Epstein files takeaways: Possible co-conspirators, fake video and Trump trips

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) released its latest – and largest – tranche of files on Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday.

The 11,000-plus documents continue a stream of released information that began on Friday, the deadline mandated in a law that required the department to publicly release all of its investigative files into the late convicted sex offender.

Many of the documents released on Tuesday were redacted with names and information blacked out, including names of people who the FBI appears to cite as possible co-conspirators in the Epstein case.

The DoJ is facing criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle over the amount of redactions in its files. The new law specifically states that redactions can only be done to protect the identity of victims or active criminal investigations.

US President Donald Trump’s name appeared more in these new documents than in previous releases. Many were media clippings that mention him, but one notable email from a federal prosecutor indicated that Trump flew on Epstein’s jet.

The DoJ has said that some files “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” about Trump.

Being mentioned in the Epstein files does not indicate wrongdoing. The BBC has requested comment from individuals named in our reporting.

Of the thousands of pages included in this latest release, one 2001 email sent by a person identified as “A” stands out.

The message, to Epstein’s accomplice and close associate Ghislaine Maxwell, says that “A” is at “Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family”.

“A” then asks Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for sex trafficking of minors and other offences: “Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”

In another email sent later that day, Maxwell writes back: “So sorry to dissapoint [sic] you, however the truth must be told. I have only been able to find appropriate friends.”

The “A” email was sent from the address abx17@dial.pipex.com, with the sender’s name shown as “The Invisible Man”.

An image from a prior Epstein files release showed a different, but similar, email – aace@dial.pipex.com – listed in Epstein’s phone book under a contact titled “Duke of York”.

Another exchange in the new files between Maxwell and “The Invisible Man” discusses a trip to Peru.

In October, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lost use of his Duke of York title following scrutiny over his links with Epstein.

He has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, and said he did not “see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his [Epstein’s] arrest and conviction”.

The BBC has contacted his team for a response.

Among the documents released are emails appearing to be sent between FBI personnel in 2019 that mention 10 possible “co-conspirators” of Epstein.

The emails said six of the group had been served with subpoenas. This included three in Florida, one in Boston, one in New York City, and one in Connecticut.

Four subpoenas were yet to be served when the emails were sent, including to one “wealthy businessman in Ohio”.

Another email sent to FBI New York gives an update on the co-conspirators. This time it appears to mention multiple names. Most are redacted from the file.

Two names were not redacted – (Ghislaine) Maxwell and Wexner.

An email says, “I do not know about Ohio contacting Wexner”.

The email is presumably referring to Former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner, who had a public friendship with Epstein. In 2019, Wexner said he was “embarrassed” by his ties to the financier.

Lawyers for Wexner told BBC News that “the assistant US attorney in charge of the Epstein investigation stated at the time that Mr Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor target”.

“Mr Wexner cooperated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again,” they said.

Possible co-conspirators in Epstein’s crimes are a major focus for his victims, and for several lawmakers who have demanded more transparency from the DoJ.

“There’s 10 co-conspirators, potentially, that we knew nothing about, that the DoJ had been investigating,” Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam told BBC News on Tuesday.

Subramanyam, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, added that he was also “concerned” over the level of redactions that seem to protect names of lawyers and people who are not victims. Lawmakers in both parties have said they are examining legal options to force more transparency.

The law passed by Congress and signed last month by Trump states that names and information that might be embarrassing or cause “reputational harm” are not allowed to be redacted. It specifically asks the DoJ for internal communications and memos detailing who was investigated and decisions on whether “to charge, not charge, investigate, or decline to investigate Epstein or his associates”.

A letter included in the released batch of documents has gained plenty of attention online. But, according to the DoJ, it is fake.

The handwritten letter and envelope appeared to show Epstein writing to Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who is serving decades in prison for sexually abusing young female athletes.

“As you know by now I have taken the ‘short route’ home. Good luck!” the text reads. “We shared one thing…our love & caring for young ladies and the hope they’d reach their full potential.”

The writer signs the letter off: “Life is unfair, Yours, J Epstein.”

The letter had been deemed undeliverable, and was sent – apparently as a return – to the Manhattan jail in which Epstein was detained before his death in 2019.

The released documents show that the FBI was alerted to the letter and requested an analysis of it.

After the letter’s release on Tuesday, the DoJ called the document a fake, noting several irregularities with the note and the envelope that held it.

“The writing does not appear to match Jeffrey Epstein’s,” the justice department wrote on X.

“The return address did not list the jail where Epstein was held and did not include his inmate number, which is required for outgoing mail,” the DoJ added.

Officials pointed out the envelope bore a postmark from northern Virginia – noting that Epstein was detained in New York. It was also postmarked on 13 August 2019, three days after Epstein died.

Even before the DoJ declared the letter to be fake, questions had been asked.

The return sender was listed as “J Epstein” at “Manhattan Correctional” – but the correct name for the now-shuttered jail was Metropolitan Correctional Center.

The documents released on Tuesday also show the analysis request by the FBI.

A FBI laboratory request stated that in August 2019, a sender listed as “J Epstein” at “Manhattan Correctional” tried to send a letter to “Larry Nassar at 9300 S Wilmot Road, Tucson, Arizona, 85756”, the address of a federal prison.

Nassar is currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Trump’s name appears more in these files than in other batches of documents released by the DoJ.

Among these files is an email from January 2020, in which a federal prosecutor in New York wrote that newly received flight records “reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware)”.

The recipient of the email was redacted.

Trump was listed as a passenger on “at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996”, and Ghislaine Maxwell was present on at least four of those flights, the prosecutor wrote. Trump was also “listed as having traveled with, among others and at various times, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric”.

Trump was previously married to Marla Maples, Tiffany’s mother, from 1993 to 1999.

The prosecutor also wrote that “on one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and then-20-year-old”, with the third passenger’s name redacted.

“On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case.”

The timing of Trump’s alleged trips coincide with the years that were examined by federal prosecutors for Maxwell’s conduct and travels as part of the criminal case they brought against her. Maxwell was ultimately found guilty of conspiring with Epstein to recruit and sexually abuse minors.

But throughout the files that were released on Tuesday, many of the other mentions of Trump’s name are simply in press clippings mentioning him, his campaigns, and other news moments.

Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in regard to Epstein.

In a statement accompanying Tuesday’s release, the DoJ said the new files “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election”.

The statement continued: “To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.”

Among one of the odder entries in Tuesday’s document drop was a fake video showing an Epstein-like figure in a prison cell. Questions were raised as to how it appeared in the department’s official files.

Other documents showed that a man from Florida sent an email to federal investigators in March 2021 with a link to the video.

That man asked if the footage was real, but it is not. BBC Verify used a reverse image search to find a copy of the video had been uploaded to YouTube in October 2020. The user who posted it said the clip had been created using 3D graphics.

According to a 2023 report by the Bureau of Prisons, no video recording from inside Epstein’s cell on the day of his death exists. His death – as he awaited a trial on sex trafficking charges without the chance of bail – was ruled a suicide.

The fake video’s inclusion in this release gives a glimpse of the questions that federal authorities have received from the general public – many of whom, having heard conspiracy theories or harboured doubts for years, want answers about Epstein’s life and death.

Additional reporting by Shayan Sardarizadeh

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