invoices before his death and ceased when he died; Whitcomb stated that she had made a claim against the estate, not a lawsuit, and had received about 300,000 dollars "for reimbursement of legal fees." She said she held no interest in the estate and had not spoken with Indyke or Kahn in preparing for the interview.[^3] ### Footnotes [^1]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426-cr, slip op. at 6, 9-12 (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2024), reported at 118 F.4th 256, quoting the NPA at A-178. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2024/09/17/united_states_v._maxwell.pdf [^2]: "Former Epstein executive secretary tells Oversight Committee he was a 'master manipulator,'" *ABC News,* June 2026. https://abcnews.com/US/oversight-committee-interview-former-epstein-executive-secretary-lesley/story?id=133685804 -[^3]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Alleged Accomplices: Where Are Sarah Kellen, Nadia Marcinkova, Adriana Ross and Lesley Groff?," *The Daily Beast.* https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-alleged-accomplices-where-are-sarah-kellen-nadia-marcinkova-adriana-ross-and-lesley-groff/ -[^4]: Jane Doe 43 v. Epstein (Ransome v. Epstein), No. 1:17-cv-00616-JGK (S.D.N.Y.), Agreed Final Order of Dismissal with Prejudice, ECF No. 189 (Dec. 20, 2018). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4581676/jane-doe-43-v-epstein/ +[^3]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Interview of: Leslie Groff," transcribed interview, June 9, 2026, pp. 1-6, 26, 53-54, 56-59, 61-62, 75, 79-80, 89-90, 95, 143-146, 192, 195-197, 207-208. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Lesley-Groff-Transcript.pdf +[^4]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Alleged Accomplices: Where Are Sarah Kellen, Nadia Marcinkova, Adriana Ross and Lesley Groff?," *The Daily Beast.* https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-alleged-accomplices-where-are-sarah-kellen-nadia-marcinkova-adriana-ross-and-lesley-groff/ +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01364303, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank know-your-customer page "The 2013 Butterfly Trust" (DB-SDNY-0054829). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01364303.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01868626, DataSet 10, email from Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, April 27, 2011. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01868626.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00419255, DataSet 9, email chain between Lesley Groff and Roy Black, February 22, 2012. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00419255.pdf +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00388568, DataSet 9, email from Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, June 24, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00388568.pdf +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00372331, DataSet 9, email chain between Lesley Groff and Jacqui Safra, March 24, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00372331.pdf +[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02099269, DataSet 10, email chain between Lesley Groff, Stacey Plaskett and Erika Kellerhals, August 14, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02099269.pdf +[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00858918, DataSet 9, email from Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, "Carlton Dowe," April 21, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00858918.pdf +[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02074070, DataSet 10, email from Lesley Groff, "Jeffrey Epstein (Hoffman & Thiel Dinner Party)," August 5, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02074070.pdf +[^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02044775, DataSet 10, email from Lesley Groff, "Churkin to join lunch tomorrow as well," August 28, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02044775.pdf +[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00439714, DataSet 9, email chain "Re: Jeffrey Epstein," November 29, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00439714.pdf +[^15]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00498222, DataSet 9, Google Calendar notification, June 13, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00498222.pdf +[^16]: Jane Doe 43 v. Epstein (Ransome v. Epstein), No. 1:17-cv-00616-JGK (S.D.N.Y.), Agreed Final Order of Dismissal with Prejudice, ECF No. 189 (Dec. 20, 2018). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4581676/jane-doe-43-v-epstein/ +[^17]: Fitzpatrick, Sarah, and Rich Schapiro. "Jeffrey Epstein accuser names four women in his web of enablers." *NBC News,* October 8, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-names-four-women-his-web-enablers-n1063801 +[^18]: Doe v. Indyke, No. 1:21-cv-08469-PKC (S.D.N.Y.), docket, filed October 14, 2021, terminated April 4, 2024, ECF Nos. 8, 9, 12 (notices of appearance for Lesley Groff, October 24 and 26, 2021). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60646416/doe-v-indyke/ +[^19]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1 (U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida), entry for September 12, 2007. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Maurene Comey.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Maurene Comey.md index f19e7224..3fe34435 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Maurene Comey.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Maurene Comey.md @@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Maurene Comey is an American lawyer who served as an assistant U.S. attorney in ### Career -Comey joined the office in November 2015, rose to lead several units, and later asked to return to trial work. On July 8, 2019, U.S. Attorney [[Geoffrey Berman]] announced that she, [[Alex Rossmiller]], and [[Alison Moe]] were the prosecutors on the Epstein case, which the office had assigned to its Public Corruption Unit; she appears on the docket of United States v. Epstein as counsel for the government. After Epstein's death in August 2019 Comey was a lead prosecutor in the case against Maxwell, who was arrested on July 2, 2020; Maxwell was convicted on December 29, 2021 and sentenced to 20 years. Comey's last trial was the 2025 prosecution of Combs, in which she questioned key witnesses including Combs's former girlfriend, who testified under the pseudonym "Jane"; Combs was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking and convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.[^1][^2][^5][^6] +Comey joined the office in November 2015, rose to lead several units, and later asked to return to trial work. On July 8, 2019, U.S. Attorney [[Geoffrey Berman]] announced that she, [[Alex Rossmiller]], and [[Alison Moe]] were the prosecutors on the Epstein case, which the office had assigned to its Public Corruption Unit; she appears on the docket of [[United States v. Epstein]] as counsel for the government. After Epstein's death in August 2019 Comey was a lead prosecutor in the case against Maxwell, who was arrested on July 2, 2020; Maxwell was convicted on December 29, 2021 and sentenced to 20 years. Comey's last trial was the 2025 prosecution of Combs, in which she questioned key witnesses including Combs's former girlfriend, who testified under the pseudonym "Jane"; Combs was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking and convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.[^1][^2][^5][^6] ### Firing diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Nick Bostrom.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Nick Bostrom.md index ebae97b5..6f2133e8 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Nick Bostrom.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Nick Bostrom.md @@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Nick Bostrom (born March 10, 1973) is a Swedish-born philosopher who founded the ### Transhumanism and Existential Risk -Bostrom took a PhD at the [[London School of Economics]] in 2000 and in 1998 cofounded, with the philosopher [[David Pearce]], the World Transhumanist Association (later [[Humanity Plus|Humanity+]]), which promoted the use of technology to transcend human biological limits. With Pearce he drafted the Transhumanist Declaration and the Transhumanist FAQ, the latter formalized as version 2.1 under the association's name in 2003 and serving as the movement's reference document. His 2003 paper "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?" advanced the simulation argument, and his work formalized the concept of "existential risk," a catastrophe that would permanently curtail humanity's potential. These ideas placed the prevention of human extinction, especially from artificial intelligence, at the center of the emerging longtermist program.[^1][^3] +Bostrom took a PhD at the [[London School of Economics]] in 2000 and in 1998 cofounded, with the philosopher [[David Pearce]], the [[World Transhumanist Association]] (later [[Humanity Plus|Humanity+]]), which promoted the use of technology to transcend human biological limits. With Pearce he drafted the Transhumanist Declaration and the Transhumanist FAQ, the latter formalized as version 2.1 under the association's name in 2003 and serving as the movement's reference document. His 2003 paper "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?" advanced the simulation argument, and his work formalized the concept of "existential risk," a catastrophe that would permanently curtail humanity's potential. These ideas placed the prevention of human extinction, especially from artificial intelligence, at the center of the emerging longtermist program.[^1][^3] The simulation argument held that at least one of three propositions must be true: that civilizations almost always go extinct before reaching a "posthuman" stage capable of running ancestor simulations, that such civilizations almost never choose to run them, or that we are almost certainly living inside one. Bostrom maintained the paper asserted only that a rational person cannot dismiss the third possibility, not that we are in fact simulated, but the argument achieved unusual popular reach after Elon Musk adopted it as a talking point. Bostrom's earlier reasoning ran back to the 1990s [[Extropianism|extropian]] mailing list, on which he participated alongside the figures who later built the AI-risk and rationalist movements.[^3][^7] diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Paul Engelmayer.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Paul Engelmayer.md index 5234dd6c..a7f1dd39 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Paul Engelmayer.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Paul Engelmayer.md @@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ tags: alias: - Paul A. Engelmayer - Paul Adam Engelmayer - - Judge Engelmayer - Paul Engelmayer summary: "Manhattan federal judge and former Thurgood Marshall clerk and Major Crimes chief who inherited Ghislaine Maxwell's closed criminal case and ruled on its grand jury record under the Epstein Files Transparency Act." born: 1961 diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Richard M. Berman.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Richard M. Berman.md index 83b79412..9e13511a 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Richard M. Berman.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Richard M. Berman.md @@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ tags: alias: - Richard Berman - Judge Richard M. Berman - - Judge Berman - Richard M. Berman summary: "Manhattan federal judge, a former Javits aide and Warner Cable general counsel, who ordered Jeffrey Epstein detained in 2019, let victims speak before dismissing his indictment, and later unsealed its grand jury record." born: 1943 diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Robert Garcia.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Robert Garcia.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..c7737aec --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Robert Garcia.md @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - RobertGarcia + - Congress + - HouseOversightCommittee + - JeffreyEpstein + - EpsteinFiles + - LongBeach +alias: + - Rep. Robert Garcia + - Representative Robert Garcia + - Ranking Member Robert Garcia +summary: "California Democratic congressman, formerly mayor of Long Beach, who as ranking member of the House Oversight Committee released Jeffrey Epstein's emails about Donald Trump and pressed for the Justice Department's files." +born: 1977-12-02 +location: "Long Beach, California" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: member_of + with: "[[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]]" + role: "ranking member" + fn: 2 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Long Beach, California]]" + role: "mayor" + fn: 3 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Federal Prison Camp Bryan]]" + start: 2026-01-23 + fn: 7 +--- + +Robert Garcia (born December 2, 1977) is a Democratic member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from the 42nd district of [[California]], in office since January 3, 2023, and the ranking member of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]]. He was previously mayor of [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]]. As ranking member he released correspondence from the estate of [[Jeffrey Epstein]] concerning [[Donald Trump]], joined the ranking member of the [[House Committee on the Judiciary]], [[Jamie Raskin]], in inquiring into [[Ghislaine Maxwell]]'s treatment at [[Federal Prison Camp Bryan]], and supported the 2026 subpoena of Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]].[^1][^2][^3] + +### The Estate Productions + +The committee's chairman, [[James Comer]], copied Garcia as ranking member on his August 25, 2025 subpoena to Epstein's estate. On November 12, 2025 the committee's Democratic staff released three emails from the estate's latest production. In a 2011 email to Maxwell, Epstein wrote: "that dog that hasn't barked is trump.. [Victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. Police chief. etc. im 75 % there." In a 2019 email to the writer [[Michael Wolff]] he wrote, "Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop." A 2015 exchange between Epstein and Wolff concerned how to "craft an answer" for a Trump interview on [[CNN]]. Garcia said: "The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the [[Epstein Files|Epstein files]], the more we uncover. These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the [[White House]] is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the President. The [[Department of Justice]] must fully release the Epstein files to the public immediately."[^4][^5] Comer, releasing the estate's first production on September 8, 2025, had said that "President Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing."[^6] + +### FPC Bryan + +On January 23, 2026 Garcia and Raskin wrote to Bondi and to Acting Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume of the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General]], citing "over a dozen whistleblowers" who reported that "Ms. Maxwell has been permitted to use a laptop, unsupervised, while at Bryan," that she had "access to staff-only areas to watch CNN by herself," that "the Warden sends out Ms. Maxwell's mail under the Warden's own name," and that the warden "fired those who made protected disclosures to Congress." They asked that the department make "Warden Tanisha Hall available for a transcribed interview" and that the inspector general "initiate an investigation into the reported staff misconduct."[^7] + +### The Bondi Subpoena + +On March 4, 2026 the committee voted 24 to 19, on a motion by the Republican [[Nancy Mace]] supported by all Democrats present and four other Republicans, to subpoena Bondi. Garcia said: "For months, Attorney General Bondi has been instrumental in orchestrating the White House's cover-up of the Epstein files," and, "The American people deserve transparency, survivors deserve justice, and we are demanding answers."[^8] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, legislators-current.json (birth date and terms, compiled from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json +[^2]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, committee-membership-current.json, 119th Congress, accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/committee-membership-current.json +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00032518, DataSet 8, press digest, 2020, reporting "Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia." https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00032518.pdf +[^4]: James Comer, Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, subpoena cover letter to the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein, August 25, 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025.08.25-Subpoena-Cover-Letter-to-Epstein-Estate.pdf +[^5]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Democratic staff, "House Oversight Committee Releases Jeffrey Epstein Email Correspondence, Raising Questions About White House Coverup of Epstein Files," press release, November 12, 2025. https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-oversight-committee-releases-jeffrey-epstein-email-correspondence-raising +[^6]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Oversight Committee Releases Records Provided by the Epstein Estate, Chairman Comer Provides Statement," press release, September 8, 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-records-provided-by-the-epstein-estate-chairman-comer-provides-statement/ +[^7]: House Judiciary Committee Democrats, "Ranking Members Raskin, Garcia Demand Answers for Rampant Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Uncovered at FPC Bryan; Announce Congressional Oversight Visit," press release, January 23, 2026. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-members-raskin-garcia-demand-answers-for-rampant-sexual-abuse-and-misconduct-uncovered-at-fpc-bryan-announce-congressional-oversight-visit +[^8]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Democratic staff, "Ranking Member Robert Garcia Statement on Securing Subpoena for Attorney General Pam Bondi to Testify Before Oversight in Epstein Files Cover-Up," press release, March 4, 2026. https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-robert-garcia-statement-on-securing-subpoena-for-attorney-general-pam-bondi-to-testify-before-oversight-in-epstein-files-cover-up diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Ron DeSantis.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Ron DeSantis.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..c200350e --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Ron DeSantis.md @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - RonDeSantis + - Florida + - Governor + - JeffreyEpstein + - FloridaDepartmentOfLawEnforcement + - PalmBeach +alias: + - Ronald DeSantis + - Ronald Dion DeSantis + - Governor Ron DeSantis +summary: "Governor of Florida since 2019, formerly a congressman, who in August 2019 reassigned the state's Jeffrey Epstein matter and ordered a state police inquiry that in 2021 found differential treatment but no crime." +born: 1978-09-14 +location: "Tallahassee, Florida" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Florida]]" + role: "governor" + fn: 2 + - type: appointed + with: "[[Bruce Colton]]" + role: "executive assignment of the Epstein matter to the State Attorney of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit" + start: 2019-08-06 + fn: 2 +--- + +Ronald Dion DeSantis (born September 14, 1978) is the Governor of [[Florida]], in office since January 8, 2019. A Republican, he represented Florida's sixth congressional district in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 2013 until his resignation on September 10, 2018. On August 6, 2019, a month after [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s arrest in New York, he reassigned the state's Epstein matter from the Palm Beach County State Attorney to the State Attorney of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit and asked the [[Florida Department of Law Enforcement]] to take over the sheriff's criminal investigation and to inquire into "other irregularities" in the 2008 state plea.[^1][^2] + +### The August 2019 Directive + +The directive followed a letter to the governor from Palm Beach County Sheriff [[Ric Bradshaw]], whose office had opened an internal review of the deputies who guarded Epstein on work release. DeSantis issued an executive assignment moving the case to [[Bruce Colton]], State Attorney for the Nineteenth Circuit, and wrote to FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen. His statement said: "Floridians expect and deserve a full and fair investigation. Following my review of Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw's letter, I am requesting the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to take over his criminal investigation pertaining to the Jeffrey Epstein matter. In addition, FDLE will conduct a preliminary inquiry into matters beyond the work release and into other irregularities concerning the case's disposition. I have also re-assigned the case to the State Attorney for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit."[^2][^3] + +A news-monitoring alert from the service Dataminr, forwarded within the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] the same day, read: "Florida Governor DeSantis orders state criminal probe into Palm Beach Sheriff and former State Attorney's handling of Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case," citing a post by the [[Miami Herald]] reporter [[Julie K. Brown]].[^4] + +The federal [[Office of Professional Responsibility]], which had no jurisdiction over state officials, recorded that the state inquiry "focuses on Epstein's state plea agreement and the Palm Beach County work release program," and because it was pending the former State Attorney [[Barry Krischer]] declined to explain his office's decisions to the federal investigators.[^5] + +### The 2021 Findings + +The department's Office of Executive Investigations released summaries of its preliminary inquiries on May 10, 2021. It found no evidence that Krischer or Assistant State Attorney [[Lanna Belohlavek]] "committed any crimes, accepted any bribes or gifts, or did anything improper in their handling of the case." On the [[Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office]] it reported that "Epstein was provided differential treatment," but that the actions "were explained by PBSO and . . . were determined not to be a criminal matter." Work release had allowed Epstein out "for up to twelve hours a day, six days a week." No charges followed.[^6][^7] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, legislators-historical.json (birth date and House terms, compiled from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-historical.json +[^2]: Executive Office of the Governor of Florida, "Governor Ron DeSantis Requests FDLE Take Over the Criminal Investigation of the Jeffrey Epstein Matter and Re-assigns the Case to the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida," press release, August 6, 2019. https://www.flgov.com/eog/news/press/2019/governor-ron-desantis-requests-fdle-take-over-criminal-investigation-jeffrey +[^3]: Curt Anderson, "Florida sheriff investigates Epstein's time spent outside of jail," *Associated Press* via *PBS NewsHour,* July 19, 2019. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/florida-sheriff-investigates-epsteins-time-spent-outside-of-jail +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01659233, DataSet 10, Dataminr "First Alert" email, August 6, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01659233.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284, Prior DOJ Disclosures, report, Office of Professional Responsibility, November 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf +[^6]: Sabrina Lolo, "FDLE clears PBSO, prosecutors in connection to Epstein's work release privileges," *CBS12,* May 10, 2021. https://cbs12.com/news/local/fdle-clears-pbso-prosecutors-in-connection-to-epsteins-work-release-privileges +[^7]: Erik Altmann and Todd Wilson, "FDLE investigation finds no wrongdoing by PBSO, State Attorney's Office in Jeffrey Epstein plea deal," *WPTV,* May 2021. https://www.wptv.com/news/epstein/fdle-investigation-finds-no-wrongdoing-by-pbso-state-attorneys-office-in-jeffrey-epstein-plea-deal diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Roy Black.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Roy Black.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..8cb07337 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Roy Black.md @@ -0,0 +1,82 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - RoyBlack + - Lawyer + - CriminalDefense + - JeffreyEpstein + - NonProsecutionAgreement + - Miami + - WilliamKennedySmith +alias: + - Roy Black + - Roy E. Black +summary: "Miami criminal defense lawyer who won William Kennedy Smith's 1991 rape acquittal and was part of Jeffrey Epstein's defense team from 2007 through the non-prosecution agreement and its aftermath." +died: 2025-07-21 +location: "Coral Gables, Florida" +relations: + - type: represented + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + role: "defense counsel in the federal investigation and non-prosecution agreement negotiations" + start: 2007-02 + end: 2012 + fn: 3 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]]" + role: "defense counsel" + start: 2007 + end: 2009 + fn: 3 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Doe v. United States]]" + role: "movant to intervene in his own name" + start: 2011-04-07 + fn: 13 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Roy Black (died July 21, 2025, in [[Coral Gables, Florida]]) was a [[Miami]] criminal defense lawyer, a partner of [[Howard Srebnick]], best known for the 1991 acquittal of [[William Kennedy Smith]] on a rape charge in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]]. From 2007 he was one of the lawyers representing [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in the federal investigation that ended in the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]] with the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]], and he received the prosecutors' notices of breach during Epstein's 2008 to 2009 work release. In 2011 he moved to intervene in his own name in [[Doe v. United States]], the victims' suit under the [[Crime Victims' Rights Act]], and in 2012 he was still meeting Epstein in person.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Practice and Clients + +Black defended William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of President [[John F. Kennedy]], Attorney General and Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]] and Senator [[Edward M. Kennedy]], in a nationally televised 1991 trial that ended in acquittal. His other clients included the Miami police officer [[William Lozano]], whose 1989 shooting of Clement Lloyd sparked riots in Miami; the Colombian trafficker [[Fabio Ochoa]]; the broadcaster [[Rush Limbaugh]]; the racing driver [[Helio Castroneves]], acquitted of tax evasion; the singer [[Justin Bieber]] in a 2014 Miami driving case; and Amin Khoury, a defendant in the [[Operation Varsity Blues|Varsity Blues]] college admissions prosecution, who was found not guilty. His partner Srebnick said: "For more than 30 years, Roy was my teacher, mentor and friend." The Miami defense lawyer [[David Oscar Markus]] said: "He outlawyered every prosecutor who he ever went up against." Black died at his home in Coral Gables at 80.[^1][^2] + +### The Epstein Defense + +Epstein assembled his defense after the [[Palm Beach Police Department]] investigation and the 2006 federal referral. On February 20, 2007 Black and [[Alan Dershowitz]] met the line prosecutors to present "witness issues." On July 31, 2007 the office presented its term sheet (a state guilty plea, two years' imprisonment, sex offender registration and a damages mechanism for victims) at a meeting with Black, [[Gerald Lefcourt]] and [[Lilly Ann Sanchez]]; within days Epstein added [[Kenneth Starr]] and [[Jay Lefkowitz]] of [[Kirkland & Ellis]], the former firm of U.S. Attorney [[Alexander Acosta]]. A December 11, 2007 letter from the office to Lefkowitz, written over Acosta's name by the line prosecutor, placed Black at a negotiating meeting alongside Lefkowitz. The agreement was signed on September 24, 2007 by Epstein, Lefcourt and Sanchez.[^3][^4][^5] + +Acosta later wrote that the defense team, which he said included Dershowitz, Starr and Black, had waged "a year-long assault on the prosecution and the prosecutors," and that "[d]efense counsel investigated individual prosecutors and their families." In May or June 2008 the office discussed a call from Black proposing that Epstein be allowed to plead in state court to 60 days' imprisonment. Epstein pleaded guilty in Palm Beach County on June 30, 2008.[^6][^7] + +### Breach Notices and Work Release + +On July 30, 2008, a month after the state plea, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]] asked Black by email whether he was available "to discuss the Epstein matter." Black answered that he was out of town and asked what it concerned; the prosecutor replied: "It relates to the performance of the criminal Non-Prosecution Agreement."[^8] + +On November 24, 2008 the line prosecutor, [[Ann Marie Villafana|A. Marie Villafaña]], wrote to Black that Epstein had breached the agreement by "failing to remain incarcerated twenty-four hours a day," after learning that the [[Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office]] had placed him on work release at the [[Florida Science Foundation]]. Black forwarded the notice to First Assistant U.S. Attorney [[Jeffrey Sloman]], writing that Villafaña "is very concerned about anything Epstein does" and that the defense would "abide by" Sloman's decision. Acosta had by then recused himself from matters involving Kirkland & Ellis because he was discussing employment with the firm, and Sloman was the senior official on the case. No indictment followed.[^9][^10] + +On December 5, 2008 an email addressed "Dear Roy and Jay" reported that "[t]his afternoon [[Bradley Edwards|Brad Edwards]] filed the Non-Prosecution Agreement with the Court in the Jane Does I USA case. He filed it under seal and then asked the Court to unseal it. I will fax his papers to you on Monday." Black replied: "It seems like this case will never end." On June 15, 2009 Villafaña wrote to Lefkowitz, Black and [[Jack Goldberger]] on the history of Epstein's performance under the agreement.[^11][^12] + +### Doe v. United States and Later Contact + +In March 2011 the petitioners in Doe v. [[United States]] moved to use the plea correspondence between prosecutors and defense counsel as evidence and to unseal it. On April 7, 2011 Black, [[Martin Weinberg]] and Lefkowitz moved to intervene in their own names; the former prosecutor [[Bruce Reinhart]] moved to intervene on May 3, 2011, and Epstein on September 2, 2011.[^13] + +On February 22, 2012 Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] wrote to Black: "Jeffrey would like to meet with you along with Reid Weingarten on Friday March 2nd in Miami," adding that "Reid is requesting as early as possible because he needs to fly to NY that evening." Black answered: "No problem I can do Friday afternoon." [[Reid Weingarten]] later appeared for Epstein at his 2019 detention hearing in New York.[^14][^15] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Associated Press, "Roy Black, lawyer who represented William Kennedy Smith and Jeffrey Epstein, dies at 80," *NBC News,* July 24, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/roy-black-lawyer-represented-william-kennedy-smith-jeffrey-epstein-die-rcna220973 +[^2]: "Roy Black, defense lawyer for William Kennedy Smith and Epstein, dies at 80," *WLRN,* July 25, 2025. https://www.wlrn.org/south-florida/2025-07-25/roy-black-defense-lawyer-for-william-kennedy-smith-and-epstein-dies-at-80 +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284, Prior DOJ Disclosures, Office of Professional Responsibility, report, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," November 2020, pp. 8, 14 to 15, 22 to 24, 35, 59, 85, 156. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1, privileged chronology of the federal investigation, pp. 9, 12 to 14, 19 to 20. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00013538, DataSet 8, letter, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida to Jay P. Lefkowitz, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, "Re: Jeffrey Epstein," December 11, 2007, p. 3. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00013538.pdf +[^6]: Conchita Sarnoff and Lee Aitken, "Jeffrey Epstein: How the Hedge Fund Mogul Pedophile Got Off Easy," *The Daily Beast,* March 25, 2011, quoting R. Alexander Acosta's 2011 letter. https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epstein-how-the-hedge-fund-mogul-pedophile-got-off-easy/ ; 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, at 3, 7 to 8. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867.435.0.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1, pp. 34 to 38. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00223581, DataSet 9, email chain, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach, and Roy Black, July 30, 2008. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00223581.pdf +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284 (see note 3), pp. 114 to 118 and nn. 181, 183 to 184, 187 (EFTA02847423 to EFTA02847427). +[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284 (see note 3), p. 152 and n. 224; pp. 18, 21 and nn. 21, 28 to 31. +[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00216004, DataSet 9, email chain addressed "Dear Roy and Jay," with reply of Roy Black, December 5, 2008. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00216004.pdf +[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1, pp. 45 to 51. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^13]: Docket, *Doe v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla.), ECF Nos. 46 to 51, 55, 56, 68, 70, 93 (March to September 2011), CourtListener. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4502088/doe-v-united-states/ +[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00419255, DataSet 9, email chain, Lesley Groff and Roy Black, scheduling a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein and Reid Weingarten, February 22, 2012. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00419255.pdf +[^15]: *United States v. Epstein,* No. 1:19-cr-00490-RMB (S.D.N.Y.), 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/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Sandalio Gonzalez.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Sandalio Gonzalez.md index 7c340e4f..cbfa93dd 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Sandalio Gonzalez.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Sandalio Gonzalez.md @@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ summary: "DEA agent in Costa Rica who handled Norwin Meneses as an informant and Gonzalez made no official record of Meneses as an informant for at least a year. Meneses's name did not appear in the DEA's database of informers until 1987. Gonzalez explained this to Justice Department investigators by saying Meneses "initially refused to sign DEA's informant registration." Gonzalez admitted this was unusual but said he "[allowed] it because of Meneses' background and potential to make cases." The practical effect was that "other DEA offices could not get information on Meneses' use by the DEA through this database." Meneses was wanted by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] in San Francisco for trafficking, and the off-the-books arrangement effectively protected him from other law enforcement agencies.[^1] -The Justice Department's Inspector General found that the vague and sometimes wildly misleading accusations Meneses made against other traffickers included the claim that [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]], who had helped start the [[FDN]] offices in California, "was a Sandinista sympathizer."[^1] +The [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department's Inspector General]] found that the vague and sometimes wildly misleading accusations Meneses made against other traffickers included the claim that [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]], who had helped start the [[FDN]] offices in California, "was a Sandinista sympathizer."[^1] ### CIA Collaboration diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Tom Barrack.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Tom Barrack.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..d8bb6a61 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Tom Barrack.md @@ -0,0 +1,71 @@ +--- +category: "Business & Finance" +tags: + - Person + - TomBarrack + - ColonyCapital + - DonaldTrump + - UnitedArabEmirates + - ForeignAgent + - JeffreyEpstein + - Turkey +alias: + - Tom Barrack + - Thomas Barrack + - Thomas Joseph Barrack + - TOM Barrack +summary: "Colony Capital founder and chairman of Trump's 2017 inaugural committee, acquitted in 2022 of acting as a UAE agent, in regular contact with Jeffrey Epstein from 2009, and ambassador to Turkey from 2025." +location: "Santa Monica, California" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Colony Capital]]" + fn: 1 + - type: prosecuted + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York]]" + reverse: true + start: 2021-07-20 + end: 2022-11-04 + role: "unregistered agent of the United Arab Emirates, obstruction and false statements; acquitted" + fn: 2 + - type: appointed + with: "[[Donald Trump]]" + reverse: true + start: 2025-04 + role: "U.S. ambassador to Turkey, later special envoy for Syria" + fn: 1 +--- + +Thomas Joseph Barrack is an American real estate investor, the founder of [[Colony Capital]], and a longtime friend of [[Donald Trump]], whose 2016 campaign he advised and whose 2017 [[Presidential Inaugural Committee]] he chaired. In July 2021 he was indicted in the [[U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York|Eastern District of New York]] on charges of acting as an unregistered agent of the [[United Arab Emirates]]; a jury acquitted him of all counts in November 2022. Records released by the [[U.S. Department of Justice|Justice Department]] in 2026 show regular contact with [[Jeffrey Epstein]] from September 2009, an August 2016 lunch at Epstein's house with [[Ehud Barak]] and the Russian ambassador to the [[United Nations]], [[Vitaly Churkin]], and Epstein's instruction to move their communications to [[Signal (messaging app)|Signal]]. The Senate confirmed him as ambassador to [[Turkey]] in April 2025.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Contact With Epstein + +In September 2009, months after Epstein's release from custody in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]], Barrack wrote to him: "Thinking about u, hope u r good and life is calm again." A [[CBS News]] analysis of more than 100 texts and emails in the released files described regular contact over the following years, in which Epstein arranged introductions between Barrack and [[Peter Thiel]], Barak and Churkin. In April 2016, while Barrack was working on the Trump campaign, Epstein forwarded him an email about a civil suit filed under the pseudonym "Katie Johnson" alleging that Epstein and Trump had raped her in 1994, with the comment "nuts but i thought you guys should know." The suit was withdrawn, and Trump has denied wrongdoing. CBS News stated that it found no evidence that Barrack took part in or knew of any criminal conduct by Epstein.[^1] + +An iMessage thread with the contact "Tom Barrack Private" runs from August 28 to 30, 2016. At 9:28 a.m. on August 28 Barrack wrote: "Met ur Saudi friend! He loves u!! How r u." Epstein replied: "Great. Download signal app if you have not already. When are you in New York? Tonite? Dinner with Woody?" Barrack answered: "I am in turkey. There Monday. I will call u. Will download now." On August 30 Barrack sent a contact card. The Signal messages were not among the records the government released.[^1][^3] + +### The Churkin Lunch + +On August 28, 2016 Epstein wrote to Churkin: "Don't know if you have any interest . Ehud Barak and TOM Barrack at house tomorw . You are always welcome." Churkin asked the time and accepted 1 p.m.[^5] That afternoon Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] circulated the notice "Churkin to join lunch tomorrow as well," listing the party as "JE, [redacted], Tom Barrack and Churkin. 4 total," and the calendar for August 29 read "12:30pm LUNCH w/Ehud Barak, Tom Barrack and Vitaly Chrukin."[^4] The next day, according to CBS News, Epstein bought about 1 million dollars of stock in Colony Capital.[^1] Eight days after the lunch Epstein offered Churkin a meeting with [[Tom Pritzker]] and told him that [[Thorbjørn Jagland]] "will be staying with me."[^5] + +On the day after Trump's election in November 2016, a senior Saudi official texted Epstein to ask about the protocol for King [[Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud|Salman]] to telephone the president-elect with congratulations. Epstein replied: "TOM barrack is your point person."[^1] + +### The Foreign Agent Case + +A seven-count indictment unsealed on July 20, 2021 charged Barrack, then 74, of [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]]; Matthew Grimes, 27, an employee of his firm; and [[Rashid Al Malik|Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi]], 43, a UAE national, with acting and conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018, and charged Barrack with obstruction of justice and with false statements in a June 20, 2019 interview with federal agents. The indictment stated that Barrack was an informal adviser to the campaign from April to November 2016, chaired the inaugural committee from November 2016 to January 2017, then informally advised senior officials on [[Middle East]] policy and sought appointment as Special Envoy to the Middle East. It alleged that he inserted language praising the UAE into a May 2016 campaign speech on energy policy and sent a draft to Alshahhi for senior UAE officials, took talking points from UAE officials before national press appearances, and after one such appearance emailed Alshahhi, "I nailed it. . . for the home team." Barrack referred to Alshahhi as the UAE's "secret weapon." Acting Assistant Attorney General [[Mark Lesko]] of the [[National Security Division]] said the defendants "repeatedly capitalized on Barrack's friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected President," and called the conduct "nothing short of a betrayal of those officials in the [[United States]], including the former President."[^2] + +At trial in [[Brooklyn]] the prosecutor Ryan Harris told jurors that Barrack schemed to become the "eyes, ears and the voice" of the UAE and used his access to draw tens of millions of dollars from the Emirates into an office building he was developing and one of his investment funds. The former Treasury Secretary [[Steven Mnuchin]] testified for the defense that Barrack was one of hundreds of business people who offered him advice. The defense said Barrack had made no attempt to hide his relationship with Al Malik. On November 4, 2022, after three days of deliberation, the jury acquitted Barrack and Grimes on all counts. "I'm so thankful for this system," Barrack said.[^6] + +### Ambassador to Turkey + +Trump nominated Barrack as ambassador to Turkey after the 2024 election, and the Senate confirmed him by a vote of 60 to 36 in April 2025. He presented his credentials to President [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] on May 14, 2025 and was then named special envoy for [[Syria]]. CBS News said it had sought comment from Barrack, Trump, Thiel, Barak and [[Nicole Junkermann]] on the Epstein records and received no replies; the U.S. embassy in [[Ankara]] did not respond.[^1] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "Tom Barrack, now US ambassador to Turkey, kept in contact with Epstein for years: report," *Turkish Minute,* February 17, 2026, summarizing a CBS News analysis of the Justice Department's Epstein file release. http://web.archive.org/web/20260222094654/https://www.turkishminute.com/2026/02/17/tom-barrack-now-us-ambassador-to-turkey-kept-in-contact-with-epstein-for-years-report/ +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Former Advisor to Presidential Candidate Among Three Defendants Charged with Acting as Agents of a Foreign Government," press release, July 20, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20260827040112/https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/former-advisor-presidential-candidate-among-three-defendants-charged-acting-agents-foreign +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01614233, DataSet 10, iMessage log with contact "Tom Barrack Private," August 28-30, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01614233.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02044775, DataSet 10, email from Lesley Groff, "Churkin to join lunch tomorrow as well," August 28, 2016; and EFTA02045038, DataSet 10, calendar alert "LUNCH w/Ehud Barak, Tom Barrack and Vitaly Chrukin," August 29, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02044775.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02045038.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01619438, DataSet 10, iMessage log with contact "Vitaly Churkin," May 23, 2016 to September 7, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01619438.pdf +[^6]: Hays, Tom. "Jury finds Trump ally Tom Barrack not guilty of foreign agent charges," *Associated Press,* via *PBS NewsHour,* November 4, 2022. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/jury-finds-trump-ally-tom-barrack-not-guilty-of-foreign-agent-charges diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Walter Grasheim.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Walter Grasheim.md index 4c923d68..5636f1fd 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Walter Grasheim.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Walter Grasheim.md @@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Grasheim strenuously denied involvement with either the Contras or drugs and bel ### CIA Infiltration of Castillo's Investigation -The Justice Department Inspector General's report partially confirmed Grasheim's account. Castillo's informant Murga, who directed Castillo toward Grasheim by fingering him as "head of smuggling operations at Ilopango," was indeed a CIA asset and had been for some time. Soon after putting Castillo onto Grasheim, the CIA demanded Murga back. Castillo's boss Robert Stia "recalled being asked by the CIA station chief in El Salvador to relinquish the use of informant" Murga. "The Station Chief had explained that the CIA had established the informant before he had ever worked for the DEA" and wanted the DEA to stop using him because "he was currently a CIA informant." Stia complied but complained internally that the CIA had cost the DEA a valuable asset.[^1] +The [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]]'s report partially confirmed Grasheim's account. Castillo's informant Murga, who directed Castillo toward Grasheim by fingering him as "head of smuggling operations at Ilopango," was indeed a CIA asset and had been for some time. Soon after putting Castillo onto Grasheim, the CIA demanded Murga back. Castillo's boss Robert Stia "recalled being asked by the CIA station chief in El Salvador to relinquish the use of informant" Murga. "The Station Chief had explained that the CIA had established the informant before he had ever worked for the DEA" and wanted the DEA to stop using him because "he was currently a CIA informant." Stia complied but complained internally that the CIA had cost the DEA a valuable asset.[^1] ### Footnotes diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Woody Allen.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Woody Allen.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..40a10405 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Woody Allen.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +category: "Other" +tags: + - Person + - WoodyAllen + - SoonYiPrevin + - JeffreyEpstein + - PrinceAndrew + - BardCollege + - Film +alias: + - Woody Allen +summary: "American filmmaker who dined with Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew in 2010, exchanged messages with Epstein into 2016, and whose household thanked Epstein in 2017 over a Bard admission." +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Woody Allen is an American filmmaker. Records released by the [[U.S. Department of Justice|Justice Department]] under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] show him and [[Soon-Yi Previn]] among the guests at a December 2, 2010 dinner for [[Prince Andrew]] at [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s [[Manhattan]] house, seventeen months after Epstein's release from custody in [[Florida]]; a direct text-message exchange with Epstein on New Year's Eve 2015; a May 2015 request from Epstein to the former [[White House Counsel]] [[Kathryn Ruemmler]] about a [[White House]] tour for the couple; Epstein's use of a proposed dinner with Allen in August 2016 to arrange a meeting with [[Tom Barrack]]; and a January 2017 message from Allen's household thanking Epstein for a [[Bard College]] admission, which Bard denied Epstein had influenced.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### The Dinner for Prince Andrew + +On December 1, 2010 the publicist [[Peggy Siegal]] wrote to the [[ABC News]] anchor [[George Stephanopoulos]]: "I am putting together a very last minute casual dinner for Prince Andrew, who is in New York on an unofficial private visit." Her guest list read: "Prince Andrew, Woody Allen and Soon-Yi, [[Katie Couric]]....Jeffrey Epstein, where Andrew is staying. Jeffrey's house is one the largest single dwellings in New York...it's beautiful." Stephanopoulos accepted, and Siegal told him the dinner would begin at 8 p.m.: "So come on time and you will have private time with Andrew because he is staying at the house." The chain was preserved in Epstein's email account.[^1] + +### The White House Tour + +In May 2015 Epstein asked Ruemmler, then in private practice, about arranging a White House tour for Allen and Previn, writing, "I assume woody would be too politically sensitive?" Ruemmler indicated that she could arrange it, and White House records show that the tour took place in December 2015.[^3] + +### New Year's Eve 2015 + +A forensic extraction of one of Epstein's devices, produced in the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] release, contains an iMessage thread with a contact saved as "Woody Allen" running from December 31, 2015 to January 1, 2016. The messages concern a dinner that night: "Tomorw ok as well whatever easy"; Epstein asked, "Are you coming over?"; the reply was "That's specific. ;)"; and later, "We're running late. We won't be leaving here until 9 o'clock...If you need us to come and get in the car at 8:25 we can leave our guests. Please advise."[^2] + +### The Barrack Dinner + +On August 28, 2016, when Barrack, then a senior adviser to [[Donald Trump]]'s campaign, reported that he had met Epstein's "Saudi friend," Epstein told him to download the encrypted messaging application [[Signal (messaging app)|Signal]] and asked, "When are you in New York? Tonite? Dinner with Woody?" Barrack replied that he was in [[Turkey]] and would download the application.[^4][^6] + +### Bard College + +In January 2017 the daughter of Allen and Previn wrote to Bard's president, [[Leon Botstein]], that Bard was her first choice; Botstein replied on January 10 that he would pass her sentiments "on to the admissions committee," and Previn forwarded the exchange to Epstein. On January 12, 2017 Allen's household wrote to Epstein by iMessage: "I can't thank you enough for getting [her] into Bard ... Thank you for coming through for us." Bard denied that Epstein had any role in the admission decision. On June 17, 2026 Representative [[Jamie Raskin]], ranking member of the [[House Judiciary Committee]], wrote to the chair of Bard's board of trustees about the college's relationship with Epstein, quoting a [[WilmerHale]] memorandum to the trustees.[^5][^7] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02411832, DataSet 11, email chain between Peggy Siegal and George Stephanopoulos, "Thursday small dinner for Prince Andrew," December 1-3, 2010. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02411832.pdf +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01214962, DataSet 9, forensic phone-extraction report, iMessage thread with contact "Woody Allen," December 31, 2015 to January 1, 2016 (continued at EFTA01214963 and EFTA01214964). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01214962.pdf +[^3]: *CBS News,* February 2026, on Kathryn Ruemmler's resignation as Goldman Sachs general counsel and her correspondence with Epstein. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kathryn-ruemmler-resigning-from-goldman-sachs-epstein-files/ +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01614233, DataSet 10, iMessage log with contact "Tom Barrack Private," August 28-30, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01614233.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00710494, DataSet 9, email from Soon-Yi Previn to Jeffrey Epstein forwarding a reply from Leon Botstein, January 10, 2017; EFTA01208496, DataSet 9, extracted iMessage log, January 12, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00710494.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01208496.pdf +[^6]: "Tom Barrack, now US ambassador to Turkey, kept in contact with Epstein for years: report," *Turkish Minute,* February 17, 2026, summarizing a CBS News analysis of the Justice Department's Epstein file release. http://web.archive.org/web/20260222094654/https://www.turkishminute.com/2026/02/17/tom-barrack-now-us-ambassador-to-turkey-kept-in-contact-with-epstein-for-years-report/ +[^7]: Letter from Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, to James Cox Chambers, Chair, Board of Trustees, Bard College, June 17, 2026, quoting the WilmerHale memorandum to the Bard trustees of April 30, 2026 and citing EFTA02047292, EFTA01208496, EFTA00710494, EFTA02491562 and EFTA00968343. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-06-17-raskin-to-chambers-bard-re-epstein.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Alison Nathan.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Alison Nathan.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..0aa07807 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Alison Nathan.md @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - AlisonNathan + - FederalJudge + - GhislaineMaxwell + - JeffreyEpstein + - SecondCircuit + - SouthernDistrictOfNewYork +alias: + - Alison J. Nathan + - Alison Julie Nathan +summary: "Federal judge, formerly an Obama White House lawyer, who presided over Ghislaine Maxwell's prosecution in Manhattan and sentenced her to 20 years three months after her own commission to the Second Circuit." +born: 1972 +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: appointed + with: "[[Barack Obama]]" + reverse: true + role: "U.S. District Judge, Southern District of New York" + start: 2011-10-17 + end: 2022-03-31 + fn: 1 + - type: appointed + with: "[[Joe Biden]]" + reverse: true + role: "U.S. Circuit Judge, Second Circuit" + start: 2022-03-30 + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[John Paul Stevens]]" + role: "law clerk" + start: 2001 + end: 2002 + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Barack Obama]]" + role: "associate White House counsel and special assistant to the president" + start: 2009 + end: 2010 + fn: 1 +--- + +Alison Julie Nathan (born 1972, in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]) is a judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]] and a former judge of the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]]. A former law clerk to Justice [[John Paul Stevens]] and associate [[White House]] counsel to President [[Barack Obama]], she was appointed to the district court in 2011 and presided over [[United States v. Maxwell]], the prosecution of [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], from its unsealing in July 2020 through the sentencing of June 28, 2022. Her commission to the Second Circuit was issued on March 30, 2022.[^1][^2] + +### Career + +Nathan graduated from [[Cornell University]] in 1994 and from Cornell Law School in 2000. She clerked for Judge Betty B. Fletcher of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] from 2000 to 2001 and for Justice Stevens of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] from 2001 to 2002, practiced law in Washington and New York from 2002 to 2006, and taught at [[Fordham University]] School of Law as a visiting assistant professor from 2006 to 2008 before a fellowship at [[New York University]] School of Law. From 2009 to 2010 she was associate White House counsel and special assistant to President Obama, and from 2010 to 2011 special counsel to the Solicitor General of the State of New York.[^1] + +Obama nominated her on March 31, 2011 to the district court seat vacated by Sidney H. Stein. The Senate confirmed her on October 13, 2011 and her commission issued on October 17, 2011. President [[Joe Biden]] first nominated her to the Second Circuit on November 18, 2021; that nomination received no vote. He renominated her on January 3, 2022 to the seat vacated by [[Rosemary S. Pooler]], the Senate confirmed her on March 23, 2022, and her commission issued on March 30, 2022. Her district court service terminated on March 31, 2022.[^1] + +### United States v. Maxwell + +Maxwell was indicted under seal on June 29, 2020 and arrested by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] in [[New Hampshire]] on July 2, 2020. On July 30, 2020 Nathan entered the protective order (ECF No. 36) that governed discovery. Maxwell's lawyers, among them Jeffrey S. Pagliuca and [[Laura Menninger|Laura A. Menninger]] of [[Haddon, Morgan and Foreman]], wrote to her under seal in August 2020 seeking to modify that order, stating that the government had subpoenaed material from the lawyers for [[Virginia Giuffre]].[^3][^4] + +On April 16, 2021 Nathan denied Maxwell's motion to dismiss the indictment for breach of the 2007 [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]], whose co-conspirator clause provided that the [[United States]] "will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein" (ECF No. 207). Trial began on November 29, 2021. On December 9 she admitted [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s contact book as Government Exhibit 52 on the authentication of the former [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] house manager [[Juan Alessi]] (ECF No. 535). On December 29, 2021 the jury of six women and six men convicted Maxwell on five of six counts.[^3][^5] + +Maxwell moved for a new trial on January 19, 2022 after a juror told interviewers that his own childhood sexual abuse, which he had not disclosed on the jury questionnaire, had helped persuade fellow jurors. Nathan held an evidentiary hearing and on April 1, 2022 denied the motion, finding the omission "highly unfortunate, but not deliberate." On April 29, 2022 she found three conspiracy counts multiplicitous.[^6][^7] + +On June 28, 2022, three months after her commission to the Second Circuit, Nathan sentenced Maxwell to 240 months, above the Guidelines range of 188 to 235 months she had calculated, as concurrent terms of 60 months on each conspiracy count, 120 months on the transportation count and 240 months on the count of sex trafficking of a minor, with fines totaling 750,000 dollars. She found that Maxwell had "directly, repeatedly, and over the course of many years participated in a horrific scheme to entice, transport, and traffic underage girls, some as young as 14, for sexual abuse by and with Jeffrey Epstein." The government did not seek restitution because the testifying victims had been compensated through the [[Epstein Victims' Compensation Program]] and civil settlements.[^8][^9] + +A Second Circuit panel of Judges [[José A. Cabranes]], [[Richard C. Wesley]] and [[Raymond J. Lohier Jr.]] affirmed on September 17, 2024, identifying "no errors in the District Court's conduct of this complex case." The case passed to Judge [[Paul Engelmayer]], who in 2025 ruled on the government's motions to unseal its grand jury record.[^2][^3] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Federal Judicial Center, "Nathan, Alison Julie," Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges. https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/nathan-alison-julie +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02842688, Court Records (United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y. 2020)), opinion, United States v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426-cr (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2024). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/United%20States%20v.%20Maxwell%2C%20No.%20120-cr-00330%20(S.D.N.Y.%202020)/EFTA02842688.pdf +[^3]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), Indictment (June 29, 2020); Protective Order, ECF No. 36 (July 30, 2020); Opinion and Order, ECF No. 207 (April 16, 2021); Memorandum Opinion and Order, ECF No. 535 (Dec. 9, 2021); Opinion and Order, ECF No. 809 (Aug. 11, 2025), CourtListener docket 17318376. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00088205, DataSet 9, letter, Jeffrey S. Pagliuca, Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., to Hon. Alison J. Nathan, "Re: Reply in Support of Request to Modify Protective Order (Under Seal), United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (AJN)," August 24, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00088205.pdf +[^5]: "Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Jury finds she sex trafficked a minor for Jeffrey Epstein, guilty on five of six counts," *CNN,* December 29, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/29/us/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-wednesday +[^6]: United States v. Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (AJN), Opinion and Order denying motion for new trial (S.D.N.Y. April 1, 2022); "Juror's omissions will not trigger Ghislaine Maxwell retrial," *Courthouse News Service,* April 2022. https://www.courthousenews.com/jurors-omissions-will-not-trigger-ghislaine-maxwell-retrial/ +[^7]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), CourtListener docket 17318376, entries of April 29, 2022. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ +[^8]: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, "Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Conspiring With Jeffrey Epstein To Sexually Abuse Minors," press release, June 28, 2022. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse +[^9]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426-cr, slip op. at 3-4 (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2024), reported at 118 F.4th 256. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2024/09/17/united_states_v._maxwell.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Cecile de Jongh.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Cecile de Jongh.md index 1fb2c7a4..a2b8ece4 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Cecile de Jongh.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Cecile de Jongh.md @@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ JPMorgan's 2023 court filings described de Jongh as Epstein's "primary conduit f The filings further alleged that de Jongh advised Epstein on how to "buy control of the USVI political class," coordinated meetings between him and commissioners, senators, and gubernatorial candidates, recommended placing a sitting senator on a monthly retainer for loyalty and access, and tracked which candidates he funded. They alleged she helped secure student visas for young women connected to Epstein by arranging their enrollment in classes at the [[University of the Virgin Islands]] to provide cover for their presence in the territory, and that she offered to have someone else sign tuition letters so that the registered sex offender's signature would not appear on the paperwork. She was also alleged to have worked with the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]] to keep Epstein's companies in compliance so the tax benefits continued, and to have guided his charitable donations to satisfy program requirements.[^2][^8] -These allegations originate in the Virgin Islands Attorney General's complaint and in JPMorgan's filings, the latter of which the territory characterized as hyperbole offered to deflect the bank's own liability for failing to report suspicious activity. De Jongh did not respond to requests for comment when the filings were unsealed in 2023. The allegations describe a pattern of conduct rather than any criminal adjudication, and she was never charged.[^2][^4] +These allegations originate in the [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice|Virgin Islands Attorney General]]'s complaint and in JPMorgan's filings, the latter of which the territory characterized as hyperbole offered to deflect the bank's own liability for failing to report suspicious activity. De Jongh did not respond to requests for comment when the filings were unsealed in 2023. The allegations describe a pattern of conduct rather than any criminal adjudication, and she was never charged.[^2][^4] ### Tenure and the Company Records @@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ In May 2013 de Jongh corresponded with University of the Virgin Islands Vice Pre ### Political Access and Donations -The JPMorgan exhibits show de Jongh arranging Epstein's contacts with the territory's next two governors. On October 16, 2014 she wrote that "Kenn Mapp and Celestino White would like to see you." After [[Kenneth Mapp]] won the governorship, she forwarded an inaugural committee solicitation to Epstein in December 2014, asking him "to confirm that you want to donate $10,000 to the Mapp-Potter inaugural committee and that it should come from Southern Trust." On September 1, 2016 Epstein instructed her to "prepare a check for mapps super pac. For 75k." On December 20, 2018, after Bryan defeated Mapp, she wrote: "I got a call from the Bryan/Roach Inaugural Committee and they asked for a $25,000 donation to the inaugural events. They are trying to raise all the money privately. Please let me know your thoughts." Two minutes later she wrote that "Albert asked that the $30k go to the VI Little League." The exhibits do not show whether Epstein paid the Bryan committee, and Bryan's office said in 2019 that his campaign had not received contributions from Epstein.[^6][^9] +The JPMorgan exhibits show de Jongh arranging Epstein's contacts with the territory's next two governors. On October 16, 2014 she wrote that "Kenn Mapp and [[Celestino White]] would like to see you." After [[Kenneth Mapp]] won the governorship, she forwarded an inaugural committee solicitation to Epstein in December 2014, asking him "to confirm that you want to donate $10,000 to the Mapp-Potter inaugural committee and that it should come from Southern Trust." On September 1, 2016 Epstein instructed her to "prepare a check for mapps super pac. For 75k." On December 20, 2018, after Bryan defeated Mapp, she wrote: "I got a call from the Bryan/Roach Inaugural Committee and they asked for a $25,000 donation to the inaugural events. They are trying to raise all the money privately. Please let me know your thoughts." Two minutes later she wrote that "Albert asked that the $30k go to the VI Little League." The exhibits do not show whether Epstein paid the Bryan committee, and Bryan's office said in 2019 that his campaign had not received contributions from Epstein.[^6][^9] According to FBI notes of an October 2023 interview with the former Attorney General Denise George, George believed that Attorney General [[Vincent Frazer]] had been pressured by Governor John de Jongh to allow Epstein to give 24 hours' notice of travel instead of the 21 days required of registered sex offenders. The arrangement was rescinded in March 2019.[^6] diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Darren Indyke.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Darren Indyke.md index 4a52f2c5..2250c90f 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Darren Indyke.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Darren Indyke.md @@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ Darren K. Indyke is a New York lawyer who was [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s longtime per ### Officer of the Epstein Companies -According to the Virgin Islands government's Second Amended Complaint, filed in November 2022, Indyke or Kahn, "frequently both," were officers or directors of the Butterfly Trust, of the companies holding Epstein's real property, and of Financial Strategy Group, Ltd.; Financial Trust, Inc.; FT Real Estate Inc.; [[Gratitude America]], Inc.; Hyperion Air, Inc.; the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc.; Jeepers, Inc.; Mort, Inc.; Nautilus, Inc.; and Zorro Development Corporation, and had "signatory authority over virtually all of the accounts held by the Epstein Enterprise entities." The territory alleged that the two men "organized, controlled, and directed almost every aspect of the Epstein Enterprise," that with Epstein they "held and managed at least 140 different bank accounts for Epstein and Epstein-owned entities, many of which existed only to transfer payments to other entities and accounts," and that "in many instances, Kahn and/or Indyke structured these transactions in order to evade the bank's reporting requirements."[^2] +According to the Virgin Islands government's Second Amended Complaint, filed in November 2022, Indyke or Kahn, "frequently both," were officers or directors of the Butterfly Trust, of the companies holding Epstein's real property, and of Financial Strategy Group, Ltd.; Financial Trust, Inc.; FT Real Estate Inc.; [[Gratitude America]], Inc.; [[Hyperion Air|Hyperion Air, Inc.]]; the [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc.]]; Jeepers, Inc.; Mort, Inc.; Nautilus, Inc.; and Zorro Development Corporation, and had "signatory authority over virtually all of the accounts held by the Epstein Enterprise entities." The territory alleged that the two men "organized, controlled, and directed almost every aspect of the Epstein Enterprise," that with Epstein they "held and managed at least 140 different bank accounts for Epstein and Epstein-owned entities, many of which existed only to transfer payments to other entities and accounts," and that "in many instances, Kahn and/or Indyke structured these transactions in order to evade the bank's reporting requirements."[^2] Indyke sat with Epstein and Kahn on the board of [[Southern Trust Company]], the [[St. Thomas]] company that obtained a Virgin Islands tax-incentive certificate on the representation that it ran a "biomedical and financial informatics" business. He was signatory on its primary bank account, into which funds were wired "primarily from a single source," and authorized a majority of the wire transfers out of it to Epstein's other entities and personal accounts. The territory estimated that the certificate let Epstein avoid 80,576,236 dollars in taxes. When Epstein formed [[Cypress Inc.|Cypress, Inc.]], [[Maple Inc.|Maple, Inc.]] and [[Laurel Inc.|Laurel, Inc.]] as Virgin Islands corporations in November 2011 and moved title to the [[Zorro Ranch]], the [[9 East 71st Street]] townhouse and his [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] house into them, Indyke became vice president, secretary and director of each. The territory alleged that these transfers "were made for the sole purpose of sheltering these assets from collection."[^2] diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Erika Kellerhals.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Erika Kellerhals.md index 5036f892..e85cf1f3 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Erika Kellerhals.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Erika Kellerhals.md @@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ alias: - Ericka Kellerhals - Erica Kellerhals - Erika A. Kellerhals - - Attorney Kellerhals summary: "St. Thomas tax lawyer who represented Jeffrey Epstein before the Virgin Islands tax-incentive board and justice department, served as a trustee of his Butterfly Trust, and received his foundation's mail." location: "St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" relations: diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Gerald Lefcourt.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Gerald Lefcourt.md index c775024d..6e819764 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Gerald Lefcourt.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Gerald Lefcourt.md @@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Lefcourt began representing Epstein during the state investigation, which the Ju Lefcourt made the first defense contact with the line prosecutor, [[Ann Marie Villafana|A. Marie Villafaña]], in August 2006. On November 15, 2006 [[Lilly Ann Sanchez]], a former Deputy Chief of the office's Major Crimes Section, wrote to Villafaña that she and Lefcourt represented Epstein and asked that all contact be directed to them. When Villafaña insisted on documents before any meeting, Sanchez telephoned the West Palm Beach manager, [[Andrew Lourie]], a former colleague, who granted one. At the February 1, 2007 meeting Sanchez and Lefcourt presented a 25-page letter arguing that there was no federal jurisdiction, that the [[Petite policy]] barred a second prosecution, and that the state's two principal victims had "damaging histories of lies, illegal drug use, and crime."[^2] -The federal investigation's subpoenas of May 31, 2007 to [[Financial Trust Company]], the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, J. Epstein & Company and "Epstein Interests" listed Lefcourt as the correspondent. On May 22, 2007 he wrote to Lourie to "confirm" that the defense would be heard before any charging decision; Villafaña wrote to First Assistant [[Jeffrey Sloman]] and Criminal Division chief [[Matthew Menchel]]: "I just want to again voice my disagreement with promising to have a meeting or having a meeting with Lefcourt or any other of Epstein's attorneys. . . . This is a case where the defendant is facing the possibility of dozens of years of prison time."[^2][^4] +The federal investigation's subpoenas of May 31, 2007 to [[Financial Trust Company]], the [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation]], J. Epstein & Company and "Epstein Interests" listed Lefcourt as the correspondent. On May 22, 2007 he wrote to Lourie to "confirm" that the defense would be heard before any charging decision; Villafaña wrote to First Assistant [[Jeffrey Sloman]] and Criminal Division chief [[Matthew Menchel]]: "I just want to again voice my disagreement with promising to have a meeting or having a meeting with Lefcourt or any other of Epstein's attorneys. . . . This is a case where the defendant is facing the possibility of dozens of years of prison time."[^2][^4] On June 25, 2007 Lefcourt sent a 19-page letter arguing that voluntary sexual activity with "young adults, 16 or 17 years of age" was "strictly a state concern" and that 18 U.S.C. 2422(b) was aimed at "internet trolling." [[Alan Dershowitz]] led the defense presentation at the Miami office the next day. On July 6, 2007 Lefcourt and Dershowitz wrote on Lefcourt's letterhead to Sloman, Menchel, Lourie and Villafaña that the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker had found their narrow reading of the statute "the sole rational reading," annexing Pinker's opinion. The office's investigative chronology lists a further submission from Lefcourt and Dershowitz to Menchel titled "Data that strongly supports the arguments made that no charge can or should be made under 18 U.S.C. 2422(b)."[^2][^5][^6] diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Jay Howell.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Jay Howell.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..e0a19dea --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Jay Howell.md @@ -0,0 +1,79 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - JayHowell + - Lawyer + - VictimsRights + - NCMEC + - JeffreyEpstein + - CrimeVictimsRightsAct + - Jacksonville +alias: + - Jay Howell + - Jay C. Howell + - Jay Howell & Associates +summary: "Jacksonville victims' lawyer, founding executive director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who represented Jeffrey Epstein's victims in Doe v. United States and Epstein v. Rothstein." +location: "Jacksonville, Florida" +relations: + - type: employed_by + with: "[[United States Senate Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight]]" + role: "chief counsel, appointed by Senator Paula Hawkins" + start: 1981 + fn: 1 + - type: founded + with: "[[National Center for Missing and Exploited Children]]" + role: "founding executive director" + start: 1984 + end: 1987 + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[National Center for Missing and Exploited Children]]" + role: "first executive director" + start: 1984 + end: 1987 + fn: 1 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Doe v. United States]]" + role: "counsel for the petitioners" + start: 2008-08-08 + fn: 2 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Epstein v. Rothstein]]" + role: "limited intervenor counsel for three victims" + start: 2018-03-07 + end: 2018-12 + fn: 6 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Jay C. Howell is a [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]] lawyer who represents accident and crime victims. A former state prosecutor of sexual crimes and child abuse, he was chief counsel to a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] subcommittee from 1981 under Senator [[Paula Hawkins]], drafting federal legislation on missing children, child pornography and serial murder, and from 1984 to 1987 was the founding executive director of the [[National Center for Missing and Exploited Children]]. In 2008 he joined [[Paul Cassell]] and [[Bradley Edwards]] as counsel for the victims of [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in [[Doe v. United States]], the suit under the [[Crime Victims' Rights Act]] over the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]], and in 2018 he appeared for three victims in Epstein's suit against Edwards and [[Scott Rothstein]].[^1][^2][^3] + +### Prosecutor and Senate Counsel + +Howell served four years as an Assistant State Attorney in Jacksonville, specializing in cases of sexual crimes and child abuse, and was lead attorney in more than 50 jury trials. In 1981 Hawkins appointed him chief counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, where he "conducted Senate investigations and drafted federal legislation addressing the issues of missing children, child kidnaping, child pornography, and the investigation and apprehension of serial murderers."[^1] + +### National Center for Missing and Exploited Children + +From 1984 to 1987 Howell "founded and served as the first Executive Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children," writing publications on child safety and advocating state legislation. Since 1987 he has practiced in Jacksonville, representing people hurt in automobile accidents and victims of drunk drivers, and "children and adults who are victims of assaults, sexual crimes, child abuse and other criminal activity." He gives annual training seminars for the [[Florida Attorney General]] on the rights of victims of child abuse and other crimes.[^1] + +In 1990 the Governor of Florida appointed him to represent crime victims on the [[Florida State Crime Commission]]. He has chaired the [[Florida Bar]] Crime Victims Subcommittee on the Rights of Women and Children and has drafted state and federal laws on sexual predators, the privacy of sexual crime victims, the protection of child witnesses, the right of victims to speak at sentencing and the right of victims to enforce their rights. He served on the [[American Bar Association]]'s Task Force on Child Witnesses and the Board of Advisors of the [[National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse]]. In 1997 he received the National Crime Victims Service Award at the [[White House]] from the President and the Attorney General.[^1] + +### Doe v. United States + +Edwards filed the emergency petition of the victim then known as Jane Doe 1, later identified as [[Courtney Wild]], on July 7, 2008, a week after Epstein's state guilty plea, before Judge [[Kenneth Marra]] in [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]]; the government's response was the first reference the petitioners saw to the non-prosecution agreement. Cassell, who had resigned as a federal judge in Utah the previous November, moved for a limited appearance for the petitioners on July 28, 2008, and Howell did the same on August 8. On August 21, 2008 Marra compelled production of the agreement under a protective order. On February 21, 2019 he found that "[p]articularly problematic was the Government's decision to conceal the existence of the NPA and mislead the victims to believe that federal prosecution was still a possibility," and on September 16, 2019, after Epstein's death, he denied every remedy the petitioners sought. On April 15, 2021 the en banc [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit|Eleventh Circuit]] held seven to four that the Act gave Wild no freestanding pre-charge action, and on February 22, 2022 the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] denied certiorari.[^2][^4] + +### Epstein v. Rothstein + +In 2009 Epstein sued Rothstein, whose firm [[Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler]] had run a 1.2 billion dollar Ponzi scheme, and Edwards, who had briefly worked there, in [[Palm Beach County]], alleging that Edwards had fabricated claims and helped Rothstein market bogus settlement rights involving the claims against Epstein. Edwards was not implicated in Rothstein's fraud.[^3][^5] Epstein dropped his claims against Edwards in 2012 and Edwards counterclaimed for malicious prosecution. On March 7, 2018 Howell, of Jay Howell & Associates, filed an emergency notice of appearance as "attorney for the victims" and a Jane Doe in the case, then styled Jeffrey Epstein, Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant, v. Scott Rothstein and Bradley J. Edwards. With Cassell he represented three of Epstein's victims as limited intervenors. On November 9, 2018 Epstein, through counsel including [[Jack Goldberger]], moved for in camera inspection of 302 emails withheld on a 1,607-entry, 159-page privilege log, arguing that only 19 entries were communications with a client, that "the majority of the documents are e-mails among attorneys and staff" and "with media sources," and that Cassell and his co-counsel had "very significant personal and professional reas[ons]" for keeping them from "the light of the courtroom." Epstein settled Edwards's counterclaim in December 2018 with a written apology.[^5][^6][^7] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Jay Howell & Associates, "About Us," jayhowell.com. https://jayhowell.com/index.php/about/ +[^2]: 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, at 2 to 3, 12 to 21. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867.435.0.pdf ; Docket, *Doe v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla.), ECF Nos. 1, 3, 11 to 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 26, 28, CourtListener docket 4502088. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4502088/doe-v-united-states/ +[^3]: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, "Fort Lauderdale Attorney Sentenced to 50 Years in Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme," press release, June 9, 2010. https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/fls/PressReleases/2010/100609-01.html +[^4]: Opinion and Order, *Doe v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla. Sept. 16, 2019), ECF No. 478 (Marra, J.). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-flsd-9_08-cv-80736/pdf/USCOURTS-flsd-9_08-cv-80736-2.pdf ; *In re Wild*, No. 19-13843, 994 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. Apr. 15, 2021) (en banc). https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201913843.enb.pdf ; Supreme Court of the United States, docket No. 21-351, order of February 22, 2022 denying certiorari. https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/21-351.html +[^5]: "Millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein apologizes in settling malicious prosecution suit," *CNN,* December 4, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/04/politics/jeffrey-epstein-lawsuit-settled +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00800879, DataSet 9, Emergency Notice of Appearance of Jay C. Howell, Jay Howell & Associates, Epstein v. Rothstein, No. 50-2009-CA-040800 (Fla. 15th Cir. Ct.), March 7, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00800879.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02768436, Court Records (Epstein v. Rothstein, No. 50-2009-CA-040800-XXXX-MB (Fla. 15th Cir. Ct. 2009)), Counter-Defendant Jeffrey Epstein's Motion for an In Camera Inspection of E-mails, e-filed November 9, 2018, pp. 1, 3, 17, 21, with privilege log. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Epstein%20v.%20Rothstein%2C%20No.%2050-2009-CA-040800-XXXX-MB%20(Fla.%2015th%20Cir.%20Ct.%202009)/EFTA02768436.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/John de Jongh.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/John de Jongh.md index 412cff1c..aebbd23a 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/John de Jongh.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/John de Jongh.md @@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Beginning in 2007 the Department of Public Works spent more than 490,000 dollars On August 18, 2015, Acting Attorney General [[Claude Walker]] announced the arrest of de Jongh and [[Julito Francis]], former director of the [[Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority]], on two counts each of embezzlement of public monies and neglecting to pay over public monies, alleging that between April 2007 and January 2009 they "acted in concert" to convert 490,000 dollars of highway funds to improvements at the governor's private residence "without authority of law." The arrest was carried out solely by the territorial Department of Justice; asked why federal authorities were not involved, Walker did not have an answer. De Jongh pleaded not guilty on September 3, 2015, saying every step "was taken with full transparency and in adherence to standard government procedures on procurement."[^1][^4] -In a November 2015 motion to dismiss, his attorneys called the case "a politically-driven, poorly conceived vendetta initiated by the current governor, whom Governor de Jongh defeated handily in his last reelection campaign in 2010," and "a disgrace both upon the Virgin Islands Department of Justice and the Governor's Office," contrasting it with Mapp's own spending on hotel suites, limousines, and a personal chef. In January 2016 the charges were dismissed with prejudice after de Jongh paid the government 380,000 dollars. "I would like to thank our community for the heartfelt support that has been expressed to me and my family during this period," he said.[^2][^6] +In a November 2015 motion to dismiss, his attorneys called the case "a politically-driven, poorly conceived vendetta initiated by the current governor, whom Governor de Jongh defeated handily in his last reelection campaign in 2010," and "a disgrace both upon the [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]] and the Governor's Office," contrasting it with Mapp's own spending on hotel suites, limousines, and a personal chef. In January 2016 the charges were dismissed with prejudice after de Jongh paid the government 380,000 dollars. "I would like to thank our community for the heartfelt support that has been expressed to me and my family during this period," he said.[^2][^6] ### Footnotes diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Kenneth Marra.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Kenneth Marra.md index a55a91a2..2312c9f2 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Kenneth Marra.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Kenneth Marra.md @@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ tags: alias: - Kenneth A. Marra - Judge Kenneth Marra - - Judge Marra summary: "Kenneth Marra is a U.S. district judge in West Palm Beach, appointed in 2002, who presided over the Epstein victims' Crime Victims' Rights Act case and the Chiquita paramilitary-financing litigation." born: 1951 location: "Queens, New York (born)" diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Laura Menninger.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Laura Menninger.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..68cb87f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Laura Menninger.md @@ -0,0 +1,85 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - LauraMenninger + - Lawyer + - CriminalDefense + - GhislaineMaxwell + - JeffreyEpstein + - Denver + - SouthernDistrictOfNewYork +alias: + - Laura Menninger + - Laura A. Menninger +summary: "Denver trial lawyer of Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, formerly a Goldman Sachs analyst and law clerk to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who defended Ghislaine Maxwell in Giuffre v. Maxwell and United States v. Maxwell." +location: "Denver, Colorado" +relations: + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Haddon, Morgan and Foreman]]" + role: "shareholder" + start: 2012 + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison]]" + role: "associate" + start: 1998 + end: 2002 + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Goldman Sachs]]" + role: "financial analyst, Corporate Finance Department" + fn: 1 + - type: represented + with: "[[Ghislaine Maxwell]]" + role: "defense counsel" + start: 2015 + end: 2022 + fn: 2 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Giuffre v. Maxwell]]" + role: "counsel for the defendant" + start: 2015-09-21 + fn: 2 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[United States v. Maxwell]]" + role: "defense counsel" + start: 2020 + fn: 8 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Laura A. Menninger is an American trial lawyer, a shareholder of the [[Denver]] firm [[Haddon, Morgan and Foreman]], who with her partner Jeffrey S. Pagliuca represented [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] in [[Virginia Giuffre]]'s 2015 defamation suit, [[Giuffre v. Maxwell]], and in the 2020 criminal prosecution [[United States v. Maxwell]] in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]]. Before law school she was a financial analyst at [[Goldman Sachs]]; after it she clerked for Judge [[Lewis A. Kaplan]] of the same court. In 2022 her firm sued Maxwell, her brother [[Kevin Maxwell]] and her husband [[Scott Borgerson]] for more than 878,000 dollars in unpaid fees.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Education and Career + +Menninger graduated magna cum laude from [[Duke University]] in 1991 and worked as a financial analyst in the Corporate Finance Department of Goldman, Sachs & Co. in [[New York]]. She took her J.D. with distinction from [[Stanford Law School]] in 1997, where she was an associate editor of the Stanford Law Review, and clerked for Kaplan in 1997 and 1998. She was a litigation associate at [[Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison]] in New York from 1998 to 2002, then moved to [[Colorado]], where she spent five years as a trial lawyer with the Colorado State Public Defender before joining [[Holland & Hart]]. She joined Haddon, Morgan and Foreman as a shareholder in 2012. She is a Fellow of the [[American College of Trial Lawyers]] and has chaired the Criminal Justice Act Standing Committee of the [[U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado]].[^1] + +### Giuffre v. Maxwell + +Giuffre filed her defamation complaint on September 21, 2015 before Judge [[Robert W. Sweet]], represented by [[Sigrid McCawley|Sigrid S. McCawley]] and other lawyers of [[Boies Schiller Flexner]]; Maxwell was represented by Menninger and Pagliuca. Maxwell moved to dismiss and to stay discovery on December 1, 2015; Sweet denied the motion in February 2016, and on March 17, 2016 signed the protective order under which deposition transcripts and exhibits were filed under seal.[^2] + +In Giuffre's deposition of May 3, 2016, unsealed in part in December 2022, Menninger summarized her testimony and asked, over an objection to form by Giuffre's lawyer [[Bradley Edwards]]: "another prince, the large hotel chain owner and [[Marvin Minsky]], is there anyone else that Ghislaine Maxwell directed you to go have sex with?" Giuffre answered: "I am definitely sure there is. But can I remember everybody's name? No." She testified that she had kept notes of the men's names and had burned them "in a bonfire when I lived at Titusville." The parties settled on May 24, 2017.[^4][^5] + +### United States v. Maxwell + +A grand jury in the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] indicted Maxwell under seal on June 29, 2020, and she was arrested on July 2, 2020.[^6] On August 24, 2020 Pagliuca told Judge [[Alison Nathan]] that the government had obtained by grand jury subpoena, from Giuffre's lawyers, nearly 90,000 pages of civil discovery still under the Giuffre v. Maxwell protective order, more than half of the 165,000 pages of criminal discovery, while the [[Second Circuit]] and Judge [[Loretta Preska]] were deciding whether to unseal the same material; if they ordered Maxwell's deposition unsealed "without the benefit of this information," he wrote, "the cat will be out of the bag."[^7] + +Maxwell's lead pretrial motion, filed over the signatures of Mark S. Cohen of [[Cohen & Gresser]], Pagliuca and Menninger, and [[Bobbi Sternheim|Bobbi C. Sternheim]], sought dismissal for breach of the 2007 [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]], whose co-conspirator clause provided that "the United States also agrees that it will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein." Nathan denied the motion with the other pretrial motions on April 16, 2021 (ECF No. 207). On November 1, 2021 Haddon, Morgan and Foreman served a defense expert disclosure concerning the memory researcher [[Elizabeth Loftus]]. Maxwell was convicted on December 29, 2021 and sentenced to twenty years; the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|Second Circuit]] affirmed on September 17, 2024, rejecting the non-prosecution agreement argument.[^6][^8][^9] + +### The Fee Suit + +On August 22, 2022 Haddon, Morgan and Foreman sued Maxwell, Kevin Maxwell and Borgerson in Denver, alleging that it had not been paid more than 878,000 dollars for defending her at trial and on appeal. The complaint alleged that Maxwell had put her brother in charge of paying her legal fees after her 2020 arrest, that he paid "a fraction" of what was billed through trial while urging the firm to keep working on appeal issues, that he blamed Borgerson for obstructing payment, and that Borgerson formed a limited liability company to buy real estate in order to shield his wife's assets from creditors. Menninger and Pagliuca were named as members of the trial team. [[Ian Maxwell]] said that no family member, including Ghislaine, would comment on the litigation.[^3] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., "Attorney Laura A. Menninger," firm biography (archived September 13, 2024). https://web.archive.org/web/20240913034618/https://www.hmflaw.com/attorney-laura-menninger/ +[^2]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 1:15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), Complaint, ECF No. 1 (Sept. 21, 2015); Motion to Dismiss and to Stay Discovery, ECF Nos. 14, 15, 17 (Dec. 1, 2015); Opinion denying motion to dismiss, ECF No. 37 (Feb. 2016); Answer, ECF No. 54 (March 14, 2016); Protective Order, ECF No. 62 (March 17, 2016). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/ian-torrington-blatchford-as-interim-administrator-of-virginia-giuffres/ +[^3]: Associated Press, "Ghislaine Maxwell's Lawyers Sue for Over $878K in Fees," *NBC Los Angeles,* August 24, 2022. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/ghislaine-maxwells-lawyers-sue-for-over-878k-in-fees/2971199/ +[^4]: Deposition of Virginia Giuffre, May 3, 2016, transcript pp. 204 to 206, filed as Exhibit 3 (DE 514-3), *Giuffre v. Maxwell*, No. 1:15-cv-07433-LAP (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1295-4 (filed December 12, 2022). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.447706/gov.uscourts.nysd.447706.1295.4.pdf +[^5]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 1:15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), Complaint, ECF No. 1 (Sept. 21, 2015); Protective Order, ECF No. 62 (March 2016); Order, ECF No. 1367 (Aug. 11, 2026). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/ian-torrington-blatchford-as-interim-administrator-of-virginia-giuffres/ +[^6]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426-cr, slip op. at 3 to 4, 6 to 12, 23 to 25 (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2024) (Cabranes, Wesley, Lohier, JJ.), reported at 118 F.4th 256. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2024/09/17/united_states_v._maxwell.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00088205, DataSet 9, letter, Jeffrey S. Pagliuca, Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., to Hon. Alison J. Nathan, "Re: Reply in Support of Request to Modify Protective Order (Under Seal), United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (AJN)," August 24, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00088205.pdf +[^8]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), Notice of Motion to Dismiss Superseding Indictment for Breach of Non-Prosecution Agreement, ECF No. 141 (filed Feb. 4, 2021). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.141.0.pdf ; Opinion and Order, ECF No. 207 (April 16, 2021). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00016268, DataSet 8, letter, Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., defense expert disclosure, United States v. Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (S.D.N.Y.), November 1, 2021 (duplicate at EFTA02835304, Court Records). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00016268.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Lawrence Krauss.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Lawrence Krauss.md index 25351a11..1d6f052c 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Lawrence Krauss.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Lawrence Krauss.md @@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ In March 2006 Krauss convened "[[Confronting Gravity]]," a conference of about t Krauss said Epstein contacted him on his 2009 release from jail and told him the "experience had changed his view of the world, and he no longer wanted to make money. . . . He just wanted to support science." In late 2010 Krauss planned an Origins Project board meeting in the Virgin Islands for which [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] documents list Guth and the paleontologist [[Neil Shubin]] as expected attendees; it was called off, for reasons the documents do not state, after Epstein expressed disappointment with its organization. In 2011 Krauss told *[[The Daily Beast]]*: "As a scientist I always judge things on empirical evidence and he always has women ages 19 to 23 around him, but I've never seen anything else, so as a scientist, my presumption is that whatever the problems were I would believe him over other people. . . . I don't feel tarnished in any way by my relationship with Jeffrey. I feel raised by it."[^1][^6] -Records obtained by *BuzzFeed News* under Arizona's public records law show that Epstein's Virgin Islands foundation [[Enhanced Education]] paid the Origins Project 250,000 dollars between December 2010 and April 2017; Enhanced Education appears to have filed with the [[Internal Revenue Service]] only once, for 2002. The same records show 2 million dollars in personal gifts from Leon and [[Debra Black]] in 2014 and 2015, and one Origins accounting entry listing Epstein's employer as "Leon D. Black, Enhanced Education." Epstein attended the project's fifth-anniversary gala in 2014, where he was photographed with Krauss and [[Steven Pinker]]. In February 2017 he appeared at a meal after an Origins workshop on [[artificial intelligence]]; [[Shahar Avin]] of Cambridge's [[Centre for the Study of Existential Risk]] recalled that "he showed up with two young East European-looking women," that Krauss introduced him only as "my friend Jeffrey," and that "we asked him who he was and he wouldn't say." Avin said Epstein made offensive remarks about race, intelligence and athletic ability. Between 2012 and 2017 Black paid Epstein about 158 million dollars for tax and estate-planning advice.[^2][^6][^8][^9] +Records obtained by *BuzzFeed News* under Arizona's public records law show that Epstein's Virgin Islands foundation [[Enhanced Education]] paid the Origins Project 250,000 dollars between December 2010 and April 2017; [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|Enhanced Education]] appears to have filed with the [[Internal Revenue Service]] only once, for 2002. The same records show 2 million dollars in personal gifts from Leon and [[Debra Black]] in 2014 and 2015, and one Origins accounting entry listing Epstein's employer as "Leon D. Black, Enhanced Education." Epstein attended the project's fifth-anniversary gala in 2014, where he was photographed with Krauss and [[Steven Pinker]]. In February 2017 he appeared at a meal after an Origins workshop on [[artificial intelligence]]; [[Shahar Avin]] of Cambridge's [[Centre for the Study of Existential Risk]] recalled that "he showed up with two young East European-looking women," that Krauss introduced him only as "my friend Jeffrey," and that "we asked him who he was and he wouldn't say." Avin said Epstein made offensive remarks about race, intelligence and athletic ability. Between 2012 and 2017 Black paid Epstein about 158 million dollars for tax and estate-planning advice.[^2][^6][^8][^9] ### The Harassment Investigation diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Nancy Mace.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Nancy Mace.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..162b5073 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Nancy Mace.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - NancyMace + - Congress + - HouseOversightCommittee + - JeffreyEpstein + - EpsteinFiles + - DischargePetition +alias: + - Rep. Nancy Mace + - Representative Nancy Mace +summary: "South Carolina Republican congresswoman on the Oversight and Armed Services committees who voted in 2025 to subpoena the Justice Department's Epstein files, signed the discharge petition, and moved the 2026 Bondi subpoena." +born: 1977-12-04 +location: "South Carolina" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: member_of + with: "[[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]]" + fn: 2 + - type: member_of + with: "[[House Committee on Armed Services]]" + fn: 2 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Epstein Files Transparency Act]]" + role: "signer of the discharge petition" + start: 2025-11-12 + fn: 5 +--- + +Nancy Mace (born December 4, 1977) is a Republican member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from the first district of [[South Carolina]], in office since January 3, 2021. She sits on the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]], where she chairs the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation and is a member of the Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee, and on the [[House Committee on Armed Services]], including its Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations. In 2025 she was one of three Republicans who voted with Democrats to subpoena the [[Department of Justice]]'s [[Jeffrey Epstein]] files and one of four who signed the discharge petition that forced the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] to a vote. In March 2026 she moved the committee's subpoena of Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]].[^1][^2] + +### The July 2025 Subpoena Vote + +On July 23, 2025 the Federal Law Enforcement Subcommittee voted 8 to 2 for a motion offered by the Democrat Summer Lee to subpoena the Justice Department's [[Epstein Files|Epstein files]]. Mace, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Brian Jack of Georgia joined the subcommittee's Democrats; the subcommittee chairman [[Clay Higgins]] of Louisiana and Andy Biggs of Arizona voted no. Republicans amended the subpoena to cover Epstein-related communications between former President [[Joe Biden]], his administration's officials and the department; the subpoena required victims' names to be redacted and sought depositions of figures including [[Bill Clinton|Bill]] and Hillary Clinton and the former [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] director [[James Comey]]. Committee rules required the chairman, [[James Comer]], to sign it before it issued; he had not attended the vote.[^3][^4] + +### The Discharge Petition + +[[Thomas Massie]] filed a discharge petition for the bill, H.R. 4405, on September 2, 2025. It reached 218 signatures on November 12, 2025, when [[Adelita Grijalva]] was sworn in and signed. The four Republican signers were Massie, [[Marjorie Taylor Greene]], [[Lauren Boebert]] and Mace. The House passed the bill on November 18, 2025 by 427 to 1, and it became law the next day.[^5][^6] + +### The Bondi Subpoena + +On March 4, 2026 Mace moved to subpoena Bondi to testify on the department's handling of the files. The motion passed 24 to 19, with all Democrats present and the Republicans Boebert, Michael Cloud, Scott Perry and Tim Burchett joining her. Her office's release quoted her: "We want to know where all the audio and video footage is from ALL of the pinhole cameras at every Epstein property," and "What about the '[[Lolita Express]]'? Where is the footage?" She said, "Three million documents have been released, and we still don't have the full truth. Videos are missing. Audio is missing. Logs are missing," and, "The Jeffrey Epstein case will go down as one of the greatest cover-ups in American history." The ranking member, [[Robert Garcia]], said Bondi had "been instrumental in orchestrating the [[White House]]'s cover-up of the Epstein files."[^7][^8] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, legislators-current.json (birth date and terms, compiled from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json +[^2]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, committee-membership-current.json, 119th Congress, accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/committee-membership-current.json +[^3]: Caitlin Yilek, "House committee votes to subpoena Justice Department for Jeffrey Epstein files," *CBS News,* July 23, 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-committee-votes-to-subpoena-justice-department-for-epstein-files/ +[^4]: Veronica Stracqualursi, Manu Raju, Annie Grayer and Ted Barrett, "House Oversight subcommittee votes to subpoena DOJ for Epstein files," *CNN,* July 23, 2025, as syndicated by KTVZ. https://ktvz.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2025/07/23/house-oversight-subcommittee-votes-to-subpoena-doj-for-epstein-files/ +[^5]: "Epstein discharge petition secures final signature needed to force House vote on releasing files," *CBS News,* November 12, 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epstein-discharge-petition-final-signature-files-adelita-grijalva/ ; "US representative files discharge petition to compel release of Epstein investigation documents," *JURIST,* September 5, 2025. https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/09/us-representative-files-discharge-petition-to-compel-release-of-epstein-investigation-documents/ +[^6]: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 289, H.R. 4405, November 18, 2025. https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025289 ; Epstein Files Transparency Act, Pub. L. No. 119-38, 139 Stat. 656 (November 19, 2025). https://www.congress.gov/119/plaws/publ38/PLAW-119publ38.pdf +[^7]: Office of Representative Nancy Mace, "Rep. Nancy Mace Moves to Subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi in Oversight Committee," press release, March 4, 2026. https://mace.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-nancy-mace-moves-subpoena-attorney-general-pam-bondi-oversight-committee +[^8]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Democratic staff, "Ranking Member Robert Garcia Statement on Securing Subpoena for Attorney General Pam Bondi to Testify Before Oversight in Epstein Files Cover-Up," press release, March 4, 2026. https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-robert-garcia-statement-on-securing-subpoena-for-attorney-general-pam-bondi-to-testify-before-oversight-in-epstein-files-cover-up diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Thorbjørn Jagland.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Thorbjørn Jagland.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..729f4434 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Thorbjørn Jagland.md @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ +--- +category: "Intelligence & Government" +tags: + - Person + - ThorbjornJagland + - Norway + - CouncilOfEurope + - NobelPeacePrize + - JeffreyEpstein + - Okokrim + - Corruption +alias: + - Thorbjørn Jagland + - Thorbjorn Jagland +summary: "Former Norwegian prime minister, Nobel Committee chair and Council of Europe secretary general, repeatedly Jeffrey Epstein's guest, formally named a suspect in aggravated corruption by Økokrim in February 2026." +location: "Oslo, Norway" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Norwegian Nobel Committee]]" + start: 2009 + end: 2015 + role: "chair" + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Council of Europe]]" + role: "secretary general" + fn: 2 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Council of Europe]]" + reverse: true + start: 2025-11 + end: 2026-01 + role: "informal internal administrative inquiry ordered by Secretary General Alain Berset" + fn: 3 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Økokrim]]" + reverse: true + start: 2026-02-05 + role: "aggravated corruption; formally a suspect (siktet) from February 12, 2026" + fn: 4 +--- + +Thorbjørn Jagland is a Norwegian politician who was prime minister of [[Norway]] from 1996 to 1997, later served as foreign minister, led the [[Norwegian Nobel Committee]] from 2009 to 2015, and was secretary general of the [[Council of Europe]]. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] hosted him and members of his family at his properties in [[New York City|New York]], [[Paris]] and [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] between 2011 and 2018 and mentioned him to [[Larry Summers]], [[Richard Branson]], [[Bill Gates]], [[Kathryn Ruemmler]] and [[Steve Bannon]], in most cases as the head of the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. After the [[U.S. Department of Justice|Justice Department]] released its Epstein records, Norway's economic crime authority, [[Økokrim]], opened an aggravated corruption investigation of Jagland on February 5, 2026; the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers waived his immunity on February 11, and after searches of his properties on February 12 he became formally a suspect. He denies the charges.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### Offices + +Jagland was prime minister from 1996 to 1997. He chaired the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 2009 to 2015, the period in which it awarded the peace prize to [[Barack Obama]] in 2009 and the [[European Union]] in 2012, and for part of that time was simultaneously secretary general of the Council of Europe, the human rights body based in [[Strasbourg]]. In 2014 Epstein told Gates that Jagland "had been reelected as head of the Council of Europe"; Gates answered, "That is good," and asked, "I guess his peace prize committee job is also up in the air?"[^1][^2] + +### Epstein's Guest + +Jagland appears hundreds of times in the released records. According to reporting on the files, he was brought into Epstein's circle by the Norwegian diplomat [[Terje Rød-Larsen]], who had helped broker the [[Oslo Accords]]. In 2012 Epstein wrote to Summers: "head of the nobel peace prize staying with me, if you have any interest." In 2013 he told Branson that Jagland would be staying with him in September and that "if you are there, you might find him interesting." In 2015 he wrote to Ruemmler, the former [[White House Counsel]]: "head of nobel peace prize coming to visit, want to join?" In September 2018 he wrote to Bannon: "donalds head would explode if he knew you were now buds with the guy who on monday will decide the nobel peace prize," adding, "I told him next year it should be you when we settle china." Epstein described Jagland as "not bright" but as someone who offered a "unique perspective," and elsewhere called him "the Nobel big shot."[^1][^5] + +On September 7, 2016, arranging a meeting between [[Vitaly Churkin]], Russia's ambassador to the [[United Nations]], and [[Tom Pritzker]], Epstein told Churkin: "also thorbjorn jagland will be staying with me."[^6] On June 13, 2019, three weeks before Epstein's arrest, a calendar notice routed to his assistant [[Lesley Groff]] read: "need Thorbjorn Jagland to confirm dinner on June 20th."[^7] + +Økokrim stated that between 2011 and 2018 Jagland or members of his family repeatedly used Epstein's apartments in Paris and New York and stayed at his Palm Beach property, and that "For at least one of these private vacations, travel expenses for six adults appear to have been covered by Mr. Epstein." It said it was examining whether such benefits could amount to "passive bribery."[^5] + +### The Council of Europe Inquiry and Waiver + +Following press reports in November 2025, Secretary General [[Alain Berset]] ordered an informal internal administrative inquiry, conducted in November and December 2025 and concluded in January 2026. "Following the revelations of November 2025, I took all measures that I considered necessary to protect the integrity and reputation of the Council of Europe," Berset said. He recommended that member states waive Jagland's immunity: "This would allow the Norwegian justice system to do its work and Mr Jagland, if prosecuted, to defend himself." On a Norwegian request dated February 8, 2026, the Ministers' Deputies of the 46 member states, acting under Article 19 of the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe, waived his immunity "in respect of acts performed in his official capacity and within the limits of his authority," noting that under Article 39(2) of the [[Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations]] immunity continues after a secretary general leaves office, and that "Immunity is granted not for personal benefit but to safeguard the independent exercise of official functions." Berset also referred the matter to the Council's Directorate of Internal Oversight and announced a review of its governance practices.[^3] + +### The Økokrim Investigation + +Økokrim opened its investigation on February 5, 2026, on suspicion of aggravated corruption, examining "whether gifts, travel and loans were received in connection with his position."[^2][^4] On February 12 investigators searched his residence in the Frogner district of [[Oslo]] and properties in [[Risør]] and [[Rauland]]. The agency's director, [[Pål Lønseth]], said: "Økokrim cannot comment on any potential seizures. The investigation will now take its course." Jagland's lawyer, [[Anders Brosveet]] of the Elden firm, said: "As an automatic consequence of the search, Jagland now has formal status as a suspect," and that "Jagland wants to contribute to the case being thoroughly investigated, and the next step is that he will appear for questioning at Økokrim." The firm told [[CNN]] that Jagland was "charged with aggravated corruption" and "denies all charges." The status Brosveet described is that of a formal suspect (siktet). Jagland had earlier described his Epstein contacts as part of normal diplomatic activity; he told *[[Aftenposten]]* in February 2026 that he had shown "poor judgement."[^1][^2][^5] + +On February 9, 2026 Økokrim also named the diplomat [[Mona Juul]] a suspect in aggravated corruption and her husband, Rød-Larsen, a suspect in complicity; Juul's lawyer said she did not recognize herself in the allegation, and Rød-Larsen's lawyer said he expected the case to be dismissed.[^4] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Lewis, Mark. "How Epstein leveraged the Nobel Peace Prize to connect with the world's most powerful," *Yahoo News,* February 14, 2026. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/epstein-levaraged-nobel-peace-prize-230549753.html +[^2]: "Thorbjørn Jagland: Norwegian ex-prime minister charged after probe into alleged Epstein ties, lawyers say," *CNN,* February 13, 2026. http://web.archive.org/web/20260420203121/https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/europe/norway-pm-jagland-charged-epstein-ties-intl-hnk +[^3]: Council of Europe, "Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers waives immunity of former Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland," press release, Strasbourg, February 11, 2026. http://web.archive.org/web/20260218234018/https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/council-of-europe-s-committee-of-ministers-waives-immunity-of-former-secretary-general-thorbj%C3%B8rn-jagland +[^4]: "Økokrim åpner etterforsking av Mona Juul og Terje Rød-Larsen." *NRK,* February 9, 2026 (updated February 12, 2026), reporting the investigation of Jagland opened February 5, 2026. https://www.nrk.no/norge/okokrim-apner-etterforsking-av-mona-juul-og-terje-rod-larsen-1.17761823 +[^5]: "Norwegian police search former PM Jagland's properties over Epstein ties," *Al Jazeera* (AFP), February 12, 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/12/norwegian-police-search-former-pm-jaglands-properties-over-epstein-ties +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01619438, DataSet 10, iMessage log with contact "Vitaly Churkin," May 23, 2016 to September 7, 2016 (message of September 7, 2016). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01619438.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00498222, DataSet 9, Google Calendar notification, "need Thorbjorn Jagland to confirm dinner on June 20th," June 13, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00498222.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ben Sasse.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ben Sasse.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..c585c236 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ben Sasse.md @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - BenSasse + - UnitedStatesSenate + - SenateJudiciaryCommittee + - JeffreyEpstein + - OfficeOfProfessionalResponsibility + - InQTel +alias: + - Benjamin Sasse + - Benjamin Eric Sasse + - Senator Ben Sasse +summary: "Nebraska Republican senator from 2015 to 2023 whose 2018 letters prompted the Justice Department's internal review of the Epstein non-prosecution agreement, later a paid trustee of the CIA-founded In-Q-Tel." +born: 1972-02-22 +location: "Nebraska" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: member_of + with: "[[Senate Judiciary Committee]]" + role: "chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts" + fn: 3 + - type: director_of + with: "[[In-Q-Tel]]" + role: "trustee" + fn: 4 +--- + +Benjamin Eric Sasse (born February 22, 1972) is a former Republican senator from [[Nebraska]] who served in the [[United States Senate]] from January 6, 2015 until his resignation on January 8, 2023. As a member of the [[Senate Judiciary Committee]] he wrote on December 3, 2018 to the [[Department of Justice]] asking its [[Office of Professional Responsibility]] to investigate the prosecutors who negotiated [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s 2007 [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]], and the office opened that investigation on February 6, 2019. Two days after Epstein's death in August 2019 his subcommittee sent the Attorney General a letter on the circumstances. [[In-Q-Tel]], the venture capital corporation founded by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], lists him as a paid trustee on its Form 990 for the fiscal year ending March 2025.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### The 2018 Letters and the OPR Investigation + +The [[Miami Herald]] began publishing [[Julie K. Brown]]'s series on the Epstein case on November 28, 2018. On December 3 Sasse wrote to the Office of Professional Responsibility asking it to "open an investigation into the instances identified in this reporting of possible misconduct by Department of Justice attorneys." On February 6, 2019 the department's Office of Legislative Affairs told his office that the investigation had been opened. His press release that day, headed "DOJ Responds to Sasse, Opens Epstein Investigation," identified him as "a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee" and quoted him: "Jeffrey Epstein is a child rapist and there's not a single mom or dad in America who shouldn't be horrified by the fact that he received a pathetically soft sentence. The victims of Epstein's child sex trafficking ring deserve this investigation, and so do the American people and the members of law enforcement who work to put these kinds of monsters behind bars."[^2][^5] + +The office's report of November 2020 found that the former U.S. Attorney [[Alexander Acosta]] "exercised poor judgment" in resolving the federal investigation through the agreement and found no professional misconduct by him or by the other subjects, who included [[Drew Oosterbaan]] of the Criminal Division.[^5][^6] + +### The August 2019 Letter + +The Justice Department's Executive Secretariat logged as received on August 12, 2019, two days after Epstein was found dead in the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York|Metropolitan Correctional Center]], a congressional-priority letter "FROM: The Honorable Ben Sasse, United States Senate ... TO: AG," described as a "Ltr from Chmn Sasse, Subcomte on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts, requesting information regarding the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein...while being held in Federal Bureau of Prisons custody." The control sheet assigned the reply to the Office of Legislative Affairs and routed copies for information to the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.[^3] + +### In-Q-Tel + +In-Q-Tel's Form 990 for the fiscal year ending March 2025 lists "B Sasse (Trustee)" with compensation of 35,000 dollars, alongside Admiral [[Mike Mullen]], [[Ted Schlein]] and [[Stephanie O'Sullivan]], formerly the CIA's director of science and technology, at the same figure. The corporation's filings from 2018 onward list trustees who have included the former CIA director [[George Tenet]] and the former CIA deputy director for intelligence [[Jami Miscik]].[^4][^7] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, legislators-historical.json (birth date and Senate terms, compiled from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-historical.json +[^2]: Office of Senator Ben Sasse, "DOJ Responds to Sasse, Opens Epstein Investigation," press release, February 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20221110180105/https://www.sasse.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/2/doj-responds-to-sasse-opens-epstein-investigation +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00175125, DataSet 9, Executive Secretariat control sheet, Workflow ID 431394P, received August 12, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00175125.pdf +[^4]: In-Q-Tel, Inc., Internal Revenue Service Form 990, fiscal year ending March 2025, Part VII compensation of officers, directors and trustees, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 52-2149962. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522149962 +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284, Prior DOJ Disclosures, report, Office of Professional Responsibility, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," November 2020, Executive Summary pp. v to vii and n. 6. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, report of November 2020, Chapter V, filed as Document 204-3, United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117012446/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/United%20States%20v.%20Maxwell,%20No.%20120-cr-00330%20(S.D.N.Y.%202020)/204-03.pdf +[^7]: In-Q-Tel, Inc., Internal Revenue Service Form 990, fiscal years 2011 to 2025, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/522149962 diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Drew Oosterbaan.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Drew Oosterbaan.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..ad7f8777 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Drew Oosterbaan.md @@ -0,0 +1,83 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - DrewOosterbaan + - DepartmentOfJustice + - ChildExploitationAndObscenitySection + - JeffreyEpstein + - NonProsecutionAgreement + - OfficeOfProfessionalResponsibility +alias: + - Andrew Oosterbaan + - Andrew G. Oosterbaan + - Drew Oosterbaan +summary: "Justice Department prosecutor who as chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section pressed for Jeffrey Epstein's federal prosecution in 2007, then issued the 2008 review letter leaving the decision to Alexander Acosta." +location: "Washington, D.C." +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: employed_by + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]]" + role: "assistant U.S. attorney" + end: 2000 + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section]]" + role: "chief" + start: 2001-11-14 + fn: 1 + - type: appointed + with: "[[John Ashcroft]]" + reverse: true + role: "chief, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section" + start: 2001-11-14 + fn: 1 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]]" + role: "Criminal Division reviewer" + start: 2007-05-10 + end: 2008-06 + fn: 2 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Office of Professional Responsibility]]" + reverse: true + role: "subject; no misconduct found" + start: 2019-02-06 + end: 2020-11 + fn: 2 +--- + +Andrew G. "Drew" Oosterbaan is a former federal prosecutor who was chief of the [[Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section]] (CEOS) of the [[Department of Justice]] Criminal Division during the 2006 to 2008 federal investigation of [[Jeffrey Epstein]]. He reviewed the prosecution memorandum of the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]], offered his section's attorneys for trial, attended [[Alexander Acosta]]'s first meeting with Epstein's defense team, and in May 2008 signed the Criminal Division's letter finding that a federal prosecution "would not be improper or inappropriate." The [[Office of Professional Responsibility]] examined his role in its 2019 to 2020 investigation and found no professional misconduct by any subject.[^1][^2] + +### Career + +Oosterbaan was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida for nearly ten years, where he "managed a trial-intensive section and individually handled complex grand jury investigations and prosecutions involving public corruption, violent crime, computerized child pornography/exploitation, and the crash of [[ValuJet Flight 592]]." He became deputy chief of CEOS in January 2000 and helped run [[Operation Avalanche]], an undercover investigation of subscribers to online child pornography sites. Attorney General [[John Ashcroft]] appointed him chief of the section on November 14, 2001, calling him "a strong leader and aggressive career prosecutor who will diligently investigate and prosecute child exploitation and obscenity crimes." A footnote to the OPR report describes him and [[Andrew Lourie]], a senior official of the Florida office on the Epstein matter, as "good friends."[^1][^2] + +### The Epstein Review, 2007 + +On May 10, 2007 Lourie sent Oosterbaan the prosecution memorandum of Assistant U.S. Attorney [[Ann Marie Villafana|Marie Villafaña]], describing the case as "highly sensitive" and involving "a high profile, very rich defendant." Oosterbaan called the memorandum "exhaustive" and "well done" and offered a CEOS attorney to assist. On July 18, 2007 he wrote to [[Jeffrey Sloman]], [[Matthew Menchel]] and Lourie that Villafaña "did a terrific job," that her "charging decisions are legally sound," and that he would send "whatever and whoever you need."[^2] + +A privilege log filed in the victims' [[Crime Victims' Rights Act]] litigation lists his correspondence that August: an August 7, 2007 email from Villafaña "regarding Epstein meeting"; an August 7 chain from Sloman to Oosterbaan, Villafaña and Acosta on the same subject; August 8 emails with Villafaña "regarding case staffing and plea negotiations"; and an August 8 chain among Oosterbaan, Acosta, Villafaña and others "regarding 'The meeting on Epstein.'"[^3] + +On August 31, 2007 he traveled to [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]] to review the file so that he could represent "the interests of the prosecution team," told Villafaña the case was "really good," and offered to help at trial. On September 6 Villafaña told Sloman that consulting the victims before any resolution was, "as [Oosterbaan] politely reminded me, ... required under the law." The victims were not consulted before Epstein's June 2008 plea. OPR dates Acosta's first meeting with Epstein's defense team, which Oosterbaan attended at the West Palm Beach office, to September 7, 2007. A chronological log prepared for the same litigation records a meeting on September 10, 2007 attended for the government by Acosta, Oosterbaan, Sloman, Villafaña and John McMillan and for Epstein by [[Kenneth Starr]], [[Jay Lefkowitz]] and [[Lilly Ann Sanchez]].[^2][^4] + +When Villafaña circulated a revised draft of the agreement that month, Oosterbaan answered that "the counter-offering is unfortunate, but I suppose it's understandable"; he later told OPR he did not recall reading the draft at that point and "had no involvement with it." The agreement was signed on September 24, 2007. On November 28, 2007, asked by Lourie for his view, he wrote that he was "not thrilled" with it, that Epstein's conduct was unusually "egregious ... particularly because of its serial nature," and that the agreement was "pretty advantageous for the defendant and not all that helpful to the victims," adding that Assistant Attorney General [[Alice Fisher]] "would not and should not consider or address the NPA other than to say that she agrees with it."[^2] + +### The Criminal Division Review, 2008 + +In February 2008 Epstein's lawyers told Acosta they wanted review above Oosterbaan's level; Acosta replied that they could seek whomever they wished but that the review would proceed with him. A CEOS trial attorney whom Oosterbaan had assigned to prepare the case had by then met with the victims; after the defense obtained the Criminal Division review, Oosterbaan instructed her to stop work on it, and she told OPR that "things just stopped." On March 12, 2008 Oosterbaan and Deputy Assistant Attorney General [[Sigal Mandelker]] met Starr, Lefkowitz and [[Martin Weinberg]]; a CEOS deputy present called it largely a "listening session," with Starr "saying some outrageous things." The privilege log lists March 19 to 21, 2008 emails among Villafaña, Oosterbaan, Andrew Gelber of CEOS, Sloman and Robert Senior "about meeting between Epstein counsel and CEOS and follow-up questions," and April 4 to 7 emails "regarding status of CEOS review of Epstein matter."[^2][^3] + +His letter to Lefkowitz of May 15, 2008, cleared in advance by Mandelker, Fisher, the Criminal Division's Appellate Section and its Office of Enforcement Operations, concluded that on its "narrow" review "federal prosecution in this case would not be improper or inappropriate," that Acosta "could properly use his discretion to authorize prosecution in this case," and that "Mr. Acosta can soundly exercise his authority to decide to pursue a prosecution even though it might involve a novel application of a federal statute." The letter stated that CEOS had not reviewed the agreement's terms. Acosta resolved the case through the state plea. After the plea in June 2008 Oosterbaan wrote to Villafaña, "Congratulations, Marie," and "at long last! Your work on this matter was truly exceptional, and you obtained a very significant result that will serve the victims well."[^2] + +### The OPR Investigation + +After Senator [[Ben Sasse]]'s letters of December 2018, OPR opened its investigation on February 6, 2019. Oosterbaan told investigators that the U.S. Attorney's Office's position that the Crime Victims' Rights Act did not require pre-charge consultation was a "serious and legitimate disagreement" rather than misconduct, and added, "maybe I should have been more aggressive with how ... I dealt with [the USAO]." The November 2020 report found that Acosta "exercised poor judgment" in resolving the investigation through the agreement and found no professional misconduct by any subject.[^2][^5] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Attorney General Ashcroft Appoints Andrew G. Oosterbaan as Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section," press release no. 593, November 14, 2001. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2001/November/01_crm_593.htm +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," November 2020, Chapters IV to VII and note 39, filed as Document 204-3, United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117012446/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/United%20States%20v.%20Maxwell,%20No.%20120-cr-00330%20(S.D.N.Y.%202020)/204-03.pdf +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00191199, DataSet 9, privilege log of withheld 2007 to 2008 Justice Department documents, Crime Victims' Rights Act litigation. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00191199.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, Exhibit A-1, chronological log of the Epstein investigation and plea negotiations, Crime Victims' Rights Act litigation. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^5]: Office of Senator Ben Sasse, "DOJ Responds to Sasse, Opens Epstein Investigation," press release, February 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20221110180105/https://www.sasse.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/2/doj-responds-to-sasse-opens-epstein-investigation diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Haley Robson.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Haley Robson.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..d1d8499a --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Haley Robson.md @@ -0,0 +1,68 @@ +--- +category: "Crime & Abuse Networks" +tags: + - Person + - HaleyRobson + - JeffreyEpstein + - PalmBeach + - SarahKellen + - EpsteinFilesTransparencyAct + - Victim +alias: + - Haley Robson +summary: "West Palm Beach woman whom Jeffrey Epstein recruited as a teenager and paid to bring other girls to his house, named in the 2006 police affidavit and a 2008 civil suit." +location: "West Palm Beach, Florida" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: investigated + with: "[[Palm Beach Police Department]]" + reverse: true + start: 2005-03-15 + end: 2006-02 + role: "named with Epstein and Sarah Kellen as a subject of the sexual battery investigation" + fn: 2 + - type: represented + with: "[[Douglas M. McIntosh]]" + reverse: true + start: 2008 + role: "counsel on her motion to quash service in Doe v. Epstein" + fn: 3 +--- + +Haley Robson is a woman from [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]], [[Florida]], who met [[Jeffrey Epstein]] as a high school student in 2002, was paid to give him massages at his house at [[358 El Brillo Way]] in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]], and was then paid to bring other girls there. The [[Palm Beach Police Department]]'s 2006 probable cause affidavit named her, with Epstein and his assistant [[Sarah Kellen]], as a subject of its 2005 to 2006 sexual battery investigation, and a 2008 federal civil suit named her as a co-defendant. She has spoken publicly under her own name since at least 2021. In January 2026 the government transmitted letters she wrote about the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] to the judges presiding over the closed criminal cases against Epstein and [[Ghislaine Maxwell]].[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Recruitment + +Robson told [[CBS News]] in December 2021 that she was 16 and in high school in West Palm Beach when a classmate recruited her in 2002. "I was told it would be possibly in your bra and underwear, but it would just be a massage," she said, and of the encounter, "I did not understand that I was being sexually abused." She said that Epstein then offered her 200 dollars for each girl she brought to him, that she was told to recruit younger girls, and that she went on to recruit eight others: "I was told the more you do, the more you make." She described her reasoning at the time: "When I was 16, I felt like, 'Hey, you know, I made money like, do you guys want to make money.'" She said she never met Maxwell and was not part of the government's case against her.[^1] + +The probable cause affidavit sworn by Detective [[Joseph Recarey]] on May 1, 2006 gave her age at first contact as 17 and recorded that she had been approached at the Canopy Beach Resort in [[Riviera Beach, Florida|Riviera Beach]] and offered 200 dollars to give Epstein a massage. According to her statement to police, Epstein grabbed her buttocks during that massage: "He tried to touch me and I stopped him." He paid her 200 dollars and told her afterward that he understood she was uncomfortable, "but he would pay her if she brought over some girls. He told her the younger the better." The affidavit recorded that Robson then brought other girls to the house "to perform massages for Epstein, for which Robson received monetary compensation," and that the girls were introduced to Kellen, who "would record their telephone numbers and name." The girls were paid 200 to 1,000 dollars a visit.[^2] + +### The Palm Beach Investigation + +The Palm Beach Police Department opened its case on March 15, 2005, after a complaint from the family of a 14-year-old girl. Recarey's affidavit summarized it: "From March 15, 2005, through February 2006, the Palm Beach Police Department conducted a sexual battery investigation involving Jeffrey Epstein, Sarah Kellen and Haley Robson. Sworn taped statements were taken from five victims and seventeen witnesses." Detectives matched Kellen's telephone records against the arrival dates of Epstein's aircraft at [[Palm Beach International Airport]]. The case was referred to the [[State Attorney's Office for Palm Beach County|Palm Beach County State Attorney]] under [[Barry Krischer]] and then to the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]], and it ended in Epstein's 2008 state guilty plea under the federal [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]].[^2][^5] + +### Doe v. Epstein + +In 2008 a victim suing under a pseudonym filed *Doe v. Epstein*, No. 9:08-cv-80804, in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida]], naming Epstein, Kellen and Robson as defendants. The court record includes sworn affidavits from Robson's parents and an "Agreed Order on Defendant Haley Robson's Motion to Quash Service of Process." Her counsel in the case was [[Douglas M. McIntosh]] of the [[Fort Lauderdale]] firm McIntosh, Sawran, Peltz & Cartaya, P.A.[^3] + +### Public Statements + +In the 2021 interview Robson compared her position with Maxwell's: "She used her gender to ultimately build trust with underage girls," she said, and "It's not like she's 16 and doesn't know any better, she's an adult." Of her own recruiting she said, "The guilt will never go away," and "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the other girls."[^1] + +On February 3, 2022 Robson and [[Courtney Wild]] sued the [[Miami Herald]] journalist [[Julie K. Brown]] for defamation in the circuit court of [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade County]] over Brown's 2021 book *Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story*. Robson alleged that after she declined an interview Brown told her she was "making the biggest mistake of your life," and that the book then presented her as a member of Epstein's inner circle rather than as a victim. The complaint sought a public apology and damages. Brown told the *Florida Bulldog* on the day of filing that she had not yet seen the suit.[^6] + +### The 2026 Letters + +After the Epstein Files Transparency Act required the [[U.S. Department of Justice|Justice Department]] to release its Epstein records, Assistant U.S. Attorney [[Sean Buckley]] filed on January 20, 2026 two letters from Robson dated that day: one addressed to Judge [[Paul Engelmayer|Paul A. Engelmayer]] in *[[United States v. Maxwell]]* (ECF No. 843) and one addressed to Judge [[Richard M. Berman]] in *[[United States v. Epstein]]* (ECF No. 95). Representatives [[Thomas Massie]] and [[Ro Khanna]], the Act's sponsors, cited victims' letters including Robson's in their request for "a special master or independent monitor" over the Department's compliance. Engelmayer denied that request on January 21, 2026, holding that "[t]his federal criminal case does not give the Court jurisdiction over, or authority to supervise, [[Department of Justice|DOJ]]'s compliance with the EFTA, a civil records-disclosure statute." Berman answered Robson on January 23 that there was "no relevant case on my docket at this time." Status letters on the Department's review in both cases went out over the name of the U.S. Attorney for the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]], [[Jay Clayton]].[^4][^7][^8] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "Jeffrey Epstein accuser reflects on being a sex trafficking victim, and recruiting other girls," *CBS Mornings,* CBS News, December 3, 2021 (Mola Lenghi). https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-sex-trafficking-haley-robson/ +[^2]: Palm Beach Police Department, probable cause affidavit of Detective Joseph Recarey regarding Jeffrey Epstein, sworn May 1, 2006 (redacted). https://archive.org/stream/JeffreyEpstein/Jeffrey%20Epstein%20Redacted%20Probable%20Cause%20Affadavit_djvu.txt +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02749901, Court Records (Doe v. Epstein, No. 9:08-cv-80804 (S.D. Fla. 2008)), filings including the Agreed Order on Defendant Haley Robson's Motion to Quash Service of Process, 2008. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Doe%20v.%20Epstein%2C%20No.%20908-cv-80804%20(S.D.%20Fla.%202008)/EFTA02749901.pdf +[^4]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), letter by USA addressed to Judge Paul A. Engelmayer from Haley Robson dated January 20, 2026, ECF No. 843; letters re Epstein Files Transparency Act review, ECF Nos. 839 (Jan. 15, 2026) and 847 (Jan. 31, 2026). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," Executive Summary, November 2020, pp. iii-v. https://www.justice.gov/opr/page/file/1336471/dl +[^6]: Complaint, *Wild and Robson v. Brown* (Fla. 11th Jud. Cir., Miami-Dade County, filed Feb. 3, 2022), paragraphs 5-13 and prayer for relief. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/wild-brown-complaint.pdf ; "Two victims of Jeffrey Epstein sue reporter/author Julie Brown for defamation," *Florida Bulldog,* February 2022. https://www.floridabulldog.org/2022/02/two-victims-jeffrey-epstein-sue-reporter-author-julie-brown-defamation/ +[^7]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 20 Cr. 330 (PAE) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 21, 2026), Opinion and Order, ECF No. 844, denying motion of Reps. Massie and Khanna (ECF Nos. 837, 838). https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2026-01/Maxwell%2020cr330%20-%20Opinion%20%26%20Order%201.21.26.pdf +[^8]: United States v. Epstein, No. 1:19-cr-00490-RMB (S.D.N.Y.), letter by USA addressed to Judge Richard M. Berman from Haley Robson dated January 20, 2026, ECF No. 95, and related letters, ECF Nos. 94-105 (Jan. 15 to Feb. 5, 2026), CourtListener docket 15887848. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15887848/united-states-v-epstein/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Henry Smock.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Henry Smock.md index 4957e2f8..45723418 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Henry Smock.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Henry Smock.md @@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ tags: - TaxIncentives alias: - Henry Smock, Esq. - - Attorney Smock summary: "St. Thomas lawyer and former territorial judge who helped Epstein buy Little St. James, counseled the board that granted his tax benefits, and was Governor Bryan's proposed mediator for the estate settlement." location: "St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" relations: diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jamie Raskin.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jamie Raskin.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..534818fd --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jamie Raskin.md @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - JamieRaskin + - Congress + - HouseJudiciaryCommittee + - JeffreyEpstein + - GhislaineMaxwell + - FederalPrisonCampBryan + - BardCollege +alias: + - Rep. Jamie Raskin + - Representative Jamie Raskin +summary: "Maryland Democratic congressman and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee who from 2025 pursued Ghislaine Maxwell's transfer to a Texas prison camp, her reported treatment there and Epstein's gifts to Bard College." +born: 1962-12-13 +location: "Maryland" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: member_of + with: "[[House Committee on the Judiciary]]" + role: "ranking member" + fn: 2 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Federal Prison Camp Bryan]]" + start: 2025-08-12 + fn: 3 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Tanisha Hall]]" + start: 2025-10-30 + fn: 3 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Bard College]]" + start: 2026-06-17 + fn: 8 +--- + +Jamie Raskin (born December 13, 1962) is a Democratic member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from the eighth district of [[Maryland]], in office since January 3, 2017, and the ranking member of the [[House Committee on the Judiciary]]. From August 2025 he wrote to the [[Department of Justice]], the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], the warden of [[Federal Prison Camp Bryan]] and President [[Donald Trump]] about [[Ghislaine Maxwell]]'s transfer to the minimum-security camp after her interview by Deputy Attorney General [[Todd Blanche]], and about her treatment there. With [[Jim Jordan]] he managed the House debate on the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]], and in 2026 he wrote to [[Bard College]] about [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s gifts to it.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Maxwell's Transfer + +Blanche interviewed Maxwell under a grant of limited use immunity in [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]] on July 24 and 25, 2025, and on August 1 she was moved from the low-security prison there to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in [[Texas]]. On August 12, 2025 Raskin, with other Judiciary Committee Democrats, wrote to Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]] and Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III about the transfer. On October 30 he wrote to the camp's warden, [[Tanisha Hall]], that neither the department nor the bureau had answered, and that the transfer appeared to be "in apparent flagrant violation of BOP policies, including one that prohibits sex offenders from placement in such facilities."[^3][^4] + +The October 30 letter drew on an October 11, 2025 investigation by [[The Wall Street Journal]]. It stated that in mid-August "hundreds of inmates were locked down during their usual outdoor recreation time while Ms. Maxwell met with multiple unidentified visitors in the prison chapel," that one inmate reported Maxwell returned "with a smile on her face," saying the meeting "went well," that guards delivered meals to her dormitory room, and that she was escorted to the recreation area for late-night workouts. It stated that an inmate who told a British newspaper in August that "Human trafficking is a violent crime" was removed from a training program and transferred to the Federal Detention Center in [[Houston]], and quoted her attorney: "Nobody's going to say anything about Ghislaine Maxwell now." Raskin wrote that he sought to determine "why you appear to have joined this Administration's efforts to cover up the decades-long, international, multi-billion dollar Epstein-Maxwell sex trafficking conspiracy."[^3] + +### The November 2025 Letter to Trump + +On November 9, 2025 Raskin wrote to Trump, citing "documents and information received over the last several days," that "under Dr. Tanisha Hall, the warden of Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan, the federal law enforcement staff working at the camp have been waiting on Ms. Maxwell hand and foot," that "Ms. Maxwell's meals have been customized and prepared by federal prison camp staff and then personally delivered to her in her cell by longtime federal employees," and that Maxwell "is working on filing a 'Commutation Application.'" The letter attributed to whistleblower information provided to the committee's minority an account that a top official at the camp had complained he was "sick of having to be Maxwell's bitch." It stated that the camp was "a facility Ms. Maxwell was actually ineligible to be transferred to due to her convicted sex offender status." It demanded that Blanche testify "immediately" to "answer for this corrupt misuse of law enforcement resources and potential exchange of favors for false testimony exonerating you and other Epstein accomplices," and quoted Maxwell's lawyer's public remark that "there's always a quid pro quo."[^5] + +The letter stated that in the Blanche interview Maxwell "recited the same lies that originally led [DOJ] to charge her with perjury in 2020," including that she "never interacted with anyone underage" and never saw Epstein have "inappropriate sexual contact with anyone," and that she had called [[Virginia Giuffre]]'s allegations against [[Prince Andrew]] "bullshit." Raskin called her testimony "the demonstrable actual 'bullshit' in this episode."[^5] + +### The January 2026 Letter + +On January 23, 2026 Raskin and [[Robert Garcia]], ranking member of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]], wrote to Bondi and to Acting Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume of the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General]], citing "over a dozen whistleblowers." They wrote that "Ms. Maxwell has been permitted to use a laptop, unsupervised, while at Bryan," that she had "access to staff-only areas to watch CNN by herself," and that "the Warden sends out Ms. Maxwell's mail under the Warden's own name"; that the warden "fired those who made protected disclosures to Congress"; and that inmates alleged "widespread sexual abuse and misconduct" at the camp. They asked that the department make "Warden Tanisha Hall available for a transcribed interview," asked the inspector general to "initiate an investigation into the reported staff misconduct," and announced a visit to the camp the following month.[^6] + +### The Epstein Files Transparency Act + +The House passed the [[Epstein Files]] Transparency Act, H.R. 4405, under suspension of the rules on November 18, 2025 by 427 to 1; Jordan and Raskin managed the debate.[^7] + +### Bard College + +On June 17, 2026 Raskin wrote to [[James Cox Chambers]], chair of Bard's trustees, that a review by [[WilmerHale]] of the college president [[Leon Botstein]]'s dealings with Epstein was "too narrowly tailored." His letter stated that Epstein gave Bard 125,000 dollars in 2011 and 2012 and laptops in 2015, against Botstein's account of a 75,000 dollar gift and 66 laptops, and that Botstein "apparently knew that a 2014 donation to the college by apparent co-conspirator [[Leon Black]] was made at Mr. Epstein's behest." Black has denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. The letter asked Bard to make Botstein available for a transcribed interview and to produce records on Epstein, [[Richard Kahn]], [[Darren Indyke]], Black, Maxwell and [[Gratitude America]].[^8] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, legislators-current.json (birth date and terms, compiled from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json +[^2]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, committee-membership-current.json, 119th Congress, accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/committee-membership-current.json +[^3]: Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, letter to Dr. Tanisha Hall, Warden, Federal Prison Camp Bryan, October 30, 2025, citing his letter to Pamela J. Bondi and William K. Marshall III of August 12, 2025. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-10-30-raskin-to-hall-fpcbryan-re-maxwell-1.pdf +[^4]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF Nos. 784, 785 (July 18, 2025), CourtListener docket 17318376. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ ; "Ghislaine Maxwell moved to federal prison camp in Texas," *CNN,* August 1, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/01/politics/ghislaine-maxwell-federal-prison-texas +[^5]: Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, letter to President Donald J. Trump, November 9, 2025. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-11-09-raskin-to-trump-wh-re-maxwell.pdf +[^6]: House Judiciary Committee Democrats, "Ranking Members Raskin, Garcia Demand Answers for Rampant Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Uncovered at FPC Bryan; Announce Congressional Oversight Visit," press release, January 23, 2026. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-members-raskin-garcia-demand-answers-for-rampant-sexual-abuse-and-misconduct-uncovered-at-fpc-bryan-announce-congressional-oversight-visit +[^7]: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 289, H.R. 4405, November 18, 2025. https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025289 ; Congressional Record, vol. 171, November 18, 2025, H4725. https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2025/11/18/171/194/modified/CREC-2025-11-18-pt1-PgH4725-2.htm +[^8]: Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, letter to James Cox Chambers, Chair, Board of Trustees, Bard College, June 17, 2026. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-06-17-raskin-to-chambers-bard-re-epstein.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jed Rakoff.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jed Rakoff.md index b99d56a2..b67b8b97 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jed Rakoff.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jed Rakoff.md @@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ tags: alias: - Jed S. Rakoff - Jed Saul Rakoff - - Judge Rakoff - Judge Jed Rakoff - Jed Rakoff summary: "Former chief of securities fraud prosecutions in Manhattan, appointed a federal judge by Bill Clinton, who rejected the SEC's Citigroup settlement in 2011 and presided over the 2023 Epstein suits against JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank." diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Kash Patel.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Kash Patel.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..f739d32d --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Kash Patel.md @@ -0,0 +1,66 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - KashPatel + - FederalBureauOfInvestigation + - HousePermanentSelectCommitteeOnIntelligence + - NationalSecurityCouncil + - JeffreyEpstein + - EpsteinFiles +alias: + - Kashyap Patel + - FBI Director Kash Patel +summary: "Former federal prosecutor and House intelligence committee counsel, confirmed 51 to 49 as FBI director in 2025, whose bureau joined the July 2025 memo finding no Epstein client list warranting further disclosure." +location: "Washington, D.C." +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]" + role: "director" + start: 2025-02-20 + fn: 2 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Department of Justice]]" + role: "national security prosecutor" + start: 2014 + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]]" + role: "national security advisor and senior counsel" + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[National Security Council]]" + role: "deputy assistant to the president for counterterrorism" + fn: 1 +--- + +Kashyap "Kash" Patel is the director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], confirmed by the Senate 51 to 49 on February 20, 2025. A former public defender and [[Department of Justice]] national security prosecutor, he was senior counsel to the [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]] and served in [[Donald Trump]]'s first administration on the [[National Security Council]] and as chief of staff to the acting Secretary of Defense. In his first year as director the bureau was tasked with House requests on the declassification of its [[Jeffrey Epstein]] holdings, joined the unsigned Justice Department memorandum of July 7, 2025 finding "no incriminating 'client list,'" and faced Senate questioning on the files.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Career + +Patel graduated from the [[University of Richmond]] in 2002 with a degree in criminal justice and history, took a law degree and a certificate in international law from [[University College London]], and worked as a public defender in [[Florida]] from 2005. From 2014 he was a national security prosecutor in the Justice Department, prosecuting defendants linked to [[al-Qaeda]] and the [[Islamic State]], and served as the department's liaison officer to [[Joint Special Operations Command]]. As national security advisor and senior counsel to the House intelligence committee he led its inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election and, in the FBI's own biography of him, "unearthed U.S. intelligence malpractice during the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation." In the first Trump administration he was deputy assistant to the president for counterterrorism on the National Security Council and then chief of staff to the acting Secretary of Defense. He is the author of *Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy* (2023).[^1] + +### Confirmation + +Trump nominated "Kashyap Patel, of Nevada, to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a term of ten years" (PN12-35). The Senate confirmed him on February 20, 2025, 51 to 49 (Vote No. 61), with the Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting no with all Democrats.[^2] + +### The Epstein Files + +On February 21, 2025, the day after his confirmation, the bureau's congressional affairs staff reported "receipt of five letters from Chairman Comer and Chairwoman Luna requesting briefings on the declassification process of documents regarding various FBI equities and to view the relevant documents," addressed to Patel from [[James Comer]] of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]] and [[Anna Paulina Luna]]. The attachments were titled for the [[September 11 attacks]], an "Assassination" letter, [[COVID-19]] origins, unidentified anomalous phenomena and Epstein. The next day an official wrote to the team, "to get ahead of this inevitable data call, please assign for action Monday am with a COB Monday deadline. We'll need a RIDS inventory of what we have on these five subjects in the below categories: Vault posts / Preprocessed / Requests in progress / UAP state of play / Any open litigations and status."[^3] + +The unsigned two-page memorandum of July 7, 2025, on Justice Department and FBI letterhead, stated that searches had "uncovered a significant amount of material, including more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence," that the "systematic review revealed no incriminating 'client list,'" that there was "no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions," that "Epstein harmed over one thousand victims," and that "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted." It stated that FBI investigators "concluded that Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in his cell at the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York|Metropolitan Correctional Center]] in [[New York City]] on August 10, 2019," and that the bureau had "enhanced" the jail camera footage "by increasing its contrast, balancing the color, and improving its sharpness," releasing "full raw and enhanced" versions.[^4] + +On July 18, 2025 the ranking member of the [[Senate Judiciary Committee]], [[Dick Durbin]], wrote to Patel citing reports that bureau personnel "were instructed to 'flag' any records in which President Trump was mentioned" during the review, and quoting Patel's post of July 12 on reported friction with Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]] and Deputy Director [[Dan Bongino]]: "The conspiracy theories just aren't true, never have been." Durbin asked for answers by August 1, 2025.[^5] + +At a Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on September 16, 2025, Senator [[John Kennedy]] of Louisiana asked Patel to whom Epstein had trafficked his victims besides himself. Patel answered: "There is no credible information, none. If there were, I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals." He added, "I am not saying that others were not trafficked and others were not involved," and said the bureau held only "limited search warrants" from the Florida investigation of 2006 and 2007.[^6] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Director Kash Patel," official leadership biography. https://www.fbi.gov/about/leadership-and-structure/director-patel +[^2]: U.S. Senate, Roll Call Vote No. 61, 119th Congress, 1st Session, "On the Nomination PN12-35: Kashyap Patel, of Nevada, to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a term of ten years," February 20, 2025. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00061.xml +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01655627, DataSet 10, internal FBI email chain, "Letters to The Honorable Kash Patel," February 21 to 23, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01655627.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation, unsigned memorandum on the review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein, July 7, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline +[^5]: Senator Richard J. Durbin, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, letter to FBI Director Kash Patel regarding Epstein files, July 18, 2025. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/2025-07-18-rjd-letter-to-fbi-director-patel-re-epstein?download=1 +[^6]: Nik Popli, "Kash Patel Says There's No Credible Information Epstein Trafficked Girls to Others," *Time,* September 16, 2025. https://time.com/7317646/kash-patel-jeffrey-epstein-files/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Loretta Preska.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Loretta Preska.md index e3922239..8f0947db 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Loretta Preska.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Loretta Preska.md @@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ tags: - Stratfor alias: - Loretta A. Preska - - Judge Preska - Judge Loretta Preska - Loretta Preska summary: "Manhattan federal judge appointed by George H.W. Bush, chief judge from 2009 to 2016, who inherited the sealed Giuffre v. Maxwell record in 2019 and managed its unsealing through 2026." @@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ Preska held further hearings on the protocol in 2021 and 2022, ruled on a reques On July 23, 2025, three months after Giuffre's death, a panel of Judges Cabranes, Raggi and [[Myrna Pérez]] held that "a judicial document determination is properly made by evaluating the relevant materials at the time of their filing with the court," vacated "the district court's December 2019 and January 2020 Orders in their entirety," vacated in part the November 2022 ruling, including its treatment of Giuffre's Florida deposition as carrying only a "barely cognizable" presumption of access, and remanded "for individualized review of materials." The mandate issued on January 8, 2026.[^7] -On January 30, 2026 the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]] moved for disclosure (ECF No. 1353). Maxwell's opposition attached the record of a grand jury subpoena and an April 9, 2019 order in In re Grand Jury Subpoena, No. 19-MC-149 (CM), under which prosecutors had obtained the civil discovery from Boies Schiller Flexner months before Epstein's arrest. On August 11, 2026 Preska granted the motion (ECF No. 1367), adding to the 2016 protective order a paragraph authorizing the government to produce "documents that it received from Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP, in response to a grand jury subpoena and pursuant to the April 9, 2019, order issued in In re Grand Jury Subpoena, No. 19MC149 (CM) (S.D.N.Y.), in accordance with the Government's obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act." On September 3, 2026 she substituted [[Ian Torrington Blatchford]], interim administrator of Giuffre's estate, as plaintiff, and the case continued as Blatchford v. Maxwell.[^8] +On January 30, 2026 the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]] moved for disclosure (ECF No. 1353). Maxwell's opposition attached the record of a grand jury subpoena and an April 9, 2019 order in In re Grand Jury Subpoena, No. 19-MC-149 (CM), under which prosecutors had obtained the civil discovery from Boies Schiller Flexner months before Epstein's arrest. On August 11, 2026 Preska granted the motion (ECF No. 1367), adding to the 2016 protective order a paragraph authorizing the government to produce "documents that it received from [[Boies Schiller Flexner|Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP]], in response to a grand jury subpoena and pursuant to the April 9, 2019, order issued in In re Grand Jury Subpoena, No. 19MC149 (CM) (S.D.N.Y.), in accordance with the Government's obligations under the Epstein Files Transparency Act." On September 3, 2026 she substituted [[Ian Torrington Blatchford]], interim administrator of Giuffre's estate, as plaintiff, and the case continued as Blatchford v. Maxwell.[^8] ### Footnotes diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Marc Rowan.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Marc Rowan.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..cac714bc --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Marc Rowan.md @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +--- +category: "Business & Finance" +tags: + - Person + - MarcRowan + - Apollo + - PrivateEquity + - LeonBlack + - JeffreyEpstein + - Wharton +alias: + - Marc Rowan +summary: "Apollo Global Management co-founder who met Jeffrey Epstein at his Manhattan house from 2013 to 2016, fielded Epstein's inquiry about buying his jet, and succeeded Leon Black as chief executive in 2021." +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Apollo Global Management]]" + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Apollo Global Management]]" + start: 2021-03-22 + role: "chief executive officer" + fn: 2 +--- + +Marc Rowan is an American private equity investor who co-founded [[Apollo Global Management]] with [[Leon Black]] and [[Josh Harris]] and became its chief executive on March 22, 2021, when Black stepped down after the law firm [[Dechert]] reviewed his payments to [[Jeffrey Epstein]]. Records released by the [[U.S. Department of Justice|Justice Department]] on January 30, 2026 show Rowan in contact with Epstein from 2013 to 2016, including breakfasts at Epstein's [[Manhattan]] house, a 2016 inquiry from Epstein's office about buying Rowan's private jet, and introductions made in both directions. A spokesperson said Rowan provided information to Epstein only in connection with Epstein's tax work for Black and denied any business relationship, and that "Apollo never did any business with Mr Epstein." Rowan holds bachelor's and MBA degrees from the [[Wharton School]] and was the outgoing chair of its Board of Advisors in February 2026.[^1][^2] + +### Apollo + +Rowan earned a Wharton bachelor's degree in 1984 and an MBA in 1985, and co-founded Apollo with Black and Harris. In 2011 Epstein's company [[Financial Trust Company]] bought 263,257 shares in Apollo's initial public offering through a directed share program. Dechert's January 2021 report to Apollo's conflicts committee found that Black had paid Epstein 158 million dollars for work from 2012 through 2017; Dechert interviewed Rowan and Harris among more than twenty witnesses. On March 22, 2021 Apollo announced that Rowan would be chief executive and [[Jay Clayton]] non-executive chairman, and Black cited "my wife Debra's and my health issues."[^1][^2][^3] + +### Meetings With Epstein + +The earliest exchange in the released records dates from August 2013, when Epstein asked whether Rowan could plan for "the morning of the 4th"; Rowan was out of town. Rowan's assistant arranged a meeting for September 8, 2013 at 8 a.m., "to be held at Jeffery's home." For October 22, 2013 a meeting was arranged between Epstein and Apollo principals including "Leon" and "Josh," and Rowan's assistant asked whether Rowan wanted to "see Jeffrey for 1:1" beforehand; Epstein's calendar for that day reads "8:00am Breakfast w/Marc Rowan."[^1][^4] In 2014 Black's office told Epstein that Black had asked Rowan to call him about "Donor Advised Funds."[^1] + +In December 2015 Black's assistant wrote that "Marc said if Jeffrey wants early breakfast that works for him, he will bring coffee!!!" An email then confirmed that "Marc will come see Jeffrey tomorrow for breakfast at 8am at Jeffrey's home," and the breakfast took place on January 6, 2016; Rowan's assistant wrote, "Marc is looking forward to seeing Jeffrey." Five days later Epstein's assistant asked to arrange a call because "Jeffrey would like to speak with Marc today," and Rowan's assistant answered that "MR will reach out to Jeffrey tonight."[^1] + +### The Jet + +The next day Epstein's assistant wrote to Rowan's assistant: "Jeffrey is asking if he could get the details of Marc's plane for sale...the hours, photos, any pertinent information! Possible?" At the assistant's request a representative of Hagerty Jet Group sent Epstein's assistant the aircraft's details and a price of 18.9 million dollars.[^1] + +### Introductions + +On January 14, 2016 Rowan met representatives of the Swiss bank [[Edmond de Rothschild]] at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse together with "Rowan's 'partner Imran.'" Rowan's spokesperson said: "Mr Rowan met with the CEO of Edmund de Rothschild bank at a meeting in 2016 arranged by Mr Epstein that Mr Epstein did not attend." In March 2016 Epstein wrote that he would introduce Rowan to [[Nicholas Ribis]], a former executive of [[Donald Trump]]'s casino resorts. In August 2016 the lawyer Perry Shwachman thanked Rowan for introducing him to Epstein and wrote to Epstein, "It would be great to talk to you about helping with potential new [[U.S. Virgin Islands|USVI]] insurance regulations."[^1] + +The spokesperson said: "In select instances, Mr Rowan provided information to Mr Epstein in connection with his tax work for Mr Black," and added that Rowan had no business ties to Epstein and that "Apollo never did any business with Mr Epstein." A [[University of Pennsylvania]] spokesperson declined to comment.[^1] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Jain, Arti, and Alex Dash. Report on Marc Rowan's correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein in the Justice Department release, *The Daily Pennsylvanian,* February 2, 2026. https://www.thedp.com/article/2026/02/penn-marc-rowan-jeffrey-epstein-files-emails +[^2]: Apollo Global Management, "Marc Rowan Assumes Role of CEO of Apollo; Jay Clayton Named Non-Executive Chair of Board," press release, March 22, 2021. https://ir.apollo.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/105/marc-rowan-assumes-role-of-ceo-of-apollo +[^3]: Dechert LLP, Memorandum to the Apollo Conflicts Committee, "Investigation of Epstein/Black Relationship and Any Relationship Between Epstein and Apollo Global Management, Inc.," January 22, 2021, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to Apollo Global Management, Inc. Form 8-K, January 25, 2021 (accession 0001193125-21-016405), pp. 1-4, 17-18, 21-22. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1411494/000119312521016405/d118102dex991.htm +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02122940, DataSet 10, calendar alert, "8:00am Breakfast w/Marc Rowan," October 22, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02122940.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Michael Reiter.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Michael Reiter.md index 58c8e36f..08b2e73b 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Michael Reiter.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Michael Reiter.md @@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ tags: alias: - Chief Michael Reiter - Michael S. Reiter - - Chief Reiter summary: "Michael Reiter was the Palm Beach police chief from 2001 to 2009 who opened the 2005 Epstein investigation, sought the State Attorney's disqualification, and referred the case to the FBI." location: "Palm Beach, Florida" relations: diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Renato Pena.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Renato Pena.md index 7a30a944..6efa1c41 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Renato Pena.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Renato Pena.md @@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Partly declassified [[Central Intelligence Agency]] records show the agency had ### Arrest and DEA Debriefing -Peña and Jairo Meneses were arrested on cocaine trafficking charges in November 1984. Agents found a kilo of cocaine in the trunk of Peña's car. At an apartment Jairo maintained in Oakland as a cocaine storehouse, the DEA found half a kilo. Peña pleaded guilty in March 1985 and received a two-year sentence. During DEA debriefing, Peña said "the CIA was allowing the Contras to fly drugs into the United States, sell them, and keep the proceeds," the Justice Department Inspector General reported. Jairo had told him "the United States was aware of these dealings and that it was highly unlikely that I would even get in trouble." Both Meneses and [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] told him they raised money for the Contras through drug dealing; Blandón claimed "the Contras would not have been able to operate without drug proceeds." FDN leader Bermúdez "was aware of the drug dealing" and Peña described him as "a CIA agent."[^3] +Peña and Jairo Meneses were arrested on cocaine trafficking charges in November 1984. Agents found a kilo of cocaine in the trunk of Peña's car. At an apartment Jairo maintained in Oakland as a cocaine storehouse, the DEA found half a kilo. Peña pleaded guilty in March 1985 and received a two-year sentence. During DEA debriefing, Peña said "the CIA was allowing the Contras to fly drugs into the United States, sell them, and keep the proceeds," the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] reported. Jairo had told him "the United States was aware of these dealings and that it was highly unlikely that I would even get in trouble." Both Meneses and [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] told him they raised money for the Contras through drug dealing; Blandón claimed "the Contras would not have been able to operate without drug proceeds." FDN leader Bermúdez "was aware of the drug dealing" and Peña described him as "a CIA agent."[^3] In later interviews with CIA and Justice Department inspectors, despite facing deportation, Peña insisted: "The CIA knows about all these things... The CIA decided to recruit Meneses so that drug sales could be used to support the Contras. Bermúdez could not have recruited Meneses on his own... but would have had to follow orders." A DEA informant independently corroborated Peña's testimony in spring 1986.[^3] diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ricky Ross.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ricky Ross.md index 8f877b0b..667aed71 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ricky Ross.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ricky Ross.md @@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ Ross moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, with Mary Bronner and their children, taking $30 Blandón called from Miami, dropping hints about cheap cocaine. Ross had checked prices in Cincinnati and found kilos selling for $50,000, compared to $12,000 in L.A. "Ounces were like $2,400. It was like when I first started." When Blandón called from Detroit in the fall of 1987 and offered fifteen kilos at a good price, Ross accepted. "I told him to bring them to me. I'll take them." He was back in play.[^9] -Ross expanded methodically, first into Lincoln Heights, then Over-the-Rhine, Avondale, Mt. Airy, Bond Hill, St. Bernard, Lockland, and Walnut Hills, using the same marketing techniques from L.A.: free cocaine, smoke parties, volume discounts. "I knew the recipe. It's just like it was in L.A. If you want to get in with the blacks, you find out who the shot-caller is. And you talk to him and you get him on your side." Once operations were running, Ross called L.A. and invited friends to staff them. "The recruits were given apartments, beepers, cocaine, and instructions on how to conduct street sales," the Justice Department Inspector General reported. "Most of these people were members of gangs, most notably the Crips." Suddenly Cincinnati had two problems it had never had before: Crips and crack.[^9] +Ross expanded methodically, first into Lincoln Heights, then Over-the-Rhine, Avondale, Mt. Airy, Bond Hill, St. Bernard, Lockland, and Walnut Hills, using the same marketing techniques from L.A.: free cocaine, smoke parties, volume discounts. "I knew the recipe. It's just like it was in L.A. If you want to get in with the blacks, you find out who the shot-caller is. And you talk to him and you get him on your side." Once operations were running, Ross called L.A. and invited friends to staff them. "The recruits were given apartments, beepers, cocaine, and instructions on how to conduct street sales," the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] reported. "Most of these people were members of gangs, most notably the Crips." Suddenly Cincinnati had two problems it had never had before: Crips and crack.[^9] Ross did not limit himself to Cincinnati. His dope turned up in Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis, [[Atlanta]], Texas, and as far away as Seattle, where police viewed his ring as "the single most important group distributing crack cocaine in the Seattle-Tacoma area." In ten months, Ross said, he sold 300 or 400 kilos of Blandón's cocaine in the Midwest, netting around $2 million. He flew to Miami once a month to drop off cash, and met with Blandón and a Colombian named Tony in [[New York City]] to place orders. At other times, his L.A. friends stuck dope on a Greyhound bus.[^9] diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Robert W. Sweet.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Robert W. Sweet.md index 328c5f40..a5934f5b 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Robert W. Sweet.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Robert W. Sweet.md @@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ tags: alias: - Robert Sweet - Robert Workman Sweet - - Judge Sweet - Judge Robert W. Sweet - Robert W. Sweet summary: "Former New York deputy mayor and Carter-appointed Manhattan federal judge who sentenced Towers Financial's Steven Hoffenberg in 1997 and presided over the sealed Giuffre v. Maxwell record until his death in 2019." diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Scott Rothstein.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Scott Rothstein.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..956e5fa4 --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Scott Rothstein.md @@ -0,0 +1,68 @@ +--- +category: "Crime & Abuse Networks" +tags: + - Person + - ScottRothstein + - PonziScheme + - RothsteinRosenfeldtAdler + - FortLauderdale + - JeffreyEpstein + - BradleyEdwards + - Conviction +alias: + - Scott Rothstein + - Scott W. Rothstein +summary: "Disbarred Fort Lauderdale lawyer who ran a 1.2 billion dollar Ponzi scheme through his firm, including sham investments in legal settlements, and whom Jeffrey Epstein sued in 2009 alongside Bradley Edwards." +location: "Fort Lauderdale, Florida" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler]]" + role: "founder and chairman" + fn: 1 + - type: prosecuted + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]]" + reverse: true + start: 2009-12-01 + end: 2010-06-09 + fn: 1 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Epstein v. Rothstein]]" + role: "defendant" + start: 2009 + fn: 3 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Scott W. Rothstein is a disbarred [[Fort Lauderdale, Florida|Fort Lauderdale]] lawyer, the founder and chairman of the firm [[Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler]], who pleaded guilty in January 2010 to racketeering conspiracy and related charges for running, from about 2005 through November 2009, a Ponzi scheme that took about 1.2 billion dollars from investors, partly through purported interests in confidential legal settlements. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. [[Jeffrey Epstein]] sued him in 2009 together with [[Bradley Edwards]], a lawyer who had joined the firm and was representing Epstein's victims, alleging that the firm had marketed cases against Epstein, "real or fabricated," to investors. In 2011 the government filed a motion to reduce his sentence for cooperation, and in 2017 withdrew it, stating that he had provided false information.[^1][^2][^3] + +### The Scheme + +According to court records and statements made at his plea, Rothstein used the firm to induce investors to lend money to non-existent borrowers on promissory notes and requests for short-term bridge loans, and to invest in anticipated payouts from purported confidential civil settlement agreements, which he said could be bought at a discount and would be repaid at full value from the firm's trust account. Neither investment existed. Rothstein and his co-conspirators moved and laundered the money through accounts at [[TD Bank]], N.A., [[Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust]] and other institutions, and created false bank documents, false online account information and false settlement agreements to show investors. In one case the firm secretly settled a suit it had brought for its own clients in favor of the defendant, and Rothstein and others then created a false federal court order, "purportedly signed by a U.S. District Judge," stating that the clients had won a judgment of about 23 million dollars that the defendant had moved to the [[Cayman Islands]]; told that they had to post bonds to recover it, the clients wired about 57 million dollars to a trust account Rothstein controlled.[^1] + +The proceeds funded the firm and paid for "contributions to federal, state, and local political candidates," donations to charities, exotic cars, jewelry and boats, and were used "to hire local police officers to provide security, and to provide gratuities to high ranking members of police agencies," to buy controlling interests in restaurants and other businesses, "and to socialize with politicians and sports figures." U.S. Attorney [[Wifredo A. Ferrer]] said that Rothstein "manipulated and abused the trust of all whom he knew," including "his friends, family, business partners, legal colleagues, political figures, and even charitable organizations."[^1] + +### Plea, Sentence and Cooperation + +On a criminal information of December 1, 2009, Rothstein pleaded guilty on January 27, 2010 to conspiracy to violate the [[Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act|RICO]] statute, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and two counts of wire fraud. On June 9, 2010 Judge [[James I. Cohn]] of the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida]] sentenced him, at 47, to 50 years in prison and three years of supervised release, with forfeiture of his real property, vehicles, bank accounts and investments. The prosecutors were Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence D. LaVecchio, Paul F. Schwartz and Jeffrey N. Kaplan.[^1] + +Under his cooperation agreement Rothstein undertook, if the government asked, to work "in an undercover role to contact and negotiate with others suspected and believed to be involved in criminal misconduct," and agreed that the government would have "sole and unreviewable" discretion to judge the "quality and significance" of his cooperation. In June 2011 the government filed a motion under Rule 35(b) for a reduction of sentence, which it later called a "placeholder motion," reserving the right to withdraw it if he should "fail to testify truthfully, or falsely implicate any person or entity." On September 26, 2017, with the motion still undecided, the government moved to withdraw it, having concluded that Rothstein "provided false material information to [the Government] and violated the terms of his plea agreement." The district court granted the withdrawal without an evidentiary hearing, and on September 30, 2019 a panel of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit|Eleventh Circuit]] (Tjoflat, William Pryor and Grant) affirmed, holding that Rothstein "cannot credibly claim that he had no idea that withdrawal was a possibility."[^4] + +### Epstein v. Rothstein + +In 2009 Epstein sued Rothstein and Edwards in the circuit court for [[Palm Beach County]], Epstein v. Rothstein, No. 50-2009-CA-040800, for civil racketeering and fraud, alleging that Edwards had fabricated claims and helped Rothstein market bogus settlement rights involving the sexual abuse claims against Epstein. Edwards had worked briefly at the firm; in May 2009 he signed emails as "Partner, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler," including an exchange with the [[Palm Beach Post]] courts reporter Susan Spencer-Wendel about the sealed [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]]: "The case in which the Non-prosecution agreement was released to the victims and victim's attorneys is Jane Doe v. United States of America. 08-80736. It was released pursuant to protective order which is why I cannot discuss the contents." Edwards was not implicated in Rothstein's fraud.[^2][^5] + +Epstein's witness and exhibit list named "SCOTT ROTHSTEIN individually" and a former employee of the firm as a witness. His requests for production sought "[e]ach investor and potential investor who reviewed approximately ten (10) boxes of cases, real or fabricated, against Jeffrey Epstein" shown by Rothstein "to solicit third party investments"; any agreements "relating to any case (real or fabricated) involving Jeffrey Epstein and Scott W. Rothstein"; documents purporting to show "any transfer of funds or property to investors from Jeffrey Epstein by way of RRA for the settlement of any case, real or fabricated, against Jeffrey Epstein"; "[t]he entire bankruptcy file In Re: Rothstein Rosenfeldt"; and all "Q-Task Projects" referring to Epstein or "Jane Doe."[^3] + +Epstein dropped his claims against Edwards in August 2012, and Edwards counterclaimed for malicious prosecution, alleging that the suit was designed to intimidate him and his clients into abandoning their cases. [[Paul Cassell]] and [[Jay Howell]] appeared as limited intervenor co-counsel for three of Epstein's victims; on March 7, 2018 Howell filed an emergency notice of appearance "for the victims" in the case, then styled Jeffrey Epstein, Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant, v. Scott Rothstein and Bradley J. Edwards. On February 25, 2018 Epstein wrote to the former [[White House]] Counsel [[Kathryn Ruemmler]] about a newly discovered "email trail": "now the issue is how to use, it, [[Crime Victims' Rights Act|CVRA]]? marie? Bar. USA[?]. scoff rothsteins prosecutors that w[i]thdrew his r[ule] 35 [ ] filing. nurik, rothsteins lawyer on some of t[h]e emails. Judge marra, cvra.? press? move f[o]r sanctions? strategy time." Ruemmler replied: "How did you discover it? Let's discuss in the a.m." On November 9, 2018 Epstein's counsel, among them [[Jack Goldberger]], moved for in camera inspection of 302 emails withheld on a 1,607-entry privilege log by Edwards and Cassell, arguing that most were "e-mails among attorneys and staff" and "with media sources." Epstein settled the counterclaim in December 2018 with a written apology to Edwards.[^2][^6][^7][^8] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, "Fort Lauderdale Attorney Sentenced to 50 Years in Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme," press release, June 9, 2010. https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/fls/PressReleases/2010/100609-01.html +[^2]: "Millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein apologizes in settling malicious prosecution suit," *CNN,* December 4, 2018. https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/04/politics/jeffrey-epstein-lawsuit-settled ; "Wealthy Sex Offender Settles Suit, Averting Accusers' Testimony," *Courthouse News Service,* December 4, 2018. https://www.courthousenews.com/wealthy-sex-offender-settles-suit-averting-accusers-testimony/ +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02764032, Court Records (Epstein v. Rothstein, No. 50-2009-CA-040800-XXXX-MB (Fla. 15th Cir. Ct. 2009)), Plaintiff Jeffrey Epstein's Witness and Exhibit List and Request for Production, pp. 1, 8 to 9 (EFTA02764040). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Epstein%20v.%20Rothstein%2C%20No.%2050-2009-CA-040800-XXXX-MB%20(Fla.%2015th%20Cir.%20Ct.%202009)/EFTA02764032.pdf +[^4]: *United States v. Rothstein*, No. 18-11796 (11th Cir. Sept. 30, 2019) (Tjoflat, W. Pryor, Grant, JJ.), D.C. Docket No. 0:09-cr-60331-JIC-1. https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201811796.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01099665, DataSet 9, email exchange, Bradley J. Edwards, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, and Susan Spencer-Wendel, *Palm Beach Post,* May 22 to 28, 2009. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01099665.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00800879, DataSet 9, Emergency Notice of Appearance of Jay C. Howell, Jay Howell & Associates, Epstein v. Rothstein, No. 50-2009-CA-040800 (Fla. 15th Cir. Ct.), March 7, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00800879.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02522534, DataSet 11, email chain, Jeffrey Epstein and Kathy Ruemmler, "Re: this email trail was discovered today," February 25 to 26, 2018 (duplicate at EFTA02522094). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02522534.pdf +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02768436, Court Records (Epstein v. Rothstein, No. 50-2009-CA-040800-XXXX-MB (Fla. 15th Cir. Ct. 2009)), Counter-Defendant Jeffrey Epstein's Motion for an In Camera Inspection of E-mails, e-filed November 9, 2018, pp. 1, 3, 17, 21. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Epstein%20v.%20Rothstein%2C%20No.%2050-2009-CA-040800-XXXX-MB%20(Fla.%2015th%20Cir.%20Ct.%202009)/EFTA02768436.pdf diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Stacey Plaskett.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Stacey Plaskett.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..0998d2df --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Stacey Plaskett.md @@ -0,0 +1,122 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - StaceyPlaskett + - JeffreyEpstein + - VirginIslands + - Congress + - CampaignFinance + - HousePermanentSelectCommitteeOnIntelligence + - EconomicDevelopmentCommission +alias: + - Stacey E. Plaskett + - Delegate Stacey Plaskett + - Del. Stacey Plaskett +summary: "Virgin Islands delegate to Congress since 2015, formerly counsel to the territory's Economic Development Commission, whose 2014 island meeting, campaign receipts and 2019 hearing texts with Jeffrey Epstein drew a failed 2025 censure." +born: 1966-05-13 +location: "Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Department of Justice]]" + role: "counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division" + fn: 1 + - type: member_of + with: "[[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]]" + fn: 3 + - type: funded + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + role: "campaign contributor" + start: 2016-08-04 + end: 2018-07-23 + fn: 5 + - type: funded + with: "[[Darren Indyke]]" + reverse: true + role: "campaign contributor" + start: 2014-07-03 + end: 2018-07-23 + fn: 5 + - type: funded + with: "[[Richard Kahn]]" + reverse: true + role: "campaign contributor" + start: 2014-07-03 + end: 2018-07-23 + fn: 5 + - type: funded + with: "[[Lesley Groff]]" + reverse: true + role: "campaign contributor" + start: 2014-07-15 + fn: 5 + - type: subject_of + with: "[[Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands]]" + role: "defendant" + start: 2023-11-22 + fn: 10 +--- + +Stacey E. Plaskett (born May 13, 1966, in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City|New York]]) is the Democratic delegate of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] to the [[United States House of Representatives]], a seat she has held since January 6, 2015. Before her election she was a Bronx prosecutor, counsel to the House ethics committee, a lawyer in the [[Department of Justice]] Civil Division and, from 2007 to 2014, general counsel of the territory's [[Economic Development Commission]]. In August 2014 she accepted an invitation from [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s office to meet him on [[Little St. James]]. Epstein and three members of his staff gave 32,100 dollars to her campaign committee between 2014 and 2018. Documents released by the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]] in November 2025 included text messages Epstein exchanged with her during the February 27, 2019 hearing at which [[Michael Cohen]] testified, and a resolution to censure her and remove her from the [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]] failed by five votes on November 18, 2025.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Career Before Congress + +Plaskett was born to parents from [[St. Croix]]. She graduated from the School of Foreign Service of [[Georgetown University]] in 1988 and from the Washington College of Law of [[American University]] in 1994. She served as an assistant district attorney in the Narcotics Bureau of the [[Bronx]] District Attorney's office and as counsel to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. At the Department of Justice she was counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division and acting deputy assistant attorney general for the Torts Branch, working with the Terrorism Litigation Task Force and the [[September 11th Victim Compensation Fund]]. She was then deputy general counsel of [[UnitedHealth Group]]'s Medicare and Medicaid division before moving to the Virgin Islands.[^1] + +From 2007 to 2014 she was general counsel of the Economic Development Commission and the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]], the bodies that administered the territory's tax-exemption program. In those years the commission amended the benefits of Epstein's [[Financial Trust Company]] in 2012 and issued the January 24, 2014 certificate of [[Southern Trust Company]], both over the signature of its chairman, [[Albert Bryan]].[^2] + +### The August 2014 Meeting on Little St. James + +On August 14, 2014 Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] wrote to Plaskett, copying the Virgin Islands trust lawyer [[Erika Kellerhals]]: "Hello Stacey, just circling back...will you be able to meet with Jeffrey on his island on Monday Aug. 18th at 11am? Erika, if Stacey is available for this, will you be going as well?" Plaskett, signing as "Stacey Plaskett, Esq.," answered, "Let me know what is convenient for Jeffrey late morning Monday," and then, "I thought I responded yes I will be available. Please share details on time and transportation to Jeffrey." Groff replied that the woman who managed Epstein's island would coordinate. Groff had contributed 2,600 dollars to Plaskett's campaign on July 15, 2014, a month earlier. Plaskett won the delegate's seat that November.[^4][^5] + +### Campaign Contributions + +Itemized receipts filed with the [[Federal Election Commission]] by her principal campaign committee, Virgin Islands for Plaskett, record the following contributions from Epstein and his staff: + +| Contributor | Date | Amount (dollars) | +|---|---|---| +| [[Darren Indyke]] | July 3, 2014 | 2,600 | +| [[Richard Kahn]] | July 3, 2014 | 2,600 | +| Lesley Groff | July 15, 2014 | 2,600 | +| Jeffrey Epstein | August 4, 2016 | 2,700 (two contributions) | +| Darren Indyke | August 4, 2016 | 2,700 (two contributions) | +| Richard Kahn | August 4, 2016 | 2,700 (two contributions) | +| Jeffrey Epstein | July 23, 2018 | 2,700 | +| Darren Indyke | July 23, 2018 | 2,700 | +| Richard Kahn | July 23, 2018 | 2,700 | + +The total is 32,100 dollars: 8,100 from Epstein, 10,700 each from Indyke and Kahn, who later became the co-executors of his estate, and 2,600 from Groff.[^5] + +On July 8, 2019, two days after Epstein's arrest, her spokesman told [[CNBC]] she was "pretty sure" she would not return the money. She reversed the next day: "In light of new information and allegations that have been made against Jeffrey Epstein I have decided to make contributions to Virgin Islands organizations that work with women and children in the amount of his previous contributions." She said her "litmus test for accepting campaign contributions has been based on whether the donor's money was made legally or by ill-gotten means and that the contributor will not ask of me or my Congressional office for any special favors," and that "in this case however, I am uncomfortable having received money from someone who has been accused of these egregious actions multiple times." Her office said the money would go to the Women's Coalition and the Family Resource Center.[^6] + +### The Cohen Hearing Texts + +On February 27, 2019 Michael Cohen, [[Donald Trump]]'s former personal lawyer, testified before the House Oversight Committee on Trump's business practices and payments. Among the Epstein estate documents the committee released in November 2025 were text messages, the recipient's name redacted, that the [[Washington Post]] matched to Plaskett by content and timing and that her office confirmed. Epstein wrote, "Cohen brought up RONA - keeper of the secrets," a reference to the Trump assistant [[Rhona Graff]]. Plaskett answered, "RONA??" and at 2:25 p.m., "Quick I'm up next is that an acronym." Epstein replied, "Thats his assistant." Plaskett began questioning Cohen at 2:28 p.m. and asked about Graff and other Trump associates. At 2:34 p.m., a minute after she finished, Epstein wrote, "Good work." In another exchange Epstein wrote, "Hes opened the door to questions re who are the other henchmen at trump org," and Plaskett replied, "Yup. Very aware and waiting my turn."[^7][^8] + +Her spokesperson said: "During the hearing, Congresswoman Plaskett received texts from staff, constituents and the public at large offering advice, support and in some cases partisan vitriol, including from Epstein. As a former prosecutor she welcomes information that helps her get at the truth and took on the GOP that was trying to bury the truth. The congresswoman has previously made clear her long record combating sexual assault and human trafficking, her disgust over Epstein's deviant behavior and her support for his victims."[^7] + +### The Censure Resolution + +On November 18, 2025 Representative [[Ralph Norman]] of South Carolina and twenty other Republicans introduced H.Res. 888, "Censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett and removing her from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for conduct that reflects discreditably on the House of Representatives for colluding with convicted felony sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing." Its preamble recited the hearing texts, Epstein's 2008 Florida plea and her Justice Department service. It would have directed the [[House Committee on Ethics]] to investigate "the extent of Plaskett's ties to Epstein and any potential further improprieties" and removed her from the intelligence committee.[^8] + +A motion to refer the resolution to the Ethics Committee failed that afternoon, 213 to 214. The resolution itself failed at 9:07 p.m., 209 to 214, with three members voting present. Three Republicans, [[Don Bacon]] of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas and David Joyce of Ohio, voted against it; Andrew Garbarino of New York, Daniel Meuser of Pennsylvania and Jay Obernolte of California voted present. No Democrat voted for it. Plaskett remained on the intelligence committee in the 119th Congress, assigned to its subcommittees on the National Intelligence Enterprise and on Defense Intelligence and Overhead Architecture, and also sat on the Ways and Means and Budget committees.[^3][^9] + +### Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands + +On November 22, 2023 six women using pseudonyms, represented by Jordan Merson of Merson Law, sued the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands|Government of the Virgin Islands]], former Governor [[John de Jongh]] and [[Cecile de Jongh]], Governor [[Kenneth Mapp]], Attorney General [[Vincent Frazer]], Senators [[Celestino White]] and [[Carlton Dowe]], Plaskett and one hundred unnamed defendants in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]], under the [[Trafficking Victims Protection Act]], negligence law and the civil provisions of [[RICO]], alleging that territorial officials "negligently and/or intentionally provided special treatment to Epstein and his sex-trafficking venture." The case was assigned to Judge [[Arun Subramanian]]. Plaskett was served on February 7, 2024 and was represented by Eric Breslin. The district court docket closed on September 23, 2025. An appeal to the [[Second Circuit]], No. 26-1316, was docketed on May 13, 2026 and names her among the appellees; it remained open in September 2026. Plaskett's office has described her disgust at Epstein's conduct and her support for his victims.[^7][^10] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce, "Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.)," member biography, March 17, 2021. https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/111335/witnesses/HHRG-117-IF14-Bio-P000610-20210317.pdf ; U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Historian, "PLASKETT, Stacey E.," History, Art & Archives. https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/15032410230 ; unitedstates/congress-legislators project, legislators-current.json (birth date and terms, compiled from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress), accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json +[^2]: Suzanne Carlson, "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 ; Suzanne Carlson, "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 +[^3]: unitedstates/congress-legislators project, committee-membership-current.json, 119th Congress, accessed September 25, 2026. https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/committee-membership-current.json +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02099269, DataSet 10, email chain, Lesley Groff, Stacey Plaskett and Erika Kellerhals, August 14, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02099269.pdf +[^5]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A itemized receipts, Committee ID C00528182 (Virgin Islands for Plaskett), contributors "EPSTEIN, JEFFREY," "INDYKE, DARREN," "KAHN, RICHARD," "GROFF, LESLEY," accessed via the OpenFEC API, September 25, 2026. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?committee_id=C00528182&contributor_name=EPSTEIN +[^6]: Brian Schwartz, "Democratic congresswoman will return Jeffrey Epstein donation," *CNBC,* July 9, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/democratic-congresswoman-will-return-jeffrey-epstein-donation.html +[^7]: Annie Grayer and Kaanita Iyer, "House Democrat exchanged texts with Epstein during 2019 congressional hearing," *CNN,* November 14, 2025, updated November 15, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/14/politics/epstein-texts-stacey-plaskett +[^8]: U.S. House of Representatives, H.Res. 888, 119th Congress, 1st Session, introduced November 18, 2025. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hres888ih/html/BILLS-119hres888ih.htm +[^9]: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 293 (On Motion to Refer) and Roll Call 297 (On Agreeing to the Resolution), H.Res. 888, November 18, 2025. https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2025/roll293.xml ; https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2025/roll297.xml +[^10]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301 (S.D.N.Y.), complaint filed November 22, 2023, amended December 13, 2023, affidavit of service on Stacey Plaskett (February 7, 2024), terminated September 23, 2025, CourtListener docket 68031620. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68031620/doe-1-v-government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands/ ; Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 26-1316 (2d Cir.), docketed May 13, 2026, CourtListener docket 73544397. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73544397/doe-1-v-government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Celestino White.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Celestino White.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..1089104b --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Celestino White.md @@ -0,0 +1,85 @@ +--- +category: "Political Figure" +tags: + - Person + - CelestinoWhite + - VirginIslands + - VirginIslandsPortAuthority + - JeffreyEpstein + - GovernmentCapture + - Lobbying +alias: + - Celestino White Sr. + - Celestino A. White Sr. + - Senator Celestino White +summary: "Former Virgin Islands police chief and senator who signed a paid contractor agreement with Jeffrey Epstein in 2013 and has sat on the Port Authority board since 2020, reconfirmed in 2026." +location: "St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Virgin Islands Police Department]]" + role: "chief of police" + fn: 5 + - type: member_of + with: "[[Legislature of the Virgin Islands]]" + end: 2013 + role: "senator" + fn: 1 + - type: contractor_to + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + start: 2013-08 + role: "contractor's agreement and confidentiality agreement, 10,000 dollars" + fn: 5 + - type: member_of + with: "[[Virgin Islands Port Authority]]" + start: 2020-02 + role: "governing board member" + fn: 6 + - type: subject_of + with: "[[Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands]]" + start: 2023-11-22 + end: 2025-03-21 + role: "defendant" + fn: 1 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Celestino A. White Sr. is a former chief of police and senator of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] who met [[Jeffrey Epstein]] at the office of [[Southern Trust Company]] in July 2013, signed a contractor's and confidentiality agreement with him for 10,000 dollars the following month, and was recommended to Epstein by [[Cecile de Jongh]] in 2015 for a monthly retainer that "will get you his loyalty and access." Governor [[Albert Bryan]] nominated him to the governing board of the [[Virgin Islands Port Authority]] in 2020 and renominated him after the 2026 release of Justice Department files showing that White had offered to work on Epstein's behalf, including on the purchase of the government-owned Dog Island. The [[Legislature of the Virgin Islands]] confirmed him to a third board term in March 2026 under an "exceptional service" exception to its two-term limit.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### Police Chief and Senator + +White was chief of police before entering the Legislature. The federal court that heard the 2023 trafficking suit against him recorded, from the defendants' filing, that he was a senator "until 2013." Appearing before the Legislature's Rules and Judiciary Committee in February 2020, he described a 42-year career in public service.[^1][^5][^6] + +In 2012, while White sat in the Legislature, the senators passed Bill 29-0239, enacted as Act No. 7372, which expanded the monitoring of sex offenders and required 21 days' advance notice of travel, with discretion for the Attorney General to reduce it. The second amended complaint in [[Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] quotes a July 1, 2012 email from Cecile de Jongh, the office manager of Epstein's territorial companies and wife of Governor [[John de Jongh]], to Epstein: "Will need to work through Dowe and White" to change the legislation, and "In the meantime, we will work with Vincent to give the discretion for status quo for you - thats the least he can do." Attorney General [[Vincent Frazer]] cut Epstein's notice period to 24 hours on August 14, 2012. The complaint alleged that "Epstein was thus allowed to circumvent the recently passed legislation with assistance of Senator Carlton Dowe, Senator Celestino White, and Attorney General Vincent Frazer."[^4][^7] + +### Work for Epstein + +A calendar alert in Epstein's files records a "3:30pm Appt w/Celestino White at STC" on July 2, 2013, STC being Southern Trust Company, the firm whose territorial tax-incentive certificate was then pending. In August 2013 White signed a contractor's and confidentiality agreement with Epstein for 10,000 dollars. On October 16, 2014 Cecile de Jongh wrote to Epstein that "Kenn Mapp and Celestino White wanted to see you," adding that they would be in New York for a fundraiser; she asked how much he would contribute to the [[St. Croix]] District Democratic Party, and he agreed to give 15,000 dollars. After [[Kenneth Mapp]] won the governorship that November, White offered to obtain tickets for Epstein to the inaugural events.[^4][^5][^8] + +On February 11, 2015 Cecile de Jongh wrote to Epstein, as quoted in the Doe complaint: "you might want to consider putting Celestino on some sort of monthly retainer...that is what will get you his loyalty and access." In March 2015, preparing Epstein for a meeting with White and Mapp at [[Government House (U.S. Virgin Islands)|Government House]], she wrote: "When you get to Government House, there is a sign in book for visitors at the entrance. I have asked Celestino to arrange to have you not sign in and he said that he would take care of it."[^4][^5] + +The documents released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] on January 30, 2026 showed that White offered to work on Epstein's behalf on several issues, including helping to negotiate the purchase of the government-owned Dog Island. The Doe complaint's chart of defendants listed against White the entries "Waiver sex offender registry," "'Loyalty and access' for Epstein," "Controlled CZM commission," a reference to the [[Coastal Zone Management Commission]], and "Changed sex trafficking law in accord with Epstein's lawyer's recommendations," and as benefits "Drafted [[Economic Development Commission|EDC]] legislation," "Monthly retainer," and "$10,000 to consult changing name of one of Epstein's islands." No public statement by White on the documents was found.[^2][^4] + +### The Port Authority Board + +On February 6, 2020 the Rules and Judiciary Committee forwarded White's nomination to the Port Authority board to the full Legislature without dissent among the members voting. He told the committee the airports' "low-hanging fruit" had to come first: "The community to which we're looking for support is never going to believe us when we say all these things are going to happen, when we can't take care of the things right in front of us." He cited the authority's 35 million dollar program at [[Cyril E. King Airport]], 20 million dollars at [[Henry E. Rohlsen Airport]] and 110 million dollars in marine projects, and supported folding the West Indian Company dock into the authority, which he said was "established some 50 years ago with a specific purpose to oversee all seaports and airports."[^6] + +At a press briefing on March 2, 2026, asked about his renomination of White after the release of the Dog Island material, Governor Bryan answered: "Is lobbying illegal in the Virgin Islands." Bryan has said the record shows no special privilege afforded Epstein by his administration. At the committee's hearing of February 26, 2026 on White, the board chairman Willard John and Leona Smith, all of whom had served two terms, Senator [[Kenneth Gittens]] told White that "at some point I wanted you to just bow out or retire gracefully"; White answered, "Longevity has its place," and described himself as holding "a master's degree in common sense and a PhD in street sense, from the school of hard knocks." The full Legislature confirmed the three nominees for further terms on March 18, 2026 by votes of 11 to 3, with Gittens, Franklin Johnson and Clifford Joseph Sr. opposed. Two days later the authority's executive director, [[Carlton Dowe]], White's former Senate colleague and co-defendant, appeared in District Court on a federal bank fraud indictment and gave the board notice of his retirement.[^2][^3][^9][^10] + +### The Trafficking Suit + +Six women identified as Jane Does named White, in his individual and official capacities, in their November 22, 2023 suit in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]] against the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]], John and Cecile de Jongh, Mapp, Frazer, Dowe and Delegate [[Stacey Plaskett]] under the [[Trafficking Victims Protection Act]]. On March 21, 2025 Judge [[Arun Subramanian]] dismissed the claims against White for lack of personal jurisdiction, holding that the only New York connection pleaded for him, as for the de Jonghs, Mapp and Frazer, was that Epstein's payments came from New York accounts. Final judgment was entered on May 5, 2026, and the plaintiffs appealed to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|Second Circuit]].[^1][^11] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Opinion and Order, ECF No. 202 (March 21, 2025), pp. 1 to 2, 10 to 14. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.202.0.pdf +[^2]: 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 +[^3]: Eader, Tom. "VIPA ED Carlton Dowe indicted on bank fraud, tells board of retirement same day as court appearance." *WTJX,* March 20, 2026 (confirmation of John, Smith and White by votes of 11 to 3). https://newsfeed.wtjx.org/2026-03-20/vipa-ed-carlton-dowe-indicted-on-bank-fraud-tells-board-of-retirement-same-day-as-court-appearance +[^4]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), paragraphs 4 to 6 and charts (Exhibits B, F and J), pp. 2 to 8, and paragraphs 137 and 161. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^5]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Files reveal Epstein's efforts to influence V.I. officials; emails with Mapp." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/files-reveal-epstein-s-efforts-to-influence-v-i-officials-emails-with-mapp/article_2dd4fe69-4daf-4dc2-b3b8-37a929002bb6.html ; Gilbert, Ernice. "Former Gov. Kenneth Mapp Visited Epstein's Island, Sought $50,000 for Final Election Push, DOJ Records Show." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* January 31, 2026. https://viconsortium.com/vi-federal/virgin-islands-former-gov--kenneth-mapp-visited-epstein-s-island--sought--50-000-for--final-push---doj-records-show +[^6]: Lee, Bethaney. "Former Senator Celestino White Approved for Port Authority Board." *St. Thomas Source,* February 6, 2020, captured February 7, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200207131359/https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/02/06/former-senator-celestino-white-approved-for-port-authority-board/ +[^7]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 83, ECF No. 194-24 (filed June 20, 2023), pp. 36 to 47 (correspondence of July and August 2012 on Act No. 7372). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011719/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/194-24.pdf +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02134821, DataSet 10, calendar alert, "3:30pm Appt w/Celestino White at STC," July 2, 2013 (duplicates EFTA02134505 and EFTA02134861). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02134821.pdf +[^9]: Charlemagne, Nelcia. "After Two-Term Limit, VIPA Board Nominees Advance on 'Exceptional Service' Vote." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* February 27, 2026. https://viconsortium.com/vi-senate/virgin-islands-after-two-term-limit--vipa-board-nominees-advance-on--exceptional-service--vote +[^10]: "Bryan 'Absolutely' Supports an Epstein Inquiry, Denies Wrongdoing." *St. Thomas Source,* March 2, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20260809212846/https://stthomassource.com/content/2026/03/02/bryan-absolutely-supports-an-epstein-inquiry-denies-wrongdoing/ +[^11]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), docket, including Judgment, ECF No. 229 (May 5, 2026); Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 26-1316 (2d Cir.), docket. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68031620/doe-1-v-government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands/ ; https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73544397/doe-1-v-government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands/ diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Larry Visoski.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Larry Visoski.md index 1b920390..06317d44 100644 --- a/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Larry Visoski.md +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Larry Visoski.md @@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr., known as Larry Visoski, is an American pilot who flew ### Aircraft Companies -In August and September 2021, while prosecutors prepared the Maxwell trial, a special agent of the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]'s Law Enforcement Assistance Program in [[Atlanta]] summarized for federal investigators the registration files of ten aircraft connected to Epstein. Of a [[Bell 430]] helicopter registered to [[Hyperion Air]], Inc. in 2012, renumbered N331JE and transferred in August 2013 to Hyperion Air LLC of [[St. Thomas]], the agent wrote that "the same players in the Inc and LLC are on the FAA registration paperwork, Darren INDYKE and Lawrence VISOSKI," a reference to Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]]. A 1988 Gulfstream G-IV was registered in May 2013 to JEGE, LLC of St. Thomas, a company formed in the Virgin Islands on October 19, 2012, whose members were Epstein and Visoski; Visoski changed its registration number to N212JE in 2013 and to N120JE in 2017.[^4] +In August and September 2021, while prosecutors prepared the Maxwell trial, a special agent of the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]'s Law Enforcement Assistance Program in [[Atlanta]] summarized for federal investigators the registration files of ten aircraft connected to Epstein. Of a [[Bell 430]] helicopter registered to [[Hyperion Air]], Inc. in 2012, renumbered N331JE and transferred in August 2013 to Hyperion Air LLC of [[St. Thomas]], the agent wrote that "the same players in the Inc and LLC are on the FAA registration paperwork, Darren INDYKE and Lawrence VISOSKI," a reference to Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]]. A 1988 Gulfstream G-IV was registered in May 2013 to [[JEGE, Inc.|JEGE, LLC]] of St. Thomas, a company formed in the Virgin Islands on October 19, 2012, whose members were Epstein and Visoski; Visoski changed its registration number to N212JE in 2013 and to N120JE in 2017.[^4] A 2007 Gulfstream G550 was sold by [[Chevron]] USA on March 29, 2017 to Plan D LLC, a Virgin Islands company of which Epstein was a member and Visoski the manager, and took the number N212JE in January 2018. The agent wrote: "I don't see EPSTEIN's name on any of the FAA paperwork." Flight plans show the jet flying from [[Paris]] to [[Teterboro Airport|Teterboro]] on July 7, 2019 and from Teterboro to Brunswick, [[Georgia]], on July 11. On December 22, 2020, sixteen months after Epstein's death, Visoski, for Plan D, "sold" the aircraft to Six G Aviation LLC, which "sold" it the same day to N550GP LLC of Ontario, [[California]].[^4] -Visoski signed as director of aviation when Air Ghislaine Inc., the company that held a [[Bell 407]] helicopter registered N491GM, bought a Sikorsky S-76C-2 on December 30, 2008. Air Ghislaine changed its name to Shmitka Air Inc. on February 11, 2010 and to Freedom Air International Inc. on July 6, 2010. The Sikorsky, renumbered N722JE, was sold in 2011 to ASI Wings LLC of Hartford, [[Connecticut]], and bought back on June 13, 2019 by Hyperion Air LLC, with Visoski signing as manager, three weeks before Epstein's arrest; Hyperion sold it on May 13, 2021. The agent found no aircraft registered to Epstein or Maxwell personally.[^4] +Visoski signed as director of aviation when [[Air Ghislaine, Inc.|Air Ghislaine Inc.]], the company that held a [[Bell 407]] helicopter registered N491GM, bought a Sikorsky S-76C-2 on December 30, 2008. Air Ghislaine changed its name to Shmitka Air Inc. on February 11, 2010 and to Freedom Air International Inc. on July 6, 2010. The Sikorsky, renumbered N722JE, was sold in 2011 to ASI Wings LLC of Hartford, [[Connecticut]], and bought back on June 13, 2019 by Hyperion Air LLC, with Visoski signing as manager, three weeks before Epstein's arrest; Hyperion sold it on May 13, 2021. The agent found no aircraft registered to Epstein or Maxwell personally.[^4] The territory's 2020 suit against Epstein's estate, filed by Attorney General [[Denise George]], described Plan D, LLC, the owner of the Gulfstream N212JE, as listing Visoski as its sole manager until a July 31, 2019 annual report named Epstein as the principal. It described Hyperion Air, LLC, organized October 19, 2012 with Epstein and Visoski as managers, as the owner of a Bell helicopter (N331JE) and a Keystone helicopter (N722JE) that it alleged Epstein used "to transport young women and underage girls between St. Thomas and [[Little St. James]]." The complaint also named Freedom Air Petroleum LLC and JEGE LLC among the Virgin Islands companies in the enterprise.[^5] diff --git a/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Martin Weinberg.md b/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Martin Weinberg.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7993af2e --- /dev/null +++ b/10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Martin Weinberg.md @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Person + - MartinWeinberg + - Lawyer + - CriminalDefense + - JeffreyEpstein + - FreedomOfInformationAct + - Boston +alias: + - Martin Weinberg + - Martin G. Weinberg + - Martin G. Weinberg, P.C. +summary: "Boston criminal defense lawyer who argued United States v. Chadwick, represented Jeffrey Epstein from 2007, filed his 2011 FBI and CIA records requests, and appeared at his 2019 New York hearings." +location: "Boston, Massachusetts" +relations: + - type: represented + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + role: "defense counsel" + start: 2007-12 + end: 2019-08-27 + fn: 3 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Doe v. United States]]" + role: "movant to intervene in his own name" + start: 2011-04-07 + fn: 6 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[United States v. Epstein]]" + role: "defense counsel" + start: 2019-07 + end: 2019-08-29 + fn: 9 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Martin G. Weinberg is a [[Boston]] criminal defense and appellate lawyer, a 1971 graduate of [[Harvard Law School]], who argued the Fourth Amendment case [[United States v. Chadwick]] before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in 1977. He represented [[Jeffrey Epstein]] at a December 2007 meeting with U.S. Attorney [[Alexander Acosta]] on the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]], moved in 2011 to intervene in his own name in the victims' suit [[Doe v. United States]], filed Privacy Act and [[Freedom of Information Act]] requests with the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] for Epstein's records in 2010 and 2011, and appeared for Epstein in [[United States v. Epstein]] in 2019.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Career + +Weinberg was admitted in [[Massachusetts]] in 1972. He was an associate at Crane, Inker & Oteri in Boston from 1972 to 1973 and a partner from 1973 to 1975, a partner of Oteri, Weinberg & Lawson from 1975 to 1997, and since 1997 has practiced as Martin G. Weinberg, P.C., at 20 Park Plaza in Boston. He argued Chadwick on April 26, 1977, and in 2010 challenged the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s use of the [[Stored Communications Act]] to seize the content of emails in United States v. Warshak. His firm describes his clients as including "prominent trial attorneys, public officials, union leaders, corporate executives, health care executives, and internet pioneers," on charges ranging from health care fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and political corruption to RICO and "internet sex offenses." He is a former director of the [[National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers]], co-chair of its Lawyers' Assistance Strike Force, and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.[^1] + +### The Non-Prosecution Agreement + +After the agreement was signed on September 24, 2007, Epstein's lawyers sought to renegotiate it and to have it set aside in Washington. On December 14, 2007 Weinberg, [[Kenneth Starr]], [[Alan Dershowitz]] and [[Gerald Lefcourt]] met Acosta in [[Miami]]; three days later Starr and [[Jay Lefkowitz]] sent Acosta a 110-page letter invoking the [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] State Attorney's view that Epstein should not have to register as a sex offender.[^3][^4] + +On June 30, 2009, during Epstein's work release from the Palm Beach County jail, Epstein wrote to Weinberg: "when is a good time to speak." Weinberg answered "noon?" and Epstein replied "great."[^5] + +On April 7, 2011, after the petitioners in Doe v. United States moved to use the plea correspondence between prosecutors and defense counsel as evidence and to unseal it, Weinberg, [[Roy Black]] and Lefkowitz moved to intervene in their own names. Epstein moved for limited intervention on September 2, 2011.[^6] + +### The FBI and CIA Requests + +In July 2011 Epstein, through Weinberg, had requests pending with both the FBI and the CIA for the records the agencies held on him. On July 18, 2011 Weinberg's assistant reported that the CIA's FOIA office had said it had no standard privacy waiver form and that the Justice Department's form would suffice. Epstein asked: "did we fill out one for the fbi foia? did we not send anything yet to cia?" Weinberg replied: "yes, we filled out fbi privacy waiver with VI address last year, we filed CIA FOIA - they have it - we need a separate privacy waiver signed in 2011 for them to fully process, we can fill it out based on fbi one, pdf to you for signature and return." The FBI Privacy Waiver and Certification of Identity gave Epstein's address as [[St. Thomas]], [[U.S. Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]], with a prior address at [[358 El Brillo Way]], Palm Beach, and authorized release of the records to Weinberg.[^7] + +### United States v. Epstein + +After Epstein's arrest on July 6, 2019, Weinberg appeared with [[Reid Weingarten]] and [[Marc Fernich]] before Judge [[Richard M. Berman]]. The government reported that the safe in Epstein's Manhattan townhouse held an expired foreign passport bearing his photograph and another name, with stamps showing entries to France, Spain, the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Saudi Arabia]] in the 1980s. Fernich, Weinberg and Weingarten replied on July 18, 2019 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."[^8] + +Epstein was found dead in the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York|Metropolitan Correctional Center]] on August 10, 2019. At the public hearing on the government's application for an order of nolle prosequi on August 27, 2019, Weingarten and Weinberg appeared for the defense opposite Assistant U.S. Attorneys [[Maurene Comey]] and [[Alison Moe]]; Berman signed the order on August 29.[^9] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Martin G. Weinberg, P.C., "Martin G. Weinberg" (firm biography) and firm home page. https://www.martinweinberglaw.com/martin-g-weinberg ; https://www.martinweinberglaw.com/ +[^2]: 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 +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284, Prior DOJ Disclosures, Office of Professional Responsibility, report, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," November 2020, pp. 9, 59, 94 to 99, 105 to 110. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1, privileged chronology of the federal investigation, pp. 12 to 14, 24 to 29. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00883010, DataSet 9, exchange between Jeffrey Epstein (jeevacation@gmail.com) and Martin Weinberg, June 30, 2009. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00883010.pdf +[^6]: Docket, *Doe v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla.), ECF Nos. 46 to 51, 55, 56, 68, 70, 93 (March to September 2011), CourtListener. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4502088/doe-v-united-states/ +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library: Jeffrey Epstein to Martin Weinberg, "Re: CIA FOIA Request," July 18, 2011, 15:01, quoting Evan Capps, EFTA00915248; Martin Weinberg to Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: CIA FOIA Request," July 18, 2011, 15:06, 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 +[^8]: *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, July 16, 2019. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.518649/gov.uscourts.nysd.518649.23.0_2.pdf ; ECF No. 30, Letter from AUSA Alison Moe, July 17, 2019; 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/ +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02733081, Court Records (CA Florida Holdings, LLC, Publisher of the Palm Beach Post v. Aronberg, No. 50-2019-CA-014681-XXXX-MB (Fla. 15th Cir. Ct. 2019)), appendix item 11, transcript of hearing, United States v. Jeffrey Epstein, 19 Cr. 490 (RMB) (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 27, 2019), beginning at EFTA02733613. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/CA%20Florida%20Holdings%2C%20LLC%2C%20Publisher%20of%20the%20Palm%20Beach%20Post%20v.%20Aronberg%2C%20No.%2050-2019-CA-014681-XXXX-MB%20(Fla.%2015th%20Cir.%20Ct.%202019)/EFTA02733081.pdf ; *United States v. Epstein*, No. 1:19-cr-00490-RMB (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 52 (Aug. 29, 2019). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15887848/united-states-v-epstein/ diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/DEA.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/DEA.md index d4a5517c..c5f0ab0a 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/DEA.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/DEA.md @@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ DEA agent [[Celerino Castillo]] discovered Contra cocaine trafficking at [[Ilopa ### Castillo Investigation and Ilopango -Celerino Castillo discovered Contra cocaine trafficking at Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador and was subsequently forced to retire.[^2] Castillo began firing off reports to DEA headquarters in January 1986 about suspicious activities of Contra pilots, listing their names, destinations, tail numbers, and criminal records. He received no replies and no offers of assistance. When Ambassador Edwin Corr requested an internal DEA review, the DEA informed him that Castillo's information was "totally inaccurate" and ordered him to close the investigation. The DEA later claimed under FOIA that it had no reports from Castillo about drug trafficking at Ilopango - a claim the Justice Department Inspector General exposed as false, having located and quoted from the reports.[^6] +Celerino Castillo discovered Contra cocaine trafficking at Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador and was subsequently forced to retire.[^2] Castillo began firing off reports to DEA headquarters in January 1986 about suspicious activities of Contra pilots, listing their names, destinations, tail numbers, and criminal records. He received no replies and no offers of assistance. When Ambassador Edwin Corr requested an internal DEA review, the DEA informed him that Castillo's information was "totally inaccurate" and ordered him to close the investigation. The DEA later claimed under FOIA that it had no reports from Castillo about drug trafficking at Ilopango - a claim the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] exposed as false, having located and quoted from the reports.[^6] ### Costa Rica: Kelso Investigation diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..d3d35147 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.md @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +--- +category: "U.S. Government" +tags: + - Organization + - DepartmentOfJustice + - InspectorGeneral + - FederalBureauOfPrisons + - JeffreyEpstein + - MetropolitanCorrectionalCenter + - Oversight +alias: + - DOJ Office of Inspector General + - DOJ Office of the Inspector General + - DOJ OIG + - Justice Department's Inspector General + - Justice Department Inspector General +summary: "Internal watchdog of the Justice Department whose June 2023 report on Jeffrey Epstein's custody found jail staff failures but no evidence contradicting the FBI's finding of no criminality in his death." +location: "Washington, D.C." +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: investigated + with: "[[Federal Bureau of Prisons]]" + role: "custody, care and supervision of Jeffrey Epstein, Report 23-085" + start: 2019-08 + end: 2023-06 + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Michael Horowitz]]" + reverse: true + role: "inspector general" + fn: 2 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Don R. Berthiaume]]" + reverse: true + role: "acting inspector general" + fn: 3 +--- + +The Office of the Inspector General of the [[Department of Justice]] is the department's statutory internal auditor and investigator. It is a separate office from the department's [[Office of Professional Responsibility]], which reviewed the prosecutors' handling of [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s 2007 [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]]. With the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], the inspector general investigated the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]]' custody of Epstein at the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York|Metropolitan Correctional Center]] in New York, where he died on August 10, 2019, and issued Report 23-085 in June 2023 under Inspector General [[Michael Horowitz]]. In January 2026 the ranking Democrats of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees asked the office, then led by Acting Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume, to investigate staff misconduct at [[Federal Prison Camp Bryan]], where [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] was held.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Report 23-085 + +The investigation was conducted jointly with the FBI, which examined whether a crime caused Epstein's death while the inspector general examined the conduct of bureau personnel; the office interviewed 54 witnesses. The report withheld most staff names, identifying employees by role, except the two officers who were criminally charged, [[Tova Noel]] and [[Michael Thomas]].[^1] + +It recorded that on July 23, 2019 staff found Epstein "lying on the floor with a piece of orange cloth around his neck," that he first said his cellmate "tried to kill him" and later said he did not remember how he was injured, and that after leaving psychological observation he "asked two different MCC New York staff members if he can be housed with the same cellmate." On July 30 a staff psychologist emailed more than 70 bureau employees that Epstein "needs to be housed with an appropriate cellmate." His cellmate was transferred out on the morning of August 9 and no replacement was assigned.[^1] + +The jail's camera system had been under an upgrade since contracts were awarded in September 2018. Disk failures on July 29 and 30, 2019 left the second of its two recording systems, which covered about half of the cameras including those in the Special Housing Unit, unable to record; staff learned of it on August 8 and had not completed repairs by Epstein's death. One camera still recording covered the common area and the stairs to Epstein's tier, but not his cell door.[^1] + +On the evening of August 9, "contrary to BOP policy but with the permission of a Unit Manager," Epstein placed an unmonitored call, purportedly to his mother, who had died in 2004. The recipient, identified as Individual 1, declined to be interviewed; through a lawyer Individual 1 told the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]] that the call lasted about 20 minutes and that Individual 1 was in [[Belarus]] at the time. A staff member told the office that one of Epstein's attorneys had earlier asked him "how Epstein could get an unmonitored call." Staff did not conduct the required counts and rounds from about 10:40 p.m. until 6:30 a.m., when Noel and Thomas found him. Noel and Thomas were indicted on November 19, 2019 for falsifying records; they entered deferred prosecution agreements on May 25, 2021 and the charges were dismissed on December 13, 2021. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to prosecute other employees who the office found had also created false documentation.[^1] + +The report made eight recommendations to the bureau, on cellmate assignments after suicide watch, monitoring of high-risk inmates, telephone authorization, accounting for inmates, cell searches, staffing and cameras, and stated: "Since at least 2015, the OIG has repeatedly found the need for BOP to address staffing shortages." It stated that the office "did not uncover evidence contradicting the FBI's determination regarding the absence of criminality," and that three inmates with a view of Epstein's cell door said no one entered or left it after he was returned to it on August 9.[^1] + +### Horowitz's Statement and the Warden's Response + +In a recorded message released with the report, Horowitz said that "MCC New York staff failed to ensure Epstein was assigned a cellmate as instructed by MCC New York's Psychology Department following an incident on July 23rd where Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell with a cloth wrapped around his neck," that staff "failed to undertake required measures" including "inmate counts and rounds, and searches of cells," that a search would have found "excess prison blankets, linens, and clothing," and that the camera system was not "fully functional." He said the office "did not uncover evidence contradicting the FBI's determination that there was no criminality in connection with how Epstein died," and that the failures "deprived Epstein's numerous victims of the opportunity to seek justice through the criminal justice system."[^2] + +The retired warden of the jail, whose name is redacted in the released copy, answered the April 5, 2023 draft in a memorandum to Horowitz disputing its finding that he "used poor judgement in not selecting a backup cellmate for Jeffrey Epstein while he was housed in the Special Housing Unit." He wrote that the unit's population was "constantly being moved to other units, being transferred, or released," that staff had "vetted several inmates as potential cellmates" and identified "only one," and that "there were no potential backup inmates to be housed with Mr. Epstein during the period he was housed in the SHU."[^4] + +The unsigned Justice Department and FBI memorandum of July 7, 2025, which stated that the government's review of its Epstein holdings "revealed no incriminating 'client list,'" cited the office's June 2023 conclusions as consistent with the FBI's finding that Epstein "committed suicide in his cell."[^5] + +### FPC Bryan + +On January 23, 2026 Representatives [[Jamie Raskin]] and [[Robert Garcia]] wrote to Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]] and Acting Inspector General Berthiaume, citing "over a dozen whistleblowers" at Federal Prison Camp Bryan who alleged that Maxwell had been permitted "to use a laptop, unsupervised," that the warden "fired those who made protected disclosures to Congress," and that inmates had suffered "widespread sexual abuse and misconduct." They asked the inspector general to "initiate an investigation into the reported staff misconduct."[^3] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: 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. i to iv, 1 to 6, 14 to 20, 58 to 60, 94 to 115. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847763, Prior DOJ Disclosures, transcript, "A Message from the Inspector General," June 2023. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20%26%20Correspondence/EFTA02847763.pdf +[^3]: House Judiciary Committee Democrats, "Ranking Members Raskin, Garcia Demand Answers for Rampant Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Uncovered at FPC Bryan; Announce Congressional Oversight Visit," press release, January 23, 2026. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-members-raskin-garcia-demand-answers-for-rampant-sexual-abuse-and-misconduct-uncovered-at-fpc-bryan-announce-congressional-oversight-visit +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00064564, DataSet 9, memorandum for Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General, from the retired Warden of MCC New York (name redacted), response to the draft report of April 5, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00064564.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation, unsigned memorandum on the review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein, July 7, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Economic Development Commission.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Economic Development Commission.md index ffafe271..af649cdd 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Economic Development Commission.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Economic Development Commission.md @@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ In January 2015 the authority's director of compliance requested an assessment o In its January 2020 civil action against the Epstein estate, the territory alleged that Southern Trust fraudulently induced the commission to grant its benefits. The November 2022 settlement returned "more than $80 million in economic development tax benefits that Epstein and his co-defendants fraudulently obtained." In the territory's 2022 suit against JPMorgan, the bank's consultant [[Carlyn Irwin]] found that "the EDC did not investigate or question" Epstein's claims, including "computer generated solutions for medical problems"; that the territory, expecting 1.30 dollars in economic benefit for each dollar of tax benefit, received a return of pennies on the dollar; and that "giving Mr. Epstein $300 million in benefits made no economic sense." Irwin also found that Epstein "funneled a $15,000 donation from Southern Trust to Ms. Plaskett and a $10,000 donation to the Mapp-Potter Inaugural committee." Plaskett acknowledged in a May 2023 deposition receiving about 30,000 dollars in campaign contributions from Epstein and his employees.[^3][^5][^7] -The Virgin Islands Department of Justice answered JPMorgan's account of the program through its spokesperson Venetia Velazquez, who said that "the USVI identified and addressed deficiencies in Southern Trust's and Financial Trust's compliance with the federal tax incentive program." As of June 2023 the territory had not amended its law to bar registered sex offenders from obtaining incentive certificates. Companies affiliated with the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]], who bought Little St. James and [[Great St. James]] from the Epstein estate in 2023, have held commission benefits since 2012.[^2][^5][^8] +The [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]] answered JPMorgan's account of the program through its spokesperson Venetia Velazquez, who said that "the USVI identified and addressed deficiencies in Southern Trust's and Financial Trust's compliance with the federal tax incentive program." As of June 2023 the territory had not amended its law to bar registered sex offenders from obtaining incentive certificates. Companies affiliated with the investor [[Stephen Deckoff]], who bought Little St. James and [[Great St. James]] from the Epstein estate in 2023, have held commission benefits since 2012.[^2][^5][^8] ### Footnotes diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Legislature of the Virgin Islands.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Legislature of the Virgin Islands.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..6c2018ae --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Legislature of the Virgin Islands.md @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +--- +category: "U.S. Government" +tags: + - Organization + - VirginIslands + - Legislature + - JeffreyEpstein + - SexOffenderRegistration + - GovernmentCapture + - PublicCorruption +alias: + - Virgin Islands Legislature + - V.I. Legislature + - USVI Legislature + - Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands + - 29th Legislature of the Virgin Islands + - Senate of the Virgin Islands +summary: "Unicameral legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose 2012 sex-offender travel law Epstein's circle sought to shape through senators Carlton Dowe and Celestino White, and several of whose former members dealt with Epstein." +location: "Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: member_of + with: "[[Wayne James]]" + reverse: true + start: 2009-01 + role: "senator, 28th Legislature" + fn: 11 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +The Legislature of the Virgin Islands is the unicameral legislative body of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], whose members are called senators and which sits in numbered Legislatures. Under the [[Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands|Revised Organic Act]] it confirms the heads of executive departments, including the Attorney General, and the members of boards such as that of the [[Virgin Islands Port Authority]], which the Seventh Legislature created in 1968. In 2012 the 29th Legislature passed the sex-offender monitoring law whose 21-day travel notice the Attorney General waived for [[Jeffrey Epstein]] weeks later at the request of his lawyers; [[Cecile de Jongh]], the office manager of his companies, had told him she would "need to work through Dowe and White," the senators [[Carlton Dowe]] and [[Celestino White]], to change it. Senators and former senators who dealt with Epstein include Dowe, White and [[Kenneth Mapp]].[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Composition + +The Revised Organic Act of 1954 vests legislative power in the Legislature. The act fixed the number of senators at fifteen from 1966 until 2000, when Congress left the number to territorial law. It provides that the governor appoints the heads of the executive departments "with the advice and consent of the legislature," and that the head of the department of law "shall be known as the attorney general of the Virgin Islands." The Seventh Legislature passed Act 2375 on December 24, 1968, establishing the Port Authority; board members of the authority are limited to two terms unless the Legislature finds that a nominee has rendered "exceptional service."[^1][^2][^5] + +### The 2011 and 2012 Sex-Offender Legislation + +The second amended complaint in [[Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] quotes emails of May 15, 2011 in which Cecile de Jongh, wife of Governor [[John de Jongh]], and Epstein discussed revisions to pending sex-offender monitoring legislation: "to waive the notice requirement all together will not be acceptable to the federal DOJ program managers...remember they must review and determine if we are in compliance....this is the suggested language, will it work for you?" The complaint describes the exchange as Cecile de Jongh "working on revisions to legislation for sex offender monitoring to avoid 'violating' Epstein's 'Privacy. Restrict my business and livelihood,'" with a deadline because the "AG needs to submit by June 1."[^4] + +On May 15, 2012 the Legislative Secretary of the 29th Legislature, Senator [[Samuel Sanes]], wrote to Senator Lisle R. Richards, chairman of the Committee on Public Safety, Homeland Security and Justice, asking him to consider Bill No. 29-0239, "amending chapter 86 of title 14 of the Virgin Islands Code, to expand the laws of the Territory regarding the monitoring and tracking of sex offenders within this jurisdiction." The letter is among Epstein's files released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]. The Rules and Judiciary Committee heard the bill on June 21, 2012, and it was enacted as Act No. 7372, with a 21-day advance notice requirement for travel that the Attorney General could reduce. Epstein's lawyer [[Maria Tankenson Hodge]] later wrote to Attorney General [[Vincent Frazer]] that "both you and Senator Russell stated during the hearing on the Act before the Rules and Judiciary Committee on June 21, 2012, that the travel notification requirements of this Act were specifically not intended to be penal in nature."[^3][^6] + +On July 1, 2012, according to the Doe complaint, Cecile de Jongh wrote to Epstein: "Will need to work through Dowe and White" to change the legislation. "In the meantime, we will work with Vincent to give the discretion for status quo for you - thats the least he can do." Frazer reduced Epstein's notice period to 24 hours on August 14, 2012. The complaint alleged that "Epstein was thus allowed to circumvent the recently passed legislation with assistance of Senator Carlton Dowe, Senator Celestino White, and Attorney General Vincent Frazer," and listed against both senators "Changed sex trafficking law in accord with Epstein's lawyer's recommendations." It also alleged that Governor Mapp asked Epstein to help develop a way for [[Economic Development Commission]] beneficiaries to repatriate their income, "and one of Epstein's lawyers drafted proposed legislation for the Governor," and listed "Drafted EDC legislation" in the entry for White. As of June 2023 the territory had not amended its law to bar registered sex offenders from receiving the commission's tax-incentive certificates. The claims against every defendant but Delegate [[Stacey Plaskett]] were dismissed in March 2025 for lack of personal jurisdiction in New York, without a ruling on the allegations.[^3][^4][^7][^8] + +### Senators and Epstein + +White, a former police chief who left the Legislature in 2013, signed a contractor's and confidentiality agreement with Epstein for 10,000 dollars in August 2013, and in February 2015 Cecile de Jongh suggested putting him on "some sort of monthly retainer...that is what will get you his loyalty and access." Dowe, a senator in 2004 and until 2013, became executive director of the Port Authority in January 2013 and returned to the post in 2019 after Cecile de Jongh asked Epstein whether he would support his bid. Mapp, who served three terms as a senator from [[St. Croix]], became governor in 2015 and sought a 275 million dollar loan and campaign money from Epstein. The Doe complaint's chart described Plaskett as Epstein's "friend" against "prior Senator Sean Malone 'who came after Epstein.'" In October 2014 Epstein agreed to give 15,000 dollars to the St. Croix District Democratic Party.[^4][^8][^9] + +[[David Bornn]], a partner from 2017 in [[Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin]], the firm of Epstein's territorial counsel [[Erika Kellerhals]], and later chief legal counsel to Governor [[Albert Bryan]], is described in his 2026 law firm profile as maintaining "access to key local players within the Virgin Islands Government and the Virgin Islands Legislature."[^10] + +### The Fireburn Embezzlement + +[[Wayne James]], elected from St. Croix to the 28th Legislature in 2008, obtained the Legislature's approval shortly after taking office to research the 1878 Fireburn, the post-slavery labor uprising on St. Croix under Danish rule, and from April 2009 submitted requests for funds to copy and translate Fireburn documents at the Danish National Archives. After the Internal Revenue Bureau began garnishing his legislative salary over a 197,000 dollar tax levy, he submitted fake invoices, causing the Legislature to pay him more than 90,000 dollars, of which he kept about 70,000 dollars, including 20,000 dollars for his re-election campaign. He received more than 1,600 pages of documents and never delivered them to the Legislature. A federal jury convicted him of wire fraud and theft of federal program funds on August 16, 2018.[^11] + +### 2026 + +After the Justice Department's release of [[Epstein Files|Epstein files]] in January 2026, Governor Bryan said on March 2, 2026 that he would "absolutely" support a legislative inquiry, adding, "even if I had told DPNR to grant his permit, it's perfectly within the right and power of the governor of the Virgin Islands... So what would the investigation be about?" On March 18, 2026 the Legislature confirmed White, the board chairman Willard John and Leona Smith to further terms on the Port Authority board under the "exceptional service" exception, by votes of 11 to 3, with Senators [[Kenneth Gittens]], Franklin Johnson and Clifford Joseph Sr. opposed. Two days later a federal bank fraud indictment against Dowe was unsealed.[^5][^12] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: 48 U.S.C. section 1571, "Legislature," United States Code, 2023 edition, with amendment notes for Pub. L. 89-548 (1966) and Pub. L. 106-364 (2000). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title48/html/USCODE-2023-title48-chap12-subchapIII-sec1571.htm +[^2]: 48 U.S.C. section 1597, "Reorganization of government," United States Code, 2023 edition; Virgin Islands Port Authority, "Our History," accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title48/html/USCODE-2023-title48-chap12-subchapIV-sec1597.htm ; https://www.viport.com/our-history +[^3]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 83, ECF No. 194-24 (filed June 20, 2023), pp. 36 to 47 (Hodge letters of July 16 and July 30, 2012; Frazer letters of July 25 and August 14, 2012). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011719/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/194-24.pdf +[^4]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), paragraphs 4 to 6 and charts (Exhibits B, E, F, G and J), pp. 2 to 8, and paragraphs 135 and 161. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^5]: Eader, Tom. "VIPA ED Carlton Dowe indicted on bank fraud, tells board of retirement same day as court appearance." *WTJX,* March 20, 2026. https://newsfeed.wtjx.org/2026-03-20/vipa-ed-carlton-dowe-indicted-on-bank-fraud-tells-board-of-retirement-same-day-as-court-appearance +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01119862, DataSet 9, letter on 29th Legislature of the Virgin Islands letterhead from Senator Samuel Sanes to Senator Lisle R. Richards, May 15, 2012. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01119862.pdf +[^7]: 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 +[^8]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Opinion and Order, ECF No. 202 (March 21, 2025), pp. 1 to 2, 10. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.202.0.pdf +[^9]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Files reveal Epstein's efforts to influence V.I. officials; emails with Mapp." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/files-reveal-epstein-s-efforts-to-influence-v-i-officials-emails-with-mapp/article_2dd4fe69-4daf-4dc2-b3b8-37a929002bb6.html ; Virgin Islands Port Authority, "Our History." https://www.viport.com/our-history ; U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, press release 04-560, August 13, 2004. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2004/August/04_crm_560.htm +[^10]: Winston & Strawn LLP (Winston Taylor LLP), "David A. Bornn," attorney profile, accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.winston.com/en/professionals/bornn-david-a +[^11]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of the Virgin Islands, "Former Senator Wayne James Found Guilty on Wire Fraud and Embezzlement of Government Funds," August 16, 2018, captured May 25, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20260525040514/https://www.justice.gov/usao-vi/pr/former-senator-wayne-james-found-guilty-wire-fraud-and-embezzlement-government-funds +[^12]: "Bryan 'Absolutely' Supports an Epstein Inquiry, Denies Wrongdoing." *St. Thomas Source,* March 2, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20260809212846/https://stthomassource.com/content/2026/03/02/bryan-absolutely-supports-an-epstein-inquiry-denies-wrongdoing/ diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/State Department.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/State Department.md index 14ecd753..5c1f3d3a 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/State Department.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/State Department.md @@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ The State Department under Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]] received over ### Dark Alliance Investigation -The State Department granted [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] political asylum in 1984 despite the [[DEA]] having identified him as a major cocaine trafficker since 1983. It is State Department policy to check with the DEA before approving asylum applications. When the Justice Department's Inspector General examined Blandón's immigration records, he found them "in disarray." The same occurred with Blandón's wife [[Chepita Blandon|Chepita]], granted asylum in 1985 despite being reported as a "member of a cocaine distribution organization."[^8] +The State Department granted [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] political asylum in 1984 despite the [[DEA]] having identified him as a major cocaine trafficker since 1983. It is State Department policy to check with the DEA before approving asylum applications. When the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department's Inspector General]] examined Blandón's immigration records, he found them "in disarray." The same occurred with Blandón's wife [[Chepita Blandon|Chepita]], granted asylum in 1985 despite being reported as a "member of a cocaine distribution organization."[^8] The State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy for [[Latin America]] was described by a 1992 House committee report as "a domestic, covert operation designed to lobby the Congress, manipulate the media and influence domestic public opinion" regarding the Contra war. The State Department issued a White Paper on Contra drug allegations that belittled every claim except those involving the [[Sandinistas]], studiously avoiding any mention of [[Norwin Meneses]].[^9] diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Virgin Islands Department of Justice.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Virgin Islands Department of Justice.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..66a2bc1b --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Virgin Islands Department of Justice.md @@ -0,0 +1,79 @@ +--- +category: "U.S. Government" +tags: + - Organization + - VirginIslands + - AttorneyGeneral + - JeffreyEpstein + - SexOffenderRegistration + - GhislaineMaxwell + - GovernmentCapture +alias: + - VIDOJ + - V.I. Department of Justice + - U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice + - Virgin Islands Attorney General + - Attorney General of the Virgin Islands +summary: "Law department of the U.S. Virgin Islands, headed by a governor-appointed attorney general, which kept Jeffrey Epstein's sex-offender registration, waived his travel notice, then sued his estate and subpoenaed Ghislaine Maxwell." +location: "34-38 Kronprindsens Gade, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Denise George]]" + reverse: true + start: 2019-05 + end: 2022-12-31 + role: "Attorney General" + fn: 9 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Ghislaine Maxwell]]" + start: 2020-03-19 + role: "CICO subpoena duces tecum" + fn: 10 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Gordon Rhea]]" + reverse: true + start: 2024 + role: "Attorney General" + fn: 9 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +The Virgin Islands Department of Justice is the law department of the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]], headed by the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands and housed at 34-38 Kronprindsens Gade, in the GERS Building on [[St. Thomas]]. Under the [[Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands|Revised Organic Act]] the Attorney General is appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the [[Legislature of the Virgin Islands|Legislature]] and serves while that governor remains in office "unless sooner removed by the Governor." The department kept the territorial sex-offender registry on which [[Jeffrey Epstein]] was listed, reduced his required notice of travel to 24 hours in 2012, revoked the reduction in 2019, and after his death sued his estate, sought to intervene in [[Ghislaine Maxwell|Ghislaine Maxwell's]] indemnification suit against it, and sued [[JPMorgan Chase]]. Governor [[Albert Bryan]] removed the Attorney General who brought the estate and bank cases days after the bank suit was filed.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Structure + +The Revised Organic Act of 1954 directed the governor to consolidate the territorial government into no more than nine executive departments. As amended in 1959, it provides that "the head of the department of law shall be known as the attorney general of the Virgin Islands," and that the heads of the executive departments "shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the legislature. Each shall hold office during the continuance in office of the Governor by whom he is appointed and until his successor is appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed by the Governor." Governor Bryan said in March 2026 that the act gave the governor supervision of every department: "I could just tell them do it, you don't do it, you're fired."[^1][^5] + +### Epstein's Registration and Travel Notices + +The territory's Sexual Offender Registration and Community Protection Act, 14 V.I.C. section 1721 et seq., requires registered offenders to register where they reside and to appear periodically in person to verify their information. In 2009 Epstein's lawyers wrote to Attorney General [[Vincent Frazer]], describing Epstein as "a full-time resident of the Virgin Islands, who maintains his home at [[Little St. James]]," to seek the transfer of his [[Florida]] supervision to the territory. He renewed his registration each year, and the department also visited or attempted to visit Little St. James for additional address checks. The 2023 trafficking suit against the territory alleged that he had been classified as a Tier 1 offender when he should have been Tier 2.[^2][^6][^7] + +In 2012 the Legislature passed Act No. 7372, which required 21 days' notice of travel and allowed the Attorney General to reduce it. After meeting Epstein's lawyers [[Maria Tankenson Hodge]] and [[Darren Indyke]], Frazer granted a waiver on July 25, 2012, and on August 14, 2012 allowed Epstein to notify the department "twenty four (24) hours prior to his departure." [[Cecile de Jongh]], the wife of Governor [[John de Jongh]] and office manager of Epstein's companies, had written to Epstein on July 1, 2012, according to a later complaint: "we will work with Vincent to give the discretion for status quo for you - thats the least he can do." At his last verification, in July 2018, Epstein refused to let department investigators, assisted by the [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]], past the dock of Little St. James, calling it his "front door," and arranged to meet them at his office on St. Thomas. A March 19, 2019 travel notice stated that he would fly to France for ten days; law enforcement later found that he had also gone to Vienna and Monaco.[^2][^7][^8] + +Acting Attorney General [[Carol Thomas-Jacobs]] revoked the 24-hour arrangement on March 14, 2019. On April 30, 2019 the firm of Epstein's territorial counsel, [[Erika Kellerhals]], asked the incoming Attorney General, [[Denise George]], to reinstate it; on June 2, 2019 George answered that she had not been presented with the documentation required for a waiver, "nor does the VIDOJ have any record of such documentation ever having been submitted to the VIDOJ." In an October 2, 2023 interview with the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], George said that Bryan had told her in her first weeks that Epstein wanted a waiver and had texted her, "you need to make a decision on the Epstein matter," and that she "believed that Frazer was pressured by then Governor John De Jongh" to grant the original waiver.[^7][^9] + +### The Estate Case and the Maxwell Subpoena + +After Epstein's death, George filed the territory's suit against his estate on January 15, 2020 in the [[Superior Court of the Virgin Islands]] under the territory's [[Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act]], later adding the co-executors Indyke and [[Richard Kahn]]. She told the FBI that Bryan's first response was "He's dead go for it," that his tone later changed to "End it quickly," and that he told her to settle for 80 million dollars with [[Henry Smock]], who had assisted Epstein's 1998 purchase of Little St. James, as mediator. When the department's outside counsel, [[Motley Rice]], began interviewing estate employees, she received a call from Bryan's chief legal counsel, [[David Bornn]], a former partner of Kellerhals, relaying that Kellerhals wanted to know what George was investigating. Bryan also sent the Port Authority director, [[Carlton Dowe]], to press her to settle. The case settled on December 1, 2022 for 105 million dollars in cash, the return of more than 80 million dollars in tax benefits, and half the proceeds of the sale of Little St. James.[^3][^9] + +In 2020 Maxwell sued the estate, its executors and NES, LLC in the Superior Court, No. ST-20-CV-155, seeking indemnification and advancement of her legal expenses "incurred by reason of her prior employment relationship with decedent Jeffrey E. Epstein." The department moved to intervene, arguing that her claims threatened to dissipate estate assets before any forfeiture or disgorgement judgment in its own case. The motion also disclosed that the department was investigating Maxwell herself under section 612 of the act, had issued a "CICO Subpoena Duces Tecum" to her dated March 19, 2020 in "an ongoing investigation...of the rape, abuse, exploitation and trafficking of young women and underage girls by Jeffrey E. Epstein and his associates," and that "Maxwell resisted and evaded service of the subpoena during the three and a half months after its issuance." The federal indictment against Maxwell in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] was unsealed on July 2, 2020, the day of her arrest.[^10][^11] + +### The JPMorgan Suit and George's Removal + +George sued JPMorgan Chase in the U.S. District Court for the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] on December 27, 2022, and Bryan removed her on December 31, 2022. Thomas-Jacobs became acting Attorney General on January 1, 2023 and in 2023 signed the territory's 62.5 million dollar settlement with [[Leon Black]] over his payments to Epstein. In 2024 Bryan appointed [[Gordon Rhea]], who had represented Kahn in the estate litigation and said he would recuse himself from Epstein matters. After her removal George received a cease-and-desist letter over her press interviews and later became a federal prosecutor in the [[United States Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands|U.S. Attorney's Office for the Virgin Islands]].[^4][^9][^12] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: 48 U.S.C. section 1597, "Reorganization of government," United States Code, 2023 edition (Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, July 22, 1954, ch. 558, section 16, as amended by Pub. L. 86-289, 1959). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title48/html/USCODE-2023-title48-chap12-subchapIV-sec1597.htm +[^2]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 130 to 134, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 28 to 29. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf +[^3]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate of Jeffrey Epstein and Co-Defendants for Over $105 Million." *Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ +[^4]: "Virgin Islands prosecutor fired after accusing JPMorgan of aiding Epstein's sex trafficking ring." *The Washington Times,* January 3, 2023. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/3/virgin-islands-prosecutor-fired-after-accusing-jpm/ +[^5]: 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 +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00727487, DataSet 9, letter from counsel for Jeffrey Epstein to Attorney General Vincent F. Frazer requesting transfer of Epstein's supervision, 2009. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00727487.pdf ; Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), chart, p. 6. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^7]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 83, ECF No. 194-24 (filed June 20, 2023), pp. 2 to 7, 36 to 47, 56 to 58; the building address at p. 2. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011719/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/194-24.pdf +[^8]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), paragraph 4 and chart (Exhibit F), pp. 3 to 4. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^9]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026 (FBI notes of an October 2, 2023 interview with Denise George, released January 30, 2026; Rhea's appointment and recusal). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html +[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02822177, Court Records, Maxwell v. Estate of Jeffrey Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-155 (V.I. Super. Ct. 2020), Government of the United States Virgin Islands' Motion to Intervene, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Maxwell%20v.%20Estate%20of%20Jeffrey%20Epstein%2C%20No.%20ST-20-CV-155%20(V.I.%20Super.%20Ct.%202020)/EFTA02822177.pdf +[^11]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), Indictment (filed under seal June 29, 2020, unsealed July 2, 2020), docket. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ +[^12]: "Financier and MoMA Trustee Leon Black Agrees to Pay $62.5 Million to Settle Jeffrey Epstein-Related Claims in the Virgin Islands." *Artnet News,* 2023. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/leon-black-62-million-settlement-with-virgin-islands-epstein-claims-2341599 ; "DOJ Epstein File Dump Revives Former USVI AG's Claim She Felt Threatened After Suing Epstein's Estate." *Los Angeles Magazine,* 2025. https://lamag.com/crimeinla/doj-epstein-file-dump-revives-former-usvi-ags-claim-she-felt-threatened-after-suing-epsteins-estate/ diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Virgin Islands Port Authority.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Virgin Islands Port Authority.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..aabd6c11 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/GOVERNMENT/USA/Virgin Islands Port Authority.md @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ +--- +category: "U.S. Government" +tags: + - Organization + - VirginIslands + - VirginIslandsPortAuthority + - Airports + - JeffreyEpstein + - GovernmentCapture + - CarltonDowe +alias: + - VIPA + - V.I. Port Authority + - VI Port Authority + - USVI Port Authority + - Virgin Islands Port Authority (VIPA) +summary: "Territorial authority owning the U.S. Virgin Islands' public airports and seaports, which leased Jeffrey Epstein's aviation company a St. Thomas hangar and whose director and board member both dealt with Epstein." +start: 1969-02-11 +location: "8074 Lindbergh Bay, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Ava Penn]]" + reverse: true + start: 2026-04 + role: "interim, then executive director" + fn: 1 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +The Virgin Islands Port Authority is the public authority that owns and manages the airports and public seaports of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], including [[Cyril E. King Airport]] on [[St. Thomas]] and [[Henry E. Rohlsen Airport]] on [[St. Croix]]. It was created by the Seventh [[Legislature of the Virgin Islands]] in December 1968 and dates its establishment to February 11, 1969. [[Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein's]] aviation company held a hangar facility lease from the authority at the St. Thomas airport, and the office manager of his territorial companies, [[Cecile de Jongh]], asked him in December 2018 whether he would support the return of [[Carlton Dowe]] as its executive director. Dowe returned in 2019 and retired in April 2026 after a federal bank fraud indictment against him was unsealed. The former senator [[Celestino White]], who had signed a paid agreement with Epstein in 2013, has sat on its governing board since 2020.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Establishment and Directors + +After the transfer of the Danish West Indies in 1917 the [[United States Navy]] ran the ports, building a submarine base on St. Thomas and commissioning Bourne Field at Lindbergh Bay on September 1, 1935; it became a Marine Corps Air Station in December 1941. The [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]] and then the Virgin Islands Corporation, a federal corporation chaired by the Secretary of the Interior that also grew sugarcane and ran hotels and a golf course on St. Croix, managed the ports and former military properties before the Virgin Islands Airport and Industrial Development Agency took them over in 1966 under Alton Adams Jr. On December 24, 1968 the Legislature passed Act 2375, establishing the Port Authority and charging it "with the ownership and management of the territory's public air and seaports"; Act 2405 set February 11, 1969 as its date of establishment. Adams remained executive director until 1971, followed by Jack M. Monsanto (1971 to 1975), John E. Harding (1975 to 1991), Gordon A. Finch (1991 to 2002), Darlan Brin (2003 to 2008), Kenneth Hobson (2008 to February 2012) and the interim director Don C. Mills. The board selected Dowe, a former senator, on January 16, 2013; he served until December 2016, and David W. Mapp Sr. held the post from 2017 to 2019. Dowe returned on July 8, 2019 and retired in April 2026. Ava Penn was named interim executive director and was selected as executive director in September 2026.[^1] + +The authority's administrative office is at Lindbergh Bay on St. Thomas, and its St. Croix office is in the Rohlsen terminal at Estate Manning Bay. Its board members are limited by territorial law to two terms, unless the Legislature finds that a nominee has rendered "exceptional service." The St. Thomas airport, first known as Harry S. Truman Airport, was renamed in 1984 for [[Cyril E. King]], the territory's second elected governor. The former Attorney General [[Vincent Frazer]], who had waived Epstein's 21-day travel notice in 2012, was later the authority's senior counsel, and was publicly reprimanded by the [[Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands]] in October 2022 over his handling of an escrow deposit in a private matter.[^1][^5][^6][^7] + +### Epstein and the Airport + +The [[Economic Development Commission]] held its November 15, 2012 public hearing on the tax-incentive application of Epstein's [[Southern Trust Company]] in the Port Authority conference room on St. Thomas, with [[Albert Bryan]], then its chairman, presiding. On April 8, 2014 the special assistant to the executive director wrote to Cecile de Jongh, who forwarded the message to Epstein: "Executive Director Dowe has requested that I schedule Mr. Epstein's appointment. Director Dowe is available to meet with Mr. Epstein on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 12:30 p.m., at the Virgin Islands Port Authority in the office of the executive director."[^8][^9] + +On August 18, 2017 Epstein's company [[Thomas World Air]], of the Royal Palms Professional Building on St. Thomas, wrote to Chief Edred J. Wilkes Jr. of the authority's Police Division at Cyril E. King Airport as "Lessee under that certain Hangar Facility Lease Agreement with the Virgin Islands Port Authority," requesting aviation identification badge "Escort Privileges" for an assistant to his chief pilot, [[Larry Visoski]], so that the assistant could "escort contractors on the ramp side to perform repairs" in Visoski's absence. On January 15, 2019 Visoski reported that Governor Bryan's deputy chief of staff, [[Kevin Rodriquez]], had arrived by chartered Cessna in front of Epstein's hangar and introduced himself.[^10][^11] + +The 2023 trafficking suit against the territory, [[Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands]], alleged that the government gave Epstein an "Unrestricted entry port for sex offender traveling with young women and girls," "Never searched airplane nor residence," and "Given Customs and Border Protection officers Security seals and VIPA badges for VIP access through airport," and listed among the benefits received "Turkeys for thanksgiving to all airport and customs personnel." It alleged that "Epstein traveled openly through USVI airports accompanied by young sex trafficked women and girls." The authority was not named as a defendant. On March 21, 2025 Judge [[Arun Subramanian]] dismissed the claims against the territory and the individual officials for lack of personal jurisdiction in New York.[^4][^12] + +### Dowe's Return + +On December 24, 2018, after Bryan's election, Cecile de Jongh wrote to Epstein, as quoted in the Doe complaint: "John wanted to know whether you would support Carlton Dowe's bid to go back to the VIPA [VI Port Authority]. . . He would be a good person for us at VIPA." Her husband, [[John de Jongh]], had been governor from 2007 to 2015. The complaint listed the benefit to Dowe as "Epstein supported bid for USVI Port Authority job"; the court later noted that the plaintiffs did not allege that Dowe received any payments from Epstein. Dowe returned to the post on July 8, 2019, the day Epstein appeared in federal court in Manhattan on sex-trafficking charges following his arrest on July 6.[^1][^4][^12][^13] + +According to notes of an October 2, 2023 [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] interview with the former Attorney General [[Denise George]], Bryan sent Dowe, as director of the Port Authority, to press her to settle the territory's suit against Epstein's estate; Dowe told her he "does things for Bryan too but has a line he won't cross." A 2022 complaint to the FBI, released in January 2026, alleged that Dowe was "paid off" by Epstein over construction of a hangar at Cyril E. King Airport. *The Virgin Islands Consortium* reported that the hangar in question belonged to a private aviation company built under a public-private partnership with the authority, not to Epstein, and that "Epstein previously sought approval to construct a hangar at the airport, but that proposal was rejected by Dowe and VIPA."[^3][^14] + +### The Board and the 2026 Indictment + +Governor Bryan nominated White to the board in 2020, and the Rules and Judiciary Committee forwarded his nomination on February 6, 2020. After the release of [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] files in January 2026 showing that White had offered to work on Epstein's behalf, including on the purchase of the government-owned Dog Island, Bryan renominated him, asking reporters, "Is lobbying illegal in the Virgin Islands." At the committee hearing of February 26, 2026 White, the board chairman Willard John and Leona Smith, each at the two-term limit, were advanced under the "exceptional service" provision; on March 18 the Legislature confirmed all three by votes of 11 to 3.[^5][^6][^15][^16] + +On March 20, 2026 an indictment returned on March 12 in the [[U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico]] was unsealed charging Dowe with four counts of bank fraud, four counts of making a false statement on a loan application and one count of aggravated identity theft, over loan applications to [[Banco Popular de Puerto Rico]] between 2021 and 2023. The same day he gave John notice of his retirement effective April 10, and John told [[WTJX]] he had not known of it. The attorney Joseph DiRuzzo III appeared as his counsel.[^6] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Virgin Islands Port Authority, "Our History," including the list of executive directors and office addresses, accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.viport.com/our-history +[^2]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), paragraph 4 and chart (Exhibit G), pp. 2 to 4. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^3]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026 (FBI notes of an October 2, 2023 interview with Denise George). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html +[^4]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), paragraphs 4 to 6 and charts, pp. 2 to 8, and paragraphs 166 to 169. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^5]: Charlemagne, Nelcia. "After Two-Term Limit, VIPA Board Nominees Advance on 'Exceptional Service' Vote." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* February 27, 2026. https://viconsortium.com/vi-senate/virgin-islands-after-two-term-limit--vipa-board-nominees-advance-on--exceptional-service--vote +[^6]: Eader, Tom. "VIPA ED Carlton Dowe indicted on bank fraud, tells board of retirement same day as court appearance." *WTJX,* March 20, 2026; United States v. Dowe, No. 3:26-cr-00084 (D.P.R.), docket. https://newsfeed.wtjx.org/2026-03-20/vipa-ed-carlton-dowe-indicted-on-bank-fraud-tells-board-of-retirement-same-day-as-court-appearance ; https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72610038/united-states-v-dowe/ +[^7]: "V.I. Supreme Court Reprimands Former Attorney General for Issuing Good Faith Deposit for Potential Sale of Business to Client While a Dispute Was Ongoing." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* October 31, 2022. https://viconsortium.com/vi-government/virgin-islands-v-i-supreme-court-reprimands-former-attorney-general-for-issuing-good-faith-deposit-for-potential-sale-of-business-to-client-while-a-dispute-was-ongoing ; Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 83, ECF No. 194-24 (filed June 20, 2023), pp. 36 to 47 (Frazer letters of July 25 and August 14, 2012). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011719/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/194-24.pdf +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02812344, Court Records, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904 (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 290, ECF No. 245-15 (filed July 25, 2023): Economic Development Commission, Public Hearing transcript, November 15, 2012, pp. 1-2. 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)/EFTA02812344.pdf +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01929537, DataSet 10, email chain from the special assistant to the executive director of the Virgin Islands Port Authority to Cecile de Jongh, forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, April 8, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01929537.pdf +[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00799380, DataSet 9, letter from Thomas World Air, LLC to Chief Edred J. Wilkes Jr., Virgin Islands Port Authority Police Division, Cyril E. King Airport, August 18, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00799380.pdf +[^11]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Files reveal Epstein's efforts to influence V.I. officials; emails with Mapp." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026 (Visoski email of January 15, 2019). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/files-reveal-epstein-s-efforts-to-influence-v-i-officials-emails-with-mapp/article_2dd4fe69-4daf-4dc2-b3b8-37a929002bb6.html +[^12]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Opinion and Order, ECF No. 202 (March 21, 2025), pp. 1 to 2, 10. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.202.0.pdf +[^13]: "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 +[^14]: Gilbert, Ernice. "Former Gov. Kenneth Mapp Visited Epstein's Island, Sought $50,000 for Final Election Push, DOJ Records Show." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* January 31, 2026. https://viconsortium.com/vi-federal/virgin-islands-former-gov--kenneth-mapp-visited-epstein-s-island--sought--50-000-for--final-push---doj-records-show +[^15]: Lee, Bethaney. "Former Senator Celestino White Approved for Port Authority Board." *St. Thomas Source,* February 6, 2020, captured February 7, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200207131359/https://stthomassource.com/content/2020/02/06/former-senator-celestino-white-approved-for-port-authority-board/ +[^16]: 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 diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Air Ghislaine, Inc..md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Air Ghislaine, Inc..md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..e11ffcd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Air Ghislaine, Inc..md @@ -0,0 +1,119 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - JeffreyEpstein + - GhislaineMaxwell + - AirGhislaine + - ShellCompany + - Aircraft + - Delaware + - JPMorgan +alias: + - Air Ghislaine + - Air Ghislaine Inc + - Air Ghislaine Inc. + - Air Ghislaine, Inc + - Shmitka Air, Inc. + - Shmitka Air Inc. + - Shmitka Air Inc + - Shmitka Air + - Freedom Air International, Inc. + - Freedom Air International Inc. + - Freedom Air International Inc + - Freedom Air International +summary: "Delaware aircraft company of Jeffrey Epstein, bearing Ghislaine Maxwell's first name, that held jet shares and helicopters from 2000, was renamed Shmitka Air and then Freedom Air International in 2010, and dissolved in 2012." +start: 2000-01-29 +end: 2012-12-07 +location: "Wilmington, Delaware; New York, New York" +relations: + - type: director_of + with: "[[Larry Visoski]]" + reverse: true + role: "director of aviation, director of operations and director of maintenance on FAA filings" + start: 2002-11-13 + end: 2011-08 + fn: 1 + - type: director_of + with: "[[Darren Indyke]]" + reverse: true + role: "vice president, signatory on every FAA filing after the February 2010 name change" + start: 2010-02-23 + end: 2012-04-30 + fn: 1 + - type: owned + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + role: "100 percent owner of Freedom Air International, per a forensic accountant's entity table" + end: 2012-12-07 + fn: 2 + - type: funded + with: "[[Ghislaine Maxwell]]" + reverse: true + role: "moved a 7.4 million dollar Epstein wire into the company's JPMorgan account the day she received it" + start: 2007-06-15 + fn: 2 + - type: contractor_to + with: "[[Sikorsky Aircraft]]" + reverse: true + role: "7,352,825 dollar down payment on an S-76C helicopter, N908GM" + start: 2007-06-18 + fn: 2 + - type: investigated + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]]" + reverse: true + role: "Air Ghislaine named as a search term in an FAA registry search; N722JE singled out for follow-up" + start: 2021-08-18 + end: 2021-09-29 + fn: 1 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Air Ghislaine, Inc. was a [[Delaware]] corporation, registered at an address in [[Wilmington, Delaware|Wilmington]] and at [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s office address in [[New York City|New York]], 10022, that held fractional jet shares and helicopters from at least January 2000. It carried the first name of [[Ghislaine Maxwell]]. On February 11, 2010 it changed its name to Shmitka Air, Inc., and on July 6, 2010 to Freedom Air International, Inc. A forensic accountant's table of Epstein entities lists Freedom Air International as "100% owned by Epstein," citing a "Corporate Dissolution or Liquidation, Freedom Air International, Inc., Consent of Sole Stockholder" dated December 7, 2012.[^1][^2] Maxwell's name appears on none of the company's filings with the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]; its signing officers were Epstein's chief pilot [[Larry Visoski]] until the 2010 renaming and Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] afterward.[^1] The company is distinct from Freedom Air Petroleum LLC, a [[U.S. Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]] company registered in 2011 that listed Visoski as a member.[^3] + +### Aircraft + +The FAA's registration files, as summarized in 2021 by a special agent of the agency's Law Enforcement Assistance Program in [[Atlanta]] for federal prosecutors, record the following transactions:[^1] + +| Date | Transaction | +|---|---| +| January 29, 2000 | Air Ghislaine Inc., Wichita, Kansas, buys a 6.25 percent share of a Beech 400A jet, serial RK-260, N787TA, through [[Flight Options]] | +| October 30, 2002 | Air Ghislaine Inc., New York, buys a [[Bell 407]] helicopter, serial 53375, from the [[United Kingdom]] (ex G-IORB); registered N491GM on November 13, 2002, with a signature that "looks like that of VISOSKI" | +| December 30, 2008 | Air Ghislaine Inc. buys a Sikorsky S-76C-2, serial 760750, N750A; "Larry VISOSKI" signs as director of aviation | +| May 1, 2009 | Air Ghislaine sells the RK-260 share to Flight Options LLC and the same day buys a 6.25 percent share of Beech 400A serial RK-244, N439LX | +| February 23, 2010 | N491GM re-registered to Shmitka Air Inc.; "Darren K. INDYKE" signs as vice president | +| March 2010 | N750A becomes N722JE; Visoski signs "as Director of Operations for Shmitka Air Inc., f/k/a Air Ghislaine Inc." | +| August 25, 2010 | N722JE and N491GM registered to Freedom Air International Inc.; Indyke signs as vice president | +| June 2, 2011 | Freedom Air International sells the N439LX share to Flight Options LLC, Cleveland | +| July 26, 2011 | Freedom Air International (Indyke) sells N722JE to [[ASI Wings]] LLC of Hartford, [[Connecticut]] | +| August 2011 | A 1997 Sikorsky S-76C, serial 760472, N162AE, from ASI Wings, registered to Freedom Air International (Indyke, vice president); renumbered N162AD, Visoski signing as "Director of Maintenance" | +| February 9, 2012 | Freedom Air International (Indyke) sells N162AD to Greenwich Aerogroup Inc. and Brazil Leasing Inc. of Middletown, Delaware; deregistered April 10, 2013 for export to [[Brazil]] | +| April 30, 2012 | Freedom Air International (Indyke) sells N491GM to [[Eagle Copters]] Ltd. of [[Calgary]]; deregistered May 7, 2012 for export to [[Canada]] | + +For both fractional shares the bills of sale were signed by Flight Options executives as attorneys-in-fact for the company, and the agent wrote: "To identify the persons behind Air Ghislaine Inc., contact Flight Options LLC in Ohio."[^1] N722JE was bought back from ASI Wings on June 13, 2019 by [[Hyperion Air]] LLC of [[St. Thomas]], with Visoski signing as manager, and was sold again on May 13, 2021.[^1] + +### The Maxwell Wire + +A third helicopter does not appear in the FAA agent's search. The forensic accountant [[Jorge Amador]], retained by the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] in [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank|its suit against JPMorgan Chase]], reported under the heading "Direct Payments to Ghislaine Maxwell":[^2] + +> Further, Epstein facilitated Maxwell's purchase of a Sikorsky helicopter in July 2007. On June 15, 2007, Maxwell received a $7.4 million wire into her JPMorgan account 6312 from Epstein's Mellon Bank account. On the same day, Maxwell transferred those same funds to Air Ghislaine, Inc. JPMorgan account 4324. Then on June 18, 2007, $7,352,825.00 was transferred to Sikorsky Aircraft as a down payment for the purchase of a green helicopter . . . + +The report identified the aircraft as a Sikorsky S76C and added: "According to the Aviation Database, as of June 27, 2007, the helicopter with tail number N908GM was registered to Air Ghislaine, Inc." + +The wire was made during the federal investigation of Epstein in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]], three months before the September 2007 [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]].[^4] + +### The JPMorgan Account + +[[JPMorgan Chase]] held the company's account, number ending 4324, which it tracked as a single account whose name "changed three times: Air Ghislaine, Inc., Shmitka Air, Inc., and Freedom Air International, Inc." The bank prepared a "Confidential Due Diligence Report" on Air Ghislaine, Inc. dated January 23, 2009 and another on Freedom Air International, Inc. dated July 18, 2011. It described the account's purpose, as it did that of [[JEGE, Inc.]], as "Operational management of one of his business entities that result from his financial advisory business," while it described the accounts of Hyperion Air and [[Plan D LLC]] as serving "operational expenses related to personal aircraft." Amador counted ten Epstein entities "purportedly related to Epstein's personal aircraft," and noted that "Thomas World Air, LLC is also an Epstein-related entity, but it did not have a JPMorgan account."[^2] + +### The 2021 Search + +On August 18, 2021 an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]], preparing the trial of Maxwell, gave the FAA agent a list of search terms: "Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Air Ghislaine, Thomas World Air LLC, Hyperion Air LLC, Freedom Air Petroleum LLC, NES LLC, Maple, Inc., Nautilus Inc." The agent reported "No other aircraft registered to or indexed to" Hyperion, Plan D, Ossa Properties Inc., Epstein, Maxwell, Thomas World Air, Freedom Air Petroleum, NES, Maple or Nautilus. On September 29, 2021 the prosecutor wrote back that "we'd like to learn more about one aircraft in particular," pasted the agent's notes on the Air Ghislaine Sikorsky N750A, later N722JE, and asked for contacts at the title companies that had handled it; the agent, who was retiring the next day, recommended contacting the title company for its file, adding: "They accept summons and subpoenas."[^1] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00021675 to EFTA00021684, DataSet 8, email chain "RE: FAA Question" between a Special Agent, Federal Aviation Administration, Law Enforcement Assistance Program, Atlanta, and an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, August 17 to September 29, 2021. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00021675.pdf +[^2]: 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), pp. 9 and n. 19, 18-19 and nn. 71-74, 20 and nn. 126-127 (citing MP-00003267, JPM-SDNYLIT-00037023, JPM-SDNYLIT-00037065). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.238.31.pdf +[^3]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 137 to 139, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1 (U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida), pp. 1, 4-6, 11. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Apollo Global Management.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Apollo Global Management.md index 6efc8629..1a18b806 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Apollo Global Management.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Apollo Global Management.md @@ -24,12 +24,6 @@ relations: start: 2020-10 end: 2021-01 fn: 4 - - type: represented - with: "[[WilmerHale]]" - reverse: true - role: "review of reputational-risk practices" - end: 2021-01 - fn: 5 --- Apollo Global Management is an American alternative-asset management firm founded in 1990 and headquartered in [[New York]]. It was built by [[Leon Black]] and other alumni of the collapsed investment bank [[Drexel Burnham|Drexel Burnham Lambert]] into one of the largest managers of private-equity, credit, and insurance assets in the world. The firm's co-founder and longtime leader, Black, resigned as chief executive and chairman in 2021 after the disclosure that he had paid [[Jeffrey Epstein]] about 158 million dollars for tax and estate advice, a relationship that prompted an independent board review, a U.S. Senate investigation, and, in 2026, shareholder suits alleging the firm concealed the extent of the ties.[^1][^2] diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Black Family Foundation.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Black Family Foundation.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..f5d8250e --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Black Family Foundation.md @@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - Foundation + - LeonBlack + - JeffreyEpstein + - Philanthropy + - HarvardUniversity +alias: + - Debra and Leon Black Family Foundation + - Debra And Leon Black Family Foundation + - Leon Black Family Foundation + - Leon and Debra Black Family Foundation +summary: "Private foundation of Leon and Debra Black, established in 1997 with Jeffrey Epstein among its initial directors, which listed him on its tax returns until 2012 and funded Harvard's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics." +start: 1997 +location: "445 Park Avenue, New York, New York" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Leon Black]]" + reverse: true + role: "founder; appointed the initial directors" + start: 1997 + fn: 2 + - type: funded + with: "[[Program for Evolutionary Dynamics]]" + role: "1,000,000 dollars, a gift introduced by Epstein" + start: 2015-10-30 + fn: 4 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +The Black Family Foundation, registered with the [[Internal Revenue Service]] as the Debra And Leon Black Family Foundation, is the private foundation of the financier [[Leon Black]], cofounder of [[Apollo Global Management]], and his wife, [[Debra Black]]. It is administered in care of the family office, [[Elysium Management]], at 445 Park Avenue in [[New York City|New York]]. Its employer identification number is 13-3947890; the IRS recognized its exemption as of August 1, 1998 and classifies it as a private non-operating foundation.[^1] [[Jeffrey Epstein]] was one of its directors from its establishment in 1997 and was listed as one on its tax returns until 2012.[^2][^3] + +### Epstein's Directorship + +According to the report that the law firm [[Dechert]] prepared in January 2021 for the conflicts committee of Apollo's board, Black was introduced to Epstein "in the mid-1990's by a mutual friend," and Epstein "introduced Black to well-regarded researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and encouraged Black to donate to charitable causes that supported scientific development." The report continued:[^2] + +> In 1997, Black appointed Epstein as one of the initial directors of the Black Family Foundation, which was established for the purpose of facilitating contributions by Black and his family to philanthropic endeavors. Black was further impressed when he learned that David Rockefeller had appointed Epstein as a director to the Board of Rockefeller University. + +The reference is to [[David Rockefeller]] and [[Rockefeller University]]. Epstein was one of the foundation's seven original trustees. Black's representative told the investigators reviewing Epstein's ties to [[Harvard University]] that Epstein resigned in July 2007 "at the family's request."[^4] The Dechert report put the resignation in "mid-2007" and stated: "However, due to an oversight, the IRS Form 990s filed for the Black Family Foundation during the period 2008-2012 failed to reflect his resignation. Following discovery of the error in or around 2013, the Black Family Foundation issued a confirmation of his earlier resignation." Epstein pleaded guilty in [[Florida]] in 2008 to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution. Dechert found that Black did not engage Epstein for any services until 2012.[^2] In a July 2019 email to Apollo staff reported by *[[Forbes]]*, Black attributed the listing to a "recording error" and said he had stepped down in 2007.[^3] + +A 108-page "Assignment and Assumption Agreement" dated June 7, 2007, in the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s Epstein releases, transferred limited-partner, member and stockholder interests to a separate Black entity, [[Black Family Partners]], L.P., with signature blocks for "Debra Black, Trustee" and "[[Barry Cohen]], Trustee."[^5] + +### Grants + +The foundation's reported revenue, which consists of contributions, was 500,001 dollars in 2011, 1,000,009 dollars in 2012, 1,750,002 dollars in 2013, 12,142,003 dollars in 2014, 4,598,706 dollars in 2015 and 3,816,952 dollars in 2019; its reported year-end assets did not exceed 640,058 dollars in any of those years.[^1] + +On October 30, 2015 the foundation gave 1,000,000 dollars to [[Martin Nowak]]'s [[Program for Evolutionary Dynamics]] at Harvard, the last of three gifts totaling 7 million dollars that followed gifts of 2 million dollars in November 2011 and 4 million dollars in December 2014 from Leon and Debra Black personally. Harvard's review listed them among gifts from donors whom Epstein had introduced, at a time when the university had stopped accepting Epstein's own money; Epstein's accountant and staff acted as intermediaries, and the gift letters earmarked the money for Nowak's research and permitted its use for the program's rent at One Brattle Square. Black's representative told Harvard's investigators that "none of the funds were provided by Mr. Epstein" and that "no attempt was made to conceal the source of these gifts."[^4] + +Dechert found that Black made donations at Epstein's request to the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], Harvard, the [[Arizona State University]] Origins Project and the [[Peace Initiative Foundation]], and a 10 million dollar donation in October 2015 to Epstein's [[Gratitude America]]; Epstein, at Black's request, made "significant donations" on at least two occasions to the [[Melanoma Research Alliance]], "a charitable foundation established by Black and his wife." A 2015 IRS filing showed the 10 million dollar gift to Gratitude America coming from a company called [[BV70]] at the address of Black's family investment firm.[^2][^3] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, "Debra And Leon Black Family Foundation," EIN 13-3947890 (IRS Business Master File and Form 990-PF extracts, ruling date August 1, 1998, foundation code 4), accessed September 25, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/api/v2/organizations/133947890.json +[^2]: Dechert LLP, Memorandum to the Apollo Conflicts Committee, "Investigation of Epstein/Black Relationship and Any Relationship Between Epstein and Apollo Global Management, Inc.," January 22, 2021, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to Apollo Global Management, Inc. Form 8-K, January 25, 2021, pp. 5-6, 18-19. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1411494/000119312521016405/d118102dex991.htm +[^3]: 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 +[^4]: 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. 10-15 and nn. 9, 15. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01128080, DataSet 9, "Assignment and Assumption Agreement" to Black Family Partners, L.P., June 7, 2007. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01128080.pdf diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Boies Schiller Flexner.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Boies Schiller Flexner.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..5f8ed975 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Boies Schiller Flexner.md @@ -0,0 +1,93 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - LawFirm + - BoiesSchillerFlexner + - DavidBoies + - JeffreyEpstein + - GhislaineMaxwell + - VirginiaGiuffre + - BlackCube + - HarveyWeinstein +alias: + - Boies Schiller Flexner + - Boies Schiller Flexner LLP + - Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP + - Boies, Schiller & Flexner + - Boies Schiller +summary: "New York law firm founded by David Boies in 1997 that hired Black Cube for Harvey Weinstein, represented Virginia Giuffre and Epstein victims, and surrendered its Giuffre v. Maxwell discovery to a 2019 grand jury." +start: 1997 +location: "New York, New York" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[David Boies]]" + reverse: true + role: "founder and chairman, 1997 to 2024" + start: 1997 + fn: 1 + - type: represented + with: "[[Virginia Giuffre]]" + start: 2015-09-21 + fn: 5 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Giuffre v. Maxwell]]" + role: "counsel for the plaintiff" + start: 2015-09-21 + fn: 5 + - type: contractor_to + with: "[[Black Cube]]" + reverse: true + role: "private intelligence contractor, engaged on behalf of Harvey Weinstein" + start: 2016-10 + end: 2017 + fn: 2 + - type: represented + with: "[[Harvey Weinstein]]" + start: 2016 + end: 2017 + fn: 2 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Boies Schiller Flexner LLP is an American litigation firm founded in 1997 by [[David Boies]], who chaired it until 2024. In 2016 and 2017 it contracted and paid the Israeli private intelligence company [[Black Cube]] on behalf of [[Harvey Weinstein]], a company to which the former Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]] had introduced Weinstein. Through [[Sigrid McCawley]] and others it represented [[Virginia Giuffre]] against [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] from 2015; in the spring of 2019, months before [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s arrest, it produced the confidential discovery from that case to federal prosecutors under a grand jury subpoena. It later represented Epstein's victims in class actions against [[JPMorgan Chase]], [[Deutsche Bank]] and his estate's co-executors, taking court-approved fees of 30 percent in the bank settlements.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### Founder and Government Service + +Boies was chief counsel and staff director of the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary Committee]] in 1979, counsel to the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] from 1991 to 1993, Special Trial Counsel for the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] in United States v. [[Microsoft]] from 1998 to 2000, and lead counsel for [[Al Gore]] in the litigation over the 2000 Florida vote count.[^1] + +### Black Cube + +On October 28, 2016 the firm wired Black Cube the first 100,000 dollars toward what became a 600,000 dollar invoice. A contract dated July 11, 2017 and bearing Boies's signature listed as its "primary objectives" to "provide intelligence which will help the Client's efforts to completely stop the publication of a new negative article in a leading NY newspaper" and to "obtain additional content of a book which currently being written and includes harmful negative information on and about the Client," identified as Weinstein. Boies signed while the firm was also representing [[The New York Times]], including in a libel case. On November 8, 2017, two days after the arrangement was reported, Epstein asked Barak by email whether Boies had reached "the mossad guys" through him.[^2][^3] + +### Giuffre v. Maxwell and the 2019 Subpoena + +Giuffre sued Maxwell for defamation on September 21, 2015 before Judge [[Robert W. Sweet]], represented by McCawley and other lawyers of the firm; Maxwell was represented by [[Laura Menninger]] and Jeffrey S. Pagliuca of [[Haddon, Morgan and Foreman]]. Sweet's protective order of March 17, 2016 placed deposition transcripts and exhibits under seal, and the parties settled on May 24, 2017.[^5] + +In the spring of 2019 prosecutors of the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]] served a grand jury subpoena on the firm for the confidential [[Giuffre v. Maxwell]] discovery; an order of April 9, 2019 in In re Grand Jury Subpoena, No. 19-MC-149 (CM), permitted it to comply, and the material was produced. Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019. In the later criminal case against Maxwell, Pagliuca told Judge [[Alison Nathan]] on August 24, 2020 that the government had subpoenaed nearly 90,000 pages of the civil discovery, more than half of the 165,000 pages of criminal discovery. On August 11, 2026 Judge [[Loretta Preska]] authorized the government to produce "documents that it received from Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP, in response to a grand jury subpoena and pursuant to the April 9, 2019, order" under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]], over Maxwell's objection.[^4][^6][^7] + +On August 20, 2019, ten days after Epstein's death, McCawley wrote to the [[Freedom of Information Act|FOIA]] Public Liaison of the [[Executive Office for United States Attorneys]] to renew eight requests, made for a client, for Epstein records held by the U.S. Attorney's Offices for [[New Mexico]], the Southern District of New York, the Virgin Islands, the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida|Southern District of Florida]] and the Northern District of Georgia: "As Jeffrey Epstein is now deceased, any privacy concerns are extinguished." The file ends with the [[New York City]] death transcript listing [[Mark Epstein]] as informant.[^8] + +### The Bank Settlements + +With [[Edwards Pottinger]], the firm represented a victim suing as Jane Doe on behalf of a class against Deutsche Bank, which agreed in May 2023 to pay 75 million dollars; it also represented the class against JPMorgan Chase, which agreed in June 2023 to pay 290 million dollars. Judge [[Jed Rakoff]] approved both. The firm reported fees of 87 million dollars from the JPMorgan settlement and 22.5 million dollars from the Deutsche Bank settlement, 30 percent of each, and quoted Rakoff on final approval of the JPMorgan settlement: "in my 27 years on the bench, I have not seen such a good settlement arrive in such a short order, of a case of similar complexity." Its announcement noted that "Epstein became a customer of Deutsche Bank after JPMorgan ended its banking relationship with him."[^9][^10] + +### Doe 3 v. Indyke + +Victims represented by the firm sued Epstein's co-executors [[Darren Indyke]] and [[Richard Kahn]] personally in 2024 (Doe 3 v. Indyke, No. 1:24-cv-01204, before Judge [[Arun Subramanian]]), alleging that they built "a complex web of corporations and bank accounts" that let Epstein hide the abuse and pay victims and recruiters while they were "richly compensated." On February 19, 2026 the estate agreed to pay up to 35 million dollars. Indyke's lawyer, Daniel H. Weiner, said that "[n]either of the co-executors has made any admission or concession of misconduct," and Weiner and Kahn's lawyer, Daniel Ruzumna, said their clients "emphatically reject" any allegation of complicity in or knowledge of Epstein's crimes.[^11][^12] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, "David Boies," firm biography. https://www.bsfllp.com/people/david-boies.html +[^2]: Farrow, Ronan. "Harvey Weinstein's Army of Spies." *The New Yorker,* November 6, 2017. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/harvey-weinsteins-army-of-spies ; "Ehud Barak referred Weinstein to ex-Mossad agents he hired to quash allegations." *The Times of Israel,* November 8, 2017. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ehud-barak-referred-weinstein-to-ex-mossad-agents-he-hired-to-quash-allegations/ +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00964912, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Ehud Barak, November 8, 2017, 15:54 GMT. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00964912.pdf ; EFTA00964979, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Ehud Barak, November 8, 2017, 16:49 GMT. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00964979.pdf ; EFTA00965384, DataSet 9, email from Ehud Barak to Jeffrey Epstein, November 9, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00965384.pdf +[^4]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 1:15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1360 with Exhibits 2 to 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). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/ian-torrington-blatchford-as-interim-administrator-of-virginia-giuffres/ +[^5]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 1:15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), Complaint, ECF No. 1 (Sept. 21, 2015); Answer, ECF No. 54 (March 14, 2016); Protective Order, ECF No. 62 (March 17, 2016). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/ian-torrington-blatchford-as-interim-administrator-of-virginia-giuffres/ +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00088205, DataSet 9, letter, Jeffrey S. Pagliuca, Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., to Hon. Alison J. Nathan, "Re: Reply in Support of Request to Modify Protective Order (Under Seal), United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (AJN)," August 24, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00088205.pdf +[^7]: "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 +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00032431, DataSet 8, letter of Sigrid S. McCawley, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, to FOIA Public Liaison, Executive Office for United States Attorneys, August 20, 2019, with City of New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene death transcript, Certificate No. 156-19-032838 (EFTA00032431 to EFTA00032437). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00032431.pdf +[^9]: Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, "U.S. District Judge Grants Final Settlement Approval for Jeffrey Epstein Survivors," case result, October 20 to November 9, 2023. https://www.bsfllp.com/news-events/us-district-judge-grants-final-settlement-approval-for-jeffrey-epstein-survivors.html +[^10]: "Deutsche Bank to pay $75 million to Epstein victims in groundbreaking settlement, lawyers say," *PBS NewsHour / Associated Press,* 2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/deutsche-bank-to-pay-75-million-to-epstein-victims-in-groundbreaking-settlement-lawyers-say ; "US judge approves Deutsche Bank $75 million settlement with Epstein accusers," *CNN Business,* October 20, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/20/business/deutsche-bank-settlement-epstein-accusers +[^11]: Reuters, "Epstein estate agrees to $35 million settlement in victim class action," *NBC News,* February 20, 2026; Doe 3 v. Indyke, No. 1:24-cv-01204 (S.D.N.Y., filed February 16, 2024), docket. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epstein-estate-agrees-35-million-settlement-victim-class-action-rcna259863 ; https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68260876/doe-3-v-indyke/ +[^12]: 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 diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Dechert.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Dechert.md index ed434965..2b5d3e42 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Dechert.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Dechert.md @@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Black asked for an outside review at an October 20, 2020 meeting of Apollo's boa Dechert reported that Black paid Epstein 158 million dollars for work from 2012 through 2017: 50 million dollars for 2013, 70 million for 2014, 30 million for 2015, nothing for 2016 amid a fee dispute, and 8 million for 2017. It found that Epstein had told Black he generally charged clients 40 million dollars a year; that his first project, resolving a flaw in a 2006 [[Grantor Retained Annuity Trust]] that exposed Black's estate to an estimated 500 million dollars or more in tax, was called a "grand slam" by outside counsel; that Black and witnesses believed Epstein's advice conferred more than one billion and as much as two billion dollars in value; and that "the compensation paid by Black to Epstein far exceeded any amounts Black paid to his other professional advisors." It also recorded that many of Epstein's ideas "did not hold up under scrutiny."[^1] -The report documented Black's separate loans of 22.5 million and 8 million dollars in early 2017 from his entity BV70 LLC to Epstein's Plan D LLC, of which Epstein repaid 10 million dollars; Black's appointment of Epstein in 1997 as an initial director of the Black Family Foundation; and a 10 million dollar donation from Black to Epstein's [[Gratitude America]] in October 2015. It found that Epstein's [[Financial Trust Company]] bought 263,257 shares in Apollo's March 2011 initial public offering through a directed-share program, that the shares passed to [[Southern Financial LLC]] and were held through at least September 2019, and that Financial Trust Company had invested in AP SHL Investors LLC and AP Technology Partners LLC, vehicles formed by Apollo executives, and alongside Black's family in [[Environmental Solutions Worldwide]]. Dechert concluded that Black's and Apollo's public statements about the relationship were substantially accurate and that it had "seen no evidence that Black or any employee of the Family Office or Apollo was involved in any way with Epstein's criminal activities."[^1] +The report documented Black's separate loans of 22.5 million and 8 million dollars in early 2017 from his entity BV70 LLC to Epstein's Plan D LLC, of which Epstein repaid 10 million dollars; Black's appointment of Epstein in 1997 as an initial director of the [[Black Family Foundation]]; and a 10 million dollar donation from Black to Epstein's [[Gratitude America]] in October 2015. It found that Epstein's [[Financial Trust Company]] bought 263,257 shares in Apollo's March 2011 initial public offering through a directed-share program, that the shares passed to [[Southern Financial LLC]] and were held through at least September 2019, and that Financial Trust Company had invested in AP SHL Investors LLC and AP Technology Partners LLC, vehicles formed by Apollo executives, and alongside Black's family in [[Environmental Solutions Worldwide]]. Dechert concluded that Black's and Apollo's public statements about the relationship were substantially accurate and that it had "seen no evidence that Black or any employee of the Family Office or Apollo was involved in any way with Epstein's criminal activities."[^1] On the day of release Black told Apollo's limited partners that the report "confirms several important facts that were previously disclosed. Apollo did no business with Mr. Epstein," announced that he would step down as chief executive by July 2021, and disclosed that Apollo had separately engaged [[WilmerHale]] to review its reputational-risk practices.[^4] diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Epstein Victims' Compensation Program.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Epstein Victims' Compensation Program.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..d3912cf8 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Epstein Victims' Compensation Program.md @@ -0,0 +1,80 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - JeffreyEpstein + - VictimCompensation + - EpsteinEstate + - KennethFeinberg + - VirginIslands + - Settlement +alias: + - Epstein Victim Compensation Program + - Epstein Victims Compensation Program + - Independent Epstein Victims' Compensation Program + - Epstein Victims' Compensation Fund + - EVCP +summary: "Voluntary claims program funded by Jeffrey Epstein's estate and run by Jordana Feldman, which paid about 121 to 125 million dollars to some 136 to 150 claimants in exchange for releases, its records sealed." +start: 2020 +end: 2021 +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[Jordana Feldman]]" + reverse: true + role: "administrator" + start: 2020 + end: 2021 + fn: 1 + - type: funded + with: "[[Darren Indyke]]" + reverse: true + role: "co-executor of the Epstein estate" + start: 2020 + fn: 3 + - type: funded + with: "[[Richard Kahn]]" + reverse: true + role: "co-executor of the Epstein estate" + start: 2020 + fn: 3 + - type: contractor_to + with: "[[Kenneth Feinberg]]" + reverse: true + role: "co-designer" + fn: 1 +--- + +The Epstein Victims' Compensation Program was a voluntary claims program funded by the estate of [[Jeffrey Epstein]] and administered by Jordana H. Feldman, which operated from 2020 to 2021. It offered compensation to anyone alleging sexual abuse by Epstein in exchange for a release of claims and the dismissal of pending suits against the estate and related parties. The estate's co-executors, [[Darren Indyke]] and [[Richard Kahn]], retained [[Kenneth Feinberg]], Camille Biros and Feldman to design it. The [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] intervened against the proposed release in 2019. According to the executors' lawyers it paid about 121 million dollars to 136 claimants; Feldman gave the figure as nearly 125 million dollars to 150 eligible claimants. Its records remain under seal.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Design + +A draft protocol dated January 9, 2020 and filed the next day as an exhibit in Doe v. Indyke in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]] states: "The Estate of Jeffrey Epstein... has retained the services of nationally recognized claims administration experts Kenneth R. Feinberg, Camille S. Biros and Jordana H. Feldman to design the Program. Ms. Feldman will also serve as the Administrator." It describes the program as "purely voluntary," stating that it "does not affect any rights a victim may have unless and until the Claimant accepts the offered compensation and executes a Release," and as "independent," to "in no way be administered, controlled or overseen by the Estate," with the administrator's decisions "not subject to review or modification in any way by the Estate or any other party or entity." It states there is "no cap or limitation on the aggregate amount of funds available to compensate all eligible Claimants."[^1] + +The protocol opened the program to claimants "regardless of where they were harmed, when they were harmed, whether the claim is time-barred," and regardless of a prior settlement. A person who "was over 21 at the time and who allegedly assisted Epstein in procuring other victims/survivors may participate... where there is a credible basis to determine that the individual acted under duress as a result of her own sexual abuse by Epstein." As a condition of payment "the Claimant must dismiss with prejudice any existing lawsuits or legal actions or claims filed against the Estate or related entities and/or individuals."[^1] + +### The Virgin Islands Intervention + +The estate proposed the program in November 2019. The [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice|Virgin Islands Attorney General]] [[Denise George]] intervened, objecting that the proposed release ran to "any person or entity arising from or related to Mr. Epstein's conduct" and alleging that the program would "shield its participants from liability." After the intervention an advocate was retained for claimants.[^2] + +### Payments + +Feldman made individual determinations; Biros described the amounts: "There's no sort of scientific answer to that... It's just really what you feel is appropriate for somebody that went through that kind of thing, and the amount of money that you can have." Lawyers for Indyke and Kahn put the payments at about 121 million dollars to 136 claimants; Feldman announced in 2021 that the program had paid nearly 125 million dollars to 150 eligible claimants, with more than 90 percent of offers accepted. The estate separately settled claims by 58 other women for about 48 million dollars. The program's records, including claimant identities and payments, are sealed.[^3] + +[[Annie Farmer]] testified at the 2021 trial of [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] that she had accepted 1.5 million dollars from the program. At Maxwell's sentencing in June 2022 the government did not seek restitution because the testifying victims had already been compensated through the program and civil settlements.[^4][^5] + +A July 23, 2021 message in an email chain between Feldman and a special agent of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]'s New York child exploitation and human trafficking squad referred to "the compensation program for Epstein victims" and forwarded "the most recent of many similar emails and voicemails" from "a disgruntled claimant, threatening bodily harm." In late August 2021 Feldman wrote to the agent: "I just received another concerning email from this claimant, which I will forward to you. The allegations are completely without merit and nonsensical, but I am very troubled by the personal information she invokes and the tone of her email."[^6] + +On November 22, 2023 Judge [[Jed Rakoff]], presiding over the Virgin Islands' suit against [[JPMorgan Chase]], ordered JPMorgan and [[Deutsche Bank]] to pay the program 563,365.51 dollars and 187,788.50 dollars respectively for the cost of complying with their subpoenas.[^7] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "Independent Epstein Victims' Compensation Program, Protocol, Draft 1" (January 9, 2020), Exhibit, Doe v. Indyke, No. 1:19-cv-08673-KPF-DCF (S.D.N.Y.), Document 42-6, filed January 10, 2020. http://web.archive.org/web/20260117010149/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Doe%20v.%20Indyke,%20No.%20119-cv-08673%20(S.D.N.Y.%202019)/042-06.pdf +[^2]: U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice, "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate of Jeffrey Epstein and Co-Defendants for Over $105 Million," December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ ; Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66683865/government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands-v-jpmorgan-chase-bank-na/ +[^3]: 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 +[^4]: "Ghislaine Maxwell trial accuser Annie Farmer testifies she was violated at age 16," *CBS News,* December 10, 2021. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-accuser-annie-farmer-testifies-violated-age-16/ +[^5]: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, "Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Conspiring With Jeffrey Epstein To Sexually Abuse Minors," press release, June 28, 2022. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00155137, DataSet 9, email chain, Jordana Feldman and an FBI New York special agent, July 23 to August 30, 2021. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00155137.pdf +[^7]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), CourtListener docket 66683865, order of November 22, 2023. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66683865/government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands-v-jpmorgan-chase-bank-na/ diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Financial Trust Company.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Financial Trust Company.md index 7c45d3b3..ba4675e7 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Financial Trust Company.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Financial Trust Company.md @@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ The articles do not name Epstein. Epstein's own 2009 verified complaint against According to documents released by the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]] in February 2020, Epstein was first granted tax benefits for Financial Trust Co., Inc. in 1999 by the authority's predecessor, the Virgin Islands [[Industrial Development Commission]]. The certificate, signed by commission director [[Frandelle Gerard]], granted a 90 percent exemption from income tax and 100 percent exemptions from gross-receipts and excise taxes for ten years, and a 100 percent exemption of taxes "on real property used for the business of financial and economic consulting, money management, investment advisory and fiduciary services for its clients."[^5] -The certificate was amended in 2012 under the [[Economic Development Commission]], which added "special conditions": at least 100,000 dollars a year to "various Virgin Islands charities, youth sports organizations and clubs; and symposiums held in the Virgin Islands," scholarships of 10,000 dollars a year for five years at Kean and Charlotte Amalie high schools, 22,500 dollars to the commission's Workforce Development fund, and 3,000 dollars a year to the Territorial Scholarship fund. The amended certificate was signed by the commission's chairman, [[Albert Bryan]], then serving under Governor [[John de Jongh]]; Bryan also signed the later certificate for Southern Trust Company and was elected governor in 2018. De Jongh's wife, [[Cecile de Jongh]], worked for Epstein from 1998 and was listed as the office manager of both companies.[^5][^6] +The certificate was amended in 2012 under the [[Economic Development Commission]], which added "special conditions": at least 100,000 dollars a year to "various Virgin Islands charities, youth sports organizations and clubs; and symposiums held in the Virgin Islands," scholarships of 10,000 dollars a year for five years at Kean and [[Charlotte Amalie]] high schools, 22,500 dollars to the commission's Workforce Development fund, and 3,000 dollars a year to the Territorial Scholarship fund. The amended certificate was signed by the commission's chairman, [[Albert Bryan]], then serving under Governor [[John de Jongh]]; Bryan also signed the later certificate for Southern Trust Company and was elected governor in 2018. De Jongh's wife, [[Cecile de Jongh]], worked for Epstein from 1998 and was listed as the office manager of both companies.[^5][^6] In January 2020 the authority's assistant chief executive, [[Wayne Biggs Jr.]], told the Virgin Islands Daily News that Epstein "was in the program before he was convicted of any sex crimes under Financial Trust. And he changed from Financial Trust to Southern Trust." Authority officials declined to disclose how much any of the commission's 72 beneficiary companies received in tax breaks each year, and the value of the Financial Trust exemptions was not published at the time. The same reporting noted that Epstein owned 50 percent of [[American Yacht Harbor]] in Red Hook, where Southern Trust kept its office, and that the marina was still receiving commission tax breaks in 2020.[^5] @@ -61,17 +61,17 @@ In January 2020 the authority's assistant chief executive, [[Wayne Biggs Jr.]], Financial Trust was Epstein's principal vehicle for his long relationship with Bear Stearns, where he had worked from 1976 to 1981. In an August 5, 2009 verified complaint filed in the [[District Court of the Virgin Islands]], the company stated that "Epstein has had a relationship with Bear Stearns beginning in 1976. Since 1981, Epstein has conducted hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions with Bear Stearns for his own, as well as his clients', accounts and he conducted this business with the senior management of Bear Stearns." Financial Trust then held 120,000 Bear Stearns shares in a [[Merrill Lynch]] brokerage account, and Epstein alone made its investment decisions on the stock.[^2] -The complaint alleged that Bear Stearns induced Financial Trust to keep its shares because "other large investors would view Financial Trust's sale of a significant block of shares of Bear Stearns stock as a loss of confidence in Bear Stearns by a company owned and managed by a person seen by such large investors as close to the firm," at a time when the firm's valuations were being examined by the press, "including Landon Thomas at the [[New York Times]]," after the collapse of two [[Bear Stearns Asset Management]] hedge funds in the summer of 2007. Financial Trust sold 56,350 shares on August 6, 2007 at 101.38 dollars. That day, according to the complaint, Epstein spoke by telephone from the Virgin Islands with chief executive [[James Cayne]], who told him the problems were "contained to those two funds," described a pending one billion dollar capital infusion from [[CITIC Group|China Citic Group]], and advised him to "hold tight." The company sold its remaining 120,000 shares for 34.99 dollars (20,000 shares, March 14, 2008) and 3.41 dollars (100,000 shares, March 17, 2008) as [[JPMorgan Chase]] took over the firm. The complaint sought compensatory and punitive damages for fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation, naming Cayne, [[Alan Greenberg]], [[Warren Spector]], [[Samuel Molinaro]] and [[Alan Schwartz]] as the officers whose statements Epstein had relied on. It was verified by the company's vice president and filed by the St. Croix lawyer [[John K. Dema]].[^2] +The complaint alleged that Bear Stearns induced Financial Trust to keep its shares because "other large investors would view Financial Trust's sale of a significant block of shares of Bear Stearns stock as a loss of confidence in Bear Stearns by a company owned and managed by a person seen by such large investors as close to the firm," at a time when the firm's valuations were being examined by the press, "including Landon Thomas at the [[New York Times]]," after the collapse of two [[Bear Stearns Asset Management]] hedge funds in the summer of 2007. Financial Trust sold 56,350 shares on August 6, 2007 at 101.38 dollars. That day, according to the complaint, Epstein spoke by telephone from the Virgin Islands with chief executive [[James Cayne]], who told him the problems were "contained to those two funds," described a pending one billion dollar capital infusion from [[CITIC Group|China Citic Group]], and advised him to "hold tight." The company sold its remaining 120,000 shares for 34.99 dollars (20,000 shares, March 14, 2008) and 3.41 dollars (100,000 shares, March 17, 2008) as [[JPMorgan Chase]] took over the firm. The complaint sought compensatory and punitive damages for fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation, naming Cayne, [[Alan Greenberg]], [[Warren Spector]], [[Samuel Molinaro]] and [[Alan Schwartz]] as the officers whose statements Epstein had relied on. It was verified by the company's vice president and filed by the [[St. Croix]] lawyer [[John K. Dema]].[^2] Epstein was also an investor in the funds themselves. Fox Business reported in 2019 that he had put about 60 million dollars into the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund, "making him one of its largest investors," and that a plan for investors to take control of the fund was put to him in the summer of 2007 and "fizzled." The [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] charged the funds' managers, [[Ralph Cioffi]] and [[Matthew Tannin]], in June 2008 with misleading investors before the funds collapsed in June 2007 with losses of about 1.8 billion dollars; the release does not name individual investors.[^7][^8] ### Apollo Shares and the Leon Black Payments -The law firm [[Dechert]], reporting to the conflicts committee of Apollo Global Management in January 2021, found that "in 2011, one of Epstein's entities, Financial Trust Company, purchased 263,257 shares of Apollo's stock in its initial public offering" through a directed share offering program, and that the shares "appear to have later been transferred to a second Epstein entity, Southern Financial LLC, and appear to have been held through at least September 2019." The same review found that Apollo's co-founder [[Leon Black]] paid Epstein 158 million dollars for work performed from 2012 through 2017; the written 2013 service agreement it described was with Southern Trust Company, Inc., which received the first payments. Dechert reported no evidence that Black paid Epstein for anything other than "legitimate advice."[^9] +The law firm [[Dechert]], reporting to the conflicts committee of Apollo Global Management in January 2021, found that "in 2011, one of Epstein's entities, Financial Trust Company, purchased 263,257 shares of Apollo's stock in its initial public offering" through a directed share offering program, and that the shares "appear to have later been transferred to a second Epstein entity, [[Southern Financial LLC]], and appear to have been held through at least September 2019." The same review found that Apollo's co-founder [[Leon Black]] paid Epstein 158 million dollars for work performed from 2012 through 2017; the written 2013 service agreement it described was with Southern Trust Company, Inc., which received the first payments. Dechert reported no evidence that Black paid Epstein for anything other than "legitimate advice."[^9] ### The 2007 Grand Jury Subpoena -The company was subpoenaed in the federal investigation that ended in Epstein's [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]]. The investigation timeline kept by the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] records subpoenas on May 31, 2007 to Financial Trust Company, Inc., returnable June 12, 2007, and to the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc., J. Epstein & Company, Inc. and "Epstein Interests," returnable June 21, 2007, with the defense lawyer [[Gerald Lefcourt]] as the correspondent, and a "Production response to 5/31/07 subpoenas" from all four on June 13, 2007. The same log lists earlier subpoenas to Chase and JPMorgan Chase in 2006 and 2007 and a subpoena to Bear Stearns returnable September 4, 2007.[^10] +The company was subpoenaed in the federal investigation that ended in Epstein's [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]]. The investigation timeline kept by the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] records subpoenas on May 31, 2007 to Financial Trust Company, Inc., returnable June 12, 2007, and to the [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc.]], J. Epstein & Company, Inc. and "Epstein Interests," returnable June 21, 2007, with the defense lawyer [[Gerald Lefcourt]] as the correspondent, and a "Production response to 5/31/07 subpoenas" from all four on June 13, 2007. The same log lists earlier subpoenas to Chase and JPMorgan Chase in 2006 and 2007 and a subpoena to Bear Stearns returnable September 4, 2007.[^10] ### The Towers Financial Allegations diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Goodwin Procter.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Goodwin Procter.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..ac482039 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Goodwin Procter.md @@ -0,0 +1,81 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - LawFirm + - GoodwinProcter + - MIT + - MITMediaLab + - JeffreyEpstein + - InternalInvestigation + - JoiIto + - SethLloyd +alias: + - Goodwin Procter + - Goodwin Procter LLP +summary: "Boston law firm founded in 1912 whose January 2020 report for MIT documented ten Epstein donations totaling 850,000 dollars and found that MIT's senior team had approved post-conviction gifts." +start: 1912-07-01 +location: "Boston, Massachusetts" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Robert Eliot Goodwin]]" + reverse: true + start: 1912-07-01 + fn: 1 + - type: founded + with: "[[Joseph Osborne Procter Jr.]]" + reverse: true + start: 1912-07-01 + fn: 1 + - type: represented + with: "[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]" + role: "outside investigator of Jeffrey Epstein's interactions with MIT" + start: 2019-09 + end: 2020-01-10 + fn: 3 + - type: represented + with: "[[Marc Benioff]]" + role: "counsel to Marc and Lynne Benioff in the purchase of Time" + start: 2018-09 + fn: 11 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Goodwin Procter LLP is an American law firm founded in [[Boston]] on July 1, 1912 by two former [[Harvard University|Harvard]] classmates, Robert Eliot Goodwin and Joseph Osborne Procter Jr., and now employing more than 1,800 lawyers. After [[Joi Ito]] resigned as director of the [[MIT Media Lab]] on September 7, 2019, the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] engaged the firm to investigate [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s interactions with the institute. Its report of January 10, 2020 found that Epstein had made ten donations to MIT totaling 850,000 dollars between 2002 and 2017, nine of them after his 2008 conviction, that three members of MIT's senior team had approved the post-conviction gifts in 2013 knowing of his record, and that the physicist [[Seth Lloyd]] had "purposefully failed to inform MIT" that Epstein was the source of his 2012 gifts.[^1][^2][^3] + +### The MIT Engagement + +Ito resigned one day after [[Ronan Farrow]] reported in the *[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]* that the lab had concealed Epstein's donations. Goodwin Procter conducted 73 interviews and, with [[Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison]], retained separately by MIT's Executive Committee, reviewed more than 610,000 emails and documents. The committee's chairman, Robert Millard, whom Ito had asked in 2016 for help getting "money from JE," recused himself from oversight of the investigation.[^3][^4][^5] + +### Findings + +The first donation, 100,000 dollars from Epstein's C.O.U.Q. Foundation in 2002, supported the research of [[Marvin Minsky]]; the report quoted a March 2013 email in which the Media Lab co-founder [[Nicholas Negroponte]] described Minsky as Epstein's closest friend at MIT, who had "even visited him in jail." The nine gifts after the conviction went to the Media Lab (525,000 dollars) or to Lloyd (225,000 dollars), including two donations of 50,000 dollars in 2012 and one of 125,000 dollars in 2017. The report found that the post-conviction visits and gifts were driven by Ito or by Lloyd, and that the 2012 gifts served Epstein as "a trial balloon" to test MIT's willingness to take his money.[^3][^6] + +Lloyd, who had known Epstein since a 2004 dinner organized by the literary agent [[John Brockman]], had personally received a 60,000 dollar gift from him in about 2005 or 2006 that MIT never recorded, and visited him at his office during his work release. On June 7, 2012 he told MIT staff to expect a donation without naming the donor, giving only the name of Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] as the person "taking care of the donation from the donor's end." The investigators concluded that "the only reasonable inference is that Professor Lloyd did this to obscure the fact that Epstein was the donor." A presidential acknowledgment letter bearing the signature of [[L. Rafael Reif]] and dated August 16, 2012 thanked Epstein for the gift. MIT placed Lloyd on paid administrative leave the day the report was released and imposed five years of restrictions on him in December 2020.[^3][^7] + +The report confirmed that MIT's senior team, General Counsel R. Gregory Morgan, Vice President Jeffrey Newton and Treasurer Israel Ruiz, approved a framework for anonymous Epstein gifts in June 2013: "We do not want his name appearing on any list of supporters or donors in any form." It found that they "made significant mistakes of judgment," but that "no Senior Team member violated any law, breached any MIT policy, or acted in pursuit of personal gain," and that Reif "was not contemporaneously aware of Epstein's donations."[^3][^8] + +### Gates, Black and the "Disqualified" Code + +Epstein claimed in 2014, according to the report, to have arranged an anonymous 2 million dollar gift to the lab from [[Bill Gates]] and a 5 million dollar anonymous gift from [[Leon Black]]. Gates's representatives told the investigators that he "flatly denies" Epstein had anything to do with his donation; the investigators found no evidence that the money of either man was Epstein's.[^3][^9] + +Farrow had reported that Epstein was listed as "disqualified" in MIT's donor database. The report disputed this: "Contrary to certain media reports, neither Epstein nor his foundations was ever coded as 'disqualified' in MIT's donor systems. Further, the code 'disqualified' does not mean that a person or entity is 'blacklisted' or prohibited from donating to the Institute. Rather, the term 'disqualified' is a database code for any donor who previously donated to MIT but presently is dormant or is no longer interested in giving to MIT."[^8][^10] + +### Other Clients + +In September 2018 Goodwin Procter, with BDT & Company, advised [[Marc Benioff]] and [[Lynne Benioff]] on their 190 million dollar purchase of *[[Time]]* from the [[Meredith Corporation]].[^11] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Goodwin Procter LLP, "Goodwin Procter 100 Years: Our Firm is Established," press release, January 1, 2012. https://www.goodwinlaw.com/en/news-and-events/news/2012/01/goodwin-procter-100-years-our-firm-is-established +[^2]: Goodwin Procter LLP, "About Us: Our Story." https://www.goodwinlaw.com/en/about/about-us +[^3]: Goodwin Procter LLP, *Report Concerning Jeffrey Epstein's Interactions with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,* January 10, 2020, pp. 3 to 5, 10, 20 to 21 and nn. 5, 22 to 24. https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf ; "MIT releases results of fact-finding on engagements with Jeffrey Epstein," *MIT News,* January 10, 2020. https://news.mit.edu/2020/mit-releases-results-fact-finding-report-jeffrey-epstein-0110 +[^4]: 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 +[^5]: Goodwin Procter LLP, *Report,* January 10, 2020, pp. 40 to 41 and n. 42, on Ito's November 3, 2016 email to Millard and Millard's recusal. https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf +[^6]: Goodwin Procter LLP, *Report,* January 10, 2020, pp. 9, 16. https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf ; "Eight revelations from MIT's Jeffrey Epstein report," *MIT Technology Review,* January 10, 2020. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/01/10/130928/mit-jeffrey-epstein-donations-media-lab-joi-ito-seth-lloyd-funding-ethics/ +[^7]: Schmidt, Martin A., Provost. "Decision on Professor Seth Lloyd." Massachusetts Institute of Technology, December 18, 2020. https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/decision-professor-seth-lloyd +[^8]: Goodwin Procter LLP, *Report,* January 10, 2020, pp. 5, 10, 27 to 28 and nn. 28 to 30. https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf +[^9]: Goodwin Procter LLP, *Report Concerning Jeffrey Epstein's Interactions with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,* January 10, 2020 (Gates and Black gifts). https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf +[^10]: Farrow, Ronan. "How an Elite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein," *The New Yorker,* September 6, 2019, on the "disqualified" listing. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-an-elite-university-research-center-concealed-its-relationship-with-jeffrey-epstein +[^11]: Meredith Corporation, "Meredith Corporation To Sell TIME Media Brand To Marc And Lynne Benioff," PR Newswire, September 16, 2018. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/meredith-corporation-to-sell-time-media-brand-to-marc-and-lynne-benioff-300713440.html diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Gratitude America.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Gratitude America.md index 04123a98..d78436e9 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Gratitude America.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Gratitude America.md @@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ Checks of "Gratitude America, Ltd," with an account address in New York, New Yor ### Other Grantees -Gratitude America was listed with the [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation]] and the C.O.U.Q. Foundation among the funders of [[John Brockman]]'s [[Edge Foundation]]; financial records reviewed by *BuzzFeed News* showed that the Epstein entities together provided 638,000 dollars of the roughly 857,000 dollars Edge received from 2001 to 2017.[^12] In June 2026 Representative [[Jamie Raskin]], ranking Democrat on the [[House Judiciary Committee]], asked Bard for all records of payments from a list of Epstein-linked entities that included "Gratitude America Ltd.," the Butterfly Trust, Southern Trust Company, Inc., Southern Financial LLC, Plan D, LLC and the "Haze Trust."[^13] +Gratitude America was listed with the [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation]] and the C.O.U.Q. Foundation among the funders of [[John Brockman]]'s [[Edge Foundation]]; financial records reviewed by *BuzzFeed News* showed that the Epstein entities together provided 638,000 dollars of the roughly 857,000 dollars Edge received from 2001 to 2017.[^12] In June 2026 Representative [[Jamie Raskin]], ranking Democrat on the [[House Judiciary Committee]], asked Bard for all records of payments from a list of Epstein-linked entities that included "Gratitude America Ltd.," the Butterfly Trust, Southern Trust Company, Inc., [[Southern Financial LLC]], Plan D, LLC and the "Haze Trust."[^13] ### Footnotes diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Haddon, Morgan and Foreman.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Haddon, Morgan and Foreman.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..db6f3ced --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Haddon, Morgan and Foreman.md @@ -0,0 +1,81 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - LawFirm + - HaddonMorganAndForeman + - GhislaineMaxwell + - JeffreyEpstein + - Denver + - GaryHart + - CriminalDefense +alias: + - Haddon, Morgan and Foreman + - Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C. + - Haddon Morgan and Foreman + - Haddon Morgan & Foreman +summary: "Denver criminal defense firm founded in 1976 by former public defenders, whose clients included Kobe Bryant, John Ramsey and Ghislaine Maxwell, and which sued Maxwell's family in 2022 for unpaid fees." +start: 1976 +location: "Denver, Colorado" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Harold Haddon]]" + reverse: true + role: "founding partner" + start: 1976 + fn: 1 + - type: represented + with: "[[Ghislaine Maxwell]]" + role: "defense counsel in Giuffre v. Maxwell and United States v. Maxwell" + start: 2015 + end: 2022 + fn: 3 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Laura Menninger]]" + reverse: true + role: "shareholder" + start: 2012 + fn: 2 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Giuffre v. Maxwell]]" + role: "counsel for the defendant" + start: 2015-09-21 + fn: 3 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[United States v. Maxwell]]" + role: "defense counsel" + start: 2020 + fn: 5 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C. is a criminal defense and civil trial firm in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], founded in 1976 by [[Harold Haddon]] and Bryan Morgan, both former Colorado public defenders, and joined in 1977 by Lee Foreman. Haddon ran [[Gary Hart]]'s Senate campaigns of 1974 and 1980 and was national political director of Hart's 1987 presidential campaign. Through its lawyers [[Laura Menninger|Laura A. Menninger]] and Jeffrey S. Pagliuca the firm represented [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] in [[Giuffre v. Maxwell]] from 2015 and in the criminal case [[United States v. Maxwell]] from 2020, and in 2022 it sued Maxwell, her brother [[Kevin Maxwell]] and her husband [[Scott Borgerson]] for more than 878,000 dollars in unpaid fees.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Founders and Politics + +Harold "Hal" Haddon had been Chief Trial Deputy of the Colorado Public Defender's Office. According to the firm's biography of him, "Hal was the Campaign Manager for Colorado U.S. Senator Gary Hart's 1974 and 1980 campaigns as well as the National Political Director for Senator Hart's Presidential Campaign in 1987. He also served as the Finance Chairman for Colorado Governor Richard Lamm's 1978 campaign." Haddon served from 2005 to 2008 as personal representative of the estate of [[Hunter S. Thompson]], whom he had defended in 1990 and 1991 on sexual assault, explosives and drug charges that were dismissed after a preliminary hearing.[^1] + +### Clients + +The firm's biography of Haddon lists representations of the basketball player [[Kobe Bryant]], whose 2003 Colorado sexual assault charge was dismissed during jury selection; [[John Ramsey]], father of [[JonBenét Ramsey]], in the Colorado state grand jury investigation of her 1996 murder, whom the district attorney publicly exonerated in July 2008 after DNA testing; [[Qwest Communications]] in a federal securities fraud investigation from 2002 to 2010 that produced no corporate indictment; [[Rockwell International]] in the federal environmental crimes investigation of the [[Rocky Flats]] nuclear weapons plant from 1989 to 1998, which ended in a 1992 corporate guilty plea and an 18.5 million dollar fine; [[McGraw-Hill]] in a 2003 federal false statements investigation that produced no indictment; and the [[University of Colorado]] in a patent fraud case against a division of Wyeth, retried to an affirmed 58 million dollar judgment.[^1] + +### Maxwell + +Menninger, a former law clerk to Judge [[Lewis A. Kaplan]] of the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]], joined the firm as a shareholder in 2012 after the Colorado State Public Defender and [[Holland & Hart]]. [[Virginia Giuffre]] sued Maxwell for defamation on September 21, 2015 before Judge [[Robert W. Sweet]], represented by [[Boies Schiller Flexner]]; Menninger and Pagliuca represented Maxwell. The case settled on May 24, 2017, but its sealed record, produced under Sweet's March 17, 2016 protective order, was litigated for a further nine years.[^2][^3] + +In the criminal case, Pagliuca wrote to Judge [[Alison Nathan]] on August 24, 2020 that the government had subpoenaed from Giuffre's lawyers nearly 90,000 pages of civil discovery still under the Giuffre v. Maxwell protective order, more than half of the 165,000 pages of criminal discovery, while the [[Second Circuit]] and Judge [[Loretta Preska]] were considering whether to unseal the same material, and warned that "the cat will be out of the bag." The firm's lawyers, with Mark S. Cohen of [[Cohen & Gresser]] and [[Bobbi Sternheim|Bobbi C. Sternheim]], moved to dismiss for breach of the 2007 [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]]; Nathan denied the motion on April 16, 2021. On November 1, 2021 the firm served a defense expert disclosure concerning the memory researcher [[Elizabeth Loftus]]. Maxwell was convicted on December 29, 2021.[^5][^6][^7] + +### The Fee Suit + +The firm filed suit in Denver on August 22, 2022 against Maxwell, Kevin Maxwell and Borgerson, alleging that it had not been paid more than 878,000 dollars for its work at trial and on appeal. It alleged that Maxwell had put her brother in charge of her legal fees after her arrest, that he paid "a fraction" of the bills through trial while urging the firm to continue on appeal issues, that he blamed Borgerson for obstructing payment, and that Borgerson formed a limited liability company to buy real estate so as to shield his wife's assets from creditors. Messages for Maxwell's other trial lawyers, [[Christian Everdell]] and Sternheim, were not returned, and [[Ian Maxwell]] said that no family member, including Ghislaine, would comment.[^4] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., "Attorney Harold Haddon," firm biography (archived October 13, 2024). https://web.archive.org/web/20241013041914/https://www.hmflaw.com/attorney-harold-haddon/ +[^2]: Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., "Attorney Laura A. Menninger," firm biography (archived September 13, 2024). https://web.archive.org/web/20240913034618/https://www.hmflaw.com/attorney-laura-menninger/ +[^3]: Giuffre v. Maxwell, No. 1:15-cv-07433 (S.D.N.Y.), Complaint, ECF No. 1 (Sept. 21, 2015); Motion to Dismiss and to Stay Discovery, ECF Nos. 14, 15, 17 (Dec. 1, 2015); Answer, ECF No. 54 (March 14, 2016); Protective Order, ECF No. 62 (March 17, 2016). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/ian-torrington-blatchford-as-interim-administrator-of-virginia-giuffres/ +[^4]: Associated Press, "Ghislaine Maxwell's Lawyers Sue for Over $878K in Fees," *NBC Los Angeles,* August 24, 2022. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/ghislaine-maxwells-lawyers-sue-for-over-878k-in-fees/2971199/ +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00088205, DataSet 9, letter, Jeffrey S. Pagliuca, Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., to Hon. Alison J. Nathan, "Re: Reply in Support of Request to Modify Protective Order (Under Seal), United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (AJN)," August 24, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00088205.pdf +[^6]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), Notice of Motion to Dismiss Superseding Indictment for Breach of Non-Prosecution Agreement, ECF No. 141 (filed Feb. 4, 2021). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.141.0.pdf ; Opinion and Order, ECF No. 207 (April 16, 2021). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00016268, DataSet 8, letter, Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, P.C., defense expert disclosure, United States v. Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (S.D.N.Y.), November 1, 2021 (duplicate at EFTA02835304, Court Records). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00016268.pdf diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Highbridge Capital Management.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Highbridge Capital Management.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..414797cf --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Highbridge Capital Management.md @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - HighbridgeCapital + - HedgeFund + - GlennDubin + - JeffreyEpstein + - JPMorgan + - JesStaley +alias: + - Highbridge Capital Management + - Highbridge Capital Management, LLC + - Highbridge Capital Corp. + - Highbridge Capital + - Highbridge +summary: "New York hedge fund founded in 1992 by Glenn Dubin and Henry Swieca, with Jeffrey Epstein as a founding investor, whose 2004 sale to JPMorgan Epstein helped broker." +start: 1992-09 +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Glenn Dubin]]" + reverse: true + start: 1992-09 + fn: 1 + - type: founded + with: "[[Henry Swieca]]" + reverse: true + start: 1992-09 + fn: 1 + - type: funded + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + role: "founding investor" + fn: 2 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Glenn Dubin]]" + reverse: true + end: 2013 + role: "chief executive" + fn: 5 +--- + +Highbridge Capital Management is a [[New York City|New York]] hedge fund founded in September 1992 by [[Glenn Dubin]] and [[Henry Swieca]]. A March 2004 [[JPMorgan Chase]] memorandum described [[Jeffrey Epstein]] as "a founding investor in Highbridge," and Epstein advised Dubin and Swieca in their negotiations with JPMorgan over the bank's purchase of a majority stake that year, at a time when he was also a private-banking client of JPMorgan and a correspondent of its executive [[Jes Staley]]. JPMorgan raised its stake to 77.5 percent in 2009. Dubin led the firm until 2013. In 2010 Highbridge answered a subpoena in an arbitration between Epstein's companies and the Fortress Value Recovery Fund and [[D.B. Zwirn & Co.]] entities, and in 2020 the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]] subpoenaed its records in its suit against Epstein's estate.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### Founding + +Dubin and Swieca grew up in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]], "a working-class neighborhood in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge," and launched Highbridge as an actively managed hedge fund in September 1992. The fund had 128 million dollars in assets during the 1994 bond market rout and about 6 billion dollars by June 2004, when [[Institutional Investor]] listed JPMorgan Chase and [[Citigroup]] among the money-center banks that were its clients.[^1] + +### The 2004 JPMorgan Purchase + +Staley told the [[United Kingdom]]'s Upper Tribunal in 2025 that JPMorgan's 2004 purchase of a majority stake in Highbridge was the largest acquisition of a hedge fund to that time, and that Epstein played an important role in it while acting as an adviser to another party. A memorandum of March 18, 2004 to [[Jamie Dimon]], then still chairman of [[Bank One Corporation]], and to JPMorgan chairman [[William B. Harrison Jr.]] and [[David Coulter]] stated: "Highbridge has approached JB, JPMC based on an existing relationship with the founders/owners, and with Jeffrey Epstein [a founding investor in Highbridge]." A June 16, 2004 email to Staley read: "We continue to be concerned about the role Jeffrey Epstein is or is not playing. One concern that we have is that Jeffrey has been educating Glenn & Henry about our structure and valuation thoughts."[^2][^3][^6] + +Dimon testified in 2023 that he "had ultimate approval of the transaction," that he did not know of any role Epstein played, and that he did not recall the March memorandum. Asked why Staley would have written to him about Highbridge and Epstein, he said, "You got me." JPMorgan raised its stake to 77.5 percent in 2009. In September 2025 Senator [[Ron Wyden]] asked the bank to describe any payments to Epstein for services, "such as the reported $15 million paid by JPMC to Epstein related to the acquisition of Highbridge"; the bank did not answer.[^6][^7][^8] + +### The Fortress and Zwirn Arbitration + +On November 9, 2010 Highbridge Capital Management, LLC was served, as a non-party, with a subpoena duces tecum in an arbitration before JAMS in New York, Reference No. 1425006537, captioned *Fortress VRF I LLC and Fortress Value Recovery Fund I LLC v. Jeepers, Inc.* In the same proceeding [[Financial Trust Company]], Inc. and Jeepers, Inc. were counter-claimants and third-party claimants against Fortress Value Recovery Fund I LLC and against D.B. Zwirn Partners, LLC, D.B. Zwirn & Co., L.P., DBZ GP, LLC, Zwirn Holdings, LLC and [[Daniel Zwirn]]. Highbridge's responses and objections to the subpoena were later produced by JPMorgan in the Virgin Islands litigation under the Bates number JPM-SDNY-00061119.[^4] + +### Project Jeep and the Virgin Islands Subpoena + +On July 22, 2019, after Epstein's arrest, JPMorgan's global head of financial crimes compliance wrote to two chief compliance officers that "Top of house requested that we expand our analysis to related parties and put together slides," and that "There is a highbridge angle and one dating back to Bear," referring to [[Bear Stearns]]. The summary produced by the review, code-named Project Jeep, grouped messages concerning "lawsuits and litigation involving Epstein, JPMC, Bear Stearns, Highbridge, Zwirn etc."[^9] + +On September 3, 2020 the Virgin Islands attorney general, [[Denise George]], in her suit against Epstein's estate, issued subpoenas to Dubin, his wife [[Eva Andersson-Dubin]] and Highbridge, seeking records of financial transactions and communications with Epstein from 1998 onward, including three wire transfers between 2014 and 2016.[^5] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "Inside Highbridge," *Institutional Investor,* June 10, 2004. https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2btgk245bciyr1qqsdukg/home/inside-highbridge +[^2]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Plaintiff's Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 221 (filed July 24, 2023), paras. 33, 55, 98-99, 111, 129-131. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.221.0.pdf +[^3]: Staley v The Financial Conduct Authority [2025] UKUT 00203 (TCC), Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber), decision released June 26, 2025. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/685d21fec2633bd820a92a52/Staley_v_FCA_decision_for_release.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01581714, DataSet 10, Responses and Objections of Non-Party Highbridge Capital Management, LLC to the Subpoena Duces Tecum dated November 9, 2010, JAMS Ref. No. 1425006537 (JPM-SDNY-00061119). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01581714.pdf +[^5]: "US Virgin Islands wants Jeffrey Epstein-related documents from NY hedge fund billionaire," *ABC News,* September 9, 2020. https://abcnews.com/US/us-virgin-islands-jeffrey-epstein-related-documents-ny/story?id=72892602 +[^6]: Deposition of James Dimon, May 26, 2023, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), transcript pp. 51-57, 179-180, 218, 261-269. https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rQOuhi8KqiM0/v0 +[^7]: 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. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.238.31.pdf +[^8]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co., September 24, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_from_senator_wyden_to_jpmorgan_chase_epstein_accounts_09-24-25pdf.pdf +[^9]: 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), letter motion of Motley Rice to Judge Jed S. Rakoff seeking leave to reopen depositions, ECF No. 191, June 7, 2023 (filed June 20, 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)/EFTA02808715.pdf ; U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02808647, Court Records (same case), Exhibit 3 to ECF No. 191, email "Project Jeep Current Review," October 27-28, 2019. 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)/EFTA02808647.pdf diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Hyperion Air.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Hyperion Air.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..ed9844f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Hyperion Air.md @@ -0,0 +1,118 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - JeffreyEpstein + - HyperionAir + - ShellCompany + - Aircraft + - VirginIslands + - Delaware + - CashTransactions +alias: + - Hyperion Air, Inc. + - Hyperion Air Inc. + - Hyperion Air Inc + - Hyperion Air, LLC + - Hyperion Air LLC + - Hyperion Inc +summary: "Two Jeffrey Epstein aircraft companies: a Delaware corporation that held his Gulfstream N909JE from 1994 and a St. Thomas LLC, formed in 2012, that held his helicopters." +start: 1994 +location: "Wilmington, Delaware; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: director_of + with: "[[Darren Indyke]]" + reverse: true + role: "corporate secretary of Hyperion Air, Inc.; name on filings in 1999 and 2013" + start: 1999 + end: 2013 + fn: 1 + - type: member_of + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + role: "sole member of Hyperion Air, LLC under its operating agreement" + start: 2012-10-19 + fn: 3 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Larry Visoski]]" + reverse: true + role: "manager of Hyperion Air, LLC, signing the 2019 purchase and 2021 sale of N722JE" + start: 2019-06-13 + end: 2021-05-13 + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[David Rodgers]]" + reverse: true + role: "chief pilot, signatory on the 1994 Gulfstream purchase" + start: 1994 + fn: 1 + - type: investigated + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]]" + reverse: true + role: "grand jury subpoena returnable August 18, 2006" + start: 2006-08-18 + fn: 4 + - type: investigated + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]]" + reverse: true + role: "named as a search term in an FAA registry search requested by an Assistant U.S. Attorney" + start: 2021-08-18 + fn: 1 + - type: subject_of + with: "[[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]]" + reverse: true + role: "Hyperion Air, LLC named as a defendant in the territory's suit against the Epstein estate" + start: 2020 + end: 2022-12-01 + fn: 8 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Hyperion Air is the name of two companies that held aircraft for [[Jeffrey Epstein]]: Hyperion Air, Inc., a [[Delaware]] corporation with a registered address in [[Wilmington, Delaware|Wilmington]], which bought his Gulfstream jet N909JE in 1994, and Hyperion Air, LLC, organized in [[St. Thomas]], [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], on October 19, 2012, which held his helicopters until after his death. A 2007 federal draft indictment described Epstein as "president, sole director, and sole shareholder" of Hyperion Air, Inc., whose "sole business activities related to the operation and ownership of a Gulfstream G-1159B aircraft bearing tail number N909JE."[^1][^2] The corporation's account at [[JPMorgan Chase]] carried Epstein's aviation cash withdrawals from about 2011.[^3] + +### Hyperion Air, Inc. + +In 1994 [[Gulfstream Aerospace|Gulfstream]] sold a 1974 Gulfstream G-1159B, serial number 151, registered N979GA, to Hyperion Air Inc. of Wilmington. Epstein's pilot [[David Rodgers]] signed as chief pilot and Epstein signed as president; a special agent of the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] later noted that "the signature of EPSTEIN looks similar" to his signature on another aircraft's documents. The registration was changed to N909JE in May 1994. The name of [[Darren Indyke]], Epstein's lawyer, appears on documents filed for Hyperion Air Inc. in 1999 and 2013. In November 2013 Hyperion sold N909JE to [[Starbridge Landing]] Inc. of Dover, Delaware, and on December 2, 2014 the aircraft was deregistered for export to [[Venezuela]].[^1] + +In March 2012 a 2001 [[Bell 430]] helicopter, serial number 49078, registered N901RL, was registered to Hyperion Air Inc., with Indyke signing the application as corporate secretary. The registration was changed to N331JE in June 2012, and in August 2013 the helicopter was transferred to Hyperion Air LLC in St. Thomas. The FAA agent wrote that "the same players in the Inc and LLC are on the FAA registration paperwork," naming Indyke and Lawrence Visoski.[^1] + +### The 2006 Subpoena and the 2007 Draft Indictment + +The chronological log of the [[Operation Leap Year]] investigation kept by the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] records grand jury subpoenas returnable August 18, 2006 to Epstein's aviation companies Hyperion Air, Inc. and [[JEGE, Inc.]], issued with subpoenas to Chase, [[Colonial Bank]], [[Washington Mutual]] and [[Capital One]].[^4] The draft indictment prepared in that office in 2007 recited overt acts in which girls identified as Jane Does traveled "aboard the Gulfstream aircraft owned by Hyperion Air, Inc." NBC News reported that a May 2007 prosecution memorandum released in the [[Epstein Files]] sought approval to charge Epstein, JEGE, Inc., Hyperion Air, Inc. and three redacted co-conspirators in a sealed 60-count indictment.[^2][^5] No indictment was filed. The [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]] of September 2007 disposed of the federal case, and Hyperion kept the Gulfstream for another six years.[^1][^6] + +### The JPMorgan Account + +JPMorgan's due diligence report on Hyperion Air, Inc., dated January 23, 2009, noted that "This entity is 100% owned by Jeffrey Epstein"; the bank's internal description of the account's purpose, approved in November 2006, was "Managing payments for operational expenses of personal aircraft." The forensic accountant [[Jorge Amador]], retained by the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] in [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank|its suit against JPMorgan]], identified eight JPMorgan accounts and ten entities "purportedly related to Epstein's personal aircraft."[^3] + +Of at least 134 currency transaction reports JPMorgan filed on Epstein accounts between September 3, 2003 and November 1, 2013, 15 concerned the Hyperion account ending 4332. Amador wrote that "beginning in or around 2011, Epstein's cash transactions were funneled through Hyperion Air," which "it appears, was done per the advice of" [[John Duffy]], then chief executive of JPMorgan's private bank. A March 28, 2012 internal email quoted Duffy:[^3] + +> This is a better fact pattern than I thought. JE and I spoke about his pattern of cash withdrawals. His answer was "fuel payments in foreign countries." Some of the countries were OFAC listed. I did ask him to withdraw this cash from his aviation account for these payments. Clearly he is doing this. + +The reference is to the sanctions lists of the [[Office of Foreign Assets Control]]. Between October 2011 and November 2013 the Hyperion account issued 548,751.87 dollars in checks payable to "Cash," most in round amounts of 30,000 or 40,000 dollars, which Epstein's accountant [[Harry Beller]] signed and endorsed. A JPMorgan "Verify & Confirm" review of March 9, 2013 recorded that the "large cash withdrawals from the account [were] for fuel expenses when traveling to foreign countries." Amador found no fuel receipts or other documentation in the account records, and noted that Epstein continued to pay two fuel vendors from his personal account between March 2011 and July 2013. Between 2011 and 2013 the Hyperion account also made eleven foreign currency transactions totaling 224,655.79 dollars, nine of them purchases of euros or British pounds, on none of which JPMorgan filed a currency transaction report.[^3] + +In a December 2014 email a [[Southern Trust Company]] employee was described as "currently working on the scanning and shredding for all of the entities, FTC, LSJ, Zorro, NES, JEGE, Hyperion, and JEVIF," hired "as a temporary college intern-type person to deal with shredding sensitive documents as a summer project."[^7] + +### Hyperion Air, LLC + +The operating agreement of Hyperion Air, LLC, dated October 19, 2012, was signed by Epstein as "Sole Member."[^3] The territory's complaint against his estate described the company as organized that day with Epstein and his chief pilot [[Larry Visoski]] as managers, and as the owner of a Bell helicopter (N331JE) and a "Keystone" helicopter (N722JE) that Epstein used "to transport young women and underage girls between St. Thomas and [[Little St. James]]"; the complaint dated Epstein's shell-company formations to the period after his 2010 registration as a sex offender in the territory, stating that "most of these companies were created in 2011 and 2012."[^8] + +N722JE was a 2008 Sikorsky S-76C-2 that Epstein's company [[Air Ghislaine, Inc.]], later Freedom Air International, had bought in 2008 and sold on July 26, 2011 to [[ASI Wings]] LLC of Hartford, [[Connecticut]]. On June 13, 2019, three weeks before Epstein's arrest at [[Teterboro Airport|Teterboro]], ASI Wings sold it back to Hyperion Air LLC, with "Lawrence P. VISOSKI Jr." signing as manager. Visoski signed the bill of sale of May 13, 2021 by which Hyperion sold it to Industrial Integrity Solutions Inc. of Ontario, California. N331JE was sold in May 2020 to CMG Aircraft Leasing Inc. of [[Miami]], a broker, which resold it the same day to QIR Air Resources LLC of [[Salt Lake City]]; its registration became N430D in July 2020.[^1] + +### Federal Interest + +On August 18, 2021 an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]], then preparing the trial of [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], sent the FAA's Law Enforcement Assistance Program in [[Atlanta]] a list of search terms that included "Hyperion Air LLC," "Air Ghislaine," "Thomas World Air LLC" and "Freedom Air Petroleum LLC." The FAA special agent replied the same day: "In 2015/2016, DEA S/A was interested in EPSTEIN and his aircraft," naming an agent of the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]]'s Saint Thomas Resident Office, and "In August 2019, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] in Atlanta, GA was interested in aircraft linked to EPSTEIN." The agent's search found "No other aircraft registered to or indexed to Hyperion Inc or LLC, and none to Ossa Properties Inc."[^1] + +The territory named Hyperion Air, LLC as a defendant, with Indyke, [[Richard Kahn]], the estate, [[Plan D LLC]] and other Epstein companies, in the suit it settled on December 1, 2022 for more than 105 million dollars.[^8][^9] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00021675 to EFTA00021684, DataSet 8, email chain "RE: FAA Question" between a Special Agent, Federal Aviation Administration, Law Enforcement Assistance Program, Atlanta, and an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, August 17 to September 29, 2021. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00021675.pdf +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01703108 to EFTA01703163, DataSet 10, draft indictment, United States v. Epstein (S.D. Fla., unfiled, 2007), paragraphs 5 and 6 and overt acts. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01703108.pdf +[^3]: 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), pp. 9 and n. 22-23, 18-19 and nn. 69-70, 24-27 and nn. 87, 97-98, 49 and nn. 131-132, 64 and nn. 154-155 (citing JPM-SDNYLIT-00025446, JPM-SDNYLIT-00036884, JPM-SDNYLIT-269656, JPM-SDNYLIT-00020772, JPM-SDNYLIT-00036291; the report labels the account ending 4332 as belonging both to Hyperion Air, Inc. and to Hyperion Air, LLC). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.238.31.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1 (U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida), pp. 1, 4-6, 11. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^5]: "Epstein files live updates: Trump DOJ releases millions more pages of records," NBC News, January 30, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/live-blog/epstein-files-trump-doj-release-live-updates-rcna256639 +[^6]: 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, 359 F. Supp. 3d 1201. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867.435.0.pdf +[^7]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023 (JPMorgan exhibits, December 2014 email). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html +[^8]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 33 to 36, 137 to 139, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf +[^9]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate of Jeffrey Epstein and Co-Defendants for Over $105 Million," *Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/JEGE, Inc..md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/JEGE, Inc..md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..91b6b201 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/JEGE, Inc..md @@ -0,0 +1,94 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - JeffreyEpstein + - JEGE + - ShellCompany + - Aircraft + - LolitaExpress + - VirginIslands + - Delaware +alias: + - JEGE + - JEGE Inc. + - JEGE Inc + - JEGE, INC. + - JEGE, LLC + - JEGE LLC +summary: "Jeffrey Epstein's Delaware corporation that owned his Boeing 727, N908JE, from 2001 to 2019, with a namesake St. Thomas LLC formed in 2012 that held a Gulfstream IV and passed to new owners in 2019." +start: 2001-01-19 +location: "New York, New York; West Palm Beach, Florida; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: director_of + with: "[[Darren Indyke]]" + reverse: true + role: "vice president of JEGE, Inc., signing the 2013 re-registration of N908JE" + start: 2013 + fn: 1 + - type: member_of + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + role: "member of JEGE, LLC" + start: 2012-10-19 + fn: 1 + - type: member_of + with: "[[Larry Visoski]]" + reverse: true + role: "member of JEGE, LLC" + start: 2012-10-19 + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Larry Visoski]]" + reverse: true + role: "manager of JEGE, LLC on FAA filings" + start: 2013-05-30 + end: 2017-08 + fn: 1 + - type: investigated + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]]" + reverse: true + role: "grand jury subpoena returnable August 18, 2006" + start: 2006-08-18 + fn: 3 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +JEGE, Inc. was a [[Delaware]] corporation through which [[Jeffrey Epstein]] owned the Boeing 727-31 registered N908JE, the aircraft the press called the [[Lolita Express]]. A 2007 federal draft indictment stated that Epstein "was the principal owner of JEGE, INC., a Delaware corporation," that its "sole business activities related to the operation and ownership of a Boeing 727-31 aircraft bearing tail number N908JE," and that he "served as president, sole director, and sole shareholder of JEGE, INC., and had the power to direct all of its operations." A separate company, JEGE, LLC, was organized in [[St. Thomas]], [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], on October 19, 2012, with Epstein and his chief pilot [[Larry Visoski]] as members.[^1][^2] + +### The Boeing 727 + +On January 19, 2001 Real Estate Exchange Inc. of Portland, Oregon sold a 1969 Boeing 727, serial number 20115, registered N505LS, to JEGE Inc. at an address in [[New York City|New York]], 10022; the signature on the registration application was illegible, over the title "President." The registration was changed to N908JE in April 2001. On JEGE's Part 125 operating certificate "the CEO was Jeffrey EPSTEIN," at an address in [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]]. The aircraft had "a business configuration with a kitchen and bedroom" and about 25 seats that "aren't economy seats," was certificated for passengers only, and "was used for private business not charter flights." On the 2013 re-registration "Darren K. INDYKE, Vice President signed as Vice President of JEGE Inc." JEGE remained the registered owner until the registration was cancelled on October 5, 2019, two months after Epstein's death. In August 2021 a special agent of the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] told prosecutors that "N908JE might be in Brunswick, Georgia."[^1] + +### The 2006 Subpoena and the 2007 Draft Indictment + +The chronological log of the [[Operation Leap Year]] investigation kept by the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] records grand jury subpoenas returnable August 18, 2006 to Epstein's aviation companies [[Hyperion Air]], Inc. and JEGE, Inc.[^3] The draft indictment prepared in that office in 2007 recited overt acts in which girls identified as Jane Does were flown "aboard the Boeing 727 aircraft owned by JEGE, INC." NBC News reported that a May 2007 prosecution memorandum sought approval to charge Epstein, JEGE, Inc., Hyperion Air, Inc. and three redacted co-conspirators in a sealed 60-count indictment. No indictment was filed; the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]] of September 2007 disposed of the federal case, and JEGE kept the 727 for another twelve years.[^2][^4] + +### The JPMorgan Accounts + +[[JPMorgan Chase]] prepared a "Confidential Due Diligence Report" on JEGE, Inc. dated March 4, 2010, and another in March 2013 noting that "This is an entity 100% owned by Jeffrey Epstein"; a JPMorgan entity account application for JEGE LLC signed February 11, 2013 identified Epstein as its sole owner. The bank described the purpose of the JEGE accounts, as it did that of [[Air Ghislaine, Inc.]], as "Operational management of one of his business entities that result from his financial advisory business."[^5] + +In a December 2014 email a [[Southern Trust Company]] employee was described as "currently working on the scanning and shredding for all of the entities, FTC, LSJ, Zorro, NES, JEGE, Hyperion, and JEVIF."[^6] + +### JEGE, LLC + +On May 30, 2013 a 1988 Gulfstream G-IV, serial number 1085, registered N423TT, was registered to JEGE, LLC of St. Thomas, with Lawrence Visoski signing as manager. The company's 2013 statement to the FAA gave its formation date as October 19, 2012 and its members as "Jeffrey EPSTEIN and Lawrence VISOSKI." Visoski changed the registration to N212JE in July 2013 and to N120JE in August 2017; the number N212JE then passed to the Gulfstream G550 of [[Plan D LLC]].[^1] The territory's 2022 complaint against Epstein's estate listed JEGE LLC among the Virgin Islands companies in what it called the Epstein Enterprise, most of which were "created in 2011 and 2012, soon after Epstein registered as a sex offender in the Virgin Islands."[^7] + +On September 8, 2014 a flight chartered by JEGE LLC carried five passengers, among them the [[New Mexico]] attorney general and Democratic gubernatorial nominee [[Gary King]] and his running mate, [[Deb Haaland]], from Santa Fe to Washington; the campaign reported paying 22,060 dollars to the charter company [[Injet]], and at 5:36 a.m. the next day a charter booker emailed Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]] and Visoski that the plane was "on the ground at IAD." King later said his staff had told him that [[Bill Richardson]] was helping to arrange an airplane and that "we didn't have any reason to know or believe that it was a plane that was owned by Jeffrey Epstein"; a spokesperson for Haaland said the way the plane was chartered "was never communicated to her."[^8][^9] + +### The 2019 Transfer + +The company's 2019 statement to the FAA gave the same formation date but named its member as [[Aviation Development Group]] LLC and its manager as [[Thomas Huff|Thomas H. Huff]]. In June 2019, the month before Epstein's arrest, an aircraft security agreement for 2,800,000 dollars on N120JE was filed with the FAA naming JEGE Inc. of Powder Springs, Georgia as assignor. The FAA agent described Huff as a pilot "involved in aviation at the Cobb County airport (RYY), in Kennesaw, GA for many years" and wrote: "He is of interest to DEA S/A [redacted] in Atlanta, GA. The aircraft is still registered to JEGE LLC, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. I suspect HUFF bought JEGE LLC which included the aircraft." The reference is to a special agent of the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]].[^1] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00021675 to EFTA00021684, DataSet 8, email chain "RE: FAA Question" between a Special Agent, Federal Aviation Administration, Law Enforcement Assistance Program, Atlanta, and an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, August 17 to September 29, 2021. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00021675.pdf +[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01703108 to EFTA01703163, DataSet 10, draft indictment, United States v. Epstein (S.D. Fla., unfiled, 2007), paragraphs 3 and 4 and overt acts. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01703108.pdf +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1 (U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida), pp. 1, 4-6, 11. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^4]: "Epstein files live updates: Trump DOJ releases millions more pages of records," NBC News, January 30, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/live-blog/epstein-files-trump-doj-release-live-updates-rcna256639 +[^5]: 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), pp. 9-10 and nn. 29-30, 18-19 and n. 74 (citing JPM-SDNYLIT-00036338, JPM-SDNYLIT-00025011, JPM-SDNYLIT-00037171). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.238.31.pdf +[^6]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023 (JPMorgan exhibits, December 2014 email). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html +[^7]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 137 to 139, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf +[^8]: Paras, Julian, and Pat Davis. "Records show Gary King, Deb Haaland used Epstein-linked jet during 2014 campaign." *New Mexico Political Report,* February 17, 2026. https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2026/02/17/records-show-gary-king-deb-haaland-used-epstein-linked-jet-during-2014-campaign/ +[^9]: Davis, Pat, and Julian Paras. "Gary King campaigned on prosecuting child sex offenders, while courting Epstein at lunch and accepting donations through companies designed to avoid 'press coverage' for King." *New Mexico Political Report,* February 23, 2026. https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2026/02/23/gary-king-campaigned-on-his-record-prosecuting-child-sex-offenders-then-invited-epstein-to-lunch-and-accepted-epstein-donations-through-companies-designed-to-avoid-press-coverage-for-king/ diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/JPMorgan Chase.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/JPMorgan Chase.md index 1741d00d..1e4337ef 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/JPMorgan Chase.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/JPMorgan Chase.md @@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ A May 2003 due-diligence report stated that "Jeffrey Epstein, through the tradin After the 2006 arrest the bank's Rapid Response Team met on October 17, 2006 and, "after internal discussion with Jes Staley, Mary Erdoes, Catherine Keating, John Duffy and Mary Casey," decided to "keep Mr. Epstein solely as a banking client and on a 'reactive', client service basis," not proactively soliciting new investment business from him. His balances rose from about 32 million dollars in October 2006 to about 121.5 million dollars by July 2008 and 156 million dollars in September 2008. An August 28, 2008 email from Casey counted his assets as a probable outflow "as I can't imagine it will stay (pending Dimon review)." A 2009 due-diligence report recorded that after his conviction "Jes Staley conferred with Stephen Cutler and the decision was made to keep Mr. Epstein as a PB client," for "banking and custody only," with brokerage execution withdrawn.[^4][^7] In 2005 the bank had approved a one million dollar standby letter of credit in Epstein's name backing a [[Mellon United National Bank]] loan to [[MC2 Model Management]], the agency of [[Jean-Luc Brunel]], and renewed it on annual review; a 2011 report by the bank's Global Corporate Security division said it was "unknown if the money was given as a secret investment or payment for services as a procurer."[^4][^7] -The chronological log of the [[Operation Leap Year]] investigation kept by the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] records a grand jury subpoena to Chase returnable August 18, 2006, issued alongside subpoenas to [[Colonial Bank]], [[Washington Mutual]] and [[Capital One]] and to Epstein's aviation companies Hyperion Air, Inc. and JEGE, Inc.; a subpoena to "JP Morgan Chase" returnable March 6, 2007; and a subpoena to Chase Bank USA, N.A. returnable April 24, 2007. The same log lists subpoenas to [[Financial Trust Company]], Inc., returnable June 12, 2007, and to [[Bear Stearns]], returnable September 4, 2007, and an April 2007 email between Assistant U.S. Attorney [[Ann Marie Villafana]] and the Justice Department's money-laundering specialist [[Stefan Cassella]] "re money laundering question."[^9] On September 21, 2012 Epstein's bookkeeper Harry Beller faxed JPMorgan a memorandum directing it to wire 5,000 dollars from Epstein's account, for further credit to the [[St. Thomas]] law firm Kellerhals Ferguson LLP, referenced to the Southern Trust Company application fee; Epstein's September 2012 JPMorgan statement records the debit as "Southern Trust Company Application Fee." [[Southern Trust Company]] applied for its Virgin Islands tax benefits the following month.[^10] +The chronological log of the [[Operation Leap Year]] investigation kept by the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] records a grand jury subpoena to Chase returnable August 18, 2006, issued alongside subpoenas to [[Colonial Bank]], [[Washington Mutual]] and [[Capital One]] and to Epstein's aviation companies [[Hyperion Air|Hyperion Air, Inc.]] and [[JEGE, Inc.]]; a subpoena to "JP Morgan Chase" returnable March 6, 2007; and a subpoena to Chase Bank USA, N.A. returnable April 24, 2007. The same log lists subpoenas to [[Financial Trust Company]], Inc., returnable June 12, 2007, and to [[Bear Stearns]], returnable September 4, 2007, and an April 2007 email between Assistant U.S. Attorney [[Ann Marie Villafana]] and the Justice Department's money-laundering specialist [[Stefan Cassella]] "re money laundering question."[^9] On September 21, 2012 Epstein's bookkeeper Harry Beller faxed JPMorgan a memorandum directing it to wire 5,000 dollars from Epstein's account, for further credit to the [[St. Thomas]] law firm Kellerhals Ferguson LLP, referenced to the Southern Trust Company application fee; Epstein's September 2012 JPMorgan statement records the debit as "Southern Trust Company Application Fee." [[Southern Trust Company]] applied for its Virgin Islands tax benefits the following month.[^10] In December 2010 anti-money-laundering official [[Philip DeLuca]] wrote to the bank's AML director [[William Langford]] about "that scum Epstein," and Langford replied, "Let me know if McCleerey waffles on Epstein. No patience for this." In January 2011 Langford asked the private bank to re-evaluate its sponsorship of Epstein and "request re-approval from Steve Cutler if we wanted to retain"; the banker [[Paul Morris]] answered, "I thought we decided this was not necessary." A 2011 email recorded that AML operations had asked at a private-bank risk meeting "that we exit this relationship," that no one on a later call favored keeping him, "Seems it is all due to Jes's personal relationship," and that he had "about 212 mil in the bank." In August 2010 [[Alan Greenberg|Alan "Ace" Greenberg]], the former Bear Stearns chairman who had mentored Epstein there, asked Cutler for an exception to the bank's felon policy to keep doing business with him.[^4][^7] @@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ JPMorgan's 2004 purchase of a majority stake in the hedge fund [[Highbridge Capi Seven suspicious activity reports on Epstein filed by JPMorgan between April 2002 and September 2016 covered about 4.3 million dollars. The bank filed no report between April 15, 2003 and August 15, 2008, a span in which Epstein withdrew more than 3.5 million dollars in cash, and none between August 2008 and August 8, 2013; the 2013 report covered activity back to January 2009, and a report filed in March 2015 covered activity from 2006 and 2007. On August 13, 2019, five weeks after his July 6, 2019 arrest, the bank filed a report on 469 wires totaling about 201 million dollars, including payments to women in Russia, Belarus and Turkmenistan through correspondent accounts at Russian banks, among them [[Sberbank]] and [[Alfa-Bank]], and on September 26, 2019 a report on 4,725 wires totaling 1,081,819,653 dollars from October 2003 to July 2019. The reports described counterparties who had "been in a relationship with Epstein" or were "procurers of women as part of trafficking," and activity "consistent with negative media involving alleged sex trafficking of minors, the use of multiple accounts, the misappropriation of funds as a money manager and the high-risk jurisdiction of the Russian federation."[^4] -The Virgin Islands' forensic accountant found that Epstein withdrew more than 7 million dollars in cash from JPMorgan accounts from 2002 to 2013 and paid more than 3 million dollars to dozens of women. A former JPMorgan executive testified at Maxwell's 2021 trial that Epstein paid Maxwell at least 31 million dollars, about 25 million from JPMorgan accounts; on June 15, 2007 Maxwell received a 7.4 million dollar wire from Epstein, moved it the same day to her company Air Ghislaine's JPMorgan account, and paid 7,352,825 dollars to [[Sikorsky Aircraft]] three days later toward an S-76C helicopter registered N908GM.[^4][^6] In March 2026 Wyden told the Senate that "there could be more than $1.5 billion in suspicious Epstein transactions" in the Treasury records his staff had reviewed, and that JPMorgan "waited until after he died to flag more than 99 percent of his suspicious payments."[^17] +The Virgin Islands' forensic accountant found that Epstein withdrew more than 7 million dollars in cash from JPMorgan accounts from 2002 to 2013 and paid more than 3 million dollars to dozens of women. A former JPMorgan executive testified at Maxwell's 2021 trial that Epstein paid Maxwell at least 31 million dollars, about 25 million from JPMorgan accounts; on June 15, 2007 Maxwell received a 7.4 million dollar wire from Epstein, moved it the same day to her company [[Air Ghislaine, Inc.|Air Ghislaine]]'s JPMorgan account, and paid 7,352,825 dollars to [[Sikorsky Aircraft]] three days later toward an S-76C helicopter registered N908GM.[^4][^6] In March 2026 Wyden told the Senate that "there could be more than $1.5 billion in suspicious Epstein transactions" in the Treasury records his staff had reviewed, and that JPMorgan "waited until after he died to flag more than 99 percent of his suspicious payments."[^17] ### The 2023 Litigation Before Judge Rakoff diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..725487bd --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation.md @@ -0,0 +1,87 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - JeffreyEpstein + - VirginIslands + - Foundation + - ScienceFunding + - ReputationManagement + - ShellCompany +alias: + - Enhanced Education + - J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation + - J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc. + - J Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc + - Jeffrey Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation + - Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, Inc. + - Epstein VI Foundation +summary: "Jeffrey Epstein's St. Thomas private foundation, registered with the IRS as Enhanced Education, which funded scientists and Edge, issued inflated gift claims, filed one tax return, and paid young models through Darren Indyke." +start: 2000-06 +location: "6100 Red Hook Quarter, Suite B3, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + start: 2000-06 + fn: 2 + - type: funded + with: "[[Origins Project]]" + start: 2010-12 + end: 2017-04 + role: "250,000 dollars as Enhanced Education" + fn: 10 + - type: funded + with: "[[Edge Foundation]]" + role: "listed funder with other Epstein entities" + fn: 12 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, incorporated as J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc., is a tax-exempt private foundation founded by [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in June 2000 and registered in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]]. The [[Internal Revenue Service]] carries it under employer identification number 66-0585379 with the name "Enhanced Education" and the sort name "J Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc," at the Red Hook Quarter address on [[St. Thomas]] shared with [[Southern Trust Company]] and [[Southern Financial LLC]]. Under both names it gave money to scientists and to [[John Brockman|John Brockman's]] [[Edge Foundation]], and its name appeared on press releases and a fundraising letter that misstated Epstein's gifts to [[Harvard University]]. The IRS record shows a single return, for 2002. Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]], its president from at least 2007, signed foundation checks between 2015 and 2019 for more than 400,000 dollars to young female models and actresses.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Names and Registration + +The IRS Business Master File lists EIN 66-0585379 as a section 501(c)(3) organization named "Enhanced Education" at "6100 Red Hook Quarter - Suite B3," St. Thomas, with the sort name "J Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc." The only return on file for the number is a Form 990-PF for the tax period ending December 2002, processed in 2004. The Virgin Islands government's 2022 complaint against Epstein's estate described the "J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc." as "a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt private foundation that was founded in June 2000 and registered in the Virgin Islands," with Indyke listed as president as of October 23, 2007 and a signatory on its checking accounts. An internal inventory of Epstein's web presence dated February 26, 2014 tracked his foundation sites, including jeffreyepsteinfoundation.com, jeffreyepsteinscience.com and jeffreyepsteineducation.com, and business-directory listings under the name "Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation."[^1][^2][^5][^6] + +On May 31, 2007, during the federal investigation in Florida that ended in Epstein's [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]], the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] subpoenaed the "J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc.," with [[Financial Trust Company]], J. Epstein & Company and "Epstein Interests," with the defense lawyer [[Gerald Lefcourt]] as correspondent. A Bear Stearns wire ledger from 2008, filed as an exhibit in the territory's suit against [[JPMorgan Chase]], lists several transfers of more than 550,000 dollars each with the reference "ENHANCED EDUCATION...FOUNDATION...ST THOMAS" routed through [[Bear Stearns]] in New York.[^7][^8] + +On June 28, 2016 a [[Deutsche Bank]] employee listed the balances of Epstein's accounts at the bank in an internal email headed "Southern Financial - IA Request": 98,610,505.00 dollars for Southern Financial LLC, 41,108,732.17 dollars for the Haze Trust, 7,668,026.80 dollars for Southern Trust Company, 7,108,576.30 dollars for Jeepers Inc., 1,367,641.87 dollars for "J EPSTEIN VIRGIN ISLANDS FOUNDATION INC 6100 RED HOOK QUARTER B3 ST THOMAS VI 00802," and 667,218.67 dollars for Epstein personally.[^9] + +### Science Funding + +Records obtained by *[[BuzzFeed News]]* under Arizona's public records law showed that Enhanced Education paid the physicist [[Lawrence Krauss|Lawrence Krauss's]] [[Origins Project]] at [[Arizona State University]] 250,000 dollars between December 2010 and April 2017; one Origins accounting entry listed Epstein's employer as "Leon D. Black, Enhanced Education," a reference to Epstein's client [[Leon Black]], who with [[Debra Black]] gave the project 2 million dollars in 2014 and 2015. When the university closed the project in 2018 it returned 25,000 dollars in unspent funds to Enhanced Education. Epstein foundation websites listed the physicist [[Frank Wilczek]] as a funding recipient; Wilczek said, "I did not receive financial support from Mr. Epstein," and the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]'s investigators found no such donation. MIT's donor files for Epstein's foundations Epstein Interests and Enhanced Education carried the alert: "There is to be [no] contact with Epstein without contacting VP Jeff Newton first. Sensitive situation, no presidential acknowledgement."[^10][^11] + +The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, with Epstein's [[Gratitude America]] and the [[C.O.U.Q. Foundation]], was among the listed funders of the Edge Foundation; financial records reviewed by *BuzzFeed News* showed that the Epstein entities together provided 638,000 dollars of the roughly 857,000 dollars Edge received from 2001 to 2017.[^12] + +### Harvard Claims + +Press releases issued in the name of the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation between 2012 and 2014 stated that Epstein had given 30 million dollars to [[Martin Nowak|Martin Nowak's]] [[Program for Evolutionary Dynamics]] at Harvard; a Harvard source said the figure "does not reflect the actual gift," and Harvard's 2020 review found a 6.5 million dollar gift from Epstein in 2003 and no 30 million dollar pledge. In 2013 Epstein's publicist asked the program for links because "Jeffrey is trying to boost his foundation's websites and a link on Harvard's network would be very helpful."[^4][^6][^13] + +In 2014 the program applied to the [[John Templeton Foundation]] for a 3 million dollar grant; Templeton offered half and required proof of matching funds. Epstein wrote to Nowak and his accountant, "im not sure if [an Epstein foundation] should sign instead." The resulting letter, from Enhanced Education, stated that "[i]n 2003 Enhanced Education established a gift to the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics." Enhanced Education had never funded the program. Templeton granted 1.5 million dollars in 2015, and in 2018 the program's administrator had a researcher write on the close-out form, "We used a gift from Enhanced Education to Harvard University fund 347150 for the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics." Harvard's review found that Nowak and the administrator "provided false information to the Templeton Foundation."[^13] + +### Payments Through Indyke + +According to the territory's complaint against the estate, between September 2015 and June 2019 Indyke signed foundation checks for more than 400,000 dollars payable to young female models and actresses, including more than 380,000 dollars in monthly payments of 8,333 dollars to a former model over three and a half years, ending in mid-2019. In November 2017 he signed a foundation check to a New York immigration lawyer involved in marriages the complaint alleged were arranged among Epstein's victims to secure immigration status, with a memo line referencing the model's surname. Earlier in 2017 he signed a foundation check for 160,000 dollars to resolve a fine Epstein had incurred for construction on [[Great St. James]] that violated territorial environmental rules, and "attempted to make the payment appear to be a charitable donation"; the estate repaid the amount to the foundation more than two years later "after questions were raised to Epstein's lawyer about the propriety of the Foundation payment." The complaint alleged that the payments "were inconsistent with the charitable purpose of the Foundation and designed to serve the private benefit and criminal activities of Epstein." The Great St. James fine had been reduced from 280,000 dollars to 160,000 dollars in a settlement with the government of Governor [[Kenneth Mapp]]. Indyke and his co-executor [[Richard Kahn]] were not charged and have denied wrongdoing; the estate settled the territory's case in 2022.[^2][^14][^15] + +S. 2746, the [[Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act]] introduced by Senator [[Ron Wyden]] in September 2025, lists "J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc." among the entities whose Treasury records it would require to be produced, with Gratitude America and Southern Financial LLC.[^16] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Internal Revenue Service, Business Master File record for EIN 66-0585379 ("Enhanced Education," sort name "J Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc," 6100 Red Hook Quarter, Suite B3, St. Thomas; subsection 501(c)(3)) and filing index (Form 990-PF, tax period December 2002), as indexed by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/api/v2/organizations/660585379.json +[^2]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Darren K. Indyke et al., No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint (filed November 30, 2022), paragraphs 80 and 83 to 88; reproduced as ECF No. 1-1 in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y., filed December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 19 to 20. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf +[^3]: Aldhous, Peter. "How Jeffrey Epstein Bankrolled The Exclusive Edge Foundation And Reaped The Benefits." *BuzzFeed News,* 2019. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-john-brockman-edge-foundation +[^4]: Lopez, Diane E., Ara B. Gershengorn, and Martin F. Murphy. *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University.* Harvard Office of the General Counsel and Foley Hoag LLP, May 2020, pp. 3, 5, 15-17, 20-23, on the 6.5 million dollar gift, the absence of a 30 million dollar pledge, and the Enhanced Education letter. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01133367, DataSet 9, "Internet Related Information as of February 26, 2014." https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01133367.pdf +[^6]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein Called Himself A 'Science Philanthropist' And Donated Millions To These Researchers," *BuzzFeed News,* July 11, 2019, on the 30 million dollar press-release claim and the Harvard source's statement. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-science-donations +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1 (U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida), pp. 1, 4-7. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02816240, Court Records, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904 (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 155, Bear Stearns wire-transaction ledger, 2008, filed August 15, 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)/EFTA02816240.pdf +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01372777, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank internal email, Vahe Stepanian to Andrew Xu and Roddy Moore, "RE: Southern Financial - IA Request," June 28, 2016 (DB-SDNY-0066645). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372777.pdf +[^10]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein Called Himself A 'Science Philanthropist' And Donated Millions To These Researchers," *BuzzFeed News,* July 11, 2019, updated July 13, 2019; 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-sex-trafficking-science-donations ; https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements +[^11]: Goodwin Procter LLP, *Report Concerning Jeffrey Epstein's Interactions with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,* January 10, 2020, pp. 27-28 and nn. 28-30. https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf +[^12]: Aldhous, Peter. "How Jeffrey Epstein Bankrolled The Exclusive Edge Foundation And Reaped The Benefits." *BuzzFeed News,* 2019, on the Epstein-linked contributions of 638,000 dollars of nearly 857,000 dollars received 2001 to 2017. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-john-brockman-edge-foundation +[^13]: Lopez, Gershengorn and Murphy, *Report Concerning Jeffrey E. Epstein's Connections to Harvard University,* May 2020, pp. 13-17, 20-23 and n. 12, on the gift table, the Templeton application, Epstein's emails, the Enhanced Education letter, the 2018 close-out form, and the publicist's requests. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^14]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Files reveal Epstein's efforts to influence V.I. officials; emails with Mapp." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026 (reduction of the Great St. James fine). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/files-reveal-epstein-s-efforts-to-influence-v-i-officials-emails-with-mapp/article_2dd4fe69-4daf-4dc2-b3b8-37a929002bb6.html +[^15]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026 (Kahn and Indyke not charged, denial of wrongdoing). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html +[^16]: S. 2746, 119th Congress, "Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act," introduced September 9, 2025, section 2(b)(2)(H), (Q) and (R). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119s2746is/html/BILLS-119s2746is.htm diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/John Templeton Foundation.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/John Templeton Foundation.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..2d6f924a --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/John Templeton Foundation.md @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - JohnTempletonFoundation + - Philanthropy + - MartinNowak + - ProgramForEvolutionaryDynamics + - JeffreyEpstein + - EnhancedEducation + - Harvard +alias: + - John Templeton Foundation + - Templeton Foundation +summary: "Foundation established in 1987 by Sir John Templeton that granted Harvard's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics 1.5 million dollars in 2015 after receiving a false Jeffrey Epstein matching-funds letter." +start: 1987 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[John Templeton]]" + reverse: true + start: 1987 + fn: 1 +--- + +The John Templeton Foundation is an American philanthropic foundation established in 1987 by the investor [[John Templeton|Sir John Templeton]]. In 2015 it granted 1.5 million dollars to [[Harvard University]]'s [[Program for Evolutionary Dynamics]], directed by [[Martin Nowak]], a member of the foundation's Board of Advisors, after [[Jeffrey Epstein]] sent the foundation a letter on the stationery of his [[U.S. Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]] foundation, [[Enhanced Education]], stating falsely that [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|Enhanced Education]] had established a gift to the program in 2003. Harvard's 2020 review found that Nowak and the program's administrator "provided false information to the Templeton Foundation." In 2014 [[Joi Ito]] of the [[MIT Media Lab]] also invoked a possible Templeton matching gift in asking Epstein for a donation; the foundation said it had no record of any such plan.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### The Foundation + +Templeton established the foundation in 1987, the year he was made a Knight Bachelor. In 2005 he gave it an additional 500 million dollars, after which it became one of the sixty largest foundations in the [[United States]] by assets. Its stated aspiration is "to create a world where people are curious about the wonders of the universe, free to pursue lives of meaning and purpose, and motivated by great and selfless love." Templeton died in [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]], [[Bahamas]], in 2008.[^1] The foundation is listed among the "major philanthropic supporters" of the [[Foundation for American Innovation]].[^5] + +### The Harvard Grant + +In 2014 the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics applied to the foundation for a 3 million dollar grant. The foundation offered half and required proof that matching funds had been secured. By then Harvard had accepted no gifts from Epstein since the decision of its president, [[Drew Faust]], no later than November 2008, and Epstein's 6.5 million dollar founding gift of 2003 had been spent. The program held money from [[Leon Black]] that could have served as the match, but Nowak sought a letter from Epstein. Epstein wrote to his accountant and Nowak, "im not sure if [an Epstein foundation] should sign instead," and separately to a Templeton executive vice president, "martin wants to send a letter showing funds but using my name, i thought you might have a view." The executive replied, "Sure, just send me a draft if you like."[^2] + +The letter, dated November 24, 2015 and sent on Enhanced Education letterhead from 6100 Red Hook Quarter, Suite B-3, [[St. Thomas]], was addressed by Epstein to [[Barnaby Marsh]], the foundation's Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Managing Director of its Philanthropic Leadership Network:[^3] + +> Martin Nowak has been telling me about his proposed new research applications of evolutionary game theory to the behavioral sciences . . . I understand that the John Templeton Foundation is currently considering a project proposal, in which Enhanced Education would have the opportunity to partner with the John Templeton Foundation by providing additional funding of $1,500,328 . . . specifically from Harvard University fund 347150 that has been budgeted for this project. In 2003 Enhanced Education established a gift to the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics to support precisely this type of cutting edge research. + +The 1,500,328 dollars comprised 1,304,633 dollars in direct costs and 195,695 dollars in indirect costs. Enhanced Education had never funded the program. The foundation made its 1.5 million dollar grant in 2015. In 2018 the program's administrator told a researcher completing the foundation's close-out form to write, "We used a gift from Enhanced Education to Harvard University fund 347150 for the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics." Harvard's review, conducted by its Office of the General Counsel with [[Foley Hoag]] and released in May 2020, found that Nowak and the administrator "provided false information to the Templeton Foundation," and that the foundation "has no record of this statement in its files."[^2][^3] + +### The MIT Proposal + +In late 2014 Ito, the director of the MIT Media Lab, asked Epstein for an initial donation of up to 5 million dollars to trigger a matching gift that Ito said the foundation had discussed. The foundation told the journalist [[Ronan Farrow]] that it had "no records related to any such plan," and no such gift was made. The law firm [[Goodwin Procter]] reviewed the proposal in its January 2020 report to [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]].[^4][^6] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: John Templeton Foundation, "About," foundation website, accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.templeton.org/about +[^2]: 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. 10-17 and n. 12, on Faust's decision, the Templeton application, Epstein's emails, the Enhanced Education letter, the 2018 close-out form, and the finding of false statements. https://ogc.harvard.edu/file_url/208 +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01102163, DataSet 9, letter from Jeffrey Epstein, Enhanced Education, to Barnaby Marsh, John Templeton Foundation, November 24, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01102163.pdf +[^4]: 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 +[^5]: Foundation for American Innovation, "About Us," accessed September 23, 2026. https://www.thefai.org/about-us +[^6]: Goodwin Procter LLP, *Report Concerning Jeffrey Epstein's Interactions with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,* January 10, 2020, pp. 32-33, 40, on the Templeton matching proposal. https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/sites/default/files/20200121GoodwinProcterReport.pdf diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Kirkland & Ellis.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Kirkland & Ellis.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..731c93df --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Kirkland & Ellis.md @@ -0,0 +1,102 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - LawFirm + - KirklandAndEllis + - JeffreyEpstein + - NonProsecutionAgreement + - RevolvingDoor + - AlexanderAcosta + - WilliamBarr +alias: + - Kirkland & Ellis + - Kirkland & Ellis LLP + - Kirkland and Ellis +summary: "American law firm whose partners Jay Lefkowitz and Kenneth Starr negotiated Jeffrey Epstein's 2007 non-prosecution agreement with Alexander Acosta, a former Kirkland associate, and which later employed William Barr." +location: "Chicago, Illinois" +relations: + - type: represented + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + role: "defense counsel in the non-prosecution agreement negotiations, through Jay Lefkowitz and Kenneth Starr" + start: 2007-08 + end: 2009 + fn: 4 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Alexander Acosta]]" + reverse: true + role: "associate, Washington office" + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Jay Lefkowitz]]" + reverse: true + role: "litigation partner" + end: 2026-03 + fn: 3 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Kenneth Starr]]" + reverse: true + role: "partner, later of counsel" + fn: 5 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[William Barr]]" + reverse: true + start: 2009 + end: 2019 + fn: 12 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]]" + role: "defense counsel" + start: 2007-08 + end: 2008 + fn: 4 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an American law firm with a large Washington office. Two of its lawyers, the litigation partner [[Jay Lefkowitz]] and [[Kenneth Starr]], then of counsel, represented [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in 2007 and 2008 in negotiating the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]] with the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]], whose head, [[Alexander Acosta]], had been an associate in the firm's Washington office. Lefkowitz was at the same time the [[George W. Bush]] administration's part-time Special Envoy for Human Rights in [[North Korea]]. In late 2008 Acosta recused himself from matters involving the firm because he had begun to discuss employment with it. [[William Barr]] joined the firm in 2009 and, as Attorney General in 2019, recused himself from the Justice Department's review of the Florida agreement because of that tie.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Acosta + +Acosta graduated from [[Harvard Law School]] in 1994, clerked for Judge [[Samuel Alito]] on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]], and then practiced as an associate in Kirkland's Washington office, specializing in employment and labor law. He served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the [[Department of Justice]] Civil Rights Division from 2001 to 2002, on the [[National Labor Relations Board]] from December 2002 to August 2003, and as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights from August 2003 to June 2005, when Bush appointed him U.S. Attorney in [[Miami]].[^1] + +### Lefkowitz and Starr + +Lefkowitz had served under [[George H.W. Bush]] as deputy executive secretary of the [[Domestic Policy Council]] and director of cabinet affairs, was a partner in Kirkland's Washington office, became general counsel of the [[Office of Management and Budget]] in March 2001 and Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy in 2002, and was appointed Special Envoy on August 19, 2005 under the [[North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004]]. The [[State Department]]'s 2006 biography described him as "also a senior partner at Kirkland & Ellis, LLP." Starr, a former judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit|D.C. Circuit]], Solicitor General from 1989 to 1993 and the [[Whitewater]] independent counsel who investigated President [[Bill Clinton]], had been a Kirkland partner and was of counsel to the firm while dean of the [[Pepperdine University School of Law]].[^2][^3][^5] + +Epstein's defense had been conducted since 2006 by [[Roy Black]], [[Alan Dershowitz]], [[Gerald Lefcourt]], [[Lilly Ann Sanchez]] and others. In early August 2007, immediately after the federal office presented a term sheet requiring a state guilty plea, jail time, sex offender registration and civil damages, Epstein added Lefkowitz and Starr. Acosta had worked on at least one matter with each of them at the firm; a colleague told the [[Office of Professional Responsibility]] that he once entered Acosta's office as Acosta finished a telephone call and Acosta said, "[T]hat was Ken Starr." On the evening of August 6, 2007, First Assistant U.S. Attorney [[Jeffrey Sloman]] emailed Acosta: "Just saw Menchel. I didn't know Kirkland made a call into you. You were right. Unbelievable." Acosta answered that the Kirkland lawyers "are likely to go to DC. We should strategize a bit. We are not changing positions, and that should be made clear."[^4][^5] + +The final terms were worked out in September 2007 in email between the line prosecutor, [[Ann Marie Villafana|A. Marie Villafaña]], and Epstein's counsel, principally Lefkowitz. On September 13 she wrote that she had been "spending some quality time with Title 18 looking for misdemeanors," and defense counsel answered that he was "[a]lready thinking about the same statutes." The agreement was signed on September 24, 2007. On December 11, 2007 the office wrote to Lefkowitz at Kirkland's New York office, over Acosta's name, answering what the letter called "the ever-increasing attacks on my role in the investigation and negotiations," and noting that "[t]he agreement itself was signed by Mr. Epstein, Ms. Sanchez, and Mr. Lefcourt, whose experience speaks for itself." On December 17 Starr and Lefkowitz sent Acosta a 110-page letter, and through the first half of 2008 they appealed the agreement to the Justice Department's Criminal Division and to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, which declined to intervene on June 23, 2008.[^5][^6][^7] + +The Office of Professional Responsibility wrote in 2020 that "a reasonable inference can be drawn that Epstein believed that hiring attorneys with relationships to the prosecutors would be beneficial to him," naming Starr and Lefkowitz of "Kirkland & Ellis, Acosta's former firm," among others.[^8] + +### Acosta's Recusal + +In late 2008, "when Acosta anticipated leaving the USAO and was considering pursuing employment with Kirkland & Ellis," he told Sloman to stop copying him on Epstein emails. On November 26, 2008 the office told the Department that Acosta was recused from matters involving the firm, and on December 8, 2008 the Department approved the recusal because he had "begun to discuss possible employment" with it. Sloman became the senior official responsible for final decisions on Epstein, including the prosecutors' notice that Epstein's work release breached the agreement. Acosta left the office in June 2009 to become dean of the law school at [[Florida International University]].[^8][^9] + +### After the Plea + +On December 15, 2010 a correspondent writing as "jagesq" told Epstein that former [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] State Attorney [[Barry Krischer]] had lunched with a New York criminal defense lawyer, and added: "We may want to think about using him with the registration stuff unless we are too invested with Kirkland. probably help us with Krischer." In Epstein's New York sex offender registration appeal, People v. Jeffrey E. Epstein, a motion to unseal in the Appellate Division, First Department, attached a press article stating: "Like Acosta, Starr had worked at the prestigious law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Epstein also tapped Jay Lefkowitz, also of Kirkland, who worked as a domestic policy advisor and later as a special envoy to North Korea during the George W. Bush presidency."[^10][^11] + +### Barr + +Barr joined Kirkland & Ellis in 2009. After Epstein's July 2019 arrest in New York, Barr told reporters on July 8, 2019: "I'm recused from that matter because one of the law firms that represented Epstein long ago was a firm I subsequently joined for a period of time." The next day a Justice Department official said that Barr had consulted career ethics officials and "concluded he did not have to recuse himself from the current prosecution" in the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]], and that "[d]ue to his prior association with Kirkland and Ellis, the Attorney General has and will remain recused from any retrospective review of the resolution of the earlier [Southern District of Florida] matter." The former [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] assistant director [[Frank Figliuzzi]] called the distinction "a distinction without a difference," saying the two matters were "inexorably linked," and also pointed to reports that Barr's father, [[Donald Barr]], as headmaster of the [[Dalton School]] in the 1970s, had hired Epstein to teach mathematics although Epstein had no college degree.[^12] + +### Lefkowitz's Retirement + +Lefkowitz retired from the firm in March 2026 after three decades, saying: "Although I believe everyone is entitled to representation no matter how heinous their crimes, knowing what we all know now, I would not have taken on the Epstein matter." A Kirkland spokesperson said: "To say the least, we deeply regret the firm's 2007 representation of Jeffrey Epstein."[^3] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: The White House (George W. Bush archives), "Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta," official biography. https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/racosta-bio.html ; U.S. Department of Labor, "Hall of Secretaries: Alexander Acosta." https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/acosta +[^2]: U.S. Department of State, "Jay Lefkowitz, Special Envoy, Human Rights in North Korea," biography, released May 25, 2006. https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/66929.htm ; The White House (George W. Bush archives), "Personnel Announcement," January 31, 2002. https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020131-10.html +[^3]: "Jeffrey Epstein's Disgraced Lawyer Jay Lefkowitz Who Secured Sweetheart Deal Leaves Firm," *The Daily Beast,* March 2026, quoting Lefkowitz's retirement statement and a Kirkland & Ellis spokesperson. https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-disgraced-lawyer-jay-lefkowitz-who-secured-sweetheart-deal-leaves-firm/ +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284, Prior DOJ Disclosures, Office of Professional Responsibility, report, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," November 2020, pp. 9, 59, 62 to 64, 76, 97 to 99, 101, 105, 109 to 110, 150 to 152. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General, "Solicitor General: Kenneth W. Starr," historical biography (updated September 18, 2023). https://www.justice.gov/osg/bio/kenneth-w-starr ; U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284 (see note 4), pp. 62 to 63, 94 to 99, 105 to 113. +[^6]: Opinion and Order, *Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla. Feb. 21, 2019), ECF No. 435 (Marra, J.), reported at 359 F. Supp. 3d 1201, quoting ECF No. 407 and the agreement (ECF No. 361-62). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867.435.0.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00013538, DataSet 8, letter, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida to Jay P. Lefkowitz, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Citigroup Center, New York, "Re: Jeffrey Epstein," December 11, 2007, pp. 1, 3. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00013538.pdf +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284 (see note 4), pp. 150 to 155 and n. 224 (EFTA02847459 to EFTA02847464). +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284 (see note 4), pp. 18, 21 and nn. 21, 28 to 31; pp. 115 to 118 and nn. 183 to 184. +[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01830557, DataSet 10, email, "jagesq" to Jeffrey Epstein, "krischer richardson," December 15, 2010. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01830557.pdf +[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00798522, DataSet 9, Affirmation of John M. Browning in Support of Motion to Unseal, People v. Jeffrey E. Epstein, App. Div. No. 6081 (N.Y. App. Div., 1st Dep't), with press article exhibit. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00798522.pdf +[^12]: "Attorney General Bill Barr will not recuse himself from Jeffrey Epstein child sex prosecution," *CNBC,* July 9, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/09/bill-barr-will-not-recuse-himself-in-jeffrey-epstein-prosecution.html diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Kobre & Kim.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Kobre & Kim.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..a1f5ce55 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Kobre & Kim.md @@ -0,0 +1,78 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - LawFirm + - KobreAndKim + - RevolvingDoor + - JeffreyEpstein + - NonProsecutionAgreement + - GovernmentEnforcementDefense + - AssetRecovery +alias: + - Kobre & Kim + - Kobre & Kim LLP + - Kobre and Kim +summary: "Litigation firm founded by two former Manhattan federal securities fraud prosecutors, which hired Matthew Menchel and Andrew Lourie, two supervisors of the 2006 to 2007 Epstein investigation, on leaving government." +start: 2003 +location: "New York, New York" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Steven Kobre]]" + reverse: true + start: 2003 + fn: 1 + - type: founded + with: "[[Michael Kim]]" + reverse: true + start: 2003 + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Matthew Menchel]]" + reverse: true + role: "partner, government enforcement defense" + start: 2007-08 + fn: 4 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Andrew Lourie]]" + reverse: true + role: "partner, government enforcement defense" + fn: 7 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Kobre & Kim LLP is a litigation firm founded in [[New York]] by [[Steven Kobre]] and [[Michael Kim]], former Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the securities and commodities fraud unit of the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]]. It describes itself as a "conflict-free, litigation-only" firm for cross-border disputes, government investigations and asset recovery, with offices in several countries, and most of its business referred by other law firms. Two supervisors of the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]]'s 2006 to 2007 investigation of [[Jeffrey Epstein]] joined it on leaving government: [[Matthew Menchel]], chief of the Criminal Division, who left in August 2007 while the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]] was being negotiated, and [[Andrew Lourie]], who left the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] in February 2008.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Founders and Model + +Kobre had been an Assistant District Attorney in the [[Manhattan District Attorney's Office|New York County District Attorney's Office]] and clerked for Judge Lowell A. Reed Jr. of the [[U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]] before serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division in Manhattan. In a 2014 interview he said that he and Kim had been prosecutors "in the unit of the Southern District of New York that handles cases involving securities and commodities frauds," that at first the firm "focused primarily on white collar investigations, lawsuits involving financial institutions, and asset forfeiture and recovery matters," and that eleven years on "approximately 80 to 90 percent of our business today comes by way of referrals from other law firms." The firm then employed English solicitors and barristers, including three Queen's Counsel, and offshore lawyers in the [[Cayman Islands]] and the [[British Virgin Islands]].[^1][^2] + +### Menchel + +Menchel was chief of the Criminal Division of the Miami office from October 2006 to August 2007, the months in which the office declined to approve an indictment of Epstein and offered him instead a two-year state plea. He communicated the offer to Epstein's lawyers. After the office presented its term sheet on July 31, 2007, the defense lawyer [[Lilly Ann Sanchez]] wrote to him on August 2 proposing two years of home confinement; the office's reply of August 3, addressed "Dear Lilly" and signed by Menchel under U.S. Attorney [[Alexander Acosta]]'s name, stated that the two-year term was "a non-negotiable minimum." It was Menchel's last day in the office before he joined Kobre & Kim; he told the [[Office of Professional Responsibility]] that the timing was a "total coincidence."[^4][^5] + +The Office of Professional Responsibility found that Menchel had dated, in 2003, a former deputy who by 2007 was one of Epstein's defense lawyers, that his supervisors did not know it, and that it "would have been prudent" for him to tell them; it found no evidence supporting a 2018 claim that the two-year offer was a favor to defense counsel. Epstein estate records released by the [[House Oversight Committee]] in October 2025 show appointments, telephone calls and dinners between Menchel and Epstein in 2011, 2013 and 2017. Menchel has said he had no business relationship with Epstein "at any point, not before, during or after my tenure," and has denied skiing with him.[^3][^6] + +At Kobre & Kim Menchel became a partner in the government enforcement defense practice, a Fellow of the [[American College of Trial Lawyers]] and head of the firm's trial advocacy program. The firm credits him with the "landmark acquittal" of the [[UBS]] banker [[Raoul Weil]] and with a defense verdict "against the CFTC on all causes of action" for the trading firm DRW.[^4] + +### Lourie + +Lourie was a deputy chief of the Criminal Division and manager of the [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]] branch, supervising the Epstein investigation. He had twice been detailed to Washington as acting chief of the department's [[Public Integrity Section]], where, according to his Kobre & Kim biography, he supervised public corruption prosecutions including investigations arising from the prosecution of the lobbyist [[Jack Abramoff]]. He left Miami in September 2007, while the agreement was being negotiated, to become Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and chief of staff to [[Alice Fisher]], head of the Criminal Division, and left the department in February 2008. At Kobre & Kim he became a partner in the same government enforcement defense practice as Menchel, handling commodities manipulation, spoofing, insider trading and [[Foreign Corrupt Practices Act]] matters; in 2015 the firm quoted the Chambers guide that his "skills are extraordinary, and his judgment is first-rate." The Office of Professional Responsibility named him one of five subjects of its Epstein investigation and found no professional misconduct. He later became of counsel at the Miami firm [[Tein Malone]].[^7][^8][^9] + +### Epstein as Recipient + +On June 21, 2017 the firm sent Epstein a client alert, "Kobre & Kim Update: China's State Secret Laws: Five Unique Risks for Working With SOEs".[^10] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: "The Counsel's Counsel: An Interview with Steven G. Kobre, Co-Founder, Kobre & Kim LLP," *LEADERS Magazine,* October 2014. https://www.leadersmag.com/issues/2014.4_oct/New_York_City/LEADERS-Steven-Kobre-Kobre-Kim.html +[^2]: Kobre & Kim, "Steven G. Kobre" (firm biography). https://kobrekim.com/people/steven-g-kobre +[^3]: 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 +[^4]: Kobre & Kim, "Matthew I. Menchel" (firm biography). https://kobrekim.com/people/matthew-i-menchel +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284, Prior DOJ Disclosures, Office of Professional Responsibility, report, "Investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Resolution of Its 2006-2008 Federal Criminal Investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Its Interactions with Victims during the Investigation," November 2020, pp. 5 to 7, 54 to 58 (EFTA02847314 to EFTA02847316). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Prior%20DOJ%20Disclosures/Memos.%20&%20Correspondence/EFTA02847284.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284 (see note 5), pp. 150 to 155 and nn. 226 to 228 (EFTA02847459 to EFTA02847464). +[^7]: Kobre & Kim, "Andrew C. Lourie" (firm biography, Chinese-language edition). https://kobrekim.com/zh_cmn/people-cn/andrew-c-lourie-cn ; Tein Malone, "Andrew Lourie" (firm biography). https://www.teinmalone.com/andrewlourie +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02847284 (see note 5), pp. 5 to 6 and Executive Summary, pp. vi, ix to x (EFTA02847291, EFTA02847294 to EFTA02847295, EFTA02847314 to EFTA02847315). +[^9]: Kobre & Kim, "Kobre & Kim Receives Top Rankings in the 2015 Edition of Chambers & Partners," May 19, 2015. https://kobrekim.com/news/accolades/kobre-and-kim-receives-top-rankings-in-the-2015-edition-of-chambers-and-partners +[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02339358, DataSet 11, email, Kobre & Kim to Jeffrey Epstein, "Kobre & Kim Update: China's State Secret Laws: Five Unique Risks for Working With SOEs," June 21, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02339358.pdf diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Motley Rice.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Motley Rice.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..77b831fe --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Motley Rice.md @@ -0,0 +1,84 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - LawFirm + - MotleyRice + - VirginIslands + - JeffreyEpstein + - JPMorganChase + - ProjectJeep + - TobaccoLitigation + - MassTort +alias: + - Motley Rice + - Motley Rice LLC +summary: "Mount Pleasant, South Carolina plaintiffs' firm of the 1998 tobacco settlement negotiators, contingency counsel to the Virgin Islands against Epstein's estate and JPMorgan Chase, which took more than 43 million dollars in fees." +start: 2003-04 +location: "Mount Pleasant, South Carolina" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Ron Motley]]" + reverse: true + start: 2003-04 + fn: 1 + - type: founded + with: "[[Joe Rice]]" + reverse: true + start: 2003-04 + fn: 1 + - type: represented + with: "[[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]]" + role: "contingency counsel against the Epstein estate and JPMorgan Chase" + start: 2020 + end: 2023-10 + fn: 4 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank]]" + role: "counsel for the plaintiff" + start: 2022-12-27 + end: 2023-10-18 + fn: 7 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Motley Rice LLC is a plaintiffs' litigation firm founded in [[Mount Pleasant, South Carolina]], in April 2003 by [[Ron Motley]] (1944 to 2013) and [[Joe Rice]] (1954 to 2026), who as lead private counsel for state attorneys general negotiated the 246 billion dollar tobacco [[Master Settlement Agreement]] of 1998. On contingency, it represented the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] in its 2020 suit against the estate of [[Jeffrey Epstein]], which settled in 2022 for 105 million dollars, and in [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank]], which settled in 2023 for 75 million dollars. The firm stood to receive more than 23 million dollars of the first settlement and received 20 million dollars of the second.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### The Firm + +Motley and Rice began working together in the 1970s in asbestos litigation at a firm in Barnwell, South Carolina, later Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole. The firm credits itself with more than 50 cases in the aviation litigation arising from the [[September 11 attacks]] and with representing more than 6,600 family members, survivors and first responders in continuing litigation; with the terrorism-financing case Linde v. [[Arab Bank]] under the [[Anti-Terrorism Act]]; as co-lead negotiator of the [[Deepwater Horizon]] class settlement with [[BP]]; and as co-lead counsel for more than 2,700 communities in the National Prescription Opiate multidistrict litigation.[^1][^2] + +### The Estate Case + +On January 15, 2020 Attorney General [[Denise George]] sued Epstein's estate in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands under the territory's Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, naming the co-executors [[Darren Indyke]] and [[Richard Kahn]] and Epstein's companies. According to [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] notes of her October 2, 2023 interview, George consulted Governor [[Albert Bryan]] before filing and was told, "He's dead go for it," and Motley Rice's forensic accountants traced companies and limited liability companies connected to Epstein's [[Southern Trust Company]]. When the firm began interviewing estate employees, who she said "had nondisclosure agreements and were informed if questioned by law enforcement to say nothing and alert Kellerhals," Bryan's chief legal counsel, [[David Bornn]], a former employee of the estate lawyer [[Erika Kellerhals]], called George to relay that Kellerhals wanted to know what she was investigating. According to the same notes, George told the FBI that Bryan later asked her, "originally when I said go ahead I didn't think it was going to go this far. I can't get you to let this go?" Bryan has denied wrongdoing in his dealings with Epstein.[^5][^6] + +The case settled on December 1, 2022. The estate agreed to pay 105 million dollars in cash, to return more than 80 million dollars in economic development tax benefits obtained through Southern Trust's certificate, to give the territory half the proceeds of the sale of [[Little St. James]], and to pay 450,000 dollars for remediation on [[Great St. James]]. Motley Rice stood to receive more than 23 million dollars of the 105 million. Indyke and Kahn were not charged and have denied wrongdoing.[^3][^4][^5] + +### The JPMorgan Case + +George filed the territory's suit against [[JPMorgan Chase]] on December 27, 2022 before Judge [[Jed Rakoff]] in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]], alleging that the bank had knowingly facilitated and profited from Epstein's sex trafficking while keeping him as a client from 1998 to 2013. Bryan removed her four days later. The territory's lawyers of record included [[Linda Singer]] and Elizabeth Paige Boggs of Motley Rice.[^7][^8] + +In February 2023 the firm sought to serve [[Leslie Wexner]] with a document subpoena. According to its sworn declaration, Wexner's longtime [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]] lawyer John W. Zeiger of [[Zeiger, Tigges & Little]] did not return calls about accepting service, and his partner Marion Little said that Zeiger would not accept it "without being given a detailed description of the Subpoena's contents," and, after hearing a general description, "instructed me not to send him the Subpoena." The territory moved on February 17, 2023 to serve Wexner by certified mail.[^9] + +Singer examined JPMorgan's chief executive, [[Jamie Dimon]], on May 26, 2023, and objected on the record to "counsel coaching the witness on answers," which she said "has happened a number of times." Dimon testified that the bank "did not need introductions to anybody."[^10] + +On May 28, 2023 JPMorgan produced a 22-page summary of its internal "Project Jeep" review. On June 7, 2023 Motley Rice asked Rakoff to reopen depositions, citing the summary's "more than four pages of Epstein referrals to JPMorgan," including "[[Andrew Farkas]], [[Boris Nikolic]], [[Bill Gates]], and [[Peter Mandelson]]"; emails showing that the former [[Bear Stearns]] chairman [[Alan Greenberg]] had gone to general counsel [[Stephen Cutler]] "for an exception to the felony policy" for Epstein; a January 19, 2011 message from a JPMorgan Securities employee to Epstein ("Ace would love to speak to Jeffrey"); and a 2008 email stating that "JPM requires top of the house ok for clients who are convicted felons. (ie PCS Legal to Asset Mgt Legal to Cutler to Jaime Daimnon [sic])." The bank's counsel at [[WilmerHale]] answered that "top of the house" meant Cutler. In August 2023 Rakoff ordered production of records concerning newly identified women Epstein had paid, but denied the request "to compel production of all documents and information concerning 'Project Jeep' or other investigations by JPMorgan that occurred after Epstein's 2019 arrest."[^11][^12] + +On September 26, 2023 JPMorgan agreed to pay the territory 75 million dollars without admitting wrongdoing: 30 million dollars to organizations combating human trafficking, 25 million dollars to strengthen the territory's law enforcement, and 20 million dollars in attorneys' fees. The territory received about 180 million dollars in Epstein-related settlements after Motley Rice's fees; as of January 2026 the Bryan administration had not filed the accounting of the money that a 2024 territorial law requires.[^5][^6][^13] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Motley Rice LLC, "About Motley Rice" (Our Founders; Our History). https://www.motleyrice.com/about ; Motley Rice LLC, "Motley Rice Co-Founding Member Joe Rice Awarded SCAJ Top Honor." https://www.motleyrice.com/news/joe-rice-scaj-founders-award +[^2]: Motley Rice LLC, "Ronald L. Motley," attorney profile. https://www.motleyrice.com/attorneys/ronald-l-motley +[^3]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million," *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ +[^4]: 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 +[^5]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026, reporting four pages of FBI notes of an October 2, 2023 interview with Denise George released January 30, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html +[^6]: 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 +[^7]: Docket, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF Nos. 1, 5, 6, 7, 17, 343 to 348, CourtListener docket 66683865. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66683865/government-of-the-united-states-virgin-islands-v-jpmorgan-chase-bank-na/ +[^8]: "U.S. Virgin Islands fires attorney general in Jeffrey Epstein cases," *PBS NewsHour / Associated Press,* January 2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-virgin-islands-fires-attorney-general-in-jeffrey-epstein-cases +[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02806221, Court Records (Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904), Declaration in support of motion for alternative service of subpoena upon Leslie Wexner, ECF No. 50-4, February 17, 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)/EFTA02806221.pdf +[^10]: Deposition of James Dimon, May 26, 2023, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.). https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rQOuhi8KqiM0/v0 +[^11]: 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), letter motion of Motley Rice to Judge Jed S. Rakoff seeking leave to reopen depositions, ECF No. 191, June 7, 2023 (filed June 20, 2023), pp. 3 to 5. 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 ; U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02808625, Court Records (same case), letter of John J. Butts, WilmerHale, ECF No. 187, 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 +[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02814941, Court Records (Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904), Order of Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Dkt. 212, 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 +[^13]: "JPMorgan Chase settles Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking suit by U.S. Virgin Islands for $75 million," *CNBC,* September 26, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/26/jpmorgan-to-settle-jeffrey-epstein-suit-by-virgin-islands.html diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Southern Financial LLC.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Southern Financial LLC.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..7a1d06dc --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Southern Financial LLC.md @@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - JeffreyEpstein + - VirginIslands + - ShellCompany + - DeutscheBank + - ApolloGlobalManagement + - LeonBlack +alias: + - Southern Financial, LLC + - Southern Financial + - Southern Financial L.L.C. +summary: "Jeffrey Epstein's St. Thomas limited liability company, registered in 2013, which held his Apollo Global Management shares and anchored a Deutsche Bank relationship worth about 98.6 million dollars in 2016." +start: 2013-02-25 +location: "6100 Red Hook Quarter, B3, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: owned + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + start: 2013-02-25 + fn: 1 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Southern Financial LLC is a [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] limited liability company of [[Jeffrey Epstein]], registered on February 25, 2013 "to provide services," with an address at 6100 Red Hook Quarter on [[St. Thomas]] shared with [[Southern Trust Company]], the Haze Trust, Jeepers Inc. and the [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation]]. It received the 263,257 shares of [[Apollo Global Management]] that Epstein's [[Financial Trust Company]] bought in Apollo's 2011 initial public offering and held them through at least September 2019. With Southern Trust it opened Epstein's relationship with [[Deutsche Bank]] in August 2013, and bank staff referred to the accounts as "the entire Southern Financial relationship that is funded by Jeffrey Epstein." Its brokerage accounts at the bank held 98,610,505 dollars in June 2016.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### Registration + +The Virgin Islands government's 2022 complaint against Epstein's estate listed Southern Financial among the Epstein entities, "registered February 25, 2013 to provide services," alongside LSJ Employees, LLC (October 27, 2011) and LSJ Emergency, LLC (December 2, 2015). The complaint stated that most of Epstein's territorial companies "were created in 2011 and 2012, soon after Epstein registered as a sex offender in the Virgin Islands," that Epstein, though "often absent in the original incorporation or registration documents or annual filings," ultimately appeared as president, director, manager or sole member of each, and that their purpose was "to allow Epstein to shelter his assets in order to fund, carry out, and conceal his identity and pattern of criminal conduct." Southern Trust Company, incorporated in November 2011 as Financial Informatics, Inc., held the territorial tax-incentive certificate that the [[Economic Development Commission]] dated January 24, 2014.[^1][^6] + +### The Apollo Shares + +In January 2021 the law firm [[Dechert]], reporting to the conflicts committee of Apollo, found that "in 2011, one of Epstein's entities, Financial Trust Company, purchased 263,257 shares of Apollo's stock in its initial public offering" through a directed share program, and that the shares "appear to have later been transferred to a second Epstein entity, Southern Financial LLC, and appear to have been held through at least September 2019." Apollo and its co-founder [[Leon Black]] had stated that the firm never did business with Epstein; Black did not recall the purchase. The same review found that Black paid Epstein 158 million dollars for work from 2012 through 2017, first through Southern Trust Company under a 2013 service agreement, and reported no evidence that Black paid him for anything other than "legitimate advice."[^2] + +### Deutsche Bank + +Epstein moved his accounts to Deutsche Bank in 2013, brought in by a relationship manager who had joined the bank's private wealth department in November 2012. According to the 2020 consent order of the [[New York State Department of Financial Services]], the relationship "officially began on August 19, 2013," when the bank opened brokerage accounts for Southern Trust Company Inc. and Southern Financial LLC; Epstein, his entities and his associates eventually opened more than 40 accounts. The bank classified him as high-risk.[^3] + +On June 28, 2016 a bank employee answering a request headed "Southern Financial - IA Request" listed the balances of the Epstein accounts: 98,610,505.00 dollars for Southern Financial LLC, 41,108,732.17 dollars for the Haze Trust, of which Epstein and his lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] were trustees, 7,668,026.80 dollars for Southern Trust Company, 7,108,576.30 dollars for Jeepers Inc., 1,367,641.87 dollars for the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, and 667,218.67 dollars for Epstein personally, adding that "just in the brokerage accts there are > $100mm in assets."[^5] + +On March 6, 2017, under the subject "Southern Financial/Epstein accounts," an assistant vice president of Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas wrote to Charlie Burrows, managing director and head of deposit products and banking services for the Americas: "Back office is requesting that you confirm that this approval is applied for the entire Southern Financial relationship that is funded by Jeffrey Epstein. Please confirm that all DB AG accounts opened under this relationship is approved." Burrows replied: "Yes... Approved as you outlined below for the entire Southern Financial relationship and their DBAGNY accounts." In June 2017 the bank's automated screening generated alerts matching the name "Southern Financial LLC" against unrelated South Carolina and [[North Carolina]] companies that had faced fraud actions by the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]].[^4][^7] + +### Congressional Requests + +S. 2746, the [[Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act]] introduced by Senator [[Ron Wyden]] on September 9, 2025, lists "Southern Financial LLC" among the entities whose Treasury records, including suspicious activity reports, it would require to be produced. In June 2026 Representative [[Jamie Raskin]], ranking Democrat on the [[House Judiciary Committee]], asked [[Bard College]] for records of any payments from a list of Epstein-linked entities that included Southern Financial LLC, [[Gratitude America]], the [[Butterfly Trust]], Southern Trust Company, Plan D, LLC and the Haze Trust.[^8][^9] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Darren K. Indyke et al., No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint (filed November 30, 2022), paragraphs 137 to 141; reproduced as ECF No. 1-1 in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y., filed December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 29 to 30. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf +[^2]: Dechert LLP, Memorandum to the Apollo Conflicts Committee, "Investigation of Epstein/Black Relationship and Any Relationship Between Epstein and Apollo Global Management, Inc.," January 22, 2021, pp. 3 to 4, 16 to 17, filed as Exhibit 99.1 to Apollo Global Management, Inc., Form 8-K (January 25, 2021). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1411494/000119312521016405/d118102dex991.htm +[^3]: New York State Department of Financial Services, In the Matter of Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, and Deutsche Bank Trust Company of the Americas, Consent Order Under New York Banking Law sections 39 and 44 (executed July 6, 2020), paras. 16-58. https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/enforcement_discipline/ea20200706_deutsche_bank +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01407773, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas email chain, "Southern Financial/Epstein accounts," March 6, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01407773.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01372777, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank internal email, Vahe Stepanian to Andrew Xu and Roddy Moore, "RE: Southern Financial - IA Request," June 28, 2016 (DB-SDNY-0066645). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372777.pdf +[^6]: "V.I. Officials Enabled Epstein to Act With Impunity, JPMorgan Alleges in Latest Salvo." *St. Thomas Source,* June 16, 2023, on the January 24, 2014 Southern Trust certificate. 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/ +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01372526, EFTA01372527, EFTA01372529 and EFTA01372530, DataSet 10, "Deutsche Bank Private Bank Alert," tracking ID KYC 1790655, June 15, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372526.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372527.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372529.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372530.pdf +[^8]: S. 2746, 119th Congress, "Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act," introduced September 9, 2025, section 2(b)(2)(H). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119s2746is/html/BILLS-119s2746is.htm +[^9]: Letter from Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, to James Cox Chambers, Chair, Board of Trustees, Bard College, June 17, 2026, p. 7. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-06-17-raskin-to-chambers-bard-re-epstein.pdf diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Southern Trust Company.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Southern Trust Company.md index 9f8c9858..51f1250c 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Southern Trust Company.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Southern Trust Company.md @@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ According to the territory's Second Amended Complaint, Southern Trust employed 1 The complaint stated that "virtually all of Southern Trust Company's income came from a single source (including related entities)," which "paid $158 million to Defendant Southern Trust Company from 2013 to 2017, which constitutes 85% of the total revenues reported," and that the funds "appear to have not been used to pay for informatics or datamining services." The complaint does not name the source.[^1] -The review of [[Leon Black]]'s dealings with Epstein that the law firm [[Dechert]] prepared for [[Apollo Global Management]] in January 2021 found that Black signed a written service agreement with "Southern Trust Company, Inc., an Epstein affiliate" on February 13, 2013, paying 15 million dollars on February 15, 2013 and 8.5 million dollars on October 15, 2013 into Southern Trust for work on a 2006 grantor retained annuity trust. Black's payments to Epstein then totaled 50 million dollars in 2013, 70 million dollars in 2014 and 30 million dollars in 2015, nothing in 2016, and a final 8 million dollars in April 2017, 158 million dollars in all; Epstein had told Black the payments would be tax deductible. Southern Trust's reported net income for the same years was 50.3, 67.5, 52.8, 4.8 and 17.1 million dollars. In early 2017 Black also lent Epstein 22.5 million dollars and 8 million dollars through BV70 LLC to Plan D LLC, an Epstein company later named as a defendant in the territory's suit; Epstein repaid part in 2018. Dechert reported no evidence that Black paid Epstein for anything other than "legitimate advice" and found that the value Epstein's advice conferred on Black was more than 1 billion dollars. The same review found that Financial Trust Company bought 263,257 Apollo shares in the firm's 2011 initial public offering, which appear to have been transferred in 2013 to Southern Financial LLC, an Epstein company registered in the Virgin Islands on February 25, 2013, and held through at least September 2019. Black paid the territory 62.5 million dollars in January 2023 to resolve potential Epstein-related claims, without any admission of liability, in a settlement countersigned by Acting Attorney General [[Carol Thomas-Jacobs]], whom Bryan had appointed after removing George at the end of December 2022.[^1][^12][^13][^14] +The review of [[Leon Black]]'s dealings with Epstein that the law firm [[Dechert]] prepared for [[Apollo Global Management]] in January 2021 found that Black signed a written service agreement with "Southern Trust Company, Inc., an Epstein affiliate" on February 13, 2013, paying 15 million dollars on February 15, 2013 and 8.5 million dollars on October 15, 2013 into Southern Trust for work on a 2006 grantor retained annuity trust. Black's payments to Epstein then totaled 50 million dollars in 2013, 70 million dollars in 2014 and 30 million dollars in 2015, nothing in 2016, and a final 8 million dollars in April 2017, 158 million dollars in all; Epstein had told Black the payments would be tax deductible. Southern Trust's reported net income for the same years was 50.3, 67.5, 52.8, 4.8 and 17.1 million dollars. In early 2017 Black also lent Epstein 22.5 million dollars and 8 million dollars through BV70 LLC to Plan D LLC, an Epstein company later named as a defendant in the territory's suit; Epstein repaid part in 2018. Dechert reported no evidence that Black paid Epstein for anything other than "legitimate advice" and found that the value Epstein's advice conferred on Black was more than 1 billion dollars. The same review found that Financial Trust Company bought 263,257 Apollo shares in the firm's 2011 initial public offering, which appear to have been transferred in 2013 to [[Southern Financial LLC]], an Epstein company registered in the Virgin Islands on February 25, 2013, and held through at least September 2019. Black paid the territory 62.5 million dollars in January 2023 to resolve potential Epstein-related claims, without any admission of liability, in a settlement countersigned by Acting Attorney General [[Carol Thomas-Jacobs]], whom Bryan had appointed after removing George at the end of December 2022.[^1][^12][^13][^14] ### Disclosure and Nondisclosure diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Time.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Time.md index 4ff917cd..9ad8583e 100644 --- a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Time.md +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Time.md @@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ Time's characterization of the Dark Alliance series reflected the genuine public ### Ownership -On September 16, 2018, the [[Meredith Corporation]], which had acquired Time Inc., announced that it would sell the Time brand to [[Marc Benioff]] and [[Lynne Benioff]] for 190 million dollars in cash. The purchase was personal to the Benioffs and "unrelated to Salesforce.com," and the couple were not to be "involved in the day-to-day operations or journalistic decisions," which remained with the editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal. Citigroup and Cooley advised Meredith; BDT & Company and Goodwin Procter advised the Benioffs. Meredith applied the proceeds to reducing its debt. "TIME has always been a trusted reflection of the state of the world," the Benioffs said.[^3] +On September 16, 2018, the [[Meredith Corporation]], which had acquired Time Inc., announced that it would sell the Time brand to [[Marc Benioff]] and [[Lynne Benioff]] for 190 million dollars in cash. The purchase was personal to the Benioffs and "unrelated to Salesforce.com," and the couple were not to be "involved in the day-to-day operations or journalistic decisions," which remained with the editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal. Citigroup and Cooley advised Meredith; BDT & Company and [[Goodwin Procter]] advised the Benioffs. Meredith applied the proceeds to reducing its debt. "TIME has always been a trusted reflection of the state of the world," the Benioffs said.[^3] ### BCCI Reporting diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Troutman Sanders.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Troutman Sanders.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..950f9ef9 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Troutman Sanders.md @@ -0,0 +1,77 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - LawFirm + - TroutmanSanders + - JeffreyEpstein + - FinancialTrustCompany + - StevenHoffenberg + - TowersFinancial + - EpsteinEstate +alias: + - Troutman Sanders + - Troutman Sanders LLP + - Troutman Pepper + - Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders + - Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP + - Troutman Pepper Locke +summary: "Atlanta-rooted law firm that defended Jeffrey Epstein and Financial Trust Company against Steven Hoffenberg's Towers Financial suits in 2016 and 2018 and Epstein's estate in 2020, later Troutman Pepper Locke." +location: "Atlanta, Georgia" +relations: + - type: represented + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + role: "defense counsel against suits by Steven Hoffenberg and Towers Financial noteholders" + start: 2016-06 + end: 2018-10 + fn: 1 + - type: represented + with: "[[Financial Trust Company]]" + start: 2016-06 + end: 2020-05 + fn: 1 + - type: represented + with: "[[Darren Indyke]]" + role: "co-executor of the Epstein estate, in the VE suit" + start: 2020-05-12 + fn: 8 + - type: represented + with: "[[Richard Kahn]]" + role: "co-executor of the Epstein estate, in the VE suit" + start: 2020-05-12 + fn: 8 + - type: represented + with: "[[Nine East 71st Street Corporation]]" + start: 2020-05-12 + fn: 8 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Troutman Sanders LLP was an [[Atlanta]] law firm that on July 1, 2020 combined with the [[Philadelphia]] firm Pepper Hamilton as Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, a firm of 1,100 lawyers in 23 cities, now Troutman Pepper Locke. Through its partner Bennet J. Moskowitz it represented [[Jeffrey Epstein]] and his [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] company [[Financial Trust Company]] in 2016 and 2018 against suits by [[Steven Hoffenberg]], the convicted former chief executive of [[Towers Financial Corporation]], and by Towers noteholders, who alleged that Epstein had been a participant in the Towers fraud and had capitalized Financial Trust with its proceeds; both suits ended within weeks. After Epstein's death its lawyer Charles L. Glover appeared in 2020 for the estate's co-executors [[Darren Indyke]] and [[Richard Kahn]] and for Financial Trust in a suit by a pseudonymous plaintiff.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### Hoffenberg v. Epstein + +On May 27, 2016 Hoffenberg sued Epstein and "The Financial Trust Company" in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]] (No. 1:16-cv-03989) "individually, and as constructive trustee of the Noteholders and Bondholders of Towers Financial Corporation." Moskowitz wrote to Judge [[Richard J. Sullivan]] on June 28, 2016 that Hoffenberg lacked standing, that his claims "expired at least 15 years ago," that he was barred by in pari delicto, and that he failed to state a claim. The letter also stated that at a December 2013 conference in Hoffenberg's criminal case "Judge Sweet stated he was unaware of Epstein"; at that conference, on December 5, 2013, Hoffenberg's counsel had told Judge [[Robert W. Sweet]] that "Mr. Epstein is a critical player here." Hoffenberg withdrew the complaint with prejudice by letter of July 1, 2016, and Sullivan dismissed the case on July 5, 2016, five weeks after filing.[^1][^5][^6] + +### Gerber v. The Financial Trust Company + +On August 20, 2018 two Towers noteholders, Marvin Gerber and Kalma Koenig, filed a putative class action against Epstein and Financial Trust (No. 1:18-cv-07580), alleging that Epstein "raised over five hundred million dollars" for the scheme and used its proceeds "to start and grow" Financial Trust. It attached Hoffenberg's affidavit of August 17, 2018 swearing that "Epstein and the corporations he formed were my co-conspirators," that "during the course of my criminal trial, Prosecutors offered me a reduced sentence in exchange for information about Epstein's role," and that the 2016 suit "was eventually withdrawn with prejudice and the full extent of Epstein's involvement in my crimes and the related frauds was never exposed." Moskowitz moved to dismiss with prejudice on September 14, 2018, filing the 1998 Financial Trust articles of incorporation among his exhibits, and the case was terminated on October 5, 2018 after a sanctions threat, the plaintiffs preserving the right to refile. Epstein was never charged in connection with Towers.[^2][^3] + +A draft of the firm's memorandum of law for Epstein and "The Financial Trust Company," marked "Privileged and Confidential; Attorney Work Product," is among the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s Epstein releases. Headed "Multiple SDNY Judges Warned the Person Driving This Action Against Such Frivolous Lawsuits," it recounted that Judge [[Richard M. Berman]] had warned Hoffenberg in 2001 that "he may not assert baseless claims or abuse the judicial process through the instigation of frivolous or duplicative suits," that Sweet had found in 2003 that Hoffenberg "will be enjoined from filing any further litigation ... without prior approval," and that Judge [[P. Kevin Castel]] had found a 2013 Hoffenberg petition "appears in several respects to be a frivolous pleading filed in violation of Rule 11(b)." It summarized the complaint as alleging that Hoffenberg hired Epstein "as a consultant back in 1987," and stated: "Defendants have never been found guilty of any wrongdoing related to Hoffenberg's fraud."[^7] + +### The Estate + +After Epstein's death on August 10, 2019, a plaintiff identified as "VE" sued the co-executors, [[Nine East 71st Street Corporation]], Financial Trust Company, Inc. and NES, LLC (No. 1:19-cv-07625). On May 12, 2020 Glover of Troutman Sanders filed a notice of appearance for all of them. Indyke and Kahn have denied complicity in or knowledge of Epstein's crimes.[^8][^9] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Letter of Bennet J. Moskowitz, Troutman Sanders LLP, counsel for Jeffrey E. Epstein and The Financial Trust Company, to Hon. Richard J. Sullivan, June 28, 2016, Hoffenberg v. Epstein, No. 1:16-cv-03989-RJS (S.D.N.Y.), filed as Exhibit G, ECF No. 16-7, in No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593.16.7.pdf +[^2]: Marvin Gerber and Kalma Koenig v. The Financial Trust Company, XYZ Corp., ABC, Inc., and Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO (S.D.N.Y.), Complaint, ECF No. 7 (filed August 21, 2018), paragraphs 15 to 58, with Exhibit B, Affidavit of Steven J. Hoffenberg sworn August 17, 2018, ECF No. 7-2. https://truthinadvertising.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Gerber-v-The-Financial-Trust-Co-complaint.pdf +[^3]: Gerber v. The Financial Trust Company, No. 1:18-cv-07580 (S.D.N.Y.), docket (filed August 20, 2018; terminated October 5, 2018; Judge J. Paul Oetken), including Declaration of Bennet J. Moskowitz in support of motion to dismiss, ECF No. 16 (September 14, 2018). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/7698990/gerber-v-the-financial-trust-company/ ; Joseph N. DiStefano, "Accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's old boss says he knows where the mystery millions came from," *Philadelphia Inquirer,* July 11, 2019. https://www.inquirer.com/business/jeffrey-epstein-hoffenberg-trump-clinton-20190711.html +[^4]: "Troutman Pepper Officially Launches," *PR Newswire,* July 1, 2020. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/troutman-pepper-officially-launches-301086794.html ; Troutman Pepper Locke, firm website. https://www.troutman.com/about/ +[^5]: Hoffenberg v. Epstein, No. 1:16-cv-03989 (RJS) (S.D.N.Y.), docket (filed May 27, 2016; terminated July 5, 2016; counsel Mintz & Fraade, P.C. and Troutman Sanders LLP), and Order of Judge Richard J. Sullivan, July 5, 2016, filed as Exhibit I, ECF No. 16-9, in No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/13248845/hoffenberg-v-epstein/ ; https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593.16.9.pdf +[^6]: Transcript of conference, United States v. Steven Hoffenberg, 94 Cr. 213 (RWS) (S.D.N.Y.), December 5, 2013, filed as Exhibit L, ECF No. 16-12, in No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593.16.12.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00802452, DataSet 9, draft Defendants' Memorandum of Law in Support of Their Motion to Dismiss, Gerber v. The Financial Trust Company, No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO (S.D.N.Y.), Troutman Sanders LLP, September 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00802452.pdf +[^8]: VE v. Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn, as Joint Personal Representatives of the Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, Nine East 71st Street, Corporation, Financial Trust Company, Inc., NES, LLC, No. 1:19-cv-07625-AJN (S.D.N.Y.), Notice of Appearance of Charles L. Glover, Troutman Sanders LLP, May 12, 2020 (ECF No. 62). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117012714/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/VE%20v.%20Nine%20East%2071st%20Street,%20No.%20119-cv-07625%20(S.D.N.Y.%202019)/062.pdf +[^9]: 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 diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/University of the Virgin Islands.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/University of the Virgin Islands.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..be83e67e --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/University of the Virgin Islands.md @@ -0,0 +1,70 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - University + - VirginIslands + - JeffreyEpstein + - TaxHaven + - StudentVisas + - Philanthropy +alias: + - UVI + - U.V.I. + - University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park + - UVI Research and Technology Park + - RTPark + - RT Park +summary: "Public land-grant university of the U.S. Virgin Islands whose research park declined Jeffrey Epstein around 2012, while its president kept soliciting him for a medical-school gift and its classes enrolled women connected to him." +start: 1962 +location: "U.S. Virgin Islands" +relations: + - type: head_of + with: "[[David Hall (academic)]]" + reverse: true + role: "president" + fn: 3 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +The University of the Virgin Islands is a public, co-educational, land-grant historically Black university in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], founded in 1962. Its Research and Technology Park is a territorial tax-incentive vehicle on which [[Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein's]] lawyer [[Erika Kellerhals]] advised clients alongside the [[Economic Development Commission]]. In October 2011 [[Cecile de Jongh]], wife of Governor [[John de Jongh]] and office manager of Epstein's companies, sent Epstein her assessments of candidates for the park's board. In 2013 she arranged the enrollment of women connected to Epstein in the university's English classes while asking what visas they held. In 2023 the university stated that its park and trustees had declined Epstein's approaches around 2011 and 2012 and denied the allegations about the classes; documents released in 2026 showed its president continuing to seek a major gift from Epstein in 2014. The attorney [[Henry Smock]], who assisted Epstein's 1998 purchase of [[Little St. James]], served for years as counsel to its board.[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5] + +### The Research and Technology Park + +The park operates through the University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park Corporation and a Research and Technology Park Protected Cell Corporation. A blank application and release-authorization packet for the protected cell corporation is among the documents released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] from Epstein's files; no Epstein entity is named in it. Kellerhals's firm biography described advising clients "on obtaining economic development incentives from the U.S. Virgin Islands Economic Development Commission and the University of the Virgin Islands Research & Technology Park."[^2][^6] + +On October 19, 2011 Cecile de Jongh sent Epstein ("JEE") an email profiling candidates for the park's board, annotated in capitals. Of the university's president, [[David Hall (academic)|David Hall]], she wrote, "DO NOT KNOW HIM THAT WELL AND HE IS NEW TO THE VI"; of the university's board chairman, Alex Moorhead, a retired vice president for government affairs of the [[HOVENSA]] refinery, "I HAVE KNOWN HIM FOR YEARS - QUIET AND CONSERVATIVE." Three entries, among them that of Smock, a former judge of the Territorial Court, ended with the word "FRIEND." The email closed: "John has two other appointments to make."[^5] + +In May 2012 Kellerhals raised in an email, regarding Epstein's application to the park, concern that his background "may conflict with the 'guiding principles' of the RT Park." According to the university's later account, "the RTPark board voted not to have a relationship with him," and "the UVI Board of Trustees made the same decision and declined to accept his offer of a major gift." The Economic Development Commission heard the tax-incentive application of Epstein's company [[Southern Trust Company]] on November 15, 2012.[^3][^4][^7] + +### The English Classes + +In May 2013 Cecile de Jongh corresponded with the university's Vice President for Institutional Advancement, [[Dionne Jackson]], about English as a Second Language classes, after Epstein wrote that two women, whose names are redacted in the released exhibits, would sign up. On May 29, 2013 she wrote to Jackson that "the total cost for the course (for up to 10 students) is $8,868 which we will pay. We have two students to enroll," and asked Epstein, "What kind of visas do these ladies currently have?" after a university official told her that an I-20 student visa form was issued only for degree programs. On June 5 she wrote that the women "need to go down and enroll and show the ability to pay. I can draft a letter for them to present. Think about whether you should sign it or one of us," and on June 27 that the university was "structuring the class around the ladies."[^8] + +The trafficking suit filed against the territory in 2023, [[Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands]], alleged that Cecile de Jongh "Setup ESL classes for other USVI victims," "Obtained I-20 visa for another victim" and received a "$20,000 donation to University for student visas," and listed "University Virgin Islands student visas" in its entry for John de Jongh. The claims against the de Jonghs were dismissed in March 2025 for lack of personal jurisdiction in New York. Hall said in 2023 that he "was not aware of the activities described" and never approved a course for people connected with Epstein.[^8][^9][^10] + +### The 2023 Denial and the 2026 Documents + +On September 29, 2023, responding to reporting based on exhibits in the territory's suit against [[JPMorgan Chase]], Hall wrote that "there is absolutely no truth to the allegations stated in court documents filed by JP Morgan Chase," that the university had not "created a special course specifically for people connected with Mr. Epstein," and that "no such funds were received by the University" with respect to a disputed 20,000 dollar figure. He described the park board's vote and the trustees' refusal of Epstein's gift around 2011 and 2012.[^3] + +Documents released by the Justice Department in 2026 include an August 2012 message asking, "Can he keep meeting with Dr. David Hall tomorrow, Sat. Aug.25th at 10am?" and an April 2014 entry on Epstein's schedule for a "5:30pm Phone Date w/David Hall." In April 2014 Hall wrote to Cecile de Jongh that the trustees had approved moving forward on a medical school and that he had been "authorized... to execute a gift agreement for a major gift that will serve as the foundational gift." In October 2014, after Epstein apparently declined to fund it, Hall wrote to her that the medical school's interim dean "is acquainted with individuals at Harvard who know Jeffrey and he is interested in meeting him." Hall's 2014 employment contract set a base salary of 350,000 dollars and fundraising targets of 22.5 million dollars over five years. A university spokesperson, Tamika Thomas Williams, said the university had "recently obtained historical communications" it had not previously held and had begun an "independent, comprehensive investigation," a step she called "precautionary." Hall could not be reached for comment.[^4] + +### Board Counsel and Alumni + +Smock, who served as counsel to the university's board and to that of the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]], was named in 2023 by the former Attorney General [[Denise George]] as the mediator Governor [[Albert Bryan]] told her to use in settling the territory's case against Epstein's estate. Bryan himself earned an MBA from the university in 2003.[^11][^12] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: University of the Virgin Islands, "History," accessed September 25, 2026 ("Founded in 1962, UVI is a public, co-ed, land-grant HBCU in the United States Virgin Islands"). https://www.uvi.edu/about/history.html +[^2]: Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, "Erika Kellerhals," attorney biography, captured August 10, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190810121434/https://www.kellfer.com/attorneys/erika-kellerhals/ +[^3]: University of the Virgin Islands, news release reproducing a letter to the editor by President David Hall, September 29, 2023. https://www.uvi.edu/news/2023/23_098_uvi_addresses_false_allegations_editorial.html +[^4]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs reveal former UVI president's outreach to Epstein for donation to medical school." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 26, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-reveal-former-uvi-presidents-outreach-to-epstein-for-donation-to-medical-school/article_53f1ab08-029d-43e8-9b0a-9e6740b039cb.html +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00720076, DataSet 9, email from Cecile de Jongh to "JEE," October 19, 2011 (duplicate EFTA02035483, DataSet 10). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00720076.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01221503, DataSet 9, University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park Corporation application and release-authorization packet for the Research and Technology Park Protected Cell Corporation. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01221503.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02812344, Court Records, Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904 (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 290, ECF No. 245-15 (filed July 25, 2023): Economic Development Commission, Public Hearing transcript, November 15, 2012. 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)/EFTA02812344.pdf +[^8]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023 (JPMorgan exhibits: UVI ESL emails of May and June 2013; Hall statement). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html +[^9]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), chart, pp. 6 to 8. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^10]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Opinion and Order, ECF No. 202 (March 21, 2025). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.202.0.pdf +[^11]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026 (FBI notes of an October 2, 2023 interview with Denise George; Smock as counsel to the university and authority boards). https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html +[^12]: "Governor Albert Bryan Jr." Biography submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, hearing of March 24, 2021. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/II/II00/20210324/111384/HHRG-117-II00-Bio-BryanJrA-20210324.pdf diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/WilmerHale.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/WilmerHale.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..81416cbc --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/WilmerHale.md @@ -0,0 +1,107 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - LawFirm + - WilmerHale + - JPMorganChase + - JeffreyEpstein + - ProjectJeep + - RevolvingDoor + - InternalInvestigation + - RobertMueller +alias: + - WilmerHale + - Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr + - Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP + - Wilmer Hale + - Hale and Dorr +summary: "Law firm formed by the 2004 merger of Hale and Dorr and Wilmer Cutler Pickering, which defended JPMorgan Chase in the Virgin Islands Epstein suit and investigated Epstein ties for Bard College and Apollo." +start: 2004 +location: "Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts" +relations: + - type: represented + with: "[[JPMorgan Chase]]" + role: "outside counsel in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank" + start: 2023 + end: 2023-10 + fn: 3 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Stephen Cutler]]" + reverse: true + role: "partner and co-chair of the Securities Department" + start: 2005-10 + end: 2007-02 + fn: 5 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Robert Mueller]]" + reverse: true + role: "partner" + start: 2014-03 + end: 2017 + fn: 1 + - type: employed_by + with: "[[Robert Mueller]]" + reverse: true + role: "partner" + start: 2019-10 + fn: 2 + - type: represented + with: "[[Bard College]]" + role: "reviewer for the board of trustees of Leon Botstein's relationship with Epstein" + start: 2026-02 + end: 2026-04-30 + fn: 9 + - type: represented + with: "[[Apollo Global Management]]" + role: "reviewer of reputational-risk practices" + start: 2021-01 + fn: 8 + - type: represented + with: "[[OpenAI]]" + role: "counsel to the board's special committee review of the November 2023 removal of Sam Altman" + start: 2023-12-08 + end: 2024-03-08 + fn: 10 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +WilmerHale (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP) is an American law firm formed in 2004 by the merger of the [[Boston]] firm Hale and Dorr and the [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering. Its partner John J. Butts defended [[JPMorgan Chase]] in [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank]], the 2022 to 2023 suit over the bank's banking of [[Jeffrey Epstein]], including over a 2008 decision on Epstein's accounts attributed to the bank's general counsel, [[Stephen Cutler]], a former WilmerHale partner and former enforcement director of the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]]. The firm also reviewed Epstein-related conduct for [[Apollo Global Management]] in 2021 and for the trustees of [[Bard College]] in 2026. [[Robert Mueller]] was a partner of Hale and Dorr from 1993 to 1995 and of WilmerHale from 2014 to 2017, before and after his service as special counsel.[^1][^2][^3] + +### Mueller + +The firm announced on March 24, 2014 that Mueller was joining as a partner after twelve years as Director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], a post he took one week before the [[September 11 attacks]]. Co-managing partner Robert Novick said that he brought "his broad range of experience as a career prosecutor, an ability to lead the most sensitive investigations, his steady hand in a crisis and unquestioned integrity." Mueller left in 2017 on his appointment as special counsel for the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and the firm announced his return as a partner in October 2019. He said: "I'm glad to be at WilmerHale once again, a firm with a tradition of honoring public service."[^1][^2] + +### Cutler + +Cutler was Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement from October 2001 to May 2005, a period in which the division brought the [[Enron]]-related action that JPMorgan Chase settled for 135 million dollars in July 2003. He joined WilmerHale in October 2005 as a partner and co-chair of its Securities Department. On December 12, 2006 JPMorgan Chase announced that he would become its Executive Vice President and General Counsel from February 2007, reporting to chief executive [[Jamie Dimon]].[^4][^5] + +### The Virgin Islands Suit + +The [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]] sued JPMorgan on December 27, 2022 before Judge [[Jed Rakoff]] in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]]. On May 28, 2023, near the close of discovery, JPMorgan produced a 22-page summary from an internal review begun after Epstein's 2019 arrest and code-named "Project Jeep." On June 7, 2023 the territory's counsel, [[Motley Rice]], asked Rakoff to reopen depositions, citing emails showing that the former [[Bear Stearns]] chairman [[Alan Greenberg]] had gone to Cutler "for an exception to the felony policy" for Epstein and a 2008 email stating that "JPM requires top of the house ok for clients who are convicted felons. (ie PCS Legal to Asset Mgt Legal to Cutler to Jaime Daimnon [sic])."[^3][^6] + +Butts answered for the bank on June 9, 2023 that the summary was compiled after Epstein's death by employees with "no contemporaneous knowledge" of the relationship, that 216 of its 222 underlying emails had been produced months earlier, that Dimon had testified he did not recognize the name "Project Jeep" and had instructed the general counsel to "do everything" to establish the facts, that the author of a 2019 email had confirmed "top of house" there meant then general counsel [[Stacey Friedman]], and that a follow-up sent eight minutes after the 2008 email showed that "top of the house" referred to Cutler. The letter stated that after Epstein's 2008 plea "people from legacy Bear Stearns, including Mr. Greenberg, in connection with post-acquisition transition of accounts, may have attempted to speak with Stephen Cutler, then JPMC's General Counsel, about application of JPMC's corporate policy requiring approval of its General Counsel ... to retain a brokerage account for a client with a felony conviction," that the decision "was made by Mr. Cutler," and that there was "no evidence that Mr. Greenberg had anything to do with Epstein's accounts at the Private Bank." In August 2023 Rakoff declined to compel production of all Project Jeep materials. JPMorgan settled with the territory on September 26, 2023 for 75 million dollars without admitting wrongdoing.[^3][^7] + +### Apollo and Bard + +On January 25, 2021, the day the [[Dechert]] review of [[Leon Black]]'s 158 million dollars in payments to Epstein was released, Black told Apollo's limited partners that he would retire as chief executive and disclosed that Apollo had engaged WilmerHale to review its reputational-risk and corporate-citizenship practices.[^8] + +After the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s releases under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]], Bard's trustees retained the firm in February 2026 to review the communications and financial dealings of the college's president, [[Leon Botstein]], with Epstein. Its summary of April 30, 2026 recorded 25 visits by Botstein to Epstein's Manhattan townhouse between 2012 and 2019 and a two-day visit to the island, reported that Epstein twice visited Bard "accompanied by multiple women who have since been identified as victims of Epstein," and quoted Botstein: "I would take money from Satan if it permitted me to do God's work." It concluded that he "did not do anything illegal," but that he "minimized and was not fully accurate in describing his relationship with Epstein." His retirement was announced the next day.[^9] + +### OpenAI + +On December 8, 2023 the special committee of the [[OpenAI]] board, [[Bret Taylor]] and [[Larry Summers]], selected Anjan Sahni and Hallie B. Levin of WilmerHale to review the November 17, 2023 removal of [[Sam Altman]] and [[Greg Brockman]]. The summary released on March 8, 2024 found that the prior board's decision "did not arise out of concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI's finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners," and that Altman's "conduct did not mandate removal."[^10] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: WilmerHale, "Former Director of the FBI Robert Mueller III Joins WilmerHale," March 24, 2014. https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/news/former-director-of-the-fbi-robert-mueller-iii-joins-wilmerhale +[^2]: National Association of Former United States Attorneys, "Bob Mueller Rejoins Wilmer Hale," October 7, 2019. https://www.nafusa.org/2019/10/bob-mueller-rejoins-wilmer-hale/ +[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02808625, Court Records (Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904), letter of John J. Butts, WilmerHale, opposing the motion to reopen depositions, ECF No. 187, June 9, 2023 (filed June 15, 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 +[^4]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, "Stephen M. Cutler Named SEC Enforcement Director," Press Release 2001-120, October 25, 2001. https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2001-120.txt ; "SEC Settles Enforcement Proceedings against J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup," Press Release 2003-87, July 28, 2003. https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-87.htm ; "Enforcement Director Stephen M. Cutler to Leave SEC," Press Release 2005-56, April 14, 2005. https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-56.htm +[^5]: JPMorgan Chase & Co., Form 10-K for fiscal year 2006, "Executive officers of the registrant." https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000019617/000095012307003015/y30834e10vk.htm ; WilmerHale, "WilmerHale Partner Stephen M. Cutler Named Executive Vice President, General Counsel of JPMorgan Chase," December 12, 2006. https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/news/wilmerhale-partner-stephen-m-cutler-named-executive-vice-president-general-counsel-of-jpmorgan-chase-december-12-2006 +[^6]: 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), letter motion of Motley Rice to Judge Jed S. Rakoff seeking leave to reopen depositions, ECF No. 191, June 7, 2023 (filed June 20, 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)/EFTA02808715.pdf +[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02814941, Court Records (Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904), Order of Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Dkt. 212, 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 ; "JPMorgan Chase settles Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking suit by U.S. Virgin Islands for $75 million," *CNBC,* September 26, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/26/jpmorgan-to-settle-jeffrey-epstein-suit-by-virgin-islands.html +[^8]: Leon D. Black, Letter to Apollo Limited Partners, January 25, 2021, filed as Exhibit 99.2 to Apollo Global Management, Inc. Form 8-K, January 25, 2021. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1411494/000119312521016405/d118102dex992.htm +[^9]: Letter from Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, to James Cox Chambers, Chair, Board of Trustees, Bard College, June 17, 2026, quoting the WilmerHale memorandum to the Bard trustees of April 30, 2026. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-06-17-raskin-to-chambers-bard-re-epstein.pdf ; "Bard College's president to retire after scrutiny of relationship with Jeffrey Epstein," *Associated Press,* via *NPR,* May 2, 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/05/02/nx-s1-5808942/bard-college-president-leon-botstein-retire-jeffrey-epstein +[^10]: OpenAI, "Sam Altman returns as CEO, OpenAI has a new initial board," November 29, 2023, with update of December 8, 2023 (archived September 13, 2026). http://web.archive.org/web/20260913004743/https://openai.com/index/sam-altman-returns-as-ceo-openai-has-a-new-initial-board/ ; OpenAI, "Review completed & Altman, Brockman to continue to lead OpenAI," March 8, 2024 (archived September 13, 2026). http://web.archive.org/web/20260913014725/https://openai.com/index/review-completed-altman-brockman-to-continue-to-lead-openai/ diff --git a/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/World Transhumanist Association.md b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/World Transhumanist Association.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..150bd535 --- /dev/null +++ b/20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/World Transhumanist Association.md @@ -0,0 +1,83 @@ +--- +category: "Private Organization" +tags: + - Organization + - Transhumanism + - NickBostrom + - JeffreyEpstein + - ArtificialIntelligence + - Philanthropy +alias: + - Humanity Plus + - Humanity+ + - Humanity Plus Inc + - Humanity Plus, Inc. + - World Transhumanist Association (Humanity+) +summary: "Transhumanist membership organization founded in 1998 by Nick Bostrom and David Pearce, later renamed Humanity+, which received Jeffrey Epstein money in 2010 and from his Gratitude America in 2018." +start: 1998 +location: "Glastonbury, Connecticut (registered address)" +relations: + - type: founded + with: "[[Nick Bostrom]]" + reverse: true + start: 1998 + fn: 1 + - type: founded + with: "[[David Pearce]]" + reverse: true + start: 1998 + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[James Hughes]]" + reverse: true + role: "secretary" + start: 2001 + fn: 1 + - type: funded + with: "[[Gratitude America]]" + reverse: true + role: "100,000 dollars" + start: 2018 + fn: 4 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Natasha Vita-More]]" + reverse: true + role: "executive director of Humanity+, as of August 2019" + fn: 3 + - type: director_of + with: "[[Ben Goertzel]]" + reverse: true + role: "director of Humanity+, as of August 2019" + fn: 3 +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +The World Transhumanist Association (WTA), later renamed Humanity+, is a membership organization that promotes [[transhumanism]], the use of technology to overcome the biological limits of human beings. It was founded in early 1998 by the philosophers [[Nick Bostrom]] and [[David Pearce]] and was incorporated as a non-profit in the early 2000s; the [[Internal Revenue Service]] recognized its tax exemption as of February 1, 2003, under employer identification number 01-0575214, now in the name of Humanity Plus Inc of Glastonbury, [[Connecticut]].[^1][^2] In 2010 it received 20,000 dollars from the [[Jeffrey Epstein]] entity [[Epstein Interests]], and in 2018 it received 100,000 dollars from his foundation [[Gratitude America]].[^3][^4] + +### Founding and Organization + +Bostrom wrote in 2005 that the association was founded "to provide a general organizational basis for all transhumanist groups and interests, across the political spectrum," and to "develop a more mature and academically respectable form of transhumanism, freed from the 'cultishness' which, at least in the eyes of some critics, had afflicted some of its earlier convocations." Its two founding documents were the Transhumanist Declaration and the Transhumanist FAQ, version 1.0, which Bostrom produced with contributions from more than fifty people, among them Pearce, the [[Extropianism|extropian]] philosopher [[Max More]], the activist [[Kathryn Aegis]] and the Swedish neuroscience student [[Anders Sandberg]]. Its activities were Internet discussion, documents, media work, an annual TransVision conference and the online *Journal of Transhumanism*, later renamed the *[[Journal of Evolution and Technology]]*.[^1] + +According to Bostrom, the association "entered its next phase after a meeting in 2001" between the sociologist [[James Hughes]] of [[Trinity College]] in Hartford, the philosopher [[Mark Walker]] of the [[University of Toronto]], then editor of the journal, and Bostrom, then teaching at [[Yale University|Yale]]. Hughes was elected secretary, and "within short order, the WTA adopted a constitution, incorporated as a non-profit, and began building up a vigorous international network of local groups and volunteers." Bostrom put its membership in 2005 at "approximately 3,000 members from more than 100 countries." The [[Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies]] was established in 2004.[^1] By 2013, as Humanity+, the organization reported about 6,000 members in more than 100 countries and more than two dozen chapters, described itself as a 501(c)(3) public charity whose supporting and sustaining members elected its board, and stated that it had adopted the Declaration and the FAQ "developed by WTA."[^5] + +### Epstein Interests and the Hong Kong Project + +The 2010 tax return of Epstein Interests recorded a 20,000 dollar payment to the association, made two years after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea in [[Florida]].[^3] Epstein Interests was one of the Epstein entities to which the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida]] issued grand jury subpoenas on May 31, 2007, alongside the [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation|J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation]], J. Epstein & Company and [[Financial Trust Company]].[^6] + +In October 2010 [[OpenCog]], the open-source artificial general intelligence project of [[Ben Goertzel]], announced a two-year project at the M-Lab of [[Hong Kong Polytechnic University]] to build intelligent video game characters, with 380,000 dollars in funding, "the majority of which is supplied by ITF, with a minority supplied by [[Novamente]] in collaboration with Epstein Interests and Humanity+." The project was to be led by the M-Lab faculty members [[Gino Yu]] and [[Wilson Yuen]], with Goertzel overseeing its artificial intelligence work, and to draw graduate students from [[Xiamen University]] in China, where Goertzel was co-supervising an OpenCog robotics project. The announcement described the goal as a "Sputnik of AGI."[^7] [[Natasha Vita-More]], executive director of Humanity+, told BuzzFeed News in 2019 that the Epstein money "was used for AI research" and that "When Mr. Epstein did make a donation to Humanity+, it was long before any news broke about his unethical behavior"; Goertzel was then a director of Humanity+.[^3] In 2009 Epstein's C.O.U.Q. Foundation gave 50,000 dollars to the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, now the [[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]].[^3] + +### The Gratitude America Gift + +In a statement issued in August 2019 Humanity+ said that "Gratitude America, Ltd. made a donation to Humanity+ in 2018" of 100,000 dollars that "did not include Mr. Jeffrey Epstein's name," and that its Schedule B stated the money "was granted to educational research and development of Artificial Intelligence, the ethical use of AI, and increasing awareness of how AI can benefit humanity." It stated that it "had no knowledge of Mr. Epstein's horrific alleged criminal activity, and we strongly condemn it," that "Epstein was never a member of Humanity+, nor affiliated with any known transhumanist organization," and that "Epstein's egocentric ideas about eugenics ardently conflict with the philosophy of transhumanism." The *[[The New York Times|New York Times]]* had reported in July 2019 that Epstein told scientists of plans to seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating women at his [[Zorro Ranch]] in [[New Mexico]].[^4][^8] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Bostrom, Nick. "A History of Transhumanist Thought." *Journal of Evolution and Technology* 14, no. 1 (April 2005), section 4. https://jetpress.org/volume14/bostrom.pdf ; reprint at https://nickbostrom.com/papers/a-history-of-transhumanist-thought/ +[^2]: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, "Humanity Plus Inc," EIN 01-0575214 (IRS Business Master File extract, ruling date February 1, 2003, subsection 501(c)(3), foundation code 16; Form 990 and 990-EZ filings for tax periods ending June 2009, December 2009 and June 2010), accessed September 25, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/api/v2/organizations/10575214.json +[^3]: Aldhous, Peter. "Jeffrey Epstein's Links To Scientists Are Even More Extensive Than We Thought," *BuzzFeed News,* August 27, 2019 (citing the 2010 Form 990 of Epstein Interests, https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6188966-Epstein-Interests-2010-990.html). https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements +[^4]: Humanity+, "Humanity+ Clarification of Epstein Donation," August 4, 2019, archived December 24, 2020, Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20201224085040/https://humanityplus.org/humanity-clarification-of-epstein-donation/ +[^5]: Humanity+, "About," archived January 16, 2013, Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20130116101752/http://humanityplus.org/about/ +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00224943, DataSet 9, "Epstein Investigation Timeline," Exhibit A-1 (U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida), entry for May 31, 2007. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00224943.pdf +[^7]: OpenCog, "OpenCog-based game characters at Hong Kong Poly U," October 2010, archived January 22, 2021, Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20210122170135/https://opencog.org/2010/10/opencog-based-game-characters-at-hong-kong-poly-u/ +[^8]: Stewart, James B., Matthew Goldstein, and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. "Jeffrey Epstein Hoped to Seed Human Race With His DNA." *New York Times,* July 31, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/business/jeffrey-epstein-eugenics.html diff --git a/40 - EVENTS/CONTRA_WAR/Frogman Case.md b/40 - EVENTS/CONTRA_WAR/Frogman Case.md index 70cf80a2..872e87d2 100644 --- a/40 - EVENTS/CONTRA_WAR/Frogman Case.md +++ b/40 - EVENTS/CONTRA_WAR/Frogman Case.md @@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ The Costa Rican CIA station cabled Langley warning that both Aviles and Rappacci The government returned the $36,020 to Zavala and Aviles in October 1984 in exchange for dropping the Costa Rican depositions. A CIA cable declared: "CIA equities are fully protected."[^1] -U.S. Attorney Russoniello later claimed the money was returned to save the cost of travel. The Justice Department Inspector General concluded the CIA intervened because of "a desire to protect the public image of the Contras or the CIA." CIA cables described Russoniello as "most deferential to our interests." A secret 1987 DEA report noted that a defendant in the Frogman case had made 51 phone calls to the [[FDN]] office in San Francisco.[^1] +U.S. Attorney Russoniello later claimed the money was returned to save the cost of travel. The [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] concluded the CIA intervened because of "a desire to protect the public image of the Contras or the CIA." CIA cables described Russoniello as "most deferential to our interests." A secret 1987 DEA report noted that a defendant in the Frogman case had made 51 phone calls to the [[FDN]] office in San Francisco.[^1] ### Suppression of Contra Links diff --git a/40 - EVENTS/United States v. Epstein.md b/40 - EVENTS/United States v. Epstein.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..c4342dda --- /dev/null +++ b/40 - EVENTS/United States v. Epstein.md @@ -0,0 +1,92 @@ +--- +category: "Law Enforcement & Legal" +tags: + - Event + - JeffreyEpstein + - SexTrafficking + - SouthernDistrictOfNewYork + - GrandJury + - NolleProsequi + - EpsteinFilesTransparencyAct +alias: + - United States v. Jeffrey Epstein + - US v. Epstein + - U.S. v. Epstein + - 19-cr-490 + - 19 Cr. 490 + - 1:19-cr-00490 +summary: "Federal sex-trafficking prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein in Manhattan, indicted July 2019 and dismissed after his death in jail that August, whose sealed grand jury record was ordered released in December 2025." +start: 2019-07-02 +end: 2019-08-29 +location: "New York, New York" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]" + reverse: true + role: "defendant" + start: 2019-07-02 + end: 2019-08-10 + fn: 1 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]]" + reverse: true + role: "prosecutor" + start: 2019-07-02 + fn: 1 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Maurene Comey]]" + reverse: true + role: "assistant U.S. attorney" + start: 2019-07-08 + end: 2019-08-29 + fn: 1 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Geoffrey Berman]]" + reverse: true + role: "U.S. Attorney" + start: 2019-07-02 + end: 2019-08-29 + fn: 5 + - type: participant_in + with: "[[Todd Blanche]]" + reverse: true + role: "counsel for the United States" + start: 2025-07-18 + fn: 7 +--- + +United States v. Epstein (No. 1:19-cr-00490) was the federal criminal prosecution of [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York]] on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy. A grand jury returned the indictment under seal on July 2, 2019; Epstein was arrested on July 6 and ordered detained on July 18 by Judge [[Richard M. Berman]], and on August 10, 2019 he was found dead in the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York|Metropolitan Correctional Center]]. Berman heard his accusers in open court before signing the government's nolle prosequi on August 29, 2019. No ruling on the validity of the 2007 [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]] was ever made in the case. In 2025 the case reopened on the government's motions to unseal its grand jury record, which Berman denied in August and granted in December after the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] became law.[^1][^2] + +### Indictment and Detention + +The two-count indictment charged violations of 18 U.S.C. 1591 and 1594. Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019 at [[Teterboro Airport]] in [[New Jersey]] while the indictment remained sealed. On July 8 Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman ordered it unsealed and the case was assigned to Berman. The prosecutors were Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex Rossmiller, [[Maurene Comey]] and Alison Moe, under U.S. Attorney [[Geoffrey Berman]], who is not related to the judge. Epstein was represented by [[Martin Weinberg]], Reid Weingarten and Marc Fernich, joined on July 17 by James Brochin, Michael Miller and Michael Scavelli.[^1] + +On July 16 Moe filed a supplement to the government's detention memorandum disclosing that in late 2018, days after the [[Miami Herald]] began its series on the case, Epstein had wired 100,000 dollars and 250,000 dollars to two individuals named as potential co-conspirators in the 2007 agreement, identified as Individual-1 and Individual-2. On July 18 Berman granted the government's motion for remand and denied release (ECF No. 32). Epstein appealed (2d Cir. No. 19-2221); the appeal was withdrawn by stipulation and the mandate issued on August 21, 2019, so the detention order was never reviewed on the merits. Berman had set briefing on discovery and the non-prosecution agreement for September and October 2019 and on pretrial motions for early 2020. None of it was reached.[^1][^3] + +### Death and Dismissal + +On July 23, 2019 Epstein was found in his cell with a cloth around his neck. On August 9 the [[Second Circuit]] unsealed about 2,000 pages of the [[Giuffre v. Maxwell]] record. He was found dead the next morning. On August 14 the court docketed a letter from the jail's warden, [[Lamine N'Diaye]], reporting that Epstein "passed away Saturday, August 10, 2019, at around 7:37 a.m." Berman's reply of the same date asked: "One open question, among others, is whether the investigations referenced in your letter will include the incident at MCC involving Mr. Epstein on or about July 23, 2019. To my knowledge, it has never been definitively explained what the BOP concluded about that incident."[^1][^4] + +The government moved for an order of nolle prosequi on August 19. Instead of granting it on the papers, Berman scheduled a public hearing, reasoning that "where, as here, a defendant has died before any judgment has been entered against him, the public may still have an informational interest in the process by which the prosecutor seeks dismissal of an indictment," and invited victims and their counsel to be heard. On August 12 his chambers had sent a letter that the [[U.S. Marshals Service]] routed to the U.S. Attorney's Office leadership; on August 26 Geoffrey Berman wrote to a colleague, "M, let me know if you have a report for today. We may have 30 victims tomorrow."[^1][^5] + +At the hearing on August 27, 2019, Comey and Moe appeared for the government and Weingarten, Weinberg and Miller for the dead defendant, with an [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] special agent and an NYPD detective. Berman said that "Mr. Epstein's death obviously means that a trial in which he is a defendant cannot take place." The lawyer Gloria Allred read statements from three Jane Does, and other accusers spoke. Berman signed the nolle prosequi on August 29, 2019 (ECF No. 52).[^1][^6] + +### The 2025 Unsealing Motions + +On July 18, 2025 Deputy Attorney General [[Todd Blanche]] entered an appearance for the government in the closed case and moved to unseal the grand jury transcripts, "subject to appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information" (ECF Nos. 60, 61), the same day he filed a matching motion in [[United States v. Maxwell]]. Berman required further submissions, including an analysis of "how the Nolle Prosequi (ECF No. 52) filed in this case impacts proposed disclosure, with legal authorities." The estate's executors, through Daniel H. Weiner and Daniel Ruzumna (ECF No. 71), [[Annie Farmer]]'s counsel Sigrid McCawley (ECF No. 72) and [[Bradley Edwards]] on [[Crime Victims' Rights Act]] grounds (ECF No. 73) filed positions.[^1][^7] + +On August 20, 2025 Berman denied the motion (ECF No. 77). The record consisted of 70 pages of transcripts of June 18 and July 2, 2019 and exhibits comprising a PowerPoint presentation and four pages of call logs. He held that "the Government concedes that no Rule 6(e)(3) 'exceptions' to grand jury secrecy apply in this case" and that it "fails to demonstrate any 'special circumstance[]' which might justify unsealing." On August 26 he ordered briefing on an NBC News reporter's request to unseal two names redacted from Moe's July 2019 supplement.[^1] + +After the Epstein Files Transparency Act became law on November 19, 2025, the government renewed its motion on November 24, and on December 10 Berman granted it (ECF No. 92): "The Court hereby grants the Government's motion in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and with the un[e]qivocal right of Epstein victims to have their identity and privacy protected." From January 15 to February 5, 2026 U.S. Attorney [[Jay Clayton]] sent him letters on the department's review and compliance.[^2] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: United States v. Epstein, No. 1:19-cr-00490-RMB (S.D.N.Y.), ECF Nos. 2, 3, 23, 32, 34, 41, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 60, 61, 63, 67, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77 (Aug. 20, 2025), 78, CourtListener docket 15887848. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15887848/united-states-v-epstein/ +[^2]: United States v. Epstein, No. 1:19-cr-00490-RMB (S.D.N.Y.), ECF Nos. 85, 92 (Dec. 10, 2025), 94 to 105 (Jan. 15 to Feb. 5, 2026), CourtListener docket 15887848. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15887848/united-states-v-epstein/ +[^3]: 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 to 3. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.518649/gov.uscourts.nysd.518649.23.0_2.pdf +[^4]: 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. 14 to 20. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00149487, DataSet 9, email chain, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, forwarding the August 12, 2019 letter of Judge Richard M. Berman, August 26, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00149487.pdf +[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02733081, Court Records (CA Florida Holdings, LLC, Publisher of the Palm Beach Post v. Aronberg, No. 50-2019-CA-014681-XXXX-MB (Fla. 15th Cir. Ct. 2019)), appendix item 11, transcript of hearing, United States v. Jeffrey Epstein, 19 Cr. 490 (RMB) (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 27, 2019). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/CA%20Florida%20Holdings%2C%20LLC%2C%20Publisher%20of%20the%20Palm%20Beach%20Post%20v.%20Aronberg%2C%20No.%2050-2019-CA-014681-XXXX-MB%20(Fla.%2015th%20Cir.%20Ct.%202019)/EFTA02733081.pdf +[^7]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF Nos. 784, 785 (July 18, 2025), CourtListener docket 17318376. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ diff --git a/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Extropianism.md b/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Extropianism.md index 513fb31c..d32b340d 100644 --- a/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Extropianism.md +++ b/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Extropianism.md @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ tags: alias: - Extropians - Extropy -summary: "Extropianism is the libertarian transhumanist movement founded by Max More in the late 1980s around the Extropy Institute and its 1990s mailing list, the seedbed from which Nick Bostrom's longtermism, the rationalist community, and parts of the cypherpunk and cryptocurrency worlds emerged." +summary: "Extropianism is the libertarian transhumanist movement founded by Max More in the late 1980s around the Extropy Institute, whose 1990s mailing list fed longtermism, the rationalist community and cypherpunk circles." location: "California" created: 2026-06-19 updated: 2026-06-19 @@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ Hal Finney was the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction, sent by Satosh ### Offshoots -In 1998 Bostrom and the philosopher [[David Pearce]] founded the World Transhumanist Association (later [[Humanity Plus|Humanity+]]) as a more academic and technoprogressive vehicle, broadening transhumanism beyond the extropians' libertarianism. The Extropy Institute closed in 2006, with More stating that its core ideas had entered the mainstream. The extropian preoccupations, radical life extension, cryonics, mind uploading, AI, and escape from biological and political constraint, recur across the Thiel network's funding of longevity research, the [[Seasteading Institute]], and the AI-risk institutions, and supplied the intellectual vocabulary later inherited by the [[Effective Altruism]] movement. The critics [[Émile P. Torres]] and [[Timnit Gebru]] later grouped extropianism with transhumanism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism under the acronym "TESCREAL," arguing the bundle forms a single ideology of technological salvation favored by the tech elite.[^1][^5][^7] +In 1998 Bostrom and the philosopher [[David Pearce]] founded the [[World Transhumanist Association]] (later [[Humanity Plus|Humanity+]]) as a more academic and technoprogressive vehicle, broadening transhumanism beyond the extropians' libertarianism. The Extropy Institute closed in 2006, with More stating that its core ideas had entered the mainstream. The extropian preoccupations, radical life extension, cryonics, mind uploading, AI, and escape from biological and political constraint, recur across the Thiel network's funding of longevity research, the [[Seasteading Institute]], and the AI-risk institutions, and supplied the intellectual vocabulary later inherited by the [[Effective Altruism]] movement. The critics [[Émile P. Torres]] and [[Timnit Gebru]] later grouped extropianism with transhumanism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism under the acronym "TESCREAL," arguing the bundle forms a single ideology of technological salvation favored by the tech elite.[^1][^5][^7] The World Transhumanist Association represented a political fork within the movement: where the extropians fused transhumanism with anarcho-capitalism, the WTA's founding documents, the Transhumanist Declaration and the Transhumanist FAQ, framed enhancement technologies in terms of rights, access, and democratic governance, and a "technoprogressive" wing led by the bioethicist [[James Hughes]] later split further from the libertarian strand. More's "proactionary principle" continued to circulate in policy debates as a counter to precaution-based regulation, and it resurfaced in the 2020s "effective accelerationist" current that opposed AI-safety restriction. The movement's own internal division between optimists who wanted to build superintelligence and the AI-risk camp who feared it, both descended from the same 1990s list, reproduced itself in Thiel's 2025 denunciation of Yudkowsky and Bostrom as figures who had turned "from transhumanism to Luddite."[^1][^7] diff --git a/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/FISA Section 702.md b/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/FISA Section 702.md index 83a6a563..d1591e3a 100644 --- a/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/FISA Section 702.md +++ b/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/FISA Section 702.md @@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ In August 2024, DOJ overseers discovered that the FBI had been using a querying ### DOJ OIG Report 26-002 -The DOJ Office of Inspector General released report 26-002, "A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Querying Practices Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," on October 2, 2025. The report found that the FBI had implemented all RISAA-required querying reforms and that the number of noncompliant queries had been substantially reduced. However, the OIG expressed concern that the total number of FBI queries had also declined sharply, with FBI and National Security Division personnel expressing worry that agents might be failing to run queries they should run, potentially missing threat information. The OIG identified four recommendations, all of which remained open as of the report's release.[^11] +The [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|DOJ Office of Inspector General]] released report 26-002, "A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Querying Practices Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act," on October 2, 2025. The report found that the FBI had implemented all RISAA-required querying reforms and that the number of noncompliant queries had been substantially reduced. However, the OIG expressed concern that the total number of FBI queries had also declined sharply, with FBI and National Security Division personnel expressing worry that agents might be failing to run queries they should run, potentially missing threat information. The OIG identified four recommendations, all of which remained open as of the report's release.[^11] ### PCLOB Oversight diff --git a/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Lolita Express.md b/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Lolita Express.md index 3f790b09..19a04c9f 100644 --- a/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Lolita Express.md +++ b/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Lolita Express.md @@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ created: 2026-09-25 updated: 2026-09-25 --- -The Lolita Express is the press nickname for the Boeing 727-31 airliner, manufacturer's serial number 20115, that [[Jeffrey Epstein]] owned through a Delaware corporation, JEGE, Inc., under the registration N908JE. Built in 1969, the aircraft was fitted with a kitchen, a bedroom and about 25 business seats and was certificated for private passenger operations, not charter.[^1] The logbooks kept by its pilots, [[Larry Visoski]] and [[David Rodgers]], became the principal public record of who traveled with Epstein; a log entry records travel, not conduct.[^2][^3] +The Lolita Express is the press nickname for the Boeing 727-31 airliner, manufacturer's serial number 20115, that [[Jeffrey Epstein]] owned through a Delaware corporation, [[JEGE, Inc.]], under the registration N908JE. Built in 1969, the aircraft was fitted with a kitchen, a bedroom and about 25 business seats and was certificated for private passenger operations, not charter.[^1] The logbooks kept by its pilots, [[Larry Visoski]] and [[David Rodgers]], became the principal public record of who traveled with Epstein; a log entry records travel, not conduct.[^2][^3] ### Registration and Ownership @@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ In August and September 2021, while prosecutors prepared the trial of [[Ghislain - A 2001 [[Bell 430]] helicopter registered to Hyperion Air, Inc. in March 2012, with Indyke signing as corporate secretary, renumbered N331JE and transferred in August 2013 to Hyperion Air LLC of [[St. Thomas]]; the agent wrote that "the same players in the Inc and LLC are on the FAA registration paperwork, Darren INDYKE and Lawrence VISOSKI." It was sold in May 2020 through a Miami broker to QIR Air Resources LLC of Salt Lake City. - A 1988 Gulfstream G-IV, serial number 1085, registered on May 30, 2013, to JEGE, LLC of St. Thomas, a company formed in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] on October 19, 2012, whose members were Epstein and Visoski; Visoski changed its number to N212JE in 2013 and N120JE in 2017. A 2019 filing named the members as Aviation Development Group LLC with Thomas H. Huff of Powder Springs, Georgia, as manager, and the agent noted that Huff was "of interest to" a [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] special agent in Atlanta. An aircraft security agreement for 2.8 million dollars naming JEGE Inc. as assignor was filed in June 2019. - A 2007 Gulfstream G550, serial number 5173, sold by [[Chevron]] USA on March 29, 2017, to Plan D LLC, a Virgin Islands company formed in 2012 of which Epstein was a member and Visoski the manager; it took the number N212JE in January 2018. The agent wrote, "I don't see EPSTEIN's name on any of the FAA paperwork." Flight plans show it flying from Paris to [[Teterboro Airport|Teterboro]] on July 7, 2019, and from Teterboro to Brunswick, Georgia, on July 11. On December 22, 2020, Visoski, for Plan D, "sold" it to Six G Aviation LLC, which "sold" it the same day to N550GP LLC of Ontario, California. -- A [[Bell 407]] helicopter bought from the [[United Kingdom]] on October 30, 2002, by Air Ghislaine Inc. and registered N491GM, and a Sikorsky S-76C-2 bought by Air Ghislaine on December 30, 2008, with Visoski signing as director of aviation. Air Ghislaine Inc. changed its name to Shmitka Air Inc. on February 11, 2010, and to Freedom Air International Inc. on July 6, 2010, after which Indyke signed its filings as vice president. The Sikorsky, renumbered N722JE, was sold in 2011 to ASI Wings LLC of Hartford, Connecticut, and bought back on June 13, 2019, by Hyperion Air LLC with Visoski signing as manager, three weeks before Epstein's arrest; Hyperion sold it on May 13, 2021. +- A [[Bell 407]] helicopter bought from the [[United Kingdom]] on October 30, 2002, by Air Ghislaine Inc. and registered N491GM, and a Sikorsky S-76C-2 bought by Air Ghislaine on December 30, 2008, with Visoski signing as director of aviation. Air Ghislaine Inc. changed its name to Shmitka Air Inc. on February 11, 2010, and to [[Air Ghislaine, Inc.|Freedom Air International Inc.]] on July 6, 2010, after which Indyke signed its filings as vice president. The Sikorsky, renumbered N722JE, was sold in 2011 to ASI Wings LLC of Hartford, Connecticut, and bought back on June 13, 2019, by Hyperion Air LLC with Visoski signing as manager, three weeks before Epstein's arrest; Hyperion sold it on May 13, 2021. The agent found no aircraft registered to Epstein or Maxwell personally, and "no FAA certificates issued to Darren INDYKE."[^1] diff --git a/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Transhumanism.md b/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Transhumanism.md index 06c59137..beff4705 100644 --- a/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Transhumanism.md +++ b/50 - CONCEPTS & TECHNOLOGY/Transhumanism.md @@ -12,13 +12,13 @@ alias: - Transhumanism - Transhumanist - H+ -summary: "Transhumanism is the movement to use technology to transcend the biological limits of the human condition, named in its modern sense by Julian Huxley in 1957 and organized academically by the World Transhumanist Association that Nick Bostrom and David Pearce founded in 1998." +summary: "Transhumanism is the movement to use technology to transcend human biological limits, named in its modern sense by Julian Huxley in 1957 and organized through the World Transhumanist Association founded in 1998." location: "United Kingdom; California" created: 2026-06-20 updated: 2026-06-20 --- -Transhumanism is the intellectual and cultural movement that holds that human beings can and should use science and technology to overcome the fundamental limits of their biology, including disease, aging, death, and the bounds of human cognition. Its program spans radical life extension, cognitive and physical enhancement, genetic engineering, mind uploading, cryonics, and the eventual emergence of a posthuman condition. The term in its modern sense comes from the biologist [[Julian Huxley]] in 1957, and the movement acquired an organizational form with the World Transhumanist Association founded by [[Nick Bostrom]] and [[David Pearce]] in 1998. It is the umbrella under which the libertarian [[Extropianism|extropian]] current and the academic and technoprogressive wings both fall.[^1][^2] +Transhumanism is the intellectual and cultural movement that holds that human beings can and should use science and technology to overcome the fundamental limits of their biology, including disease, aging, death, and the bounds of human cognition. Its program spans radical life extension, cognitive and physical enhancement, genetic engineering, mind uploading, cryonics, and the eventual emergence of a posthuman condition. The term in its modern sense comes from the biologist [[Julian Huxley]] in 1957, and the movement acquired an organizational form with the [[World Transhumanist Association]] founded by [[Nick Bostrom]] and [[David Pearce]] in 1998. It is the umbrella under which the libertarian [[Extropianism|extropian]] current and the academic and technoprogressive wings both fall.[^1][^2] ### The Term and Its Precursors diff --git a/60 - PLACES/CITIES/Charlotte Amalie.md b/60 - PLACES/CITIES/Charlotte Amalie.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..c309bca5 --- /dev/null +++ b/60 - PLACES/CITIES/Charlotte Amalie.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +--- +category: "City" +tags: + - Place + - City + - VirginIslands + - CharlotteAmalie + - DanishWestIndies + - JeffreyEpstein + - TaxHaven +alias: + - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas + - Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands + - Charlotte Amalie, USVI + - Charlotte Amalie, V.I. +summary: "Capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands on St. Thomas, seat of the governor, courts and Justice Department that registered, waived for and later sued Jeffrey Epstein, and first address of his money-management company." +location: "St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +Charlotte Amalie is the capital of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], on the island of [[St. Thomas]]. The [[Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands|Revised Organic Act]] places the seat of government "at the city of Charlotte Amalie, in the island of Saint Thomas." Its harbor was the principal object of the American purchase of the Danish West Indies, completed in 1917. The town holds [[Government House (U.S. Virgin Islands)|Government House]], the territorial courts and the [[Virgin Islands Department of Justice]], which kept [[Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein's]] sex-offender registration, waived his travel notice in 2012 and sued his estate in 2020. Epstein's [[Financial Trust Company]] gave its first principal office in 1998 as 41-42 Kongens Gade in Charlotte Amalie; his later companies used addresses at Red Hook Quarter, outside the town.[^1][^2][^3][^4] + +### The Harbor + +In transmitting the 1916 convention of cession to President [[Woodrow Wilson]], the Secretary of State wrote that "St. Thomas is the natural point of call for all European trade bound to the West Indies, [[Central America]], or northern [[South America]]," and that "there can be no question as to the value of St. Thomas harbor as a naval port, with its circular configuration, ample roadsteads, protection from prevailing winds and seas, and facilities for fortifications." The [[United States]] paid [[Denmark]] 25 million dollars in gold, and the islands were transferred on March 31, 1917. The [[United States Navy]] ran the ports after the transfer, building a submarine base on St. Thomas and commissioning Bourne Field, two miles west of Charlotte Amalie, on September 1, 1935; the field later became Harry S. Truman Airport and, from 1984, [[Cyril E. King Airport]], operated by the [[Virgin Islands Port Authority]].[^2][^5][^6] + +### Government House and the Courts + +At Government House, in March 2015, [[Cecile de Jongh]], the office manager of Epstein's territorial companies and wife of former Governor [[John de Jongh]], prepared Epstein for a meeting with Governor [[Kenneth Mapp]] and the former senator [[Celestino White]]: "When you get to Government House, there is a sign in book for visitors at the entrance. I have asked Celestino to arrange to have you not sign in and he said that he would take care of it." Released emails also schedule meals with Mapp at Government House and at Epstein's properties, one of them "Gov Mapp for brunch." Governor [[Albert Bryan]], who grew up in the Savan neighborhood of Charlotte Amalie, said at a March 2026 briefing that the governor had supervision of every department: "I could just tell them do it, you don't do it, you're fired."[^7][^8][^9][^10] + +The territorial Department of Justice has its offices at 34-38 Kronprindsens Gade, in the GERS Building. The [[Superior Court of the Virgin Islands|Superior Court]] sits at the Alexander A. Farrelly Justice Center, where on October 3, 2023 [[Carol Thomas-Jacobs]], the acting Attorney General who in 2019 revoked Epstein's 24-hour travel notice and in 2023 signed the territory's settlement with [[Leon Black]], was invested as a judge.[^3][^11] + +### Epstein's Addresses + +The articles of Financial Trust Company, executed on November 6, 1998, gave its principal office as 41-42 Kongens Gade. In 2009 Epstein's lawyers told Attorney General [[Vincent Frazer]] that his place of employment was Financial Trust Company "located at Red Hook Quarter in St. Thomas," and by 2016 his accounts at [[Deutsche Bank]] for [[Southern Financial LLC]], [[Southern Trust Company]], the Haze Trust, Jeepers Inc. and the [[Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation]] all used 6100 Red Hook Quarter. His territorial counsel, [[Erika Kellerhals]], took [[David Bornn]] into her firm as a partner in January 2017 and opened a branch in the Bornn Building on Norre Gade in Charlotte Amalie; Bornn became Governor Bryan's chief legal counsel in 2019.[^4][^12][^13][^14] + +In 2012 the [[Economic Development Commission]], chaired by Bryan, amended Financial Trust's tax-incentive certificate to require, among other conditions, scholarships of 10,000 dollars a year for five years at Charlotte Amalie High School and at Kean High School.[^15] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: 48 U.S.C. section 1541(b), United States Code, 2023 edition. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title48/html/USCODE-2023-title48-chap12-subchapI-sec1541.htm +[^2]: U.S. Department of State, *Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917,* Supplement, File No. 711.5914/190a, the Secretary of State to the President, and Treaty Series No. 629. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917/d880 ; https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917/d881 +[^3]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Exhibit 83, ECF No. 194-24 (filed June 20, 2023), pp. 2, 36 to 47 (Department of Justice, 34-38 Kronprindsens Gade; Frazer letters of July 25 and August 14, 2012). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011719/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/194-24.pdf +[^4]: Articles of Incorporation of Financial Trust Company, Inc., executed November 6, 1998, received by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of the Virgin Islands November 6, 1998; filed as Exhibit N to the Declaration of Bennet J. Moskowitz, Gerber v. The Financial Trust Company, No. 1:18-cv-07580-JPO (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 16-14 (September 14, 2018). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593/gov.uscourts.nysd.499593.16.14.pdf +[^5]: "Transfer Day," Royal Danish Consulate, U.S. Virgin Islands. https://www.dkconsulateusvi.com/transfer/transfer.html +[^6]: Virgin Islands Port Authority, "Our History," accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.viport.com/our-history +[^7]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Files reveal Epstein's efforts to influence V.I. officials; emails with Mapp." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/files-reveal-epstein-s-efforts-to-influence-v-i-officials-emails-with-mapp/article_2dd4fe69-4daf-4dc2-b3b8-37a929002bb6.html +[^8]: Gilbert, Ernice. "Former Gov. Kenneth Mapp Visited Epstein's Island, Sought $50,000 for Final Election Push, DOJ Records Show." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* January 31, 2026. https://viconsortium.com/vi-federal/virgin-islands-former-gov--kenneth-mapp-visited-epstein-s-island--sought--50-000-for--final-push---doj-records-show +[^9]: "Governor Albert Bryan Jr." Biography submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, hearing of March 24, 2021. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/II/II00/20210324/111384/HHRG-117-II00-Bio-BryanJrA-20210324.pdf +[^10]: 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 +[^11]: Singh, Sera-quinn. "Antiguan Judge appointed to US Superior Court." *Antigua Observer,* November 6, 2023. https://antiguaobserver.com/antiguan-judge-appointed-to-us-superior-court/ ; Settlement Agreement and Release between the Government of the United States Virgin Islands and Leon Black, executed January 20, 2023 (as published by the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance). https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/usvi_black_settlement_agreement_-_executedpdf.pdf +[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00727487, DataSet 9, letter from counsel for Jeffrey Epstein to Attorney General Vincent F. Frazer requesting transfer of Epstein's supervision, 2009. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00727487.pdf +[^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01372777, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank internal email, "RE: Southern Financial - IA Request," June 28, 2016 (DB-SDNY-0066645). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372777.pdf +[^14]: Kellerhals Ferguson Kroblin PLLC, "Welcome David Bornn," January 4, 2017, captured August 20, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190820054157/https://www.kellfer.com/blog/2017/01/04/welcome-david-bornn/ ; Winston & Strawn LLP (Winston Taylor LLP), "David A. Bornn," attorney profile, accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.winston.com/en/professionals/bornn-david-a +[^15]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Epstein estate could be ordered to repay more than $144 million in tax breaks." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 13, 2020. 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 diff --git a/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/9 East 71st Street.md b/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/9 East 71st Street.md index ecf33cbd..b72f0b6b 100644 --- a/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/9 East 71st Street.md +++ b/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/9 East 71st Street.md @@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ By 2011 the house was held by Nine East 71st Street Corporation, which the Virgi Maple's annual reports to the Office of the [[Lieutenant Governor of the Virgin Islands]], signed by Epstein and Kahn under the attestation "ALL STATEMENTS CONTAINED IN THIS APPLICATION, AND ANY ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS, ARE TRUE AND CORRECT," never listed the house or its expenses for 2011 through 2016. For 2017 Maple reported cash of 18,281 dollars as its only asset and expenses of 150 dollars while paying 327,497.48 dollars and 6,487.04 dollars in New York City property taxes; for 2018 it reported cash of 21,265 dollars and expenses of 300 dollars while paying 336,471.87 dollars. The territory alleged that Indyke and Kahn "knew or should have known that their attestations were false" and that the transfers "were made for the sole purpose of sheltering these assets from collection." When Epstein died in August 2019, the estate valued its shares in the corporation holding the townhouse at 56 million dollars.[^2] -Epstein listed Manhattan as his residence in legal filings, and a 2018 federal complaint by investors in [[Towers Financial Corporation]] gave his residence as 9 East 71st Street; the townhouse functioned as the hub of his New York operations, with staff, a large household and the art and furnishings later catalogued during the federal search.[^7][^8] After his death a plaintiff identified as "VE" sued the estate's co-executors, Nine East 71st Street Corporation, [[Financial Trust Company]] and NES, LLC in the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] (No. 1:19-cv-07625); all were represented by Troutman Sanders, the firm that had defended Epstein against Towers claims.[^9] +Epstein listed Manhattan as his residence in legal filings, and a 2018 federal complaint by investors in [[Towers Financial Corporation]] gave his residence as 9 East 71st Street; the townhouse functioned as the hub of his New York operations, with staff, a large household and the art and furnishings later catalogued during the federal search.[^7][^8] After his death a plaintiff identified as "VE" sued the estate's co-executors, Nine East 71st Street Corporation, [[Financial Trust Company]] and NES, LLC in the [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] (No. 1:19-cv-07625); all were represented by [[Troutman Sanders]], the firm that had defended Epstein against Towers claims.[^9] ### Interior Accounts and Surveillance diff --git a/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Federal Prison Camp Bryan.md b/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Federal Prison Camp Bryan.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..47eea8b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Federal Prison Camp Bryan.md @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +--- +category: "Landmark" +tags: + - Place + - Prison + - BureauOfPrisons + - GhislaineMaxwell + - JeffreyEpstein + - Texas + - CongressionalOversight +alias: + - FPC Bryan + - Bryan Federal Prison Camp + - Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan +summary: "Minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, to which Ghislaine Maxwell was moved in August 2025 after her Justice Department interview, drawing congressional inquiries into the transfer and her treatment." +location: "1100 Ursuline Avenue, Bryan, Texas" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +relations: + - type: owned + with: "[[Federal Bureau of Prisons]]" + reverse: true + fn: 1 + - type: head_of + with: "[[Tanisha Hall]]" + reverse: true + role: "warden" + fn: 1 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Jamie Raskin]]" + reverse: true + start: 2025-08-12 + fn: 1 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Sheldon Whitehouse]]" + reverse: true + start: 2025-08-07 + fn: 3 + - type: investigated + with: "[[Robert Garcia]]" + reverse: true + start: 2026-01-23 + fn: 7 +--- + +Federal Prison Camp Bryan is a minimum-security facility of the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] at 1100 Ursuline Avenue in [[Bryan, Texas]]. Its warden in 2025 and 2026 was Dr. [[Tanisha Hall]]. [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], serving a 240-month sentence for sex trafficking, was moved there from the low-security prison in [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]] on August 1, 2025, a week after Deputy Attorney General [[Todd Blanche]] interviewed her under limited immunity. Bureau policy ordinarily bars prisoners with sex-offense histories from minimum-security placement. Senators and House members wrote to the bureau, the camp's warden and the President about the transfer, and whistleblower accounts relayed by House Judiciary and Oversight Democrats described preferential treatment of Maxwell, retaliation against inmates and staff, and sexual abuse of inmates at the camp.[^1][^2][^3] + +### The Transfer + +Blanche questioned Maxwell in Tallahassee on July 24 and 25, 2025. On August 7, 2025 Senator [[Sheldon Whitehouse]] wrote to Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III that the interview was "unusual" because such interviews "would ordinarily be conducted by an [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent or member of the local U.S. Attorney's Office, not the Deputy Attorney General." Quoting the bureau's Program Statement 5100.008, he wrote: "By default, Bureau policy requires individuals like Ms. Maxwell, whose criminal history involves sex offenses, to be placed, at a minimum, at low-security facilities because they 'are not appropriate for placement at an institution which would permit inmate access to the community (i.e., MINIMUM security).'" Ordinarily "Bureau officials in Tallahassee would need to request waiver of this policy as part of their request to transfer Ms. Maxwell to a minimum-security facility, subject to approval by Bureau officials in Grand Prairie, Texas." He noted that the factors of 18 U.S.C. 3621(b) "do not include whether the person can provide the President with political favors," and requested records of the transfer involving Blanche's office, of any Public Safety Factor waiver, of any waiver of the standard transfer procedures, and of Maxwell's transfer code, security point score, custody level and management variables as of June 1 and August 1, 2025, by August 28.[^2][^3] + +On August 11, 2025 the journalist Allison Gill wrote on her newsletter Mueller, She Wrote that she had reviewed an electronic file, provided by an anonymous source, purporting to show Maxwell's bureau records: a transfer code "308" described as "Lesser Security Transfer"; a security point score of 27; a Public Safety Factor entry reading "SEX OFFN"; a management variable reading "PSF WAV," which Gill read as a waiver of the sex-offense factor; and a custody level of "OUT." Gill wrote, "I do not have any confirmation that she has worked outside the facility." Her account rests on the anonymous source and the file.[^4] + +On August 12, 2025 Representative [[Jamie Raskin]], ranking member of the [[House Committee on the Judiciary]], and other committee Democrats wrote to Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]] and Marshall about the transfer. On November 21, 2025, with no answer to earlier inquiries, Whitehouse, [[Richard Blumenthal]] and [[Adam Schiff]] filed a [[Freedom of Information Act]] request with the bureau for the same categories of records, listing among the offices to be searched the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General and the [[Office of the Pardon Attorney]].[^1][^5] + +### Reported Conditions + +On October 30, 2025 Raskin wrote to Warden Hall, citing an October 11 investigation by [[The Wall Street Journal]], that in mid-August "hundreds of inmates were locked down during their usual outdoor recreation time while Ms. Maxwell met with multiple unidentified visitors in the prison chapel," that one inmate reported Maxwell returned "with a smile on her face," saying the meeting "went well," that guards delivered her meals to her dormitory room, and that she was escorted to late-night workouts and allowed to shower after other inmates were confined. He wrote that an inmate who had told a British newspaper that "Human trafficking is a violent crime" was removed from a training program and transferred to the Federal Detention Center in [[Houston]].[^1] + +On November 9, 2025 Raskin wrote to President [[Donald Trump]] that "under Dr. Tanisha Hall, the warden of Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan, the federal law enforcement staff working at the camp have been waiting on Ms. Maxwell hand and foot," that her meals were "customized and prepared by federal prison camp staff and then personally delivered to her in her cell by longtime federal employees," and that she was preparing a "Commutation Application." Attributing the account to whistleblower information provided to the committee's minority, he wrote that a top official at the facility had complained he was "sick of having to be Maxwell's bitch," and described the camp as "a facility Ms. Maxwell was actually ineligible to be transferred to due to her convicted sex offender status."[^6] + +On January 23, 2026 Raskin and [[Robert Garcia]], ranking member of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]], wrote to Bondi and to Acting Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume of the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General]], citing "over a dozen whistleblowers." They wrote that "Ms. Maxwell has been permitted to use a laptop, unsupervised, while at Bryan," that she had "access to staff-only areas to watch CNN by herself," that "the Warden sends out Ms. Maxwell's mail under the Warden's own name," and that the warden "fired those who made protected disclosures to Congress." They reported allegations of "widespread sexual abuse and misconduct," including a guard's instruction to "put her in her place" during a strip search and an inmate told to "deal with it" after reporting a rape. They asked that Hall be made available for a transcribed interview and that the inspector general "initiate an investigation into the reported staff misconduct," and announced a committee visit to the camp.[^7] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, letter to Dr. Tanisha Hall, Warden, Federal Prison Camp Bryan, 1100 Ursuline Avenue, Bryan, TX 77803, October 30, 2025, citing his letter to Pamela J. Bondi and William K. Marshall III of August 12, 2025. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-10-30-raskin-to-hall-fpcbryan-re-maxwell-1.pdf +[^2]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 1:20-cr-00330 (S.D.N.Y.), ECF Nos. 784, 785 (July 18, 2025), CourtListener docket 17318376. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/ ; "Ghislaine Maxwell moved to federal prison camp in Texas," *CNN,* August 1, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/01/politics/ghislaine-maxwell-federal-prison-texas +[^3]: Senator 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 +[^4]: Allison Gill, "EXCLUSIVE: I Have Ghislaine Maxwell's Security Score, Custody Level, Transfer Code, and Sex Offender Waiver," *Mueller, She Wrote,* August 11, 2025. https://www.muellershewrote.com/p/exclusive-i-have-ghislaine-maxwells +[^5]: Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal and Adam B. Schiff, Freedom of Information Act request to the FOIA Officer, Federal Bureau of Prisons, November 21, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Maxwell.pdf +[^6]: Representative Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary, letter to President Donald J. Trump, November 9, 2025. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025-11-09-raskin-to-trump-wh-re-maxwell.pdf +[^7]: House Judiciary Committee Democrats, "Ranking Members Raskin, Garcia Demand Answers for Rampant Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Uncovered at FPC Bryan; Announce Congressional Oversight Visit," press release, January 23, 2026. https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-members-raskin-garcia-demand-answers-for-rampant-sexual-abuse-and-misconduct-uncovered-at-fpc-bryan-announce-congressional-oversight-visit diff --git a/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Little St. James.md b/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Little St. James.md index 17daaf81..1770449f 100644 --- a/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Little St. James.md +++ b/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Little St. James.md @@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ The sale ended Epstein's decades-long association with the U.S. Virgin Islands, On November 22, 2011, a year after Epstein registered in the territory as a sex offender, he incorporated Nautilus, Inc. in the Virgin Islands, with himself as president and director, his lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] as secretary, and his accountant [[Richard Kahn]] as treasurer, and a stated purpose of "holding property for personal use." A quitclaim deed recorded on December 30, 2011 moved Little St. James from L.S.J., LLC to Nautilus for "TEN DOLLARS ($10.00) and other good and valuable consideration." Most of Epstein's other territorial companies were created in 2011 and 2012, among them LSJ Employees, LLC (registered October 27, 2011 "to provide services"), followed by LSJ Emergency, LLC (December 2, 2015).[^10] -The island was served by aircraft held through companies that listed Epstein's pilot [[Larry Visoski]] as a manager or member. Hyperion Air, LLC, organized October 19, 2012 with Epstein and Visoski as managers, owned a Bell helicopter (N331JE) and a Keystone helicopter (N722JE) that the territory alleged Epstein used "to transport young women and underage girls between St. Thomas and Little St. James." Plan D, LLC, which owned the Gulfstream N212JE, listed Visoski as its sole manager until a July 31, 2019 annual report named Epstein as the principal.[^10] +The island was served by aircraft held through companies that listed Epstein's pilot [[Larry Visoski]] as a manager or member. [[Hyperion Air|Hyperion Air, LLC]], organized October 19, 2012 with Epstein and Visoski as managers, owned a Bell helicopter (N331JE) and a Keystone helicopter (N722JE) that the territory alleged Epstein used "to transport young women and underage girls between St. Thomas and Little St. James." Plan D, LLC, which owned the Gulfstream N212JE, listed Visoski as its sole manager until a July 31, 2019 annual report named Epstein as the principal.[^10] ### Verification, Staff, and Records diff --git a/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Zorro Ranch.md b/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Zorro Ranch.md index dd284347..39a42188 100644 --- a/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Zorro Ranch.md +++ b/60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Zorro Ranch.md @@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ The [[New Mexico Department of Public Safety]] wrote to Epstein in July 2010 inf [[Gary King]], son of the governor whose family sold Epstein the ranch, was elected New Mexico Attorney General in 2006. That year he received 15,000 dollars for his campaign from an Epstein entity called The Zorro Trust, which he returned after Epstein's first arrest in Florida. In 2010, the year the Department of Public Safety told the sheriff that Epstein need not register, a staff member in King's office used official government email to arrange an afternoon meeting for Epstein "with AG Gary King" at a Santa Fe restaurant. The FBI had interviewed the ranch manager in 2007 and learned that Epstein frequently brought women to the ranch and invited local masseuses; whether the information was shared with state officials is one of the questions before the legislature's truth commission.[^14] -King won the Democratic nomination for governor on June 3, 2014, with [[Deb Haaland]] as his running mate. Two days later Epstein's assistant told King's fundraiser that Epstein was ready to support him, and a June 18 email thanked Epstein for his "personal commitment to raise $50,000 for my campaign," noting that "each separate corporation is considered to be a separate giver." Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] told Epstein that King's campaign website pledged to increase prosecutions of offenses against children and suggested giving through companies to avoid "additional press coverage regarding or accepting of your contribution"; Epstein told him to send the money through "co s or trusts." The campaign deposited 5,000 dollars from JEGE LLC, an Epstein aviation company registered in the Virgin Islands, on July 7, 5,200 dollars more from JEGE on September 1, and 5,000 dollars from Maple, Inc., the company holding Epstein's Manhattan house, on September 8.[^14][^15] +King won the Democratic nomination for governor on June 3, 2014, with [[Deb Haaland]] as his running mate. Two days later Epstein's assistant told King's fundraiser that Epstein was ready to support him, and a June 18 email thanked Epstein for his "personal commitment to raise $50,000 for my campaign," noting that "each separate corporation is considered to be a separate giver." Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] told Epstein that King's campaign website pledged to increase prosecutions of offenses against children and suggested giving through companies to avoid "additional press coverage regarding or accepting of your contribution"; Epstein told him to send the money through "co s or trusts." The campaign deposited 5,000 dollars from [[JEGE, Inc.|JEGE LLC]], an Epstein aviation company registered in the Virgin Islands, on July 7, 5,200 dollars more from JEGE on September 1, and 5,000 dollars from Maple, Inc., the company holding Epstein's Manhattan house, on September 8.[^14][^15] On August 21, 2014 an email to Epstein said King "wanted to speak to you about possibly using your plane" to fly from Santa Fe on the evening of September 8 to a breakfast in Washington. A trip sheet shows King and Haaland among five passengers on a flight chartered by JEGE LLC from Santa Fe Municipal Airport to Washington on September 8; the campaign reported paying 22,060 dollars to the charter company Injet, and at 5:36 a.m. on September 9 a charter booker emailed Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]] and pilot [[Larry Visoski]] that the plane was "on the ground at IAD." The same day King told the Santa Fe New Mexican he would return Epstein's donations; the campaign announced it would return more than 36,500 dollars, but its finance reports show no evidence that refunds were made. In February 2026 King said, "We didn't have any reason to know or believe that it was a plane that was owned by Jeffrey Epstein. My staff had told me that Bill Richardson was helping us to arrange for an airplane," and later, "I probably wouldn't have flown on it if I'd known it was a Jeffrey Epstein jet." A spokesperson for Haaland said she "never had any interaction with him and the way in which the plane was chartered was never communicated to her."[^14][^15] diff --git a/60 - PLACES/MILITARY_INSTALLATIONS/Ilopango Airbase.md b/60 - PLACES/MILITARY_INSTALLATIONS/Ilopango Airbase.md index 1de10966..331015ee 100644 --- a/60 - PLACES/MILITARY_INSTALLATIONS/Ilopango Airbase.md +++ b/60 - PLACES/MILITARY_INSTALLATIONS/Ilopango Airbase.md @@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ When Celerino Castillo's investigation began probing the hangars, the CIA sent a U.S. Ambassador Edwin Corr sent a secret "back channel" cable to the State Department requesting an internal DEA review of Castillo's allegations. The DEA informed Corr that Castillo's information was "totally inaccurate" and Castillo was told to close his investigation. When he continued, Corr personally ordered him to "stop the witch hunt." Three years later, when Castillo opened another investigation into drug trafficking at Hangar No. 5, the CIA refused to allow him on the base.[^1] -[[Alan Fiers|Alan Fiers Jr.]], the former CIA official who headed the Contra program from 1984 to 1988, acknowledged: "We had a capability and indeed a responsibility for reporting what had been happening at Ilopango." The DEA later claimed under FOIA that it had no reports from Castillo about drug trafficking at Ilopango - a claim the Justice Department Inspector General exposed as false, having found and quoted from the reports liberally.[^1] +[[Alan Fiers|Alan Fiers Jr.]], the former CIA official who headed the Contra program from 1984 to 1988, acknowledged: "We had a capability and indeed a responsibility for reporting what had been happening at Ilopango." The DEA later claimed under FOIA that it had no reports from Castillo about drug trafficking at Ilopango - a claim the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] exposed as false, having found and quoted from the reports liberally.[^1] ### Footnotes diff --git a/60 - PLACES/REGIONS/St. Croix.md b/60 - PLACES/REGIONS/St. Croix.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..805c96a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/60 - PLACES/REGIONS/St. Croix.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +category: "Region" +tags: + - Place + - Island + - VirginIslands + - DanishWestIndies + - HOVENSA + - JeffreyEpstein + - PublicCorruption +alias: + - Saint Croix + - St Croix + - St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands + - St. Croix, USVI + - STX +summary: "Island of the U.S. Virgin Islands, site of the 1878 Fireburn, the 1972 Fountain Valley killings and the HOVENSA refinery that Epstein's circle discussed as a Guantanamo replacement." +location: "U.S. Virgin Islands" +created: 2026-09-25 +updated: 2026-09-25 +--- + +St. Croix is one of the three major islands of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], with [[St. Thomas]] and [[St. John]], and includes the town of [[Christiansted]]. Under Danish rule it was the scene of the 1878 Fireburn uprising on its sugarcane plantations, and it later held the [[HOVENSA]] oil refinery, whose idled plant [[Cecile de Jongh]] told [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in 2015 that the [[Department of Defense]] would assess as a replacement for the prison at [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantanamo]]. Governor [[Albert Bryan]] finished school and worked on St. Croix, Governor [[Kenneth Mapp]] represented it in the Legislature, and a St. Croix environmental firm prepared the permitting for Epstein's post-hurricane docks on [[Great St. James]].[^1][^2][^3][^4][^5][^6] + +### The Fireburn + +On St. Croix in 1878, under Danish rule, plantation workers rose against their working and living conditions in the Fireburn, a post-slavery uprising in which four women, led by Queen Mary, set fire to some fifty sugarcane plantations. In 2009 [[Wayne James]], elected from St. Croix to the 28th [[Legislature of the Virgin Islands]], obtained legislative funds to copy and translate Fireburn records in the Danish National Archives and, after the territory began garnishing his salary over a 197,000 dollar tax levy, submitted fake invoices, causing the Legislature to pay him more than 90,000 dollars, of which he kept about 70,000 dollars. He received more than 1,600 pages of documents and never delivered them. A federal jury convicted him of wire fraud and theft of federal program funds on August 16, 2018; the prosecutor said he had "exploited a precious piece of Virgin Islands history for his own purposes."[^5] + +Before the creation of the [[Virgin Islands Port Authority]], the federal Virgin Islands Corporation, established in 1949, kept its principal offices on St. Croix, where it grew sugarcane, manufactured raw sugar, generated electricity and ran hotels, a beach club and a golf course. The Port Authority's St. Croix office is in the terminal of [[Henry E. Rohlsen Airport]] at Estate Manning Bay.[^6] + +### Fountain Valley + +On September 6, 1972 five gunmen entered the Fountain Valley Golf Course and killed eight people and wounded eight more. The alleged leader, Ishmael LaBeet, was a Vietnam veteran with a bad-conduct discharge. LaBeet, Warren Ballentine, Beaumont Gereau, Meral Smith and Raphael Joseph were each convicted and sentenced to eight consecutive life terms. Michael Joseph, a St. Croix attorney whose brother Raphael was among the five, wrote in his 2014 book *Fountain Valley 1972* that LaBeet had shot at a police officer and hidden in the bush of the Grove Place area, that the five were tortured after their capture, and that the protracted manhunt damaged the island's economy as travel agents on the mainland dropped it from their recommended destinations. In 1984 LaBeet, then using the name Ismail Ali, hijacked a plane during a prison transfer and escaped to [[Cuba]]. Governor [[Alexander Farrelly]] pardoned Raphael Joseph in 1992. The course is now known as Carambola.[^7] + +### The Refinery + +The St. Croix refinery was operated by HOVENSA before it passed to new owners, and a 2011 federal consent decree resolved [[Clean Air Act]] violations by HOVENSA. Albert Bryan, who moved to St. Croix as a teenager and graduated from St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School in 1985, worked at the [[Hess Corporation|Hess]] oil operation there before entering government. In March 2015 Cecile de Jongh, the office manager of Epstein's companies and wife of former Governor [[John de Jongh]], informed Epstein that Governor Mapp was interested in repurposing the refinery, writing that the Department of Defense was "sending a team to St. Croix within the month to make a full assessment of the HOVENSA facility for use as a replacement for the prison at Guantanamo, or other military use in light of the proposed closing of GTMO." On November 16, 2016, after the election of [[Donald Trump]], Epstein asked Mapp whether he wanted to discuss "trump (sic) priorities? I think he would like your guantamo (sic) proposal." The [[University of the Virgin Islands]] board chairman Alex Moorhead, whom Cecile de Jongh described to Epstein in 2011 as "QUIET AND CONSERVATIVE," was a retired vice president for government affairs of HOVENSA.[^2][^3][^8] + +The plant reopened under new owners as Limetree Bay. After a flaring event on February 4, 2021 and further air emissions incidents, the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] ordered Limetree Bay on May 14, 2021 to pause all operations, citing "the imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or welfare" posed by continued operation. The refinery was sold at a bankruptcy auction on December 21, 2021 to West Indies Petroleum Limited and Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation.[^1] + +### Epstein's Money on St. Croix + +Kenneth Mapp served three terms as a senator from St. Croix before his election as governor in 2014. On October 16, 2014 Cecile de Jongh asked Epstein how much he would give to the St. Croix District Democratic Party, and he agreed to give 15,000 dollars. As governor, Mapp raised money from Epstein for the Queen Louise Home for Children on St. Croix, reporting a public presentation of donations totaling 140,500 dollars and later acknowledging a further 20,000 dollars. Epstein's 2009 suit against [[Bear Stearns]] on behalf of [[Financial Trust Company]] was filed by the St. Croix lawyer [[John K. Dema]].[^9][^10][^11][^12] + +In January 2018 Bioimpact, Inc., an environmental consulting firm in Kingshill, St. Croix, issued a revised report for Great St. Jim, LLC, Epstein's company owning Great St. James, on temporary barge landings and access docks "on the point closest to [[Little St. James]]," built after Hurricanes Irma and Maria to bring in emergency supplies and to house employees who had lost their homes. The report noted that the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]] had spotted emergency rubble ramps in "aerial surveillance" and required their removal pending permits.[^4] + +### Later Ties + +[[Tova Noel]], one of the two guards on duty at the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York|Metropolitan Correctional Center]] the night Epstein died in August 2019, was born in [[Antigua]] and lived for several years on St. Croix. In February 2026 Senator [[Kenneth Gittens]] opposed the reconfirmation of three Port Authority board members, complaining of the lack of development on St. Croix compared with St. Thomas: "We talking one port, one VI." The 2020 census found that each of the territory's major islands, St. Croix among them, had lost population since 2010.[^13][^14][^15] + +### Footnotes + +[^1]: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Limetree Bay Terminals and Limetree Bay Refining, LLC, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (Formerly, HOVENSA)," page last updated March 22, 2022. https://www.epa.gov/vi/limetree-bay-terminals-and-limetree-bay-refining-llc +[^2]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Files reveal Epstein's efforts to influence V.I. officials; emails with Mapp." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/files-reveal-epstein-s-efforts-to-influence-v-i-officials-emails-with-mapp/article_2dd4fe69-4daf-4dc2-b3b8-37a929002bb6.html +[^3]: "Governor Albert Bryan Jr." Biography submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, hearing of March 24, 2021. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/II/II00/20210324/111384/HHRG-117-II00-Bio-BryanJrA-20210324.pdf +[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00802723, DataSet 9, Bioimpact, Inc., Kingshill, St. Croix, environmental report for Great St. Jim, LLC, revised January 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00802723.pdf +[^5]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of the Virgin Islands, "Former Senator Wayne James Found Guilty on Wire Fraud and Embezzlement of Government Funds," August 16, 2018, captured May 25, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20260525040514/https://www.justice.gov/usao-vi/pr/former-senator-wayne-james-found-guilty-wire-fraud-and-embezzlement-government-funds +[^6]: Virgin Islands Port Authority, "Our History," accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.viport.com/our-history +[^7]: Probasco, Mat. "Analysis: 50 Years After Fountain Valley." *St. Thomas Source,* September 5, 2022, captured September 9, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220909014410/https://stthomassource.com/content/2022/09/05/analysis-50-years-after-fountain-valley/ +[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00720076, DataSet 9, email from Cecile de Jongh to "JEE," October 19, 2011 (duplicate EFTA02035483, DataSet 10). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00720076.pdf +[^9]: National Governors Association, "Gov. Kenneth Mapp," former Virgin Islands governors. https://www.nga.org/governor/kenneth-mapp/ +[^10]: Doe 1 v. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, No. 1:23-cv-10301-AS (S.D.N.Y.), Second Amended Complaint, ECF No. 112 (May 24, 2024), chart (Exhibit J), p. 5. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915/gov.uscourts.nysd.610915.112.0.pdf +[^11]: Gilbert, Ernice. "Former Gov. Kenneth Mapp Visited Epstein's Island, Sought $50,000 for Final Election Push, DOJ Records Show." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* January 31, 2026. https://viconsortium.com/vi-federal/virgin-islands-former-gov--kenneth-mapp-visited-epstein-s-island--sought--50-000-for--final-push---doj-records-show +[^12]: Financial Trust Company, Inc. v. The Bear Stearns Companies Inc., Civil No. 2009/106 (D.V.I.), Verified Complaint dated August 5, 2009; reproduced as Exhibit 253, ECF No. 244-8 (filed July 25, 2023), in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011822/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/244-08.pdf +[^13]: Brown, Julie K. "Tova Noel, the prison guard who worked night of Epstein's death, was born in Antigua and lived a number of years on STX." *Miami Herald* via *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 27, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/ap/tova-noel-the-prison-guard-who-worked-night-of-epstein-s-death-was-born-in/article_e0fd90de-fa08-4667-9bff-838a8e591755.html +[^14]: Charlemagne, Nelcia. "After Two-Term Limit, VIPA Board Nominees Advance on 'Exceptional Service' Vote." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* February 27, 2026. https://viconsortium.com/vi-senate/virgin-islands-after-two-term-limit--vipa-board-nominees-advance-on--exceptional-service--vote +[^15]: U.S. Census Bureau, "First 2020 Census United States Island Areas Data Released Today," October 2021. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/10/first-2020-census-united-states-island-areas-data-released-today.html