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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Alison Nathan.md Normal file
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---
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

4
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Cecile de Jongh.md
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@ -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]

2
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Darren Indyke.md
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@ -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]

1
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Erika Kellerhals.md
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@ -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:

2
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Gerald Lefcourt.md
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@ -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]

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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Jay Howell.md Normal file
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---
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

2
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/John de Jongh.md
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@ -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

1
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Kenneth Marra.md
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@ -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)"

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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Laura Menninger.md Normal file
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---
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

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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Lawrence Krauss.md
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@ -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

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---
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

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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Thorbjørn Jagland.md Normal file
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---
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