The emails reveal Epstein’s network of wealthy and powerful people despite his sex offender status

By the time Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl, he had built up an enormous network of wealthy and influential friends. Emails released this week show that the crime did little to reduce that network’s desire to remain in contact with the financier.

Thousands of documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday offer a new glimpse into what Epstein’s relationships with businessmen, reporters, academics and political players looked like over more than a decade.

Read more: Read Jeffrey Epstein’s newly released emails about Trump

It begins with messages he sent and received around the time he finished serving his sentence in Florida in 2009 and continues through the months leading up to his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019.

During that period, Epstein’s network was eclectic, spanning the globe and political affiliations: from liberal academic Noam Chomsky to Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump.

Some reached out to support Epstein amid the lawsuits and prosecutions, while others sought introductions or advice on everything from dating to oil prices. One of them consulted him on how to respond to accusations of sexual harassment.

Epstein was charged with sex trafficking in 2019, and committed suicide in prison a month later. Epstein’s crimes, high-profile connections and suicide in prison have made the case a magnet for conspiracy theorists and online sleuths searching for evidence of a cover-up.

The emails do not implicate his contacts in those alleged crimes. Instead, they paint a picture of Epstein’s influence and connections over the years he was a registered sex offender.

Epstein maintained a diverse political network

Epstein sent emails to current and former political figures from all parties, sent news clips and discussed strategy or gossip often in short, choppy emails laden with spelling and grammatical errors.

In several emails in 2018, Epstein advised Bannon on his political tour of Europe that year. Bannon first sent Epstein a news clip that described the German media as “underestimating” Bannon and that he was “as dangerous as ever.”

“I love it,” Epstein replied.

Epstein wrote that he had just spoken to “one of the country leaders we discussed” and that “we should come up with a strategic plan…how much fun.”

Several months later, Epstein sent some advice: “If you’re going to play here, you’re going to have to put in some time. Remote Europe doesn’t work.”

“It is doable but time-consuming,” Epstein continued in a follow-up email. “There are several country leaders we can organize to meet face-to-face.”

Just a few months earlier, Epstein had been insulting Trump — whose movement Bannon represented — in emails he sent to Katherine Rumler, a former White House counsel under President Barack Obama.

Rummler sent a letter to Epstein in which he called Trump “absolutely terrible.” Part of that letter was redacted, but Epstein responded: “Worse in real and near life.”

In other emails with Ruemmler, Epstein detailed a whirlwind of famous people he apparently met, hosted or spoke with that week, including an ambassador, a tech giant, foreign businessmen, academics, and a film director.

“You are a welcome guest at any time,” he wrote.

Jennifer Zuccarelli, a spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs, where Rumler now works, declined to comment.
Epstein’s wealthy social circles

The financier would often communicate via email with people in the upper echelons of wealth around the world, making introductions and chatting about politics and foreign affairs.

This included Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, to whom Epstein sent an email in 2014 saying “that was fun, see you in 3 weeks.”

Four years later, Epstein asked if Thiel enjoyed Los Angeles, and after Thiel said he couldn’t complain, he replied “December visit me in the Caribbean.” It is unclear whether Thiel responded.

In emails with Emirati businessman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Epstein praised Bannon, saying in 2018: “We became friends, and you will love him.”

“Trump doesn’t like him,” Slim replied.

A year earlier, Slim asked Epstein about an event Trump appeared to be attending, asking: “Do you think it would be possible to shake Trump’s hand?”

“Call to discuss,” Epstein responded.

In January 2010, biotech venture capitalist Boris Nikolic was attending the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Epstein emailed to ask: “Any fun?”

Nikolic responded that he met “your friend” Bill Clinton, as well as then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy and “your other friend, Prince Andrew,” “because he had some questions regarding Microsoft.”

But then Nikolic said he was tired of the meetings. He later wrote to Epstein: “It would be great to have you here.” He mentioned flirting with a 22-year-old woman.

“It turns out she is with her husband. She didn’t have a chance to check on him. But as we concluded, anything good is rented ;),” Nikolic wrote.

Epstein kept in touch with academics

Among them was theoretical physicist and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss. In 2017, Krauss reached out to Epstein via email for advice on responding to a reporter writing a story about sexual harassment allegations against him.

Krauss asked Epstein: “Is this a reasonable response? Should I respond? Could I benefit from the advice?”

In a candid conversation, Epstein asked Krauss whether he had had sex with the person in question and then suggested that he not respond to the journalist.

“No. We didn’t have sex. I decided it wasn’t a good idea,” Kraus replied.

Kraus said in an email to The Associated Press that he never hid the fact that he knew Epstein, and interacted with him several times.

“I sought advice from everyone I knew when false allegations about me were circulated in the press in 2018,” Krause said. “I was as shocked as the rest of the world when he was arrested” in 2019.

In an August 2015 email exchange, Epstein asked Chomsky, the famous linguist and sociologist, to only travel to Greece if he felt well, joking that he had previously had to fly another “left-handed friend” to see a doctor in New York.

In the same dialogue, which delved into academic arguments about warning signs of currency collapses, behavioral science models, and big data, Epstein offered his accommodations for Chomsky’s use.

“You are of course welcome to use an apartment in New York to spend your newfound free time, or to visit New Mexico again,” Epstein wrote.

The emails also show that Epstein maintained a friendly relationship with Larry Summers, who was Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton and a former president of Harvard University, and has been feuding over the 2016 presidential race and Trump.

Other emails showed a closer relationship. In 2019, Summers was discussing his interactions with a woman, writing to Epstein, saying, “I said what you were up to. She said ‘I’m busy.’ I told her rudely that you were shy.”

Epstein responded: “You reacted well… annoyed, showing interest. No whining of force.”

Summers issued a statement saying he had “the greatest regrets in my life.”

“As I have said before, my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a grave error in judgment,” the statement read.

Chomsky, Thiel, Bannon and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem did not immediately respond to requests for comment, which were sent via email addresses available on their or their organizations’ websites.

Associated Press reporters John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.