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alias:
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- Alan M. Dershowitz
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- Alan Morton Dershowitz
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- Professor Dershowitz
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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."
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born: 1938-09-01
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location: "Brooklyn, New York (born)"
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58
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Amir Elichai.md
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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Amir Elichai.md
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---
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category: "Technologists"
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tags:
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- Person
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- AmirElichai
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- Carbyne
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- Reporty
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- EhudBarak
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- JeffreyEpstein
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- Israel
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- Surveillance
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alias:
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- Amir Elichai
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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."
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location: "Tel Aviv, Israel"
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created: 2026-09-25
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updated: 2026-09-25
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relations:
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- type: director_of
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with: "[[Carbyne]]"
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start: 2015-12-23
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role: "director of Reporty Homeland Security Ltd., later chief executive"
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fn: 1
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---
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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]
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### Reporty Homeland Security
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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]
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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]
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### The Epstein Investment
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*[[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]
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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]
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### The Qatar Pitch
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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]
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### The Axon Sale
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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]
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### Footnotes
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[^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
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[^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/
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Andrew Farkas.md
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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Andrew Farkas.md
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@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
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---
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category: "Business & Finance"
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tags:
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- Person
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- AndrewFarkas
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- JeffreyEpstein
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- IslandGlobalYachting
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- VirginIslands
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- RealEstate
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- JPMorgan
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alias:
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- Andrew Farkas
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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."
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location: "New York, New York"
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created: 2026-09-25
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updated: 2026-09-25
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relations:
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- type: founded
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with: "[[Island Global Yachting]]"
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start: 2005
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fn: 1
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- type: partner_of
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with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]"
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start: 2006
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role: "business partner in the American Yacht Harbor marina, St. Thomas"
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fn: 1
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---
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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]
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### The Marina
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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]
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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]
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### The Correspondence
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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]
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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]
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### The JPMorgan Referrals
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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]
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### Statements
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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]
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### Footnotes
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[^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/
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Benedict Gross.md
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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Benedict Gross.md
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---
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category: "Scientists & Researchers"
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tags:
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- Person
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- BenedictGross
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- Mathematics
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- Harvard
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- JeffreyEpstein
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- ProgramForEvolutionaryDynamics
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- MartinNowak
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alias:
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- Benedict Gross
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- Benedict H. Gross
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- Dick Gross
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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."
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born: 1950
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died: 2025-12
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location: "South Orange, New Jersey (born); California (died)"
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created: 2026-09-25
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updated: 2026-09-25
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relations:
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Harvard University]]"
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start: 1985
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role: "professor of mathematics, dean of Harvard College 2003 to 2007, later chair of the mathematics department"
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fn: 1
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---
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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]
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### Career
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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]
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### The Program for Evolutionary Dynamics
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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]
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### The 2013 Request
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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]
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### The 2017 Email
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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]
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### Footnotes
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[^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/
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[^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/
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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
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[^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/
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@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Epstein was trying to establish a large donor-advised charitable fund with JPMor
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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]
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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]
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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]
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### The MIT Media Lab Gift
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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Carlton Dowe.md
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108
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Carlton Dowe.md
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|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
67
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/David Bornn.md
Normal file
67
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/David Bornn.md
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|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
75
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Debra Black.md
Normal file
75
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Debra Black.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
56
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Drew Faust.md
Normal file
56
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Drew Faust.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
69
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Glenn Dubin.md
Normal file
69
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Glenn Dubin.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
59
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Cayne.md
Normal file
59
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Cayne.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
67
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Comer.md
Normal file
67
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Comer.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
89
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/José A. Cabranes.md
Normal file
89
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/José A. Cabranes.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
50
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Juan Alessi.md
Normal file
50
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Juan Alessi.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
58
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Robert Garcia.md
Normal file
58
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Robert Garcia.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
54
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Ron DeSantis.md
Normal file
54
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Ron DeSantis.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
82
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Roy Black.md
Normal file
82
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Roy Black.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
71
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Tom Barrack.md
Normal file
71
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Tom Barrack.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
49
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Woody Allen.md
Normal file
49
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Woody Allen.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
77
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Alison Nathan.md
Normal file
77
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Alison Nathan.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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:
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
79
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Jay Howell.md
Normal file
79
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Jay Howell.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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)"
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
85
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Laura Menninger.md
Normal file
85
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Laura Menninger.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
56
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Nancy Mace.md
Normal file
56
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Nancy Mace.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
77
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Thorbjørn Jagland.md
Normal file
77
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Thorbjørn Jagland.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
55
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ben Sasse.md
Normal file
55
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ben Sasse.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
83
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Drew Oosterbaan.md
Normal file
83
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Drew Oosterbaan.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
68
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Haley Robson.md
Normal file
68
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Haley Robson.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
|
|
@ -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:
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
74
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jamie Raskin.md
Normal file
74
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jamie Raskin.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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."
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
66
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Kash Patel.md
Normal file
66
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Kash Patel.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
55
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Marc Rowan.md
Normal file
55
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Marc Rowan.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
|
|
@ -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:
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -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."
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
68
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Scott Rothstein.md
Normal file
68
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Scott Rothstein.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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
|
||||
122
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Stacey Plaskett.md
Normal file
122
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Stacey Plaskett.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
85
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Celestino White.md
Normal file
85
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Celestino White.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
|
|
@ -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]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
73
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Martin Weinberg.md
Normal file
73
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Martin Weinberg.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -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/
|
||||
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