Who else is mentioned in Epstein’s private files? : NPR
During an anti-Trump protest outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on September 2, protesters set up binders to represent the Epstein files. On Wednesday, President Trump signed the law ordering the Justice Department to release these records.
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New information about Jeffrey Epstein’s estate sheds further light on the range of powerful figures who kept ties to the disgraced financier after his criminal charges came to light.
Scattered throughout the nearly 23,000 documents released by the House Oversight Committee last week, emails and texts show that Epstein courted prominent politicians on both sides of the aisle, impressed academics and used his connections to fend off negative stories about his alleged crimes.
Epstein’s career as a wealthy financier who donated money to universities and other causes placed him in many elite circles.
These circles did not entirely close themselves to him after he pleaded guilty to charges of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor under 18 in 2008.
Reading the published text messages and emails, people who consulted Epstein rarely acknowledged the seriousness of the crimes that required him to register as a sex offender, although simply corresponding with Epstein did not implicate individuals in his criminal activities, whether convicted or charged.
There is an apparent letter of recommendation for Epstein from linguist Noam Chomsky, calling him a “much valued friend,” which recalls how Epstein put him in touch with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak – another frequent Epstein correspondent.
“Jeffrey consistently raises probing questions and advances provocative ideas, which have repeatedly caused me to rethink critical issues,” the letter reads.
There’s the advice Epstein gave to Steve Bannon, Trump’s former strategist, on ways to build a far-right political movement abroad.
“If you want to play here, you’ll have to spend some time, [E]Remote Europe doesn’t work,” Epstein wrote in 2018. “Lots of face-to-face time and hand-holding. Europe can be a wife, not a mistress.”
Former Harvard University President and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers had intimate personal discussions with Epstein on numerous occasions, including asking for romantic advice and joking about women’s intelligence.
“I talked about inclusion,” Summers wrote in 2017. “I observed that half the I.Q. [in the] The world was owned by women not to mention they make up over 51 percent of the population….”
Summers resigned as president of Harvard in 2006 after arguing that women might be inherently less competent in math and science.
In the week since Epstein’s emails were last published, he resigned from OpenAI’s board of directors and abruptly left his teaching position at Harvard, as the university announced an investigation into “information about individuals at Harvard included in Jeffrey Epstein’s recently released documents to assess what actions might be justified.”
Summers isn’t the only prominent Democrat to be to varying degrees in Epstein’s orbit. Kathryn Ruemmler, a former White House counsel in the Obama administration and current chief legal officer of Goldman Sachs, sent messages to Epstein before and during Trump’s first term.
“Trump is living proof of the adage that it is better to be lucky than smart,” she wrote in August 2015.
“I regret knowing Jeffrey Epstein,” Ruemmler said The Wall Street Journal in 2023.
More than a thousand mentions of Trump
A protester holds a sign regarding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, on November 12. President Trump signed the congressional bill directing the Justice Department to release the records Wednesday evening.
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Trump promised to release the Epstein files on the campaign trail but has largely blocked his efforts this year since returning to office, frequently calling the push for more transparency around the Epstein affair a “hoax” perpetrated by Democrats.
In an article published Wednesday by Truth Social announcing the signing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Trump said Democrats were using the issue to distract from what he sees as victories for his administration.
“Maybe the truth about these Democrats and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein will soon be revealed, because I JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!” he posted.
The president has the power to release records without intervention from Congress.
Trump is a frequent subject of emails and text messages in the latest tranche of files – more than a thousand different mentions – although primarily the subject of Epstein’s near-obsession with his presidency, with the latter positioning himself as a sort of Trump whisperer to his powerful associates.
This week, after an abrupt about-face that led to near-unanimous approval of the Epstein Records Transparency Act, the president has now called for Democrats mentioned in Epstein’s communications to be investigated by the Justice Department.
“I will ask AG Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice, along with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationships with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, JP Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on between them and him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Other Republicans are also going on the offensive, highlighting revelations that Epstein was texting Democratic Rep. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands during a House Oversight Committee hearing with former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in 2019.
Comparing the newly released messages with video from the hearing, minutes after Epstein suggested Plaskett ask Cohen about the Trump Organization, Plaskett asked similar questions.
An attempt to censure Plaskett in the House failed Tuesday. In a speech, Plaskett defended his actions as having received information from a constituent and said it was “not publicly known at the time that he was the subject of a federal investigation.”
Amid partisan accusations around the Epstein files, some of Epstein’s accusers are imploring the president not to be partisan and to focus on other powerful people who they say have not faced scrutiny — regardless of political party.
What’s next for the government’s Epstein files?
Within 30 days of Trump signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the attorney general is supposed to make “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” available in a searchable and downloadable format.
This includes information relating to Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and “individuals named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s criminal activities.”
There is also a focus on information regarding plea deals and decisions not to charge Epstein with other alleged crimes, as well as documents relating to his death by suicide in 2019 while he was in federal custody.
Over the summer, the FBI released a memo saying its files contained “a significant amount of documents, including more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence.”
Some of them include photos and videos of Epstein’s accusers, including minors, as well as disturbing material that will not be made public. The Congressional bill also states that anything that would “jeopardize an active federal investigation or pending prosecution” can also be withheld or redacted.
With Trump’s order to investigate Democrats and financial institutions mentioned in Epstein’s correspondence, it is unclear how much of the Justice Department’s records will be released, to what extent they will be redacted and when they will ultimately be made public.
