Millions of files related to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released by the US justice department, the largest disclosure since a law passed last year ruled that the documents should be published.
The disgraced financier was convicted of child sex offences in 2008 but the files indicate that many high-profile figures, including the former British prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, continued friendships with him after this point.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on new child abuse charges. His accomplice, the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year sentence in the US for child sex trafficking.
Here is what we learned from the latest Epstein files release on Friday.
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Donald Trump
The new documents contain a list, compiled by the FBI, of allegations made against US president Donald Trump through its National Threat Operations Center hotline. Many appear to be unsubstantiated claims of sexual abuse relating to Trump, Epstein and other public figures.
Although Trump is mentioned hundreds of times in the files, he has always denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s sexual abuse. He has admitted having a friendship with Epstein but the pair appear to have fallen out at some point in the mid-noughties, before Epstein was jailed.
The US justice department said: “Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponised against President Trump already.”
Elon Musk
The tech billionaire Elon Musk discussed travelling to Epstein’s island in November 2012, the files show. He sent the financier an email in which he asked: “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” Musk and Epstein continued to discuss the possibility of Musk visiting his island in late 2013.
Musk has not been accused of wrongdoing and it is unclear if he ultimately made the trip. He has not addressed the revelations in detail but said on X that it was “false” to suggest he planned to visit Epstein on another occasion, in 2014.
Bill Gates
According to released emails, Epstein drafted notes to and about Bill Gates in 2013, suggesting that he engaged in extramarital sex. A representative of Gates’ called the accusations “absolutely absurd and completely false.”
In one email, Epstein wrote that he had helped Gates acquire drugs “in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls” and that he had facilitated rendezvous for Gates with married women.
It was not clear if Epstein ever sent the emails to Gates. Epstein wrote the messages about Gates not long after his attempt to broker a venture between Gates’ foundation and JPMorgan Chase fizzled out — depriving Epstein of what he had hoped would be a gusher of income.
Howard Lutnick
The files revealed that Lutnick, now the US commerce secretary, planned a visit to Epstein’s island in 2012, though he previously said he severed ties with Epstein around 2005.
Reached by phone on Friday, Lutnick said he could not comment about the island visit because he had not seen the latest Epstein documents.
“I spent zero time with him,” Lutnick said. He then hung up.
The documents suggest the visit did occur. The gathering was set for December 23rd, 2012. A day later, an assistant to Epstein forwarded Lutnick a message from Epstein: “Nice seeing you,” it said.
Richard Branson
A 2013 email exchange between Branson and Epstein suggests the two had a warm, familiar relationship, built at least in part around their interest in women.
In an email on September 11th, 2013, Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, wrote to Epstein, “It was really nice seeing you yesterday.” He added: “Any time you’re in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!”
A representative for Virgin group said that Branson had sent the email shortly after hosting Epstein at a group business meeting on the private island Branson owns in the British Virgin Islands. Epstein arrived at the meeting with three adult women, whom he referred to as his “harem,” who did not attend the meeting, the representative said.
“Any contact Richard and Joan Branson had with Epstein took place on only a few occasions more than 12 years ago, and was limited to group or business settings,” the representative said in a statement. “Richard believes that Epstein’s actions were abhorrent and supports the right to justice for his many victims.”
Former prince Andrew
Released emails appear to show that Mountbatten-Windsor invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace after Epstein’s house arrest ended.
In 2019, the former prince gave a disastrous interview to the Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis in which he tried to claim he distanced himself from Epstein after his 2008 conviction for abusing a 14-year-old girl in Florida. However, the files suggest the pair remained close.
In September 2010, emails between Epstein and “The Duke” – believed to be Mountbatten-Windsor as the then Duke of York – show Epstein requested “private time” on a planned visit to London.
Mountbatten-Windsor appears to have responded: “We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy.” Two days later, he followed up by saying: “Delighted for you to come here to BP [Buckingham Palace]. Come with whomever and I’ll be here free from 1600ish.”
It is unclear if the meeting took place, but Epstein and Mountbatten-Windsor were pictured walking together in New York’s Central Park three months later. Mountbatten-Windsor previously claimed he had travelled to the US to end his friendship with Epstein in person in light of his conviction.
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The documents also suggest that, the previous month, Epstein had offered to arrange for Mountbatten-Windsor to have dinner with a “clever, beautiful and trustworthy” Russian woman, who was aged 26. Mountbatten-Windsor apparently responded that he would be “delighted” to see the woman. He also asked Epstein if it was “good to be free” from house arrest.
Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to his friendship with Epstein.
Sarah Ferguson
Mountbatten-Windsor’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson, thanked Epstein for being the “brother” she “always wished for” in an email sent a year after his child sex abuse conviction.
In the August 2009 exchange, Ferguson appears to suggest she and her daughters, princess Beatrice and princess Eugenie, met the disgraced financier, saying: “I have never been more touched by a friends [sic] kindness than your compliment to me in front of my girls.”
Epstein was under house arrest when the email was sent, but Ferguson implies that the pair had lunch the previous week. It has not been confirmed if she visited him while he was confined to his home.
In the emails, Ferguson also discusses conversations she has had with retailers regarding her “Sarah Ferguson brand”.
Epstein gave Ferguson at least £15,000 (€17,300) to help pay off debts, but some reports have suggested he bankrolled her to a much greater extent. In 2011, Ferguson said her relationship with Epstein had been a “gigantic error of judgment” but later emailed him privately to apologise.
Peter Mandelson
Epstein sent £10,000 to Peter Mandelson’s husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, in the year after his conviction. The emails suggest this was to fund an osteopathy course.
In another set of emails, Mandelson asks to stay at one of Epstein’s properties while he is serving his jail term. The terms of Epstein’s sentence allowed him to work from his office during the day and return to jail each night.
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Mandelson said on Friday he had been “wrong” to continue his association with Epstein after his conviction, but said he was “never culpable or complicit” in his crimes.
Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US last September when it emerged he had sent supportive messages to Epstein after he was convicted.
On Sunday Mandelson said he had resigned from his membership of the Labour Party as he does not wish to “cause further embarrassment” over his links to Epstein. – Guardian/New York Times/PA
