Dozens of documents received the wall street journal , testify to Epstein’s meetings with several notables, including William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency when he was undersecretary of state in 2014. The 67-year-old CIA chief met Epstein there was about 10 years old when he was about to leave the government, CIA spokeswoman Tammy Kupperman Thorpe told the newspaper. “The principal doesn’t know anything about him other than he (Epstein) was introduced as a financial services expert and given general advice on moving to the private sector,” she said. “They had no relationship.”
The notables were not accused of any wrongdoing and all claimed their ties to Epstein were purely professional or social. According to the publication, none of the names appeared in Epstein’s “black book” of contacts or in the logbooks of passengers who traveled on his private jet. It is also unclear what the purpose of each meeting was and whether they actually took place, the newspaper writes.
Despite his death and conviction, questions remain as to who in Epstein’s famous circle of friends and associates may have committed unlawful acts in his presence. It has also led to a plethora of conspiracy theories alleging Epstein was killed because of who he had dirt on. Epstein officially committed suicide in his Manhattan jail cell on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Documents show that writer, activist and professor Noam Chomsky was supposed to fly with Epstein and have dinner at his Manhattan home in 2015. According to the publication, Leon Botstein met Epstein on several occasions and even invited him to his college campus. The publication says Katherine Rümmler, who served as a White House adviser under President Barack Obama, met Epstein dozens of times between her White House career and her next job as a lawyer at Goldman Sachs.
Most of the people included in the thousands of pages of emails and schedules from 2013 to 2017 told the publication they were dating Epstein because of his wealth and connections. Some believed they believed he had been rehabilitated. Others said they had more personal goals: Botstein said he was trying to get Epstein to donate to his institution, while Chomsky said he wanted to discuss political and academic matters with a well-connected financier.
Epstein has been accused of sexually abusing girls in Florida, some of whom were as young as 14. In 2008, he reached a settlement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting and recruiting a minor into prostitution. Under a secret agreement, the US Attorney’s office in Miami agreed not to pursue federal charges. The case undermined Epstein’s authority: several of his politicians returned donations, clients and banks severed ties with him, writes the WSJ. In 2019, Epstein was federally charged with conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation after the Miami Herald reported that dozens of women said he assaulted them. But he committed suicide before appearing in court. Following a trial in Manhattan federal court, a jury in December 2021 found Epstein’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, guilty of multiple crimes, including sex trafficking of minors. The British socialite was sentenced to 20 years in prison but is currently appealing, according to the New York Post.
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