Epstein

by Dylan Howard

  Pinker explained away the chilling photo on the social media site Twitter: “I have no relationship with Epstein & have taken no funding from him. Our circles have occasionally overlapped: In 02, my lit agent invited me to join a group of east-coast TED speakers Epstein flew to CA. In 14, Krauss seated me next to him at a lunch, & someone snapped a photo.”

  But the very next year, Pinker tweeted a link to a legal argument from the defense in Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s civil lawsuit—a document that refuted her claims.

  So far, the scandal has only managed to subject Pinker to hundreds of angry tweets and dozens of probing blog posts.

  As for Pinker and Epstein’s pal Lawrence Krauss, who also appeared in the 2014 lunch photo, he has not emerged unscathed.

  There is more of a paper trail connecting Krauss to Epstein than the one that smeared Pinker’s reputation. Voice messages to Epstein from Krauss obtained by this team show several calls from the scientist to Epstein’s Palm Beach home.

  One, sent on January 7, 2004, read, “Thank you for the evening last night in NYC.” Epstein’s secretary wrote, “You can call him about time and money.”

  Just over a year later, on February 28, 2005: “He has sent you some faxes that he would like to follow up.”

  Later than that message, but undated: “He had meeting with filmmaker and he sympathize [sic] with project.”

  In 2018, Krauss left his post at Arizona State University amid a cloud of scandal—actually, one that had very little to do with Epstein.

  The theoretical physicist and astrophysicist faced an onslaught of sexual misconduct claims at the height of the #MeToo movement. In just one disturbing example of the allegations, a woman claimed he had grabbed her breasts at a ritzy conference gala. Dr. Krauss denied the claims: “To be clear, I have never harassed or assaulted anyone and have most certainly not exhibited gender discrimination in my professional dealings at the university or elsewhere.”

  Down the road from Harvard, at MIT, Epstein’s contributions were even cloudier. In September 2019, Joichi Ito stepped down from MIT’s Media Lab after the New Yorker reported he had tried to cover up donations from Epstein.

  A convicted child molester, Epstein was actually on MIT’s list of “disqualified” donors following his prison stint. Ito took his money anyways, the New Yorker reported, camouflaging nearly $2 million in donations.

  Ito was shameless in his greed. In one email, he wrote of an Epstein donation: “Make sure this gets reported as anonymous.”

  Epstein also channeled funds from his famous friends like Bill Gates to the lab. In another email, the lab’s then–director of development and strategy, Peter Cohen, wrote, “This is a $2M gift from Bill Gates directed by Jeffrey Epstein. For gift recording purposes, we will not be mentioning Jeffrey’s name as the impetus for this gift.” (Gates’s rep denied Epstein had anything to do with the donation.)

  What did these men get from their associations with Epstein? Beyond the thrill of flying high on private jet flights and secluded Caribbean islands, the appeal was obvious: Epstein donated millions in grants and gifts through his many “foundations” each year, and advertised that fact on the front page of JeffreyEpsteinScience.com.

  The company of beautiful young women, of course, would have been an added bonus.

  For Epstein, the value of these men was not just in the way it made him—a college dropout—seem like a legitimate intellectual leader by association. The discoveries and research of these men could have had serious applications in the worlds of armament, technology, and surveillance.

  In short, their lunchtime chitchat became Epstein’s offerings to the international intelligence community.

  CHAPTER 13

  CAUGHT

  By early 2019, it seemed that the world had forgotten about Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes. To him, it may have seemed—at last—that he’d gotten away with it all.

  The civil cases in Florida were moving slowly through the justice system. In December 2018, he paid to settle a lawsuit with victim attorney Bradley Edwards, preventing any trial and silencing his victims yet again. Several women had been ready to take the stand, but they were pushed yet again into the shadows of silence.

  More than ten years after Jane Does #1 and 2 had filed their lawsuit against the US government regarding Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement, that too had yet to bear legal any fruit. But by February 2019, that all changed.

  On February 7, 2019, the Department of Justice confirmed that they had begun an investigation into whether there had been “professional misconduct” in the unusual handling of Epstein’s secret plea deal.

  Two weeks later, US District Judge Kenneth A. Marra ruled in favor of Jane Does #1 and 2 in Florida, agreeing that the United States government had indeed broken the law during their handling of the nonprosecution agreement.

  “Particularly problematic was the government’s decision to conceal the existence of the [nonprosecution agreement] and mislead the victims to believe that federal prosecution was still a possibility,” Marra wrote, referring to one communication that told the plaintiffs to remain “patient.”

  “When the government gives information to victims, it cannot be misleading.”

  He continued:

  Epstein and his co-conspirators knowingly traveled in interstate and international commerce to sexually abuse Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2 and others, they committed violations of not only Florida law, but also federal law.

  In addition to his own sexual abuse of the victims, Epstein directed other persons to abuse the girls sexually. . . . Epstein worked in concert with others to obtain minors not only for his own sexual gratification, but also for the sexual gratification of others.

  The net was closing in.

  Flying on a private jet from Paris, landing at a private airport, skipping the baggage claim to head straight to the luxury ride awaiting—it was the only way to travel for someone of Jeffrey Epstein’s milieu. For Jeffrey Epstein, July 6, 2019, had promised to be yet another serene and sumptuous evening in the life of a billionaire.

  As the plane taxied down the tarmac, however, the sun setting on the horizon, he likely realized that there was going to be a change of plans. Epstein’s bubble of wealth and privilege was popped, perhaps once and for all. Federal agents stood ready on the tarmac, swooping in to handcuff and arrest him as soon as he walked off the infamous “Lolita Express” for the very last time.

  At the same time, federal agents swarmed his Manhattan palace, ready to open every drawer and search the rooms where visitors had never set foot. A crowbar got them through his massive solid oak front doors, as onlookers watched, shocked.

  To no one’s surprise, authorities found ample evidence to confirm that Epstein was trafficking girls for sex. In his safe, they discovered hundreds of sickening nude pictures of young victims, and the graphic photographs matched the most disturbing details that Epstein’s victims had provided.

  He also had curated an organized library of digital videos that identified the names of his “friends” and the young girls they had violated. Federal agents seized all of it. They also recovered heaps of cash and diamonds, and a fake expired passport with Epstein’s picture plastered inside. It listed his residence as Saudi Arabia. (In court, Epstein’s lawyers argued that he’d never used the phony passport, but the document itself indicated that it’d been used to get into the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Saudi Arabia. Epstein’s attorneys said in a filing submitted to court that he obtained the passport because he felt it could give him some protection if he fell victim to an airline hijacking or a terrorist incident, and that it’d been expired for more than three decades.)

  Importantly, the trove of evidence was not just proof of Epstein’s sex crimes; the materials also corroborated the victims’ claims that Epstein secretly recorded them in the act. Epstein and his coconspirators seemed poised for certain doom, as a copy of the voluminous evidence list was turned over to US District Judge Richard Berman.


  Two days later, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York hosted a joint press conference with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Entering the room, reporters were greeted with a massive blown-up photo of Epstein, and a phone number imploring potential victims to call the authorities.

  Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman—an appointee of President Donald J. Trump—approached the podium to deliver the jaw-dropping news: Jeffrey Epstein had been indicted for sex trafficking. It was a day that had seemed like it would never come. For those of us who’d covered the case for years, and certainly for the victims, it had a surreal quality. Did we dare hope for justice this time around?

  Berman began to speak:

  Today, we announce the unsealing of sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein. The charges allege that Epstein sexually abused young girls by enticing them to engage in sex acts for money.

  Epstein was arrested this past Saturday evening at Teterboro Airport aboard his private jet that had just landed from Paris, France. Epstein was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

  And later today he will be presented before a Magistrate Judge Pitman and later a conference before District Court Judge Berman.

  The United States attorney’s office will take the position at that presentment and that conference that Epstein should be detained pending trial. Epstein is charged in a two-count indictment. First conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and second the substantive crime of sex trafficking of underage girls.

  Beginning in at least 2002 and continuing until 2005, Epstein is alleged to have abused dozens of victims by causing them to engage in sex acts with him at his mansion in New York and at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

  The victims, all underage girls at the time of the alleged conduct, were given hundreds of dollars in cash after each encounter either by Epstein or by one of Epstein’s employees. The underage girls were initially recruited to provide Epstein with massages and often did so nude or partially nude.

  These massages became increasingly sexual in nature and would typically include one or more sex acts as specified in the indictment. As alleged, Epstein also paid certain victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused. This allowed Epstein to create an ever-expanding web of new victims.

  This conduct, as alleged, went on for years and it involved dozens of young girls, some as young as 14 years old at the time that they were allegedly abused. As alleged, Epstein was well aware that many of his victims were minors. And not surprisingly, many of the underage girls that Epstein allegedly victimized were particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

  The alleged behavior shocks the conscience. And while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims now young women. They deserve their day in court and we are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment.

  Combating sex trafficking and exploitation of children is a priority for this office and for the Department of Justice as the sexual abuse of a minor can have devastating effects on victims often lasting for years. That is why my office will not rest until the perpetrators of these types of crimes are brought to justice.

  Victims’ voices, including the many voices of Epstein’s alleged victims must be heard. To that end I want to say to anyone who was watching this or hearing about our prosecution, if you believe you are a victim of this man Jeffrey Epstein. Or you have evidence or information leading to the conduct alleged in the indictment unsealed today, we want to hear from you. Please call. 1-800-CALL FBI, that’s 1-800-CALL FBI.

  The charges unsealed today reflect the hard work not only of this office, but by our law enforcement partners at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

  The FBI had failed to bring Epstein to justice back in Florida. Why should his victims believe that it would play out differently this time around, in another jurisdiction? William Sweeney, Assistant-Director-in-Charge of the New York office of the FBI, stepped forward with a message. He began:

  Preserving the innocence in children is one of the most important responsibilities we carry as adults. Purposely failing children in any way is not an option.

  And yet there are some in society who have chosen to blatantly disregard this responsibility, using whatever means they have at their disposal to lure children into a life which they should never have been exposed. As we allege today, Jeffrey Epstein is one of those people.

  At approximately 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evening we arrested him at Teterboro Airport without incident. Epstein has been charged with one count each of sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy.

  For at least a four-year period, covering the entirety of 2002 through 2005, he is alleged to have sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in New York City and in Palm Beach, Florida.

  The girls were recruited in a variety of ways, usually by employees of Epstein and sometimes by fellow victims. The victims typically received hundreds of dollars in cash. The estimated dozens of victims were as young as fourteen years old at the time of recruitment.

  Children who provided up steam massages while they were nude or partially nude. Children who were asked to engage in direct and indirect sex acts for money. Children who were enticed to do all these things at the hands of a man more than or nearly three times their age. Those who had been victimized by child sexual predators are frequently haunted by memories of these crimes well into their adulthood, often for the rest of their lives. They bear the burden of someone else’s criminal behavior.

  Too often, adults in our society have turned a blind eye to this type of criminal behavior alleged here. We have seen the excuses. The ignorance of many who didn’t even bother to understand that this behavior is this persistent scourge against our society’s vulnerable youth. And the willful blindness as to who the real villains are in this type of outrageous crime.

  The villains are the adult perpetrators, not the children. Victims of child sex trafficking come from all walks of life. They are our neighbors, our students, young adults looking for help, vulnerable foster children, the list goes on and on and on.

  To the victims who may be listening or get word of today’s charges, the team standing here before you represents FBI Special Agents, NYPD detectives, analyst, victim specialist, prosecutors who make it their mission to listen to every individual who’s been exploited and to advocate for the most vulnerable among us.

  We are parents, we are community members, we are human beings. But as an FBI Special Agent and the head of this office, I have the privilege to represent and stand among many who make it our mission to put predators behind bars where they belong, regardless of the predator’s power wealth or perceived connections.

  Today, I’m asking everyone to take a good look at this man. If you have been victimized in any way or if you are somebody who has any additional information about his alleged illegal behavior, we want to hear from you. Whatever age you are now, whatever age you were then, no matter where or when the incident or incidents took place. . . .

  Your bravery might just empower others to speak out about crimes committed against them. It’s important to remember there never was nor will there be an excuse for this kind of behavior. We know that reliving these events can be brutal. We are here to work side by side with you as you go through this process. You should know that in the eyes of the FBI you come first.

  Then, Berman jumped in again: “We’re going to take some questions. But first let me preface it by saying that there’s been a lot of speculation in the media about individuals affiliated or associated with defending Jeffrey Epstein.”

  “As you know, Justice Department guidelines prohibit us from talking about such individuals, and so I just want to let you know that if that question comes up about any individual, my answer will be, no comment. And that will be across the board no comment.” That part of the investigation, regarding the coconspirators, was clearly ongoing.

  The fir
st question raised by reporters was: If Epstein was bound by the notorious Florida nonprosecution agreement, how had prosecutors been able to bring new charges?

  Berman explained, “Jeffrey Epstein entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the Southern District of Florida. That agreement only binds—by its terms only binds to Southern District of Florida. The Southern District of New York is not bound by that agreement and is not a signatory to that agreement.”

  The same would be true for his coconspirators.

  Meanwhile, Epstein had a lot of time to consider his next move as he sat locked up in a eight-by-eight jail cell. Immediately after his arrest, Epstein had been taken directly to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a rust-colored federal detention facility in the heart of Lower Manhattan.

  The “MCC” is where New York’s most cold-blooded criminals are incarcerated while awaiting trial or bail. At the time, the MCC was the temporary home of Mexican kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Trump’s presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Previous inmates included mob boss John Gotti, financial fraudster Bernie Madoff, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef.

  In other words, it was secure. Or so people thought.

  Located a few blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge and bustling Chinatown, MCC is one of several federal buildings in the immediate area. The US Attorney’s office, NYPD headquarters, and City Hall are directly nearby. It is, in essence, meant to be the most secure area of the Big Apple.

  Like each of the other eight hundred felons at MCC, Epstein was booked, stripped of his identity, and given his inmate number: 76318–054. He was taken to the ninth floor (also known as 9-South), which is a special housing unit for violent inmates and new arrivals who require protective custody. Epstein had to be kept out of the general population, it was thought, because every felon would hit him up—or rough him up—for money.