vault backup: 2026-09-25 20:44:34
This commit is contained in:
parent
6a6e61a37c
commit
b208eb6051
124 changed files with 8803 additions and 839 deletions
67
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Courtney Wild.md
Normal file
67
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Courtney Wild.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Crime & Abuse Networks"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- CourtneyWild
|
||||
- JeffreyEpstein
|
||||
- CrimeVictimsRightsAct
|
||||
- NonProsecutionAgreement
|
||||
- VictimsRights
|
||||
alias:
|
||||
- Courtney Wild
|
||||
summary: "Courtney Wild is an Epstein survivor who, as Jane Doe 1, brought the 2008 Crime Victims' Rights Act challenge to his non-prosecution agreement, which ended when the Supreme Court denied review in 2022."
|
||||
location: "Florida"
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: participant_in
|
||||
with: "[[Doe v. United States]]"
|
||||
role: "petitioner (Jane Doe 1)"
|
||||
start: 2008-07-07
|
||||
end: 2019-09-16
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: participant_in
|
||||
with: "[[In re Wild]]"
|
||||
role: "petitioner"
|
||||
start: 2019-09-30
|
||||
end: 2022-02-22
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
created: 2026-09-25
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Courtney Wild is an American survivor of [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s abuse who, under the pseudonym Jane Doe 1, filed the July 2008 emergency petition under the [[Crime Victims' Rights Act]] that became [[Doe v. United States]]. The litigation established in 2019 that federal prosecutors had violated her right to confer by concealing the [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement]], but produced no remedy: the en banc [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit|Eleventh Circuit]] held in 2021 that the statute gave her no way to enforce the right, and the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] declined review in February 2022. A proposed amendment to the Act bears her name.[^1][^2][^3][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Federal Investigation
|
||||
|
||||
According to Edwards, Wild was 14 when Epstein sexually coerced her at his house in [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]]. On or about June 7, 2007, FBI agents delivered to her a standard victim notification letter promising the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s "best efforts" to protect her rights, including "the reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the United States in the case," and stating that "[a]t this time, your case is under investigation." On August 7, 2007 she gave the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] information about her own abuse and that of Jane Doe 2.[^1][^5]
|
||||
|
||||
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida|Southern District of Florida]] signed the non-prosecution agreement on September 24, 2007 without consulting her. In late October 2007 two FBI agents met her and told her that Epstein would plead guilty to state charges and register as a sex offender; she said they did not tell her the agreement had already been signed, and she understood that the federal investigation would continue. On January 10, 2008 the FBI sent her a letter stating that "[t]his case is currently under investigation" and requesting her "continued patience." On January 31, 2008 she met FBI agents and an Assistant U.S. Attorney and gave further details of her abuse; the stipulated record states that the prosecutor "did not disclose to Jane Doe 1 at this meeting that they had already negotiated a NPA with Epstein."[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
On June 30, 2008 Epstein pleaded guilty in state court. Wild stated in her declaration that she received no notice that the plea affected her rights and that, had she known the plea was connected to blocking the prosecution of her case, "she would have attended and tried to object to the judge to prevent that plea from going forward."[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Litigation
|
||||
|
||||
Wild had retained [[Bradley Edwards]] in June 2008. On July 7, 2008 he filed her emergency petition to enforce her rights, and two days later the government's response made the first reference to the non-prosecution agreement. The case, later joined by the law professor [[Paul Cassell]] and the attorney [[Jay Howell]], ran before Judge [[Kenneth Marra]] for eleven years. Wild also sued Epstein in state court for damages and received a monetary settlement.[^1][^6]
|
||||
|
||||
On February 21, 2019 Marra held that the government had violated her conferral right under the Act. After Epstein's death Marra denied all her requested remedies on September 16, 2019. On September 30, 2019 she petitioned the Eleventh Circuit for mandamus in her own name. At oral argument the government conceded that the office had "made a mistake in causing her to believe that the case was ongoing when in fact the NPA had been signed." A divided panel denied the petition in April 2020; the full court vacated that decision and reheard the case.[^1][^2][^7]
|
||||
|
||||
On April 15, 2021 the en banc court denied her petition seven to four. Judge Kevin Newsom wrote for the majority: "We have the profoundest sympathy for Ms. Wild and others like her, who suffered unspeakable horror at Epstein's hands," adding that they had been "left in the dark" and, "so it seems, affirmatively misled" by government attorneys: "Even so, we find ourselves constrained to deny Ms. Wild's petition." The majority held that the Act did not authorize a freestanding suit to enforce victims' rights before charges were filed. The Supreme Court denied her petition for certiorari on February 22, 2022, after the Solicitor General opposed review. Wild wrote after the denial: "The government intentionally misled the victims but found a way to get away with it by working with a child molester to get around the law. And the Judges ruled in their favor. How?"[^3][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Courtney Wild Crime Victims' Rights Reform Act
|
||||
|
||||
In October 2019 Representatives [[Jackie Speier]], [[Scott Perry]], [[Lois Frankel]], and [[Mo Brooks]] introduced the Courtney Wild Crime Victims' Rights Reform Act of 2019 (H.R. 4729), which would have made the Act's conferral and notice rights expressly applicable before charges and added remedies for their violation. It was not enacted. Speier reintroduced it in 2022 as H.R. 9444, and [[Debbie Wasserman Schultz]] later introduced a successor bill, the Courtney Wild Reinforcing Crime Victims' Rights Act.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Wild v. Brown
|
||||
|
||||
On February 3, 2022 Wild and [[Haley Robson]] sued the journalist [[Julie K. Brown]] for defamation in Miami-Dade County circuit court over Brown's 2021 book *Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story*. Their complaint alleged that the book falsely stated that Wild had been raped by Epstein and had later had intercourse with him, which the complaint said "is false," and that Brown had minimized Wild's role in exposing the agreement, in the creation of the [[Epstein Victim Compensation Program]], and in Epstein's arrest while crediting herself. Robson alleged that after she declined an interview Brown told her she was "making the biggest mistake of your life" and then portrayed 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 and had called her lawyer, and she declined to comment to the Miami Herald. Brown's [[Miami Herald]] series "Perversion of Justice" had been cited by the Justice Department as the report that renewed scrutiny of the agreement in 2018.[^2][^9]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: 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 2-3, 12, 16, 19-20, 22 (Marra, J.), quoting ECF No. 407 at paragraphs 6, 13, 70, 93, 97, 126, the Jane Doe 1 declaration (ECF No. 361-26), and ECF No. 415 at paragraph 12. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867/gov.uscourts.flsd.317867.435.0.pdf
|
||||
[^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," Executive Summary, November 2020, pp. iii-v. https://www.justice.gov/opr/page/file/1336471/dl
|
||||
[^3]: *In re Wild*, No. 19-13843, 994 F.3d 1244 (11th Cir. Apr. 15, 2021) (en banc), opinion of Newsom, J., at 2-3. https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/201913843.enb.pdf
|
||||
[^4]: 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 ; "Supreme Court Turns Away Jeffrey Epstein Victim's Petition on Dead Predator's Infamous Non-Prosecution Agreement," *Law & Crime,* February 22, 2022. https://lawandcrime.com/jeffrey-epstein-2/supreme-court-turns-away-jeffrey-epstein-victims-petition-on-dead-predators-infamous-non-prosecution-agreement/
|
||||
[^5]: Bradley J. Edwards with Brittany Henderson, *Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein* (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2020), publisher's description. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Relentless-Pursuit/Bradley-J-Edwards/9781982148140
|
||||
[^6]: Docket, *Doe v. United States*, No. 9:08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla.), CourtListener. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4502088/doe-v-united-states/
|
||||
[^7]: 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
|
||||
[^8]: Office of Rep. Jackie Speier, "Rep Speier Introduces Bipartisan Courtney Wild Crime Victims' Rights Reform Act of 2019," October 2019. https://speier.house.gov/2019/10/rep-speier-introduces-bipartisan-courtney-wild-crime-victims-rights-reform-act-of-2019-to-rectify-injustices-faced-by-epstein-s-victims ; H.R. 4729, 116th Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/4729/text ; H.R. 9444, 117th Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/9444 ; Office of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, "Support the Courtney Wild Reinforcing Crime Victims' Rights Act." https://wassermanschultz.house.gov/uploadedfiles/cvraonepager.pdf
|
||||
[^9]: 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/
|
||||
|
|
@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ tags:
|
|||
- FederalistSociety
|
||||
alias:
|
||||
- Donald John Trump
|
||||
summary: "Donald Trump is the 45th and 47th President of the United States whose two administrations functioned as the political vehicle through which the Peter Thiel commercial network, the Leonard Leo judicial-selection network, and the Jared Kushner Middle East network exercised documented federal power, including Palantir's expanded government contracting, the Federalist Society Supreme Court confirmations, and the Kushner-MBS relationship that produced the Abraham Accords."
|
||||
summary: "Donald Trump is the 45th and 47th President of the United States, whose administrations placed figures from the Peter Thiel, Leonard Leo and Jared Kushner networks in federal power and oversaw the Epstein file releases."
|
||||
born: 1946-06-14
|
||||
location: "Queens, New York City (born)"
|
||||
created: 2026-06-18
|
||||
|
|
@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ The [[Heritage Foundation|Heritage Foundation]]'s [[Project 2025|Project 2025]]
|
|||
|
||||
The second Trump administration (2025-present) has produced the documented expansion of Palantir's ICE contracting (the 30 million dollar ImmigrationOS contract), the Palantir-Israel strategic partnership for "war-related missions" in the Gaza war, and the [[Department of Government Efficiency|DOGE]] access to federal systems. [[David Sacks|David Sacks]], the PayPal Mafia COO, received the White House AI and cryptocurrency czar appointment. The DOGE, led by [[Elon Musk|Musk]], produced the documented [[NLRB Data Exfiltration|NLRB data exfiltration]] with Russian IP login attempts and the documented exfiltration of union-organizing records.[^1][^3][^8]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Howard Lutnick|Howard Lutnick]], the [[Cantor Fitzgerald|Cantor Fitzgerald]] CEO whose Epstein emails are documented in the 2026 file releases, received the [[Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]] appointment. [[Pam Bondi|Pam Bondi]], who declared the [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] files release "complete" amid the "300 names" controversy (which included impossible entries for [[Elvis Presley|Elvis]], [[Princess Diana|Princess Diana]], and [[Kurt Cobain|Kurt Cobain]]), received the [[Attorney General|Attorney General]] appointment. [[Todd Blanche|Todd Blanche]], the deputy attorney general who announced the 3.5 million page Epstein-files publication, was previously Trump's personal defense attorney in the Manhattan criminal case. The second-administration personnel pattern places documented Epstein-network contacts (Lutnick) and Epstein-files oversight figures (Bondi, Blanche) in the executive branch.[^1]
|
||||
[[Howard Lutnick|Howard Lutnick]], the [[Cantor Fitzgerald|Cantor Fitzgerald]] CEO whose Epstein emails are documented in the 2026 file releases, received the [[Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]] appointment. [[Pam Bondi|Pam Bondi]] received the [[Attorney General|Attorney General]] appointment and was confirmed on February 4, 2025; a year later she co-signed the February 2026 report to Congress under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] that listed some 300 names of officials and public figures referenced in the [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] files, among them [[Elvis Presley|Elvis]], [[Princess Diana|Princess Diana]], and [[Kurt Cobain|Kurt Cobain]]. [[Todd Blanche|Todd Blanche]], the deputy attorney general who announced the 3.5 million page Epstein-files publication, was previously Trump's personal defense attorney in the Manhattan criminal case. The second-administration personnel pattern places documented Epstein-network contacts (Lutnick) and Epstein-files oversight figures (Bondi, Blanche) in the executive branch.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Epstein Relationship
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ Trump and Epstein socialized from the late 1980s through 2004, mostly in [[Palm
|
|||
|
||||
The relationship broke in 2004 over a Palm Beach property. In November 2004 Trump outbid Epstein for the oceanfront mansion [[Maison de l'Amitie]], paying 41.35 million dollars, and the bankruptcy trustee for the estate described the two men lobbying him and disparaging each other's finances. Trump later said he had a falling out with Epstein "a long time ago" and had thrown him out of Mar-a-Lago as "persona non grata" for poaching club staff. Little public record of contact survives after 2004. [[Maria Farmer]], who reported Epstein to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] in 1996, said she had also flagged a 1990s encounter involving Trump, an account that remains an uncorroborated allegation. No allegation of criminal wrongdoing by Trump in connection with Epstein has been established in any court or official finding.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
The relationship returned as a political liability across 2025. As president, Trump presided over the Justice Department that handled the file releases; he denied authoring the 2003 "birthday book" letter that the [[Wall Street Journal]] reported bore his signature and a drawing of a nude woman, dismissed the report as fake, and filed a multibillion-dollar defamation suit against the paper. After months of pressure from members of his own coalition demanding disclosure, Trump signed the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] in November 2025. The staged releases, the missing "client list" that Bondi had promised, and the unexplained redactions kept the Trump-Epstein history in continuous national coverage through the end of 2025.[^13]
|
||||
The relationship returned as a political liability across 2025. As president, Trump presided over the Justice Department that handled the file releases; he denied authoring the 2003 "birthday book" letter that the [[Wall Street Journal]] reported bore his signature and a drawing of a nude woman, dismissed the report as fake, and filed a multibillion-dollar defamation suit against the paper. After months of pressure from members of his own coalition demanding disclosure, Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. The staged releases, the missing "client list" that Bondi had promised, and the unexplained redactions kept the Trump-Epstein history in continuous national coverage through the end of 2025.[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,77 +1,117 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Crime & Abuse Networks"
|
||||
tags: [Person, LesWexner, JeffreyEpstein, LBrands, VictoriasSecret, MegaGroup, Finance, NewAlbany]
|
||||
alias: ["Les Wexner", "Leslie H. Wexner"]
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- LesWexner
|
||||
- JeffreyEpstein
|
||||
- LBrands
|
||||
- VictoriasSecret
|
||||
- MegaGroup
|
||||
- Finance
|
||||
- NewAlbany
|
||||
alias:
|
||||
- Les Wexner
|
||||
- Leslie H. Wexner
|
||||
- Leslie Herbert Wexner
|
||||
summary: "Founder of The Limited and L Brands who granted Jeffrey Epstein power of attorney over his fortune in 1991 and later said Epstein misappropriated vast sums from him."
|
||||
born: 1937-09-08
|
||||
location: New Albany, Ohio
|
||||
created: 2026-06-20
|
||||
updated: 2026-06-20
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: employed_by
|
||||
with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1987
|
||||
end: 2007
|
||||
role: "personal financial adviser; power of attorney from July 1991"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: represented
|
||||
with: "[[Zeiger, Tigges & Little]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "Wexner's counsel; declined to accept service of the Virgin Islands subpoena"
|
||||
start: 2023-02
|
||||
fn: 23
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Leslie Herbert Wexner founded the Columbus, Ohio retailer The Limited in 1963 and built it into the holding company later known as [[L Brands]], owner of [[Victoria's Secret]], [[Bath & Body Works]], Lane Bryant and Express. From the late 1980s until around 2007 [[Jeffrey Epstein]] served as Wexner's personal financial adviser, and in 1991 Wexner granted Epstein a sweeping power of attorney over his finances.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Business Career
|
||||
|
||||
Wexner opened the first Limited store in 1963 at the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, near Columbus, using a 5,000 dollar loan from his aunt and 5,000 dollars borrowed from a bank.[^10] He named the shop The Limited because he limited its stock to women's sportswear and separates rather than carrying a full line of dresses and coats, and the store recorded first-year sales of about 160,000 dollars.[^10] Through the 1970s and 1980s he expanded it into a portfolio of mall retailers including The Limited, Limited Express and Lane Bryant.[^2]
|
||||
Wexner opened the first Limited store in 1963 at the Kingsdale Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, near Columbus, using a 5,000 dollar loan from his aunt and 5,000 dollars borrowed from a bank.[^2] He named the shop The Limited because he limited its stock to women's sportswear and separates rather than carrying a full line of dresses and coats, and the store recorded first-year sales of about 160,000 dollars.[^2] Through the 1970s and 1980s he expanded it into a portfolio of mall retailers including The Limited, Limited Express and Lane Bryant.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
Wexner acquired Victoria's Secret in 1982 from founder [[Roy Raymond]] for about one million dollars, taking over five stores, a catalog and roughly six million dollars in annual sales from a company that was approaching bankruptcy.[^11] He recast the brand from a male-oriented novelty shop into a mass-market lingerie chain, inventing a fictional London address and remaking the catalog and store aesthetics, and by 1995 Victoria's Secret operated several hundred stores with sales in the billions.[^11] Raymond founded a children's retailer that failed and died by suicide in 1993.[^11] In 1990 Wexner launched Bath & Body Works, whose first store opened that September in a Cambridge, Massachusetts mall, and the personal-care brand grew into one of the company's largest divisions.[^12] The parent firm operated for decades as Limited Brands and was renamed L Brands in 2013.[^2]
|
||||
Wexner acquired Victoria's Secret in 1982 from founder [[Roy Raymond]] for about one million dollars, taking over five stores, a catalog and roughly six million dollars in annual sales from a company that was approaching bankruptcy.[^4] He recast the brand from a male-oriented novelty shop into a mass-market lingerie chain, inventing a fictional London address and remaking the catalog and store aesthetics, and by 1995 Victoria's Secret operated several hundred stores with sales in the billions.[^4] Raymond founded a children's retailer that failed and died by suicide in 1993.[^4] In 1990 Wexner launched Bath & Body Works, whose first store opened that September in a Cambridge, Massachusetts mall, and the personal-care brand grew into one of the company's largest divisions.[^5] The parent firm operated for decades as Limited Brands and was renamed L Brands in 2013.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
Wexner developed the village of [[New Albany, Ohio]] outside Columbus from rural land into an upscale planned suburb, building an estate there and steering corporate and residential development.[^3] Jeffrey Epstein became a general partner in the New Albany real estate holding company and, according to property records, held roles in entities tied to the development.[^3] In 1991 Wexner co-founded the [[Mega Group]], a private network of wealthy Jewish American philanthropists and businessmen, with Seagram heir [[Charles Bronfman]].[^4] [[The Wall Street Journal]] reported in 1998 that the group, which grew from about 20 founding members toward 50 and charged dues of roughly 30,000 dollars a year, met twice annually for seminars on philanthropy and Jewish affairs.[^13]
|
||||
Wexner developed the village of [[New Albany, Ohio]] outside Columbus from rural land into an upscale planned suburb, building an estate there and steering corporate and residential development.[^6] Jeffrey Epstein became a general partner in the New Albany real estate holding company and, according to property records, held roles in entities tied to the development.[^6] In 1991 Wexner co-founded the [[Mega Group]], a private network of wealthy Jewish American philanthropists and businessmen, with Seagram heir [[Charles Bronfman]].[^7] [[The Wall Street Journal]] reported in May 1998 that the group, originally called the Study Group, which grew from about 20 founding members toward 50 and charged dues of roughly 30,000 dollars a year, met twice annually for seminars on philanthropy and Jewish affairs.[^8] The group was founded in the same year Wexner gave Epstein power of attorney over his finances.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### New Albany, Ohio
|
||||
|
||||
Beginning in the 1980s Wexner bought up land in New Albany, then a Central Ohio village of a few hundred people about 20 minutes northeast of Columbus, partnering with developer [[Jack Kessler]] in an entity that the two men later formalized as the [[New Albany Company]].[^14] Locals nicknamed the planned town "Wexley," a portmanteau of Wexner and Bexley, the affluent Columbus suburb where he had previously lived, and the New Albany Company became the area's dominant landowner, holding roughly 80 percent of the municipality at points and shaping development through a public-private partnership with the local government.[^14] The village's population grew from about 1,600 in 1990 to more than 10,000, with a median household income several times the Ohio average.[^14]
|
||||
Beginning in the 1980s Wexner bought up land in New Albany, then a Central Ohio village of a few hundred people about 20 minutes northeast of Columbus, partnering with developer [[Jack Kessler]] in an entity that the two men later formalized as the [[New Albany Company]].[^9] Locals nicknamed the planned town "Wexley," a portmanteau of Wexner and Bexley, the affluent Columbus suburb where he had previously lived, and the New Albany Company became the area's dominant landowner, holding roughly 80 percent of the municipality at points and shaping development through a public-private partnership with the local government.[^9] The village's population grew from about 1,600 in 1990 to more than 10,000, with a median household income several times the Ohio average.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein signed incorporation paperwork for the New Albany Company as its president alongside Wexner, according to Ohio state records, and owned a residence on the Wexner estate before the relationship ended in 2007.[^14] Wexner built a Georgian-style mansion on a roughly 336-acre estate along Kitzmiller Road that ranks among the largest private residences in Ohio.[^14] The New Albany Company later assembled a large business park along Route 161 and sold land to technology firms including Amazon, Facebook and Google, generating proceeds for a company subsidiary.[^14]
|
||||
Epstein signed incorporation paperwork for the New Albany Company as its president alongside Wexner, according to Ohio state records, and owned a residence on the Wexner estate before the relationship ended in 2007.[^9] Wexner built a Georgian-style mansion on a roughly 336-acre estate along Kitzmiller Road that ranks among the largest private residences in Ohio.[^9] The New Albany Company later assembled a large business park along Route 161 and sold land to technology firms including Amazon, Facebook and Google, generating proceeds for a company subsidiary.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
### Wexner Foundation and Philanthropy
|
||||
|
||||
Wexner established the [[Wexner Foundation]] and the related Wexner Heritage Foundation in 1984 to develop Jewish lay and professional leadership in North America and public-sector leaders in Israel.[^15] The foundation's programs include the Wexner Heritage Program, a two-year intensive Jewish learning course for young volunteer leaders, along with the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, the Wexner Israel Fellows and other tracks.[^15] Wexner also funded institutions at [[The Ohio State University]] and the [[Harvard Kennedy School]], where the Wexner-Israel Fellowship trained Israeli officials.[^15]
|
||||
Wexner established the [[Wexner Foundation]] and the related Wexner Heritage Foundation in 1984 to develop Jewish lay and professional leadership in North America and public-sector leaders in Israel.[^10] The foundation's programs include the Wexner Heritage Program, a two-year intensive Jewish learning course for young volunteer leaders, along with the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, the Wexner Israel Fellows and other tracks.[^10] Wexner also funded institutions at [[The Ohio State University]] and the [[Harvard Kennedy School]], where the Wexner-Israel Fellowship trained Israeli officials.[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
Abigail Koppel, who became Abigail Wexner on her marriage to Wexner on January 23, 1993, practiced law at [[Davis Polk & Wardwell]] in New York and London from 1987 to 1992 before her philanthropic work in Columbus.[^16] Epstein drafted the prenuptial agreement for the marriage.[^5] In 2008 Epstein directed a portion of recovered funds toward a foundation associated with Abigail Wexner.[^8]
|
||||
Epstein became a trustee of the foundation. Wexner wrote in 2019 that "in the early 1990s Mr. Epstein became a trustee of The Wexner Foundation, but he had no executive responsibilities in the running of the Foundation. He did not work directly with Foundation staff, and he did not engage with leadership initiatives in any way."[^11] Vanity Fair reported in 2003 that in 1992 Epstein persuaded Wexner to put him on the foundation's board in place of Wexner's ailing mother, [[Bella Wexner]], who recovered and demanded to be reinstated; Epstein said the two settled it by splitting the foundation in two. A source close to Wexner told the magazine that Wexner had assigned Epstein "the power of fiduciary over all of his private trusts and foundations."[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
Abigail Koppel, a 31-year-old lawyer, married Wexner in 1993, and the couple settled in Ohio; in 1996 Epstein moved into Wexner's Manhattan townhouse.[^12] Epstein drafted the prenuptial agreement for the marriage.[^13] In 2008 Epstein directed a portion of recovered funds toward a foundation associated with Abigail Wexner.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### Relationship With Jeffrey Epstein
|
||||
|
||||
Wexner and Jeffrey Epstein were introduced in the mid-1980s; later reporting placed the meeting around 1986 through insurance executive [[Robert Meister]], who had met Epstein on a flight to Palm Beach.[^5] Epstein became Wexner's financial adviser by 1987, and in July 1991 Wexner gave him a power of attorney that authorized Epstein to sign checks, borrow money, buy and sell property, and hire and fire on Wexner's behalf.[^1] A close Wexner adviser, [[Harold Levin]], reportedly warned that he did not trust Epstein, telling Wexner he "smell[ed] a rat," and at least one board member commissioned a background investigation, but Wexner continued the relationship.[^5] According to the New York Times account, Epstein later engineered Levin's firing by accusing him of stealing from Wexner, an accusation that would subsequently be leveled at Epstein himself.[^17]
|
||||
Wexner and Jeffrey Epstein were introduced in the mid-1980s; later reporting placed the meeting around 1986 through insurance executive [[Robert Meister]], who had met Epstein on a flight to Palm Beach.[^13] Wexner wrote in 2019 that he met Epstein "through friends who vouched for and recommended him as a knowledgeable financial professional," and that "Mr. Epstein represented that he had various well-known and respected individuals both as his financial clients and in his inner circle."[^11] Epstein told people he met Wexner in 1986 in Palm Beach and won his confidence by advising him to stay out of the stock market before the 1987 crash; asked by Vanity Fair whether Wexner had known of his work for [[Steven Hoffenberg]] at [[Towers Financial Corporation]], Epstein said he had begun working for Wexner in 1989 and that "it was certainly not the same time." Before he was engaged, Epstein met several times with [[Harold Levin]], then head of Wexner Investments, who found his ideas about currencies incomprehensible; a former Limited vice-chairman, [[Robert Morosky]], said "everyone was mystified as to what his appeal was."[^12] Epstein became Wexner's financial adviser by 1987, and in July 1991 Wexner gave him a power of attorney that authorized Epstein to sign checks, borrow money, buy and sell property, and hire and fire on Wexner's behalf.[^1] A close Wexner adviser, Harold Levin, reportedly warned that he did not trust Epstein, telling Wexner he "smell[ed] a rat," and at least one board member commissioned a background investigation, but Wexner continued the relationship.[^13] According to the [[New York Times]] account, Epstein later engineered Levin's firing by accusing him of stealing from Wexner, an accusation that would subsequently be leveled at Epstein himself.[^15]
|
||||
|
||||
A New York Times Magazine investigation published December 16, 2025 traced Epstein's accumulation of wealth back to his hiring at [[Bear Stearns]] and his early targeting of wealthy businessmen, and detailed how his control over Wexner's accounts gave him unregulated access to fund real estate purchases, including property near [[Mar-a-Lago]] in Palm Beach, the [[9 East 71st Street]] townhouse in Manhattan, and the New Albany mansion.[^5] Epstein also drafted the prenuptial agreement for Wexner's marriage to [[Abigail Wexner|Abigail Koppel]] and obtained tax breaks for Epstein's [[Little St. James]] island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.[^5] The Times wrote that the central unanswered question was what Wexner gained from the relationship, and Wexner declined to participate in the investigation.[^17]
|
||||
A New York Times Magazine investigation published December 16, 2025 traced Epstein's accumulation of wealth back to his hiring at [[Bear Stearns]] and his early targeting of wealthy businessmen, and detailed how his control over Wexner's accounts gave him unregulated access to fund real estate purchases, including property near [[Mar-a-Lago]] in Palm Beach, the [[9 East 71st Street]] townhouse in Manhattan, and the New Albany mansion.[^13] Epstein also drafted the prenuptial agreement for Wexner's marriage to [[Abigail Wexner|Abigail Koppel]] and obtained tax breaks for Epstein's [[Little St. James]] island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.[^13] The Times wrote that the central unanswered question was what Wexner gained from the relationship, and Wexner declined to participate in the investigation.[^15]
|
||||
|
||||
In a February 2026 deposition before members of the House Oversight Committee, Wexner described himself as "naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein," calling him "a con man."[^6] He said he had revoked the power of attorney, removed Epstein from his accounts and terminated him in 2007, and that he was "neither a co-conspirator nor target" of investigators.[^18] JPMorgan Chase records cited in the released files placed the formal end of the financial relationship in February 2008, several months later than the 2007 date Wexner had publicly given.[^18]
|
||||
Wexner described the relationship to Vanity Fair for its March 2003 profile: "I think we both possess the skill of seeing patterns. But Jeffrey sees patterns in politics and financial markets, and I see patterns in lifestyle and fashion trends." He called Epstein "very smart with a combination of excellent judgment and unusually high standards. Also, he is always a most loyal friend," and said that "Jeffrey has the unusual quality of knowing when he is winning." Epstein said, "People have said it's like we have one brain between two of us: each has a side." A person who worked for Wexner and saw their contract said Epstein was involved in "everything, not just a little here, a little there. Everything!" and that "Wexner likes having a hatchet man... Whenever there is dirty work to be done he'd stick Jeffrey on it." Epstein inserted himself into the construction of Wexner's 315-foot yacht Limitless, which led to litigation between Wexner and the shipyard, and the lawyer Lars Forsberg said his firm had to sue for its fees. When the co-investors in [[Riddell Sports]] bought out Epstein's stake in 1995 and asked him to guarantee access to a few million dollars against later disputes, Wexner signed for him.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
In a February 2026 deposition before members of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Oversight Committee]], Wexner described himself as "naive, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein," calling him "a con man."[^16] He said he had revoked the power of attorney, removed Epstein from his accounts and terminated him in 2007, and that he was "neither a co-conspirator nor target" of investigators.[^17] [[JPMorgan Chase]] records cited in the released files placed the formal end of the financial relationship in February 2008, several months later than the 2007 date Wexner had publicly given.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
### The 9 East 71st Street Townhouse
|
||||
|
||||
Wexner purchased the seven-story townhouse at 9 East 71st Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1989 for about 13.2 million dollars.[^7] The roughly 21,000-square-foot limestone mansion, one of the largest single-family residences in the city, had been built early in the twentieth century, and control of the property moved through a chain of corporate entities during the 1990s, with Jeffrey Epstein listed in various officer or trustee roles.[^7] The residence became Epstein's primary New York base and the site of much of the conduct later detailed in the federal sex-trafficking case against him.[^7]
|
||||
Wexner purchased the townhouse at 9 East 71st Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side through a trust in 1989 for a reported 13.2 million dollars. The limestone mansion, one of the largest single-family residences in the city, had been built in the early 1930s and until 1989 housed the Birch Wathen School. Epstein moved in in 1996, and in 2003 Vanity Fair reported that public documents still showed the trust as owner while Epstein said he owned the house.[^12] The residence became Epstein's primary New York base and the site of much of the conduct later detailed in the federal sex-trafficking case against him.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2011 the mansion was conveyed to Maple Inc., an Epstein-linked U.S. Virgin Islands entity, for zero dollars in recorded consideration; Epstein signed the transaction for both the seller and the buyer.[^7] Reporting at the time valued the property in the tens of millions of dollars, and the terms of the transfer were never fully explained publicly.[^7] A 1998 purchase and sale agreement underlying the transfer involved a 10 million dollar promissory note and personal guaranty signed by Epstein.[^5]
|
||||
A 1998 purchase and sale agreement for the house involved a 10 million dollar promissory note and personal guaranty signed by Epstein.[^13] By 2011 the townhouse was held by Nine East 71st Street Corporation, described by the Virgin Islands government as "owned by Epstein," which on or about December 23, 2011 transferred it to [[Maple Inc.]], a Virgin Islands corporation Epstein had just formed. Maple's annual reports to the territory never listed the house, and for 2018 reported expenses of 300 dollars while it paid 336,471.87 dollars in [[New York City]] property taxes on it. The estate valued the townhouse corporation at 56 million dollars after Epstein's death.[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
An FBI internal memo among the files released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act stated that "Epstein controlled all of Wexner's personal finances with virtually no oversight" and described how Epstein sold himself a New York home and a private plane that had belonged to Wexner at a "deeply discounted price."[^19] The transfers of the townhouse and aircraft to Epstein-controlled entities for nominal or discounted sums became central to later accounts of how Epstein converted his control of Wexner's affairs into personal assets.[^19]
|
||||
An [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] internal memo among the files released under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] stated that "Epstein controlled all of Wexner's personal finances with virtually no oversight" and described how Epstein sold himself a New York home and a private plane that had belonged to Wexner at a "deeply discounted price."[^19] The transfers of the townhouse and aircraft to Epstein-controlled entities for nominal or discounted sums became central to later accounts of how Epstein converted his control of Wexner's affairs into personal assets.[^19]
|
||||
|
||||
### Statements After Epstein's Arrest
|
||||
|
||||
After Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, Wexner said he had severed ties around 2007 and that "in that process, we discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family."[^8] In a letter to his foundation, Wexner disclosed that Epstein had returned funds, and reporting indicated the recovered sum exceeded 46 million dollars, a portion of which Epstein directed in 2008 to a foundation associated with Abigail Wexner.[^8] A spokesperson declined to specify the total amount allegedly taken or whether it had been reported to authorities.[^9]
|
||||
After Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019, Wexner wrote to the Wexner Foundation community that "by early fall 2007, it was agreed that he should step back from the management of our personal finances. In that process, we discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family." He described Epstein as "a person I employed more than a decade ago," wrote that Epstein "was given power of attorney as is common in that context, and he had wide latitude to act on my behalf," and said of the recovered money that "the widely reported payments Mr. Epstein made to the charitable fund represented a portion of the returned monies. All of that money - every dollar of it - was originally Wexner family money."[^11][^14] Reporting indicated the recovered sum exceeded 46 million dollars, a portion of which Epstein directed in 2008 to a foundation associated with Abigail Wexner.[^14] A spokesperson declined to specify the total amount allegedly taken or whether it had been reported to authorities.[^20]
|
||||
|
||||
Documents in the 2026 Epstein files described a larger figure than the 46 million dollars cited in 2019. An investigative memo recorded that Wexner's attorneys told investigators in 2008 that Epstein had repaid him about 100 million dollars, described as only a portion of what he had taken, and that Abigail Wexner had taken over the family's finances and found Epstein had misappropriated "several hundred million dollars."[^18] Wexner provided documents to investigators that he said showed Epstein's alleged theft, but he did not publicly detail the full scope.[^9]
|
||||
Documents in the 2026 [[Epstein Files|Epstein files]] described a larger figure than the 46 million dollars cited in 2019. An investigative memo recorded that Wexner's attorneys told investigators in 2008 that Epstein had repaid him about 100 million dollars, described as only a portion of what he had taken, and that Abigail Wexner had taken over the family's finances and found Epstein had misappropriated "several hundred million dollars."[^17] Wexner provided documents to investigators that he said showed Epstein's alleged theft, but he did not publicly detail the full scope.[^20]
|
||||
|
||||
The released files showed that Wexner and Epstein remained in contact after 2007. Following the announcement of Epstein's 2008 Florida plea deal, Wexner wrote a note saying he felt sorry and reminding Epstein to "always be careful," to which Epstein replied "no excuse."[^18] An FBI email from August 2019 labeled Wexner a "secondary co-conspirator" while noting "limited evidence regarding his involvement," and a Fox News account reported that an internal FBI memo had characterized him as an Epstein co-conspirator.[^19] In January 2026 the House Oversight Committee moved to subpoena Wexner over his ties to Epstein, and he was deposed at his Ohio home in February 2026.[^6]
|
||||
The released files showed that Wexner and Epstein remained in contact after 2007. Following the announcement of Epstein's 2008 Florida plea deal, Wexner wrote a note saying he felt sorry and reminding Epstein to "always be careful," to which Epstein replied "no excuse."[^17] An FBI email from August 2019 labeled Wexner a "secondary co-conspirator" while noting "limited evidence regarding his involvement," and a Fox News account reported that an internal FBI memo had characterized him as an Epstein co-conspirator.[^19] In January 2026 the House Oversight Committee moved to subpoena Wexner over his ties to Epstein, and he was deposed at his Ohio home in February 2026.[^16]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Banks, the Lawyer and the 2023 Subpoena
|
||||
|
||||
A May 2003 JPMorgan Chase due-diligence report stated that "Jeffrey Epstein, through the trading of his accounts and that of Leslie Wexner, generates one of the largest annual revenue flows of private clients in the private bank."[^21] Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] was listed as secretary of the Wexner Foundation in SEC filings from 1998 to 2001 and on its tax forms through 2006, and in 2008, after Epstein's departure from the Wexners' affairs, Abigail Wexner gave Indyke power of attorney over her condominium at 15 Central Park West, according to property records cited by *[[The Daily Beast]]* in 2020.[^22]
|
||||
|
||||
In the [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank|Virgin Islands' suit against JPMorgan]], the territory's lawyers at [[Motley Rice]] sought to serve Wexner with a document subpoena in February 2023. According to their sworn declaration, on February 2, 2023 they asked Wexner's longtime Columbus lawyer John W. Zeiger of [[Zeiger, Tigges & Little]] whether he would accept service; Zeiger said he was unable to speak that day and did not return two follow-up calls. On February 15, 2023 his partner Marion Little said he had represented Wexner but would not accept service "without being given a detailed description of the Subpoena's contents," and, after hearing a general description, "instructed me not to send him the Subpoena." The territory moved on February 17, 2023 for an order authorizing service on Wexner by certified mail.[^23]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Heather Long and Renae Merle, "Lawyers Question Wexner's Financial Arrangement With Jeffrey Epstein," *WOSU / NPR,* 2019. https://www.wosu.org/news/2019-08-08/lawyers-question-wexners-financial-arrangement-with-jeffrey-epstein
|
||||
[^2]: "Les Wexner: How the billionaire enabled Jeffrey Epstein's rise," *Al Jazeera,* 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/19/les-wexner-how-the-billionaire-enabled-jeffrey-epsteins-rise
|
||||
[^3]: "What do we know about Les Wexner and Epstein as deposition approaches?," *AOL / Columbus Dispatch,* 2026. https://www.aol.com/articles/know-les-wexner-epstein-deposition-193023473.html
|
||||
[^4]: Frank, Robert. "The Mega Group, a Club of Wealthy Jewish Businessmen, Lends Its Power to Help Israel and Jews." *Wall Street Journal,* May 1998, on the 1991 founding by Leslie Wexner and Charles Bronfman.
|
||||
[^5]: "Les Wexner Was Warned About Epstein, And Other Things We Learned From the *Times* Investigation," *Rolling Stone,* 2025. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/epstein-investigation-times-report-finance-crimes-1235486388/
|
||||
[^6]: "Billionaire Les Wexner says he was 'duped' by adviser Jeffrey Epstein, 'a world-class con man,'" *13abc / WTVG,* 2026. https://www.13abc.com/2026/02/18/billionaire-les-wexner-says-he-was-duped-by-adviser-jeffrey-epstein-world-class-con-man/
|
||||
[^7]: "What the Records Show: The Townhouses on East 71st Street," summarizing NYC ACRIS deed records and 2019 reporting on the 2011 transfer to Maple Inc. https://www.habituallychic.luxury/2020/07/a-look-inside-9-east-71st-street/
|
||||
[^8]: "Victoria's Secret owner says disgraced financier Epstein stole $46M from him," *CBC,* 2019. https://amp.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.5240145
|
||||
[^9]: "L Brands CEO Les Wexner has been giving documents to investigators showing alleged Jeffrey Epstein theft," *CNBC,* 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/12/les-wexner-gives-feds-documents-showing-alleged-jeffrey-epstein-theft.html
|
||||
[^10]: "Leslie Wexner," *Entrepreneur,* on the 1963 founding of The Limited at Kingsdale Shopping Center with a 5,000 dollar loan and first-year sales of about 160,000 dollars. https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/leslie-wexner/197714
|
||||
[^11]: "Victoria's Secret founding: Roy Raymond had a great idea, but Les Wexner was the one to see it through," *Slate,* 2013. https://slate.com/business/2013/10/victorias-secret-founding-roy-raymond-had-a-great-idea-but-les-wexner-was-the-one-to-see-it-through.html
|
||||
[^12]: For the 1990 founding of Bath & Body Works within The Limited and the first store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, see the L Brands corporate history and contemporaneous retail trade press.
|
||||
[^13]: Frank, Robert. "The Mega Group." *Wall Street Journal,* May 1998, reporting the group's membership and roughly 30,000 dollar annual dues.
|
||||
[^14]: "How Les Wexner Created the Richest Town in Ohio," *Commercial Observer,* 2019, with NBC4 reporting on Epstein's incorporation role and residence on the estate. https://commercialobserver.com/2019/11/how-les-wexner-created-the-richest-town-in-ohio/
|
||||
[^15]: "Our Story," *The Wexner Foundation,* on the 1984 founding and the foundation's leadership programs. https://www.wexnerfoundation.org/our-story/
|
||||
[^16]: "Abigail S. Koppel," summarizing her legal career at Davis Polk & Wardwell (1987 to 1992) and the January 23, 1993 marriage to Wexner. https://www.thenexthint.com/abigail-s-koppel-wife-of-les-wexner/
|
||||
[^17]: "New York Times details how Les Wexner met sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as he built wealth," *WOSU Public Media,* 2025, summarizing the December 16, 2025 New York Times Magazine investigation. https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-12-16/new-york-times-details-how-les-wexner-met-sex-trafficker-jeffrey-epstein-as-he-built-wealth
|
||||
[^18]: "Billionaire Les Wexner is being deposed in the Epstein files probe. Here's what documents show about their relationship," *PBS NewsHour,* 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/billionaire-les-wexner-is-being-deposed-in-the-epstein-files-probe-heres-what-documents-show-about-their-relationship
|
||||
[^2]: "Leslie Wexner," *Entrepreneur,* on the 1963 founding of The Limited at Kingsdale Shopping Center with a 5,000 dollar loan and first-year sales of about 160,000 dollars. https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/leslie-wexner/197714
|
||||
[^3]: "Les Wexner: How the billionaire enabled Jeffrey Epstein's rise," *Al Jazeera,* 2026. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/19/les-wexner-how-the-billionaire-enabled-jeffrey-epsteins-rise
|
||||
[^4]: "Victoria's Secret founding: Roy Raymond had a great idea, but Les Wexner was the one to see it through," *Slate,* 2013. https://slate.com/business/2013/10/victorias-secret-founding-roy-raymond-had-a-great-idea-but-les-wexner-was-the-one-to-see-it-through.html
|
||||
[^5]: For the 1990 founding of Bath & Body Works within The Limited and the first store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, see the L Brands corporate history and contemporaneous retail trade press.
|
||||
[^6]: "What do we know about Les Wexner and Epstein as deposition approaches?," *AOL / Columbus Dispatch,* 2026. https://www.aol.com/articles/know-les-wexner-epstein-deposition-193023473.html
|
||||
[^7]: Lisa Miller, "Titans of Industry Join Forces To Work for Jewish Philanthropy," *The Wall Street Journal,* May 4, 1998, on the 1991 founding by Leslie Wexner and Charles Bronfman. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB894240270899870000 (an earlier version of this footnote gave the byline as Robert Frank; the Lisa Miller byline is as reported in later coverage and was not verified against the WSJ archive).
|
||||
[^8]: Lisa Miller, "Titans of Industry Join Forces To Work for Jewish Philanthropy," *The Wall Street Journal,* May 4, 1998, reporting the group's membership and roughly 30,000 dollar annual dues. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB894240270899870000
|
||||
[^9]: "How Les Wexner Created the Richest Town in Ohio," *Commercial Observer,* 2019, with NBC4 reporting on Epstein's incorporation role and residence on the estate. https://commercialobserver.com/2019/11/how-les-wexner-created-the-richest-town-in-ohio/
|
||||
[^10]: "Our Story," *The Wexner Foundation,* on the 1984 founding and the foundation's leadership programs. https://www.wexnerfoundation.org/our-story/
|
||||
[^11]: Leslie Wexner, "Letter from Les," *The Wexner Foundation,* August 2019. https://www.wexnerfoundation.org/letter-from-les/
|
||||
[^12]: Vicky Ward, "The Talented Mr. Epstein," *Vanity Fair,* March 2003, as republished by the author, on the 1992 foundation board seat, the fiduciary powers, the 1993 marriage and 1996 move, the dating of the relationship, the Levin meetings, Wexner's and Epstein's statements, the "hatchet man" account, the Limitless litigation, the Riddell guarantee, and the townhouse purchase through a trust. https://vickyward.com/article/the-talented-mr-epstein/
|
||||
[^13]: "Les Wexner Was Warned About Epstein, And Other Things We Learned From the *Times* Investigation," *Rolling Stone,* 2025. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/epstein-investigation-times-report-finance-crimes-1235486388/
|
||||
[^14]: "Victoria's Secret owner says disgraced financier Epstein stole $46M from him," *CBC,* 2019. https://amp.cbc.ca/lite/story/1.5240145
|
||||
[^15]: "New York Times details how Les Wexner met sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as he built wealth," *WOSU Public Media,* 2025, summarizing the December 16, 2025 New York Times Magazine investigation. https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-12-16/new-york-times-details-how-les-wexner-met-sex-trafficker-jeffrey-epstein-as-he-built-wealth
|
||||
[^16]: "Billionaire Les Wexner says he was 'duped' by adviser Jeffrey Epstein, 'a world-class con man,'" *13abc / WTVG,* 2026. https://www.13abc.com/2026/02/18/billionaire-les-wexner-says-he-was-duped-by-adviser-jeffrey-epstein-world-class-con-man/
|
||||
[^17]: "Billionaire Les Wexner is being deposed in the Epstein files probe. Here's what documents show about their relationship," *PBS NewsHour,* 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/billionaire-les-wexner-is-being-deposed-in-the-epstein-files-probe-heres-what-documents-show-about-their-relationship
|
||||
[^18]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Darren K. Indyke et al., No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint (filed November 30, 2022), paragraphs 15, 177 to 189; reproduced as ECF No. 1-1 in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y., filed December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
|
||||
[^19]: "FBI memos, bank record, odd emails mention Wexner in new Epstein files," *AOL,* 2026, on the FBI memo language, the discounted home and plane, and the co-conspirator characterization. https://www.aol.com/articles/les-wexner-appears-latest-epstein-171239980.html
|
||||
[^20]: "L Brands CEO Les Wexner has been giving documents to investigators showing alleged Jeffrey Epstein theft," *CNBC,* 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/12/les-wexner-gives-feds-documents-showing-alleged-jeffrey-epstein-theft.html
|
||||
[^21]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Expert Report of Jorge Amador, ECF No. 238-31 (filed July 25, 2023). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.238.31.pdf ; Plaintiff's Statement of Material Facts, ECF No. 221 (filed July 24, 2023). https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653/gov.uscourts.nysd.591653.221.0.pdf
|
||||
[^22]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00163119, DataSet 9, press printout: Kate Briquelet and William Bredderman, "Jeffrey Epstein's Right-Hand Mystery Men: The Lawyer and the Accountant," *The Daily Beast,* August 30, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00163119.pdf
|
||||
[^23]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02806221, Court Records (Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904), Declaration in support of motion for alternative service of subpoena upon Leslie Wexner, ECF No. 50-4, February 17, 2023. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank%2C%20N.A.%2C%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02806221.pdf
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Thiel acted as an intermediary between Zuckerberg and the political right. He at
|
|||
|
||||
### The Epstein Dinner
|
||||
|
||||
An August 2015 dinner in Palo Alto, hosted by [[Reid Hoffman]] and reported by Vanity Fair in 2019, placed Zuckerberg at the same table as Thiel, [[Elon Musk]], and [[Joi Ito]] of the [[MIT Media Lab]], who brokered access to [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s money and circle. Epstein emailed the financier Thomas Pritzker on August 20, 2015, "i had dinner with zuckerburg, mu=k, thiel hoffman, wild," and emailed himself a photograph from the gathering, both of which surfaced in the document releases under the Epstein Files Transparency Act in late 2025 and early 2026. Releasers stressed that being named in the files is not evidence of wrongdoing.[^4][^7]
|
||||
An August 2015 dinner in Palo Alto, hosted by [[Reid Hoffman]] and reported by Vanity Fair in 2019, placed Zuckerberg at the same table as Thiel, [[Elon Musk]], and [[Joi Ito]] of the [[MIT Media Lab]], who brokered access to [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s money and circle. Epstein emailed the financier Thomas Pritzker on August 20, 2015, "i had dinner with zuckerburg, mu=k, thiel hoffman, wild," and emailed himself a photograph from the gathering, both of which surfaced in the document releases under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] in late 2025 and early 2026. Releasers stressed that being named in the files is not evidence of wrongdoing.[^4][^7]
|
||||
|
||||
Meta has disputed any closer connection, with a spokesman stating in 2019 that Zuckerberg "met Epstein in passing one time at a dinner" and "did not communicate with Epstein again." Hoffman apologized in September 2019 for participating in fundraising where Epstein was present, saying he had helped "repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice," while Musk has said he refused invitations to Epstein's island, a claim that reporters noted sits awkwardly against released 2012 to 2013 emails between Musk and Epstein. Ito resigned from the MIT Media Lab, the MIT Corporation, and other boards in September 2019 after Ronan Farrow reported in The New Yorker that the lab had concealed millions of dollars in Epstein-linked donations, referring to him internally as "Voldemort."[^8][^9]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
66
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Michael Thomas.md
Normal file
66
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Michael Thomas.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- JeffreyEpstein
|
||||
- BureauOfPrisons
|
||||
- DeathInCustody
|
||||
- CorrectionalOfficer
|
||||
- DeferredProsecution
|
||||
alias:
|
||||
- Michael Thomas (correctional officer)
|
||||
summary: "Michael Thomas is the former Bureau of Prisons materials handler who found Jeffrey Epstein hanged in August 2019 and was charged with falsifying the unit's count and round records."
|
||||
location: "New York, New York"
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: employed_by
|
||||
with: "[[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York]]"
|
||||
start: 2007
|
||||
role: "materials handler and correctional officer, Federal Bureau of Prisons"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: prosecuted
|
||||
with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2019-11-19
|
||||
end: 2021-12-13
|
||||
role: "falsification of records, dismissed after deferred prosecution agreement"
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
- type: investigated
|
||||
with: "[[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2019-08
|
||||
end: 2023-06
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
created: 2026-09-25
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Michael Thomas is a former employee of the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] at the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York]] who, working an overtime shift in the Special Housing Unit with the correctional officer [[Tova Noel]], found [[Jeffrey Epstein]] hanged in his cell at about 6:30 a.m. on August 10, 2019. He and Noel were indicted in November 2019 for falsifying the records of inmate counts and rounds that night; the charges were dismissed in December 2021 after both completed deferred prosecution agreements, and both were fired. Thomas told the [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Inspector General]] that no one entered or left Epstein's cell during his shift and denied that he or Noel had any role in the death.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Background
|
||||
|
||||
Thomas was 41 when he was charged. He joined the Bureau of Prisons at MCC New York in 2007 and most recently worked as a materials handler supervisor, while often taking overnight shifts as a correctional officer. He told the Inspector General that he had worked in the Special Housing Unit "fairly regularly" since 2007 and knew its procedures, including that an inmate coming off suicide watch or psychological observation should be assigned a cellmate, and that he knew Epstein had been on both.[^1][^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Thomas had also responded on the night of Epstein's first injury. In a memorandum dated July 23, 2019 and signed "M. Thomas, Material Handler Supervisor," he wrote that at about 1:27 a.m. the Control Center called for assistance in the Special Housing Unit, that on arriving he found Epstein "lying on the floor of his cell handcuffed," and that he helped carry Epstein on a stretcher to the unit where he "was dressed in a suicide smock and placed on Suicide Watch observation with staff."[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### August 10, 2019
|
||||
|
||||
Thomas did not work his regular post on August 10 and instead took an overtime shift in the Special Housing Unit from midnight to 8 a.m.; he had worked an eight-hour shift ending at 8 a.m. the previous day, and Noel's lawyer later described him as working a triple shift. Neither officer conducted the midnight, 3 a.m., or 5 a.m. counts or the required 30-minute rounds. Thomas told the Inspector General that the round sheets were signed but the rounds not done "because he was tired that day," and recalled "dozing off from here and there." Noel's lawyer wrote that Thomas told her the rounds were not necessary and slept most of the shift with a hoodie pulled over his head. The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]'s forensic examination of the officers' workstations found that Thomas had been looking at motorcycles online.[^2][^5][^6]
|
||||
|
||||
At about 6:30 a.m. Thomas knocked on Epstein's cell door while delivering breakfast, got no response, unlocked the cell, and found Epstein hanged with "an orange string, presumably from a sheet or a shirt," tied to the top bunk. He said he ripped it away, lowered Epstein to the floor, and began chest compressions without checking for a pulse, until medical staff took over. He told a lieutenant, "Oh, it's not her fault, we fucked up," and "We didn't do the rounds. We messed up." He said anyone reaching Epstein's tier would have had to walk directly past the officers' station where he sat and that no one did.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The MCC New York Daily Assignment Roster for Saturday, August 10, 2019 lists "Thomas, M" on SHU post 2 for the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, marked "OT (NC)," beside "Noel, T" on SHU post 1. Warden [[Lamine N'Diaye]]'s Form 583 Report of Incident, NYM-19-0082, which dates the incident to 6:33 a.m., lists Thomas among the staff involved.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### Prosecution
|
||||
|
||||
On November 19, 2019 a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York indicted Thomas and Noel on conspiracy and making false records, in a case announced by U.S. Attorney [[Geoffrey Berman]]. Each was released on a 100,000 dollar bond, and a magistrate judge told Thomas to abstain from "excessive use of alcohol." On May 25, 2021 both entered deferred prosecution agreements that included admissions that they had falsely certified counts and rounds, cooperation with the Inspector General, the FBI, and prosecutors, and 100 hours of community service; the court dismissed the charges on December 13, 2021. The [[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]] declined to prosecute other Special Housing Unit staff who also falsified count slips and round sheets on August 9 and 10.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
In the 2026 Epstein file releases, the bank records flagged in a suspicious activity report concerned Noel, not Thomas. CNN's requests for comment to attorneys for both officers in March 2026 went unanswered.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: "Here's What We Know About Jeffrey Epstein's Federal Jail Guards." *Newsweek,* November 20, 2019. https://www.newsweek.com/jeffrey-epstein-prison-guards-tova-noel-michael-thomas-1473052 (age; employment since 2007; materials handler supervisor; prior shift; bond; alcohol condition).
|
||||
[^2]: 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. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf (pp. iii to iv, 5 to 6, charges and dispositions; pp. 57, 66 to 67, 70 to 72, Thomas's statements).
|
||||
[^3]: Khurshudyan, Isabelle. "Epstein files shed new light on what prison officials were doing the night he died." *CNN,* March 26, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/politics/epstein-files-prison-officials-night-he-died
|
||||
[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00048963, DataSet 9, Federal Bureau of Prisons records of Jeffrey Epstein's detention at MCC New York, including the memorandum of M. Thomas, "Possible Suicide Attempt," July 23, 2019 (EFTA00049483), Form 583 Report of Incident NYM-19-0082 (EFTA00049914 to 49916), and the Daily Assignment Roster for August 10, 2019 (EFTA00049931). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00048963.pdf
|
||||
[^5]: Brown, Julie K. "Tova Noel, the prison guard who worked night of Epstein's death, was born in Antigua and lived a number of years on STX." *Miami Herald* via *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 27, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/ap/tova-noel-the-prison-guard-who-worked-night-of-epstein-s-death-was-born-in/article_e0fd90de-fa08-4667-9bff-838a8e591755.html
|
||||
[^6]: Salamone, Olivia. "Jeffrey Epstein Prison Guard Googled Him Minutes Before Death And Made $5K Cash Deposit Days Earlier, DOJ Records Show." *RadarOnline* via *AOL,* March 7, 2026. https://www.aol.com/articles/jeffrey-epstein-prison-guard-googled-224000591.html
|
||||
73
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Nicholas Tartaglione.md
Normal file
73
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Nicholas Tartaglione.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- JeffreyEpstein
|
||||
- BureauOfPrisons
|
||||
- MetropolitanCorrectionalCenter
|
||||
- Police
|
||||
- Murder
|
||||
- DeathInCustody
|
||||
alias:
|
||||
- Nick Tartaglione
|
||||
- Nicholas Tartaglione
|
||||
summary: "Nicholas Tartaglione is a former Briarcliff Manor police officer, convicted of four 2016 murders, who shared Jeffrey Epstein's cell at MCC New York in July 2019 and later produced a purported Epstein note."
|
||||
born: "c. 1967"
|
||||
location: "Otisville, Orange County, New York"
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: employed_by
|
||||
with: "[[Briarcliff Manor Police Department]]"
|
||||
role: "police officer"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: prosecuted
|
||||
with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2016-12
|
||||
end: 2024-06-10
|
||||
role: "United States v. Tartaglione, No. 16-CR-832 (KMK); four consecutive life sentences"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: represented
|
||||
with: "[[Bruce Barket]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2019
|
||||
fn: 7
|
||||
created: 2026-09-25
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Nicholas Tartaglione is a former police officer of the [[Briarcliff Manor Police Department]] in [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]], [[New York]], who was convicted in April 2023 of the April 2016 murders of four men and sentenced to four consecutive life terms. While awaiting trial he was held at the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York]], where from July 2019 he shared a cell in the Special Housing Unit with [[Jeffrey Epstein]]. After Epstein was found with a cloth around his neck on July 23, 2019, Epstein told an officer that Tartaglione had tried to kill him, then told a jail investigator eight days later that he had "never had any issues with Tartaglione." In 2026 a federal judge unsealed a handwritten note that Tartaglione says he found in the cell and that has not been authenticated.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Police Career and the 2016 Murders
|
||||
|
||||
Tartaglione served as a police officer in Briarcliff Manor, a Westchester village about 20 miles north of [[New York City]]. On April 11, 2016 he and accomplices kidnapped Martin Luna, whom he suspected of stealing 250,000 dollars from him; Luna was strangled with a zip tie, and three men who were with him, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna and Hector Gutierrez, were forced to kneel in the woods and shot in the back of the head. The four bodies were buried on Tartaglione's property in [[Otisville, New York|Otisville]], [[Orange County, New York|Orange County]]. He was indicted in the [[Southern District of New York]] in December 2016 on a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and four counts of murder in furtherance of a drug crime, and a second superseding indictment added firearm murder, kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping resulting in death and Travel Act murder counts.[^1][^4][^5] He was held in federal custody from December 2016.[^6] The Bureau of Prisons described him as "a certified death penalty eligible inmate."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
During the pretrial proceedings Judge [[Kenneth M. Karas]] appointed separate counsel under Curcio to advise him on a conflict among his lawyers, held a multi-day sealed hearing with the participation of the government's "firewall" counsel, and on May 25, 2021 disqualified one of his retained attorneys, John Weider, for "an actual, unwaivable conflict of interest," while finding that any conflicts of the attorney [[Bruce Barket]] and his firm were waivable. Trial ran from March 13 to April 6, 2023, and the jury convicted him on every count. On June 10, 2024 Karas sentenced him to four consecutive life terms followed by five years of supervised release; U.S. Attorney [[Damian Williams]] said he had "brutally and senselessly murdered Martin Luna over money." His appeal to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|Second Circuit]] (No. 24-1852) was pending in May 2026.[^1][^5]
|
||||
|
||||
### Cellmate of Jeffrey Epstein
|
||||
|
||||
When Epstein was placed in the Special Housing Unit on July 7, 2019, the jail's executive staff chose Tartaglione, who had arrived at MCC New York on January 23, 2018, as his cellmate. A later institution response to a Bureau of Prisons psychological reconstruction team explained: "MCC New York administrators initially housed Mr. Epstein with Mr. Tartaglione as both had high profile cases. Mr. Tartaglione is also a certified death penalty eligible inmate and, thus, based on correctional judgment, less likely to assault or otherwise try to harm Mr. Epstein." The reconstruction team wrote that "input was not sought from Psychology Services" and that the two men "did not share the risk associated with being a sex offender and their pairing may have aggravated Mr. Epstein's risk for self-directed violence." Tartaglione's jail file carried the security threat group labels "EX LAW ENFORCEMENT" and "POSTED PICTURE CARD FILE."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
At about 1:27 a.m. on July 23, 2019 officers heard noises from cell Z05-124 and found Epstein "laying down near his bunk with what appeared to be a piece of handmade orange cloth around his neck"; one officer restrained Tartaglione and secured him in the bathroom. When Epstein became responsive he told a senior officer specialist that he thought his "Bunkie, Tartaglione," had "tried to kill him," that the cellmate had tried "to extort money from him," and that "this has been going on for a week." A lieutenant photographed Tartaglione that night; Tartaglione said he had been asleep with headphones on, felt something hit his legs, turned on the light and saw Epstein "with a string around his neck," and that he slept on a mattress on the floor because he had given Epstein the bottom bunk "because he's old." Epstein told the same lieutenant that Tartaglione had come back from a day in court in Westchester "carrying on," and had shown him a Daily News page with Epstein's picture on it saying that he was worth seventy-seven million dollars.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The jail's Special Investigative Services lieutenant interviewed both men on July 31, 2019. Epstein said he "has never had any issues with Tartaglione, he is not threatened by Tartaglione," that Tartaglione had once "called him a pedophile" after returning from court upset, and that he "feels safe being housed with Tartaglione." Tartaglione said he did not "understand Epstein's motive and what he is trying to do," that "Epstein made him uncomfortable when Epstein stated 'fourteen (14) is legal in most states and I don't understand what's the problem here'," that Epstein "normally paces the cell and complains about his attorney's not doing their job and he needs to fire them," and that he did "not want to be involved with any plots Epstein have in mind in order to try to get released." A medical assessment found no injuries on Tartaglione. The report, case NYM-19-0061, signed off by Warden [[Lamine N'Diaye]] on August 2, 2019, found "insufficient evidence to support Epstein was assaulted by Tartaglione" and that no separation order was warranted; a later review called the results "inconclusive as to whether Mr. Epstein engaged in self-directed violence, willingly fought with his cellmate, or was assaulted by his cellmate," and the self-mutilation incident report against Epstein was expunged.[^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
When Epstein left suicide watch, Tartaglione "was not chosen as the investigation at the time had not yet cleared him of any wrongdoing," and the jail instead narrowed its choice to cooperators, housing Epstein with an inmate "confirmed as proffering with the U.S. Attorney's Office." According to the Inspector General, after returning to the Special Housing Unit Epstein asked two staff members whether he could be housed again with the same cellmate.[^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### After Epstein's Death
|
||||
|
||||
On September 12, 2019 the [[New York Daily News]] published a two-page handwritten letter from Tartaglione: "As far as Jeff Epstein is concerned, I never touched the man. I despise anyone who hurts children but whatever was going to happen to him, I was not going to be a part of it," and "The prison told Epstein they were putting him in a cell with me because they knew I would neither hurt nor extort him. The staff here at MCC had hundreds of inmates to choose from yet I was their first choice." Barket said his client had not been questioned "by any law enforcement official since July 23." Staff of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York circulated the article internally the next day. The Bureau of Prisons later withheld several categories of its records on Tartaglione on the ground that they could "adversely affect the Tartaglione proceedings and influence potential juror's perceptions."[^6][^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Note
|
||||
|
||||
On May 20, 2021 material described as "a suicide note purportedly authored by Jeffrey Epstein, recovered by . . . Tartaglione, and then reportedly submitted by . . . Tartaglione's attorneys" was placed in the court's vault. After Tartaglione discussed it in interviews, [[The New York Times]] asked for it to be unsealed, and on May 6, 2026 Karas granted the request, finding that Tartaglione's "repeated public discussion about the Note's contents constitutes waiver of the attorney-client privilege" and that the privacy interests of a deceased person "are vastly reduced." According to the Times's letter, a [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] document placed the note's existence more than a week before Epstein's death and before Epstein was moved from Tartaglione's cell. Tartaglione said he found it inside a book in the cell after the July 23 incident. The handwritten note includes the lines "It is a treat to be able to choose" and "NOT WORTH IT!!"; neither the court nor the Justice Department has authenticated it, and it does not appear in the Inspector General's report or the government's other published reviews of Epstein's death.[^1][^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: United States v. Tartaglione, No. 16-CR-832 (KMK) (S.D.N.Y.), Order of Judge Kenneth M. Karas, May 6, 2026, pp. 1 to 13. https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/2026-05/16cr832%20-%20Tartaglione%20Order%20-%2026.5.6.pdf
|
||||
[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00048963, DataSet 9, Federal Bureau of Prisons records of Jeffrey Epstein's detention at MCC New York, July 8 to August 10, 2019, including staff memoranda of July 23, 2019 (EFTA00049345 to 49347), SIS Inmate Investigative Report NYM-19-0061 of July 31 to August 2, 2019 (EFTA00049238 to 49243), and the psychological reconstruction findings and institution response on cellmate assignments (EFTA00049770 to 49772). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00048963.pdf
|
||||
[^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. *Investigation and Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Custody, Care, and Supervision of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York.* Report 23-085, June 2023, pp. 14 to 20. https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-085.pdf
|
||||
[^4]: Phil Helsel, "Ex-New York police officer sentenced to life in execution of 4 men," *NBC News,* June 10, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-new-york-police-officer-sentenced-life-execution-4-men-rcna156462
|
||||
[^5]: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, "Former Police Officer Sentenced To Four Consecutive Life Sentences For 2016 Quadruple Murder," June 10, 2024. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-police-officer-sentenced-four-consecutive-life-sentences-2016-quadruple-murder ; Karen Zraick, "Police Officer With Bit Part in Epstein Jail Drama Is Convicted of Murder," *The New York Times,* April 6, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/nyregion/briarcliff-manor-police-officer-murder.html
|
||||
[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00009966, DataSet 8, internal USANYS email forwarding Stephen Rex Brown, "'I never touched the man,' Jeffrey Epstein's former cellmate insists in letter to Daily News," *New York Daily News,* September 12, 2019, September 13, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%208/EFTA00009966.pdf
|
||||
[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00039895, DataSet 9, description of Bureau of Prisons records on Tartaglione withheld from production. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00039895.pdf ; Stephen Rex Brown, *New York Daily News,* September 12, 2019, as forwarded in EFTA00009966 (Barket statements).
|
||||
[^8]: Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister, "Judge releases note that cellmate says he found after Epstein's suspected suicide attempt," *Associated Press* via *PBS News,* May 6, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/judge-releases-note-that-cellmate-says-he-found-after-epsteins-suspected-suicide-attempt
|
||||
|
|
@ -13,16 +13,16 @@ tags:
|
|||
- Trump
|
||||
alias:
|
||||
- Peter Andreas Thiel
|
||||
summary: "Peter Thiel is a German-born American billionaire investor who cofounded PayPal and Palantir Technologies, founded Founders Fund, cofounded the secret society Dialog in 2006, is the central figure of the PayPal Mafia, and is the most prominent financial patron of the neoreactionary political philosopher Curtis Yarvin."
|
||||
summary: "Peter Thiel is the German-born investor who cofounded PayPal, Palantir and the Dialog society, founded Founders Fund, funded Curtis Yarvin, and corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein from 2011 to 2019."
|
||||
born: 1967-10-11
|
||||
location: "Frankfurt, West Germany (born); San Francisco, California (base)"
|
||||
created: 2026-06-17
|
||||
updated: 2026-06-17
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Peter Thiel (born October 11, 1967, in [[Frankfurt]], [[West Germany]]) is a German-born American billionaire investor and the central figure of the [[PayPal Mafia]], the informal network of founders and early executives of [[PayPal]] who went on to found or lead much of the subsequent generation of [[Silicon Valley]] companies. Thiel cofounded PayPal, founded the venture capital firm [[Founders Fund]], and cofounded and chairs the data-analytics and defense contractor [[Palantir Technologies]]. In 2006 he cofounded the secret society [[Dialog]] with [[Auren Hoffman]]. He is the most prominent documented financial patron of the neoreactionary philosopher [[Curtis Yarvin]], the founder of [[Neoreaction]] (NRx) and co-originator of the [[Dark Enlightenment]], and his political investments extended to funding the covert lawsuit that destroyed [[Gawker Media]] and bankrolling the U.S. Senate and subsequent vice-presidential campaigns of [[JD Vance]].[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
Across these activities Thiel has built a coordinated program for the privatization and concentration of state-adjacent capacity: payments (PayPal), intelligence and law-enforcement data integration (Palantir Technologies), elite convening (Dialog), and the ideological framework that argues this concentration is both desirable and inevitable (the Yarvin patronage and the neoreactionary current). The political donations placed figures aligned with the thesis (Vance, [[Blake Masters]]) inside the U.S. government. The set of activities is mutually reinforcing rather than a portfolio of separate bets.
|
||||
Across these activities Thiel has built a coordinated program for the privatization and concentration of state-adjacent capacity: payments (PayPal), intelligence and law-enforcement data integration (Palantir Technologies), elite convening (Dialog), and the ideological framework that argues this concentration is both desirable and inevitable (the Yarvin patronage and the neoreactionary current). The political donations placed figures aligned with the thesis (Vance, [[Blake Masters]]) inside the [[U.S. government]]. The set of activities is mutually reinforcing rather than a portfolio of separate bets.
|
||||
|
||||
### PayPal and the PayPal Mafia
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ The PayPal Mafia included [[Max Levchin]] (CTO, later [[Affirm]]), [[Reid Hoffma
|
|||
|
||||
### Palantir Technologies
|
||||
|
||||
In 2003 Thiel cofounded Palantir Technologies with [[Joe Lonsdale|Joseph Lonsdale]], [[Alex Karp]], [[Stephen Cohen]], and [[Nathan Gettings]], initially funded in part by an investment from the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] venture capital arm [[In-Q-Tel]]. Palantir Technologies built its business on data integration and analytics platforms for intelligence, defense, and law enforcement clients, and became a major contractor to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ([[ICE]]) for case management, to the Department of Defense, and to allied intelligence services. Thiel chairs the company.[^2][^3]
|
||||
In 2003 Thiel cofounded Palantir Technologies with [[Joe Lonsdale|Joseph Lonsdale]], [[Alex Karp]], [[Stephen Cohen]], and [[Nathan Gettings]], initially funded in part by an investment from the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] venture capital arm [[In-Q-Tel]]. Palantir Technologies built its business on data integration and analytics platforms for intelligence, defense, and law enforcement clients, and became a major contractor to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ([[ICE]]) for case management, to the [[Department of Defense]], and to allied intelligence services. Thiel chairs the company.[^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
The Palantir Technologies contracting model uses a single firm to supply data fusion across multiple federal agencies. Thiel has argued publicly that concentrated private technological capacity should replace decentralized government functions, and Palantir is the firm he built to apply that thesis. The company received early institutional backing from In-Q-Tel, took its direct listing on the [[New York Stock Exchange]] in September 2020 under ticker PLTR, and supplies two principal products: Gotham for intelligence and defense users and Foundry for commercial enterprises. The early growth driver was post-[[September 11 attacks|9/11]] counterterrorism contracting, and the platform was used in the operation that located [[Osama bin Laden]] in 2011, according to company and press accounts.[^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -40,19 +40,19 @@ The Palantir Technologies contracting model uses a single firm to supply data fu
|
|||
|
||||
Thiel founded Founders Fund in 2005 with Howery and Nosek. The firm's portfolio includes early investments in Facebook (Thiel was the first outside investor, in 2004, with 500,000 dollars), [[SpaceX]], [[Airbnb]], [[Stripe]], and the defense contractor [[Anduril Industries]]. Founders Fund's investment thesis, articulated in Thiel's framing, targets companies pursuing monopoly positions in technologies the firm judges to be foundational, including defense, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The thesis is set out in the 2014 book *Zero to One*, coauthored by Thiel and Masters, which argues that competition is for losers and that durable value comes from building monopolies around proprietary technology. The framework licenses the fund's preference for capital-intensive, defensibility-focused bets in domains (defense, frontier biotech, sovereign-grade infrastructure) that traditional venture capital had avoided. Founders Fund was the first institutional backer of Anduril Industries, the Palmer Luckey defense firm that operationalized the same thesis for the Pentagon market, and the firm's defense portfolio is the commercial counterpart to Thiel's argument that state capacity should be rebuilt by private contractors under private control.[^2]
|
||||
The thesis is set out in the 2014 book *Zero to One*, coauthored by Thiel and Masters, which argues that competition is for losers and that durable value comes from building monopolies around proprietary technology. The framework licenses the fund's preference for capital-intensive, defensibility-focused bets in domains (defense, frontier biotech, sovereign-grade infrastructure) that traditional venture capital had avoided. Founders Fund was the first institutional backer of Anduril Industries, the [[Palmer Luckey]] defense firm that operationalized the same thesis for the Pentagon market, and the firm's defense portfolio is the commercial counterpart to Thiel's argument that state capacity should be rebuilt by private contractors under private control.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Dialog
|
||||
|
||||
In 2006 Thiel cofounded the invitation-only secret society Dialog with Hoffman, which convenes U.S. officials, foreign government figures, and Silicon Valley executives at off-the-record annual retreats. The organization operated without a public website and with a deliberately concealed membership until June 2026, when the hacktivist crimew published a membership directory embedded in the Dialog website's source code and a source separately provided *WIRED* with the 222-name registration list for the 2026 retreat. The 2026 registrants included Musk, Harris, Representative Himes, Senator Booker, Senator Cruz, Governor Polis, Levin of Stanford University, and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Grynkewich.[^1]
|
||||
In 2006 Thiel cofounded the invitation-only secret society Dialog with Hoffman, which convenes U.S. officials, foreign government figures, and Silicon Valley executives at off-the-record annual retreats. The organization operated without a public website and with a deliberately concealed membership until June 2026, when the hacktivist crimew published a membership directory embedded in the Dialog website's source code and a source separately provided *WIRED* with the 222-name registration list for the 2026 retreat. The 2026 registrants included Musk, Harris, Representative Himes, Senator Booker, Senator Cruz, Governor Polis, Levin of Stanford University, and the [[NATO]] Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Grynkewich.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Dialog's function in the Thiel network is convening: it places the commercial principals (the PayPal Mafia core), the ideological principals (the neoreactionary and adjacent intellectuals), and the government principals (sitting senators, the [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence|House Intelligence Committee]] ranking member, an active four-star NATO commander) in a single off-the-record room. The registration fee of more than 16,000 dollars, the no-press rule, and the matchmaking app together constitute the design of a private institution optimized for sustained, repeated, unrecorded contact across the three networks. A 2013 Dialog retreat invitation surfaced in the Department of Justice Epstein document release, forwarded to Epstein in November 2012, which establishes that Dialog's circulation list overlapped with the Epstein contact network in Thiel's orbit.[^1][^4]
|
||||
Dialog's function in the Thiel network is convening: it places the commercial principals (the PayPal Mafia core), the ideological principals (the neoreactionary and adjacent intellectuals), and the government principals (sitting senators, the [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence|House Intelligence Committee]] ranking member, an active four-star NATO commander) in a single off-the-record room. The registration fee of more than 16,000 dollars, the no-press rule, and the matchmaking app together constitute the design of a private institution optimized for sustained, repeated, unrecorded contact across the three networks. A 2013 Dialog retreat invitation surfaced in the [[Department of Justice]] Epstein document release, forwarded to Epstein in November 2012, which establishes that Dialog's circulation list overlapped with the Epstein contact network in Thiel's orbit.[^1][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### René Girard and Mimetic Theory
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel's intellectual framework derives from the French theorist [[Rene Girard|René Girard]], under whom he studied as a [[Stanford University]] undergraduate in the late 1980s and with whom he kept a lifelong association. Girard's theory of mimetic desire holds that people want things because others want them, that imitation breeds rivalry, and that archaic societies discharged the resulting violence onto scapegoats. Thiel adopted the framework directly: he credits it with his 2004 decision to make the first outside investment in [[Facebook]], which he read as a mimetic engine, and *Zero to One* applies the theory in arguing that competition is a destructive trap and that founders should escape rivalry by building monopolies.[^2][^15]
|
||||
Thiel's intellectual framework derives from the French theorist [[Rene Girard|René Girard]], under whom he studied as a [[Stanford University]] undergraduate in the late 1980s and with whom he kept a lifelong association. Girard's theory of mimetic desire holds that people want things because others want them, that imitation breeds rivalry, and that archaic societies discharged the resulting violence onto scapegoats. Thiel adopted the framework directly: he credits it with his 2004 decision to make the first outside investment in [[Facebook]], which he read as a mimetic engine, and *Zero to One* applies the theory in arguing that competition is a destructive trap and that founders should escape rivalry by building monopolies.[^2][^5]
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel funds Imitatio, a [[Thiel Foundation]] project he established with the theologian [[Robert Hamerton-Kelly]] and Girard to promote mimetic theory. The Girardian reading of crowds and scapegoating recurs across Thiel's public conduct, from his account of his 2007 outing by Gawker to the apocalyptic structure of the Antichrist lectures.[^14][^15]
|
||||
Thiel funds Imitatio, a [[Thiel Foundation]] project he established with the theologian [[Robert Hamerton-Kelly]] and Girard to promote mimetic theory. The Girardian reading of crowds and scapegoating recurs across Thiel's public conduct, from his account of his 2007 outing by Gawker to the apocalyptic structure of the Antichrist lectures.[^5][^6]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Curtis Yarvin Patronage and Neoreaction
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ The Yarvin current is intellectually adjacent to but distinct from the violent [
|
|||
|
||||
### The Singularity Institute and AI-Risk Funding
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel was the earliest prominent funder of the artificial-intelligence-risk movement that produced the Bay Area [[Rationalist Community]]. He began donating in 2005 to the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the nonprofit founded by [[Eliezer Yudkowsky]] that was later renamed the [[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]] (MIRI), and in 2006 cofounded its conference, the [[Singularity Summit]], with Yudkowsky and the futurist [[Ray Kurzweil]]. His cumulative donations to the institute were later reported as exceeding 1.6 million dollars. The funding helped concentrate the rationalist and transhumanist scene in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] during its formative decade, the same milieu from which the [[Effective Altruism]] movement and the [[Leverage Research]], [[Michael Vassar|Vassarite]], and [[The Zizians|Zizian]] formations later emerged.[^13]
|
||||
Thiel was the earliest prominent funder of the artificial-intelligence-risk movement that produced the Bay Area [[Rationalist Community]]. He began donating in 2005 to the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the nonprofit founded by [[Eliezer Yudkowsky]] that was later renamed the [[Machine Intelligence Research Institute]] (MIRI), and in 2006 cofounded its conference, the [[Singularity Summit]], with Yudkowsky and the futurist [[Ray Kurzweil]]. His cumulative donations to the institute were later reported as exceeding 1.6 million dollars. The funding helped concentrate the rationalist and transhumanist scene in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] during its formative decade, the same milieu from which the [[Effective Altruism]] movement and the [[Leverage Research]], [[Michael Vassar|Vassarite]], and [[The Zizians|Zizian]] formations later emerged.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
By the mid-2010s Thiel said the researchers he had funded had drifted "from transhumanism to Luddite." In a private four-part lecture series on the [[Antichrist]] delivered in San Francisco in September and October 2025, recordings of which reached the *Washington Post*, he named Yudkowsky alongside the philosopher [[Nick Bostrom]] and the climate activist [[Greta Thunberg]] as "legionnaires of the Antichrist," technology-stopping figures he said had become "deranged." In the September 15 lecture he said, "In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It's someone like Greta or Eliezer."[^14]
|
||||
By the mid-2010s Thiel said the researchers he had funded had drifted "from transhumanism to Luddite." In a private four-part lecture series on the [[Antichrist]] delivered in [[San Francisco]] in September and October 2025, recordings of which reached the *[[Washington Post]]*, he named Yudkowsky alongside the philosopher [[Nick Bostrom]] and the climate activist [[Greta Thunberg]] as "legionnaires of the Antichrist," technology-stopping figures he said had become "deranged." In the September 15 lecture he said, "In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science. It's someone like Greta or Eliezer."[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Gawker Litigation
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -74,47 +74,51 @@ Thiel acknowledged the funding in a *Forbes* interview, framing it as retaliatio
|
|||
|
||||
### Political Investments: Vance, Masters, and Trump
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel's political activity moved from libertarian advocacy to direct electoral investment in the 2020s. He was the largest single donor to the 2022 U.S. Senate campaign of JD Vance in [[Ohio]], contributing approximately fifteen million dollars through a super PAC, and to the concurrent Senate campaign of Masters in [[Arizona]], who had served as president of [[Thiel Capital]] and as coauthor with Thiel of *Zero to One*. Vance won and, in 2024, was elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with [[Donald Trump]].[^2]
|
||||
Thiel's political activity moved from libertarian advocacy to direct electoral investment in the 2020s. He was the largest single donor to the 2022 U.S. Senate campaign of JD Vance in [[Ohio]], contributing approximately fifteen million dollars through a super PAC, and to the concurrent Senate campaign of Masters in [[Arizona]], who had served as president of [[Thiel Capital]] and as coauthor with Thiel of *Zero to One*. Vance won and, in 2024, was elected Vice President of the [[United States]] on the Republican ticket with [[Donald Trump]].[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention endorsing Trump and was a significant contributor to his 2016 and 2024 campaigns. The Vance outcome compressed an unusually short cycle from investment to return: a single donor's fifteen million dollars in primary-cycle super PAC spending produced a sitting U.S. senator who became vice president within three years. The Masters campaign lost. Both candidates had been backed by Thiel and had worked under him (Masters as Thiel Capital president and *Zero to One* coauthor; Vance as a Thiel-funded political entrant).[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### The 2016 Transition and the NSC Placements
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel joined the Trump transition team's executive committee in November 2016 and used the position to place associates into national-security and technology roles. [[Kevin Harrington|Kevin Harrington]], managing director of [[Thiel Macro|Thiel Macro LLC]] and a longtime Thiel associate, was appointed Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the [[National Security Council|National Security Council]] and subsequently elevated to Deputy Assistant to the President for Strategic Planning. *Just Security* described Harrington as an architect of the Trump NSC structure. [[Justin Mikolay|Justin Mikolay]], a former Palantir official, took a senior government role, and a Thiel aide was appointed White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer.[^12]
|
||||
Thiel joined the Trump transition team's executive committee in November 2016 and used the position to place associates into national-security and technology roles. [[Kevin Harrington|Kevin Harrington]], managing director of [[Thiel Macro|Thiel Macro LLC]] and a longtime Thiel associate, was appointed Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the [[National Security Council|National Security Council]] and subsequently elevated to Deputy Assistant to the President for Strategic Planning. *Just Security* described Harrington as an architect of the Trump NSC structure. [[Justin Mikolay|Justin Mikolay]], a former Palantir official, took a senior government role, and a Thiel aide was appointed [[White House]] Deputy Chief Technology Officer.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel himself declined a formal administration position, telling *Politico* in January 2017 that he wanted to "stay involved in Silicon Valley and help Mr. Trump as I can without a full-time position." The Harrington NSC placement placed a Thiel-employee inside the strategic-planning apparatus of the national-security council, at the level where intelligence priorities, defense procurement, and foreign-policy framing are coordinated. The placement ran alongside the Palantir government-contracting expansion, the Founders Fund defense-portfolio buildout, and the Dialog convening-network operation.[^12]
|
||||
Thiel himself declined a formal administration position, telling *Politico* in January 2017 that he wanted to "stay involved in Silicon Valley and help Mr. Trump as I can without a full-time position." The Harrington NSC placement placed a Thiel-employee inside the strategic-planning apparatus of the national-security council, at the level where intelligence priorities, defense procurement, and foreign-policy framing are coordinated. The placement ran alongside the Palantir government-contracting expansion, the Founders Fund defense-portfolio buildout, and the Dialog convening-network operation.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Sovereign Individual and the Ideological Frame
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel has repeatedly cited the 1997 book *The Sovereign Individual* by [[James Dale Davidson]] and [[William Rees-Mogg|Lord William Rees-Mogg]] as prophetic. The book argued that digital encryption and electronic commerce would erode the taxing capacity of nation-states and produce a new class of mobile, sovereign individuals operating beyond territorial jurisdiction. The framework connects Thiel's commercial investments (cryptocurrency, offshore structures, the [[Seasteading Institute]], the Founders Fund thesis) to the Neoreaction argument that state capacity should be privatized.[^2]
|
||||
Thiel has repeatedly cited the 1997 book *[[The Sovereign Individual]]* by [[James Dale Davidson]] and [[William Rees-Mogg|Lord William Rees-Mogg]] as prophetic. The book argued that digital encryption and electronic commerce would erode the taxing capacity of nation-states and produce a new class of mobile, sovereign individuals operating beyond territorial jurisdiction. The framework connects Thiel's commercial investments (cryptocurrency, offshore structures, the [[Seasteading Institute]], the Founders Fund thesis) to the Neoreaction argument that state capacity should be privatized.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The Davidson-Rees-Mogg thesis is that the sovereign individual is the natural successor to the nation-state as the relevant unit of political and economic agency, and that the firms building the infrastructure for that transition (payments, encryption, identity, data fusion, private defense) are positioned to become the institutional substrate of the post-state order. Thiel has endorsed the book repeatedly in public, including in *Zero to One* and in interviews, and the commercial portfolio tracks the infrastructure categories the book identifies.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Epstein Contacts
|
||||
|
||||
The unsealed [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] document releases under the Epstein Files Transparency Act document a Thiel-Epstein relationship running from 2011 through 2019, eight years after Epstein's 2008 federal non-prosecution agreement. The primary-document index (EFTA01738574) records a February 6, 2016 email in which Epstein wrote that Thiel "LOVED the secret socieity [sic] idea.. he has done alot of work on the concept. all failed so far." An August 2015 dinner that Reid Hoffman hosted in [[Palo Alto]] (EFTA00344556, EFTA00344564) placed Thiel at the same table as [[Mark Zuckerberg]], Elon Musk, [[Joi Ito]] of the [[MIT Media Lab]], and Epstein. *Jacobin* (April 2026) reported that hundreds of emails document Epstein's encouragement of Thiel's political trajectory, including a February 2013 audio recording of Epstein advising Thiel.[^1][^5][^6]
|
||||
The unsealed [[Jeffrey Epstein|Epstein]] document releases under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] document a Thiel-Epstein relationship running from 2011 through 2019, eight years after Epstein's 2008 federal [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]]. The primary-document index (EFTA01738574) records a February 6, 2016 email in which Epstein wrote that Thiel "LOVED the secret socieity [sic] idea.. he has done alot of work on the concept. all failed so far." An August 2015 dinner that Reid Hoffman hosted in [[Palo Alto]] (EFTA00344556, EFTA00344564) placed Thiel at the same table as [[Mark Zuckerberg]], Elon Musk, [[Joi Ito]] of the [[MIT Media Lab]], and Epstein. *Jacobin* (April 2026) reported that hundreds of emails document Epstein's encouragement of Thiel's political trajectory, including a February 2013 audio recording of Epstein advising Thiel.[^1][^9][^10]
|
||||
|
||||
A 2013 Dialog retreat invitation forwarded to Epstein in November 2012 surfaced in the Department of Justice [[Epstein Files|Epstein document release]] (document D-23831), placing Epstein on the Dialog circulation list. The [[New York Times]] reported in May 2023 that Thiel met with Epstein multiple times in 2014. The Carstensen EFTA index documents additional exchanges including a 2014 meeting at the Epstein townhouse attended by CIA director [[William Burns|William J. Burns]] and an occasion on which Thiel lunched with Russian UN ambassador [[Vitaly Churkin]]. Thiel is one of a number of Silicon Valley and finance figures whose post-2008 contacts with Epstein have been documented through the releases.[^1][^5][^6][^7]
|
||||
A 2013 Dialog retreat invitation forwarded to Epstein in November 2012 surfaced in the Department of Justice [[Epstein Files|Epstein document release]] (document D-23831), placing Epstein on the Dialog circulation list. The [[New York Times]] reported in May 2023 that Thiel met with Epstein multiple times in 2014. The Carstensen EFTA index documents additional exchanges including a 2014 meeting at the [[9 East 71st Street|Epstein townhouse]] attended by CIA director [[William Burns|William J. Burns]] and an occasion on which Thiel lunched with Russian UN ambassador [[Vitaly Churkin]]. Thiel is one of a number of Silicon Valley and finance figures whose post-2008 contacts with Epstein have been documented through the releases.[^1][^9][^10][^11]
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein's staff described the August 2015 gathering as Thiel's as well as Hoffman's. On August 5, 2015, Epstein's assistant [[Lesley Groff]] wrote to a member of Zuckerberg's staff that "Jeffrey Epstein attended Reid Hoffman/Peter Thiel's dinner party this past Sunday night at Baume Restaurant," on August 2, and that "At the party Mark requested Jeffrey send his contact details to him."[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
On May 21, 2018, Epstein wrote to Thiel: "FYI trae is meeting carbyne Ehud Barak co."[^13] [[Carbyne]], formerly Reporty Homeland Security, was an Israeli emergency-call technology company chaired by the former Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]], in which Epstein held an investment through a limited partnership funded by his [[Southern Trust Company]].[^14] In January 2019 Barak, copying Epstein, offered Carbyne's services for the 2022 World Cup to Jabor Al Thani of Qatar, proposing to "work through a European company of your choice and minimize Israeli profile."[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### The FBI Confidential Human Source Relationship
|
||||
|
||||
[[Business Insider]] reported in October 2023 that Thiel began providing information to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] as a confidential human source (CHS) in summer 2021, with the Los Angeles-based counterintelligence agent [[Jonathan Buma]] as his handler. The CHS relationship placed Thiel in the formal FBI source program while he simultaneously chaired Palantir Technologies (a major CIA and FBI contractor), cofounded the Dialog convening network, funded the JD Vance and Blake Masters Senate campaigns, and maintained the documented Epstein relationship that ran through 2019. A House Judiciary Committee document submitted January 22, 2026 references Thiel's CHS role in the congressional record.[^8]
|
||||
[[Business Insider]] reported in October 2023 that Thiel began providing information to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] as a confidential human source (CHS) in summer 2021, with the Los Angeles-based counterintelligence agent [[Jonathan Buma]] as his handler. The CHS relationship placed Thiel in the formal FBI source program while he simultaneously chaired Palantir Technologies (a major CIA and FBI contractor), cofounded the Dialog convening network, funded the JD Vance and Blake Masters Senate campaigns, and maintained the documented Epstein relationship that ran through 2019. A [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]] document submitted January 22, 2026 references Thiel's CHS role in the congressional record.[^15]
|
||||
|
||||
Buma was arrested at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|JFK Airport]] on March 17, 2025 while attempting to board an international flight, charged with unlawfully disclosing confidential information. [[CBS News]] reported that FBI investigators assessed Buma may have compromised as many as 130 FBI files. Buma publicly accused the FBI of pro-Trump political bias, and claimed in May 2025 (per [[The Guardian]]) that "intense" Russian-intelligence efforts had targeted Elon Musk.[^8][^9]
|
||||
Buma was arrested at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|JFK Airport]] on March 17, 2025 while attempting to board an international flight, charged with unlawfully disclosing confidential information. [[CBS News]] reported that FBI investigators assessed Buma may have compromised as many as 130 FBI files. Buma publicly accused the FBI of pro-Trump political bias, and claimed in May 2025 (per [[The Guardian]]) that "intense" Russian-intelligence efforts had targeted Elon Musk.[^15][^16]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Clearview AI Seed Investment
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel was the first investor in [[Clearview AI]], the facial-recognition firm founded by [[Hoan Ton-That]] and [[Richard Schwartz]], providing seed funding before the company was even named (the [[Smart Checker]] period). [[NPR]] confirmed in 2023 that Thiel was Clearview's first investor. The seed investment was made directly by Thiel rather than through Founders Fund, placing Clearview in the same Thiel-seed-investment lineage as Palantir.[^10]
|
||||
Thiel was the first investor in [[Clearview AI]], the facial-recognition firm founded by [[Hoan Ton-That]] and [[Richard Schwartz]], providing seed funding before the company was even named (the [[Smart Checker]] period). [[NPR]] confirmed in 2023 that Thiel was Clearview's first investor. The seed investment was made directly by Thiel rather than through Founders Fund, placing Clearview in the same Thiel-seed-investment lineage as Palantir.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
The *New York Times* reported in March 2021 that [[Charles C. Johnson|Charles Johnson]], the far-right provocateur and self-described federal informant, played a pivotal early role alongside Thiel in the Clearview founding. Johnson announced in 2017 that he was "building algorithms to ID all the illegal immigrants for the deportation squads," which *Byline Supplement* reported as part of the Clearview prehistory. Johnson subsequently claimed cofounder status and sued Clearview for a share of its profits before dropping the suit in February 2025.[^10]
|
||||
The *New York Times* reported in March 2021 that [[Charles C. Johnson|Charles Johnson]], the far-right provocateur and self-described federal informant, played a pivotal early role alongside Thiel in the Clearview founding. Johnson announced in 2017 that he was "building algorithms to ID all the illegal immigrants for the deportation squads," which *Byline Supplement* reported as part of the Clearview prehistory. Johnson subsequently claimed cofounder status and sued Clearview for a share of its profits before dropping the suit in February 2025.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
Johnson disclosed Thiel's FBI CHS status, per the Business Insider reporting of October 2023. The Johnson-Thiel relationship extends beyond Clearview: the *Business Insider* piece described Johnson as "a tech investor and far-right agitator with long-standing ties to both Thiel and to the network." The [[Federal Trade Commission]] issued a consent order against Clearview in March 2022 barring the company from selling its database to private entities, following the documented deployment of the product by law enforcement, government clients, and private actors.[^10]
|
||||
Johnson disclosed Thiel's FBI CHS status, per the Business Insider reporting of October 2023. The Johnson-Thiel relationship extends beyond Clearview: the *Business Insider* piece described Johnson as "a tech investor and far-right agitator with long-standing ties to both Thiel and to the network." The [[Federal Trade Commission]] issued a consent order against Clearview in March 2022 barring the company from selling its database to private entities, following the documented deployment of the product by law enforcement, government clients, and private actors.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
### New Zealand Citizenship
|
||||
|
||||
Thiel was granted [[New Zealand]] citizenship on August 4, 2011 under an "exceptional circumstances" provision that waived the standard 1,350-day residency requirement. Thiel had visited New Zealand four times before the grant and had never resided there. The *Guardian*, *New York Times*, and *Washington Post* reported in February 2017 that internal Department of Internal Affairs officials granted the waiver after Thiel made approximately ten million dollars in New Zealand investments (including stakes in [[Xero]]) and a one million dollar donation to [[Christchurch]] earthquake relief. Thiel described New Zealand as "the future" in his citizenship application.[^11]
|
||||
Thiel was granted [[New Zealand]] citizenship on August 4, 2011 under an "exceptional circumstances" provision that waived the standard 1,350-day residency requirement. Thiel had visited New Zealand four times before the grant and had never resided there. The *Guardian*, *New York Times*, and *Washington Post* reported in February 2017 that internal Department of Internal Affairs officials granted the waiver after Thiel made approximately ten million dollars in New Zealand investments (including stakes in [[Xero]]) and a one million dollar donation to [[Christchurch]] earthquake relief. Thiel described New Zealand as "the future" in his citizenship application.[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
The citizenship was not publicly disclosed for nearly six years. The February 2017 disclosure prompted criticism of the New Zealand government's use of the exceptional-circumstances provision for a non-resident billionaire. Thiel also acquired a 193-hectare estate near [[Lake Wanaka]] in the South Island, part of a documented pattern of Silicon Valley billionaire property acquisition in New Zealand. The New Zealand government subsequently tightened the investor-visa provisions.[^11]
|
||||
The citizenship was not publicly disclosed for nearly six years. The February 2017 disclosure prompted criticism of the New Zealand government's use of the exceptional-circumstances provision for a non-resident billionaire. Thiel also acquired a 193-hectare estate near [[Lake Wanaka]] in the South Island, part of a documented pattern of Silicon Valley billionaire property acquisition in New Zealand. The New Zealand government subsequently tightened the investor-visa provisions.[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -122,14 +126,17 @@ The citizenship was not publicly disclosed for nearly six years. The February 20
|
|||
[^2]: Thiel, Peter, and Blake Masters. *Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future.* Crown Business, 2014.
|
||||
[^3]: Yarvin, Curtis (Moldbug). "Unqualified Reservations" (blog), 2007 onward. See also Thiel, Peter. "The Education of a Libertarian." *Cato Unbound,* 2009. https://www.cato.org/cato-unbound/education-libertarian/
|
||||
[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein document release. 2013 Dialog retreat invitation forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, November 2012. Document D-23831. https://epsteinexposed.com/documents/d-23831
|
||||
[^5]: "Peter Thiel Is Latest Billionaire Said to Have Met With Jeffrey Epstein." *New York Times,* May 18, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/18/business/jeffrey-epstein-peter-thiel.html
|
||||
[^6]: "Jeffrey Epstein Encouraged Peter Thiel's Political Journey." *Jacobin,* April 2026. https://jacobin.com/2026/04/epstein-thiel-tech-finance-trump ; "What Peter Thiel Saw in Jeffrey Epstein." *The Nation,* 2026. https://www.thenation.com/?post_type=article&p=586795
|
||||
[^7]: Tommy Carstensen Epstein Files index, "Peter Thiel," cross-referencing the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) document releases, including EFTA01738574 (Feb 6, 2016 "secret society" email), EFTA00344556 and EFTA00344564 (2015 dinner guest list), and the Thiel-Churkin lunch record. https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/people/peter-thiel.html
|
||||
[^8]: "Exclusive: Tech Billionaire Peter Thiel Was an FBI Informant." *Business Insider,* October 2023. https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-fbi-informant-charles-johnson-johnathan-buma-chs-genius-2023-10 ; U.S. Congress, House Judiciary Committee, document referencing Thiel's CHS role, January 22, 2026. https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118881/documents/HHRG-119-JU00-20260122-SD011-U11.pdf
|
||||
[^9]: "Former FBI Special Agent Arrested for Disclosure of Confidential Information." *DOJ Office of Inspector General,* 2025. https://oig.justice.gov/news/press-release/former-fbi-special-agent-arrested-disclosure-confidential-information ; "FBI whistleblower claims he tried to get to Musk to warn him he was being targeted by Russia." *The Guardian,* May 22, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/may/22/fbi-whistleblower-musk-russia
|
||||
[^10]: "What We Learned About Clearview AI's Hidden 'Co-Founder.'" *New York Times,* March 18, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/technology/clearview-facial-recognition-ai.html ; "Business Partner Sues Chuck Johnson for Falsely Presenting as Intelligence Agent." *Semafor,* October 16, 2024. https://www.semafor.com/article/10/16/2024/business-partner-sues-chuck-johnson-for-falsely-presenting-as-intelligence-agent
|
||||
[^11]: "Documents reveal how Peter Thiel was granted New Zealand citizenship." *The Guardian,* February 1, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/01/documents-reveal-how-peter-thiel-was-granted-new-zealand-citizenship ; "New Zealand Is 'the Future,' Peter Thiel Said in His Push for Citizenship." *New York Times,* February 1, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/business/peter-thiel-new-zealand-citizenship.html
|
||||
[^12]: "Disrupting the White House: Peter Thiel's Influence is Shaping the National Security Council." *Just Security.* https://www.justsecurity.org/37466/disrupting-white-house-peter-thiels-influence-shaping-national-security-council/ ; "Peter Thiel: I won't take a job with Trump's administration." *Politico,* January 2017. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/peter-thiel-no-job-trump-administration-233523 ; "Inside Trump's shadow national security council." *Washington Post,* January 19, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/01/19/inside-trumps-shadow-national-security-council/
|
||||
[^13]: Hagey, Keach. *The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future.* W. W. Norton, 2025, on Thiel funding the Singularity Institute from 2005 and cofounding the 2006 Singularity Summit; cumulative donations cross-referenced against the MIRI donation timeline at timelines.issarice.com.
|
||||
[^14]: "What billionaire Peter Thiel said in his private 'Antichrist lectures.'" *Washington Post,* October 10, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/10/10/peter-thiel-antichrist-lectures-leaked/ ; "Peter Thiel Thinks the Antichrist Is 'Someone Like' This AI Doomer That He Funded." *Gizmodo,* October 2025. https://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-thinks-the-antichrist-is-someone-like-this-ai-doomer-that-he-funded-2000671027
|
||||
[^15]: "René Girard," *Encyclopædia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Girard ; "Mimesis, Violence, and Facebook: Peter Thiel's French Connection," *Cyborgology,* August 13, 2016. https://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2016/08/13/mimesis-violence-and-facebook-peter-thiels-french-connection-full-essay/ ; Imitatio, "What We Do." http://www.imitatio.org/about-imitatio
|
||||
[^5]: "René Girard," *Encyclopædia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Girard ; "Mimesis, Violence, and Facebook: Peter Thiel's French Connection," *Cyborgology,* August 13, 2016. https://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2016/08/13/mimesis-violence-and-facebook-peter-thiels-french-connection-full-essay/ ; Imitatio, "What We Do." http://www.imitatio.org/about-imitatio
|
||||
[^6]: "What billionaire Peter Thiel said in his private 'Antichrist lectures.'" *Washington Post,* October 10, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/10/10/peter-thiel-antichrist-lectures-leaked/ ; "Peter Thiel Thinks the Antichrist Is 'Someone Like' This AI Doomer That He Funded." *Gizmodo,* October 2025. https://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-thinks-the-antichrist-is-someone-like-this-ai-doomer-that-he-funded-2000671027
|
||||
[^7]: Hagey, Keach. *The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future.* W. W. Norton, 2025, on Thiel funding the Singularity Institute from 2005 and cofounding the 2006 Singularity Summit; cumulative donations cross-referenced against the MIRI donation timeline at timelines.issarice.com.
|
||||
[^8]: "Disrupting the White House: Peter Thiel's Influence is Shaping the National Security Council." *Just Security.* https://www.justsecurity.org/37466/disrupting-white-house-peter-thiels-influence-shaping-national-security-council/ ; "Peter Thiel: I won't take a job with Trump's administration." *Politico,* January 2017. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/peter-thiel-no-job-trump-administration-233523 ; "Inside Trump's shadow national security council." *Washington Post,* January 19, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/01/19/inside-trumps-shadow-national-security-council/
|
||||
[^9]: "Peter Thiel Is Latest Billionaire Said to Have Met With Jeffrey Epstein." *New York Times,* May 18, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/18/business/jeffrey-epstein-peter-thiel.html
|
||||
[^10]: "Jeffrey Epstein Encouraged Peter Thiel's Political Journey." *Jacobin,* April 2026. https://jacobin.com/2026/04/epstein-thiel-tech-finance-trump ; "What Peter Thiel Saw in Jeffrey Epstein." *The Nation,* 2026. https://www.thenation.com/?post_type=article&p=586795
|
||||
[^11]: Tommy Carstensen Epstein Files index, "Peter Thiel," cross-referencing the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) document releases, including EFTA01738574 (Feb 6, 2016 "secret society" email), EFTA00344556 and EFTA00344564 (2015 dinner guest list), and the Thiel-Churkin lunch record. https://tommycarstensen.com/epstein/people/peter-thiel.html
|
||||
[^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, EFTA01052344, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, May 21, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01052344.pdf
|
||||
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email chain among Tomer Toor, Darren Indyke and Jeffrey Epstein on the exercise of Carbyne warrants by SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership, funded 66.67 percent by Southern Trust Inc., March 2019; and EFTA02607775, DataSet 11, email from Ehud Barak to Jabor Al Thani, copied to Jeffrey Epstein, January 1, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02607775.pdf
|
||||
[^15]: "Exclusive: Tech Billionaire Peter Thiel Was an FBI Informant." *Business Insider,* October 2023. https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-fbi-informant-charles-johnson-johnathan-buma-chs-genius-2023-10 ; U.S. Congress, House Judiciary Committee, document referencing Thiel's CHS role, January 22, 2026. https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118881/documents/HHRG-119-JU00-20260122-SD011-U11.pdf
|
||||
[^16]: "Former FBI Special Agent Arrested for Disclosure of Confidential Information." *DOJ Office of Inspector General,* 2025. https://oig.justice.gov/news/press-release/former-fbi-special-agent-arrested-disclosure-confidential-information ; "FBI whistleblower claims he tried to get to Musk to warn him he was being targeted by Russia." *The Guardian,* May 22, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/may/22/fbi-whistleblower-musk-russia
|
||||
[^17]: "What We Learned About Clearview AI's Hidden 'Co-Founder.'" *New York Times,* March 18, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/technology/clearview-facial-recognition-ai.html ; "Business Partner Sues Chuck Johnson for Falsely Presenting as Intelligence Agent." *Semafor,* October 16, 2024. https://www.semafor.com/article/10/16/2024/business-partner-sues-chuck-johnson-for-falsely-presenting-as-intelligence-agent
|
||||
[^18]: "Documents reveal how Peter Thiel was granted New Zealand citizenship." *The Guardian,* February 1, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/01/documents-reveal-how-peter-thiel-was-granted-new-zealand-citizenship ; "New Zealand Is 'the Future,' Peter Thiel Said in His Push for Citizenship." *New York Times,* February 1, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/business/peter-thiel-new-zealand-citizenship.html
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
88
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Ron Wyden.md
Normal file
88
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Ron Wyden.md
Normal file
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Political Figure"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Person
|
||||
- RonWyden
|
||||
- SenateFinanceCommittee
|
||||
- JeffreyEpstein
|
||||
- LeonBlack
|
||||
- SuspiciousActivityReports
|
||||
- Surveillance
|
||||
- Oregon
|
||||
alias:
|
||||
- Senator Ron Wyden
|
||||
- Ronald Wyden
|
||||
- Ronald Lee Wyden
|
||||
summary: "Oregon Democratic senator since 1996 whose Senate Finance Committee staff investigated Leon Black's payments to Jeffrey Epstein and the banks that handled Epstein's money, from 2022 onward."
|
||||
born: 1949-05-03
|
||||
location: "Portland, Oregon"
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: member_of
|
||||
with: "[[United States House of Representatives]]"
|
||||
role: "Representative from Oregon"
|
||||
start: 1981
|
||||
end: 1996
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: member_of
|
||||
with: "[[United States Senate]]"
|
||||
role: "Senator from Oregon"
|
||||
start: 1996-01-30
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: member_of
|
||||
with: "[[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]]"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: head_of
|
||||
with: "[[Senate Finance Committee]]"
|
||||
role: "Chairman"
|
||||
start: 2021
|
||||
end: 2025
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
- type: member_of
|
||||
with: "[[Senate Finance Committee]]"
|
||||
role: "Ranking Member"
|
||||
start: 2025
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
created: 2026-09-25
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Ronald Lee Wyden (born May 3, 1949, in [[Wichita, Kansas]]) is a Democratic senator from [[Oregon]], elected in a special election on January 30, 1996 after serving in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1981. He sits on the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]], the Budget and Energy and Natural Resources committees, and the [[Joint Committee on Taxation]], and is ranking member of the [[Senate Finance Committee]], which he chaired when his staff opened an inquiry in June 2022 into [[Leon Black]]'s payments to [[Jeffrey Epstein]]. The inquiry grew into an investigation of the suspicious-activity reporting of [[JPMorgan Chase]], [[Deutsche Bank]] and [[Bank of America]], published as a report on August 4, 2026.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Early Career
|
||||
|
||||
Wyden attended the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] on a basketball scholarship, played two seasons of Division I basketball, and transferred to [[Stanford University]], where he completed his bachelor's degree. He received his law degree from the [[University of Oregon School of Law]] in 1974, taught gerontology, co-founded the Oregon chapter of the [[Gray Panthers]], and directed Oregon Legal Services for the Elderly from 1977 to 1979.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Intelligence Oversight
|
||||
|
||||
At a March 12, 2013 open hearing of the Intelligence Committee, Wyden asked [[Director of National Intelligence]] [[James Clapper]] whether the [[National Security Agency]] collected "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans." Clapper answered, "No, sir." After [[Edward Snowden]]'s disclosures, Clapper wrote to committee chair [[Dianne Feinstein]] on June 21, 2013 that he had been thinking of content rather than metadata collection under [[Section 215]] of the [[USA PATRIOT Act]] and that "my response was clearly erroneous, for which I apologize." A Wyden spokesman said Clapper's office had acknowledged the statement was inaccurate shortly after the hearing but "refused to correct the public record when given the opportunity."[^4] Wyden's Senate biography credits him with forcing the declassification of the [[CIA Inspector General]]'s report on the [[September 11 attacks]], shutting down the [[Total Information Awareness]] program, and drawing attention to the reliance of the Bush and Obama administrations on "secret law."[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Leon Black Inquiry
|
||||
|
||||
The Finance Committee's inquiry began in June 2022, prompted, in the committee's words, by "inconsistencies" in the report that the law firm [[Dechert]] prepared for [[Apollo Global Management]]'s board on Black's payments of 158 million dollars to Epstein. On July 25, 2023 Wyden, as chairman, announced that the investigation had found a transaction Epstein devised to help Black avoid more than one billion dollars in federal gift and estate taxes, and that Black "improperly received excess income from Apollo partnership interests held in a trust, assets he indicated to the IRS he no longer owned." Black's representatives told the committee that the [[Internal Revenue Service]] had not audited any of the transactions or trusts.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
On March 11, 2025, by then ranking member, Wyden wrote to Attorney General [[Pam Bondi]], Treasury Secretary [[Scott Bessent]] and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Director [[Kash Patel]] that Black's bank had not filed a suspicious activity report on about 156 million dollars in wires to Epstein until February 2020, six months after Epstein's death, and had flagged two more wires in a second report in October 2020. He wrote that committee staff had found 12 million dollars in wires that the Apollo board's review had not identified, and that "I have not received any explanation from Black's attorneys as to why the Apollo Board's investigation omitted or failed to identify these $12 million payments or their purpose."[^5] On June 4, 2026 he referred his findings to the [[House Oversight Committee]] ahead of Black's deposition there, writing that unsealed [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] files indicated Epstein "kept close tabs of women who Black had reached settlements/NDAs with and reached out to Russian government officials to help Black with these so-called problems" and "appears to have acted as a middleman for Black to pay women on Black's behalf." Black's counsel [[Aaron Cutler]] of [[Hogan Lovells]] had written to Wyden on April 13, 2026 that the inquiry concerned a "private citizen's personal life" and sought to "unfairly harass" Black.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Treasury Records and the Banks
|
||||
|
||||
On February 14, 2024 bipartisan Finance Committee staff reviewed Epstein-related suspicious activity reports in camera at a Treasury Department reading room. On April 4, 2024 Wyden asked Bank of America chief executive [[Brian Moynihan]] sixteen questions about its handling of Black's payments; the bank's counsel replied on May 6, 2024 that it would not cooperate absent a subpoena. Wyden asked Bessent for the Treasury's Epstein file on March 11, June 16 and September 2, 2025. Treasury declined each time and on January 22, 2026 told him it had provided the records to the Republican-led [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Oversight Committee]] instead.[^2][^5]
|
||||
|
||||
On September 9, 2025 Wyden introduced the [[Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act]] (S. 2746), requiring Treasury to give Congress the Epstein suspicious activity reports, a list of filing institutions, and a report on any [[Bank Secrecy Act]] investigations of those institutions. On March 3, 2026 he asked unanimous consent to pass it, telling the Senate that his staff had seen records of "4,725 wire transfers adding up to more than $1 billion in and out of his JPMorgan bank accounts in the decade after 2003" and that "there could be more than $1.5 billion in suspicious Epstein transactions." Finance Committee chairman [[Mike Crapo]] objected, stating that the House Oversight and Judiciary committees were leading the review and that the Banking Committee, not Finance, had jurisdiction over suspicious activity reports.[^7] Wyden's report stated that his office had approached Senator [[Marsha Blackburn]]'s staff from June 2024 about a bipartisan subpoena for Epstein bank records and later about cosponsoring the bill, and received no commitment; Blackburn had said publicly in February 2025 that her "efforts to crack the Epstein trafficking ring wide open have been stonewalled by Democrats at every turn."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
Wyden's September 24, 2025 letter to [[Jamie Dimon]] set out 31 questions about the bank's Epstein accounts and its six-year delay in filing reports after exiting him in 2013; JPMorgan's October 10, 2025 reply answered none of them and attributed all misconduct to [[Jes Staley]].[^8][^9] On January 15, 2026 he wrote to [[BNY Mellon]] about Epstein transactions processed through its [[Pershing]] subsidiary; its counsel also declined to cooperate.[^2] In February 2026, after reports that Epstein and associates had been targets of a federal drug-trafficking, prostitution and money-laundering investigation, he asked the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] for its results, and he later announced that Deputy Attorney General [[Todd Blanche]], [[Donald Trump]]'s former personal lawyer, had intervened to block the [[DEA]] from complying.[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
### Looking the Other Way
|
||||
|
||||
The August 4, 2026 report, "Looking the Other Way," concluded that JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America likely violated federal anti-money-laundering law by failing to report Epstein's transactions in time, identified Bank of America as the bank that held Black's accounts and filed the February 7, 2020 report, and named thirteen bankers, among them [[Mary Erdoes]], [[Stephen Cutler]], Staley and [[Paul Morris]], whose conduct it said merited investigation. It called for criminal investigations of Epstein's lawyer [[Darren Indyke]] and accountants [[Richard Kahn]] and [[Harry Beller]], stating that federal prosecutors had never questioned them; none of the three has been charged with a crime. It also stated that Wyden had given a taped interview on March 26, 2026 to [[60 Minutes]] correspondent [[Sharyn Alfonsi]] for a segment on the banks and the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] government, that CBS News leadership under [[Bari Weiss]] fired Alfonsi shortly afterward, and that the interview had not aired.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Office of Senator Ron Wyden, "Meet Ron," accessed September 25, 2026. https://www.wyden.senate.gov/meet-ron
|
||||
[^2]: 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. 3-6, 50-61. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_wall_street_epstein_report.pdf ; U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Report on Failure of Wall Street Banks to Blow the Whistle on Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering Schemes," August 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-report-on-failure-of-wall-street-banks-to-blow-the-whistle-on-jeffrey-epsteins-sex-trafficking-and-money-laundering-schemes
|
||||
[^3]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Unveils Ongoing Investigation into Private Equity Billionaire Leon Black's Tax Planning and Financial Ties with Jeffrey Epstein," July 25, 2023. https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-unveils-ongoing-investigation-into-private-equity-billionaire-leon-blacks-tax-planning-and-financial-ties-with-jeffrey-epstein
|
||||
[^4]: "Director of National Intelligence apologizes for his 'clearly erroneous' NSA testimony," *NBC News / Associated Press,* July 2, 2013. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna52381116
|
||||
[^5]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel, March 11, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/download/wyden-letter-to-doj-treasury-fbi-on-epsteinpdf?download=1 ; U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Information on Financing of Jeffrey Epstein's Operations by Billionaire Leon Black, Seeks Documents from Trump Administration," March 12, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-information-on-financing-of-jeffrey-epsteins-operations-by-billionaire-leon-black-seeks-documents-from-trump-administration
|
||||
[^6]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Robert Garcia, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, regarding Leon Black, June 4, 2026. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_letter_to_house_oversight_on_leon_black-epstein_060426.pdf
|
||||
[^7]: Congressional Record, vol. 172, no. 40 (March 3, 2026), Senate, pp. S748 ff. (Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act, unanimous consent request and objection). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2026-03-03/html/CREC-2026-03-03-pt1-PgS748-2.htm ; S. 2746, 119th Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2746
|
||||
[^8]: Letter from Senator Ron Wyden to Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co., September 24, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_from_senator_wyden_to_jpmorgan_chase_epstein_accounts_09-24-25pdf.pdf
|
||||
[^9]: Letter from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Senator Ron Wyden, Ranking Member, Committee on Finance, October 10, 2025. https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/101025jpmcresponsetowyden.pdf
|
||||
[^10]: U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, "Wyden Releases New Report on Failure of Wall Street Banks to Blow the Whistle on Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering Schemes," August 4, 2026 (background section). https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-releases-new-report-on-failure-of-wall-street-banks-to-blow-the-whistle-on-jeffrey-epsteins-sex-trafficking-and-money-laundering-schemes
|
||||
Loading…
Add table
Add a link
Reference in a new issue