Tag: jeffrey epstein

Israeli Spy Stayed for Weeks at a Time With Jeffrey Epstein in Manhattan

With the looming end of the U.S. government shutdown amid a deal in the Senate, the House will soon be swearing in Adelita Grijalva to her rightful seat from Arizona, after a historic delay at the hands of Speaker Mike Johnson, taking direction from President Donald Trump, all aimed at blocking her from becoming the final signature needed to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.

In mid-October, the House Oversight Committee released an interview with former U.S. prosecutor Alex Acosta, who told the panel that—contrary to widespread public reporting—he had never told Steve Bannon that Epstein “belonged to intelligence.” Acosta denied ever discussing Epstein with Bannon, and claimed to have “no knowledge as to whether he was or was not a member of the intelligence community.”

Yet, along with Acosta’s interview, the House panel also released a new cache of documents from Epstein’s estate containing direct evidence of Epstein’s links to Israeli intelligence: Epstein’s personal calendars reveal that a senior Israeli intelligence officer, with personal ties to former CIA Director Leon Panetta, lived at Epstein’s Manhattan apartment for multiple stretches between 2013 and 2016. When cross-referenced with emails leaked from the inbox of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a portrait emerges of Epstein at the nexus of high-ranking intelligence officials in both the U.S. and Israel.

This is the fourth piece in Drop Site’s ongoing series on Jeffrey Epstein’s role in brokering intelligence deals for Israel.

In the first, we exposed Epstein’s role in brokering a security agreement between Israel and Mongolia. In the second, we identified Epstein’s effort to set up a backchannel between Israel and Russia during the Syria civil war. In the third, we showed Epstein’s role as a key facilitator of a security agreement between Israel and the West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire.

Meanwhile, we’re left wondering why the rest of the media, which has demonstrated no lack of excitement when it comes to the saga of Jeffrey Epstein, has all of a sudden lost its reporting capacity, in the face of reams of publicly available newsworthy documents. A question for editors reading this newsletter: What are you doing?

From a place of competition, we’re glad the media are sitting on their collective hands and we’re proud to have broken this series of stories, which give us a glimpse of a world that is often hidden from public view. But it’s also a topic that would benefit from the collective attention of our national media. Here’s hoping some will join in.

Either way, we’ll continue the work, and are grateful for the support of readers who make it possible. If you haven’t yet upgraded your subscription, please consider doing so.

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Comey’s Daughter Reportedly Sought To Cut Deal With Epstein To Smear Trump

The former cellmate of Jeffrey Epstein claimed that James Comey’s prosecutor daughter offered the billionaire pedophile a deal to implicate President Donald Trump.

Maurene Comey, who recently resigned as the walls closed in on her notorious FBI father, began serving in 2016 as assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

That put her front and center in the investigations of Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell after Epstein was arrested in July 2019.

While detained in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, Epstein was assigned to a cell with Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer who was serving time for kidnapping  and quadruple murder.

Tartaglione was convicted of killing a man he suspected of stealing some $250,000 in drug money, as well as his nephews and a family friend who “were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” prosecutors said, according to the New York Post.

During the month that Epstein was incarcerated before his apparent suicide, Tartaglione claimed in a recent pardon application that his cellmate had the opportunity to save his skin by throwing the sitting president under the bus.

“Prosecutors … told Epstein that if he said President Trump was involved with Esptein’s crimes he would walk free. in a petition to be pardoned,” according to the Post, which said it had obtained a copy of the filing.

“Epstein told me that Maurene Comey said that he didn’t have to prove anything, as long as President Trump’s people could not disprove it,” the pardon application added.

“According to Maurene Comey, the FBI were ‘her people, not his [President Trump’s].’”

Maurene Comey’s father was forced out of his role as FBI director roughly two years prior. However, questions have continued to swirl about the dubious loyalties of officials including then-Attorney General William Barr and then-FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Even so, questions about Tartaglione’s credibility may outweigh the suspicions against the Deep State.

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Senators Say Bondi And Patel Are Being ‘Sabotaged’ On Epstein Files; Massie Isn’t Buying It

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is challenging explanations that FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi lack full control of their agencies nearly a year into the Trump administration, particularly when it comes to their handling of Jeffrey Epstein investigation files.

Sen. Ron Johnson recently suggested that Patel and Bondi face significant internal resistance. While discussing newly released Arctic Frost investigation documents late last month, Johnson emphasized that records came from whistleblowers rather than official channels.

“We need to do everything we can to assist Director Patel and AG Bondi in making sure they have the staff to take control over these agencies,” Johnson said per a report by Blaze Media. “I think they’re being sabotaged within.”

Johnson added that partisan actors remain embedded in both agencies. “Right now I think Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are overwhelmed by all the mess they’re trying to clean up,” he stated. “There’s still partisan actors burrowed in, trying to sabotage their efforts.”

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah., echoed these concerns, writing that Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino are “undoubtedly being sabotaged from within the FBI.”

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House Oversight Committee Summons Former Prince Andrew To Appear Before Congress Over Abuse Claims Against Him

Will Andrew appear before US Congress?

The Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking ring continues to generate almost daily developments.

Among many other avenues of investigation, we have been reporting here on TGP about how the US House Oversight Committee has been enacting a review on the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell investigations and prosecutions.

Today (6), it arises that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor – the disgraced former British Prince – has been summoned to appear before Congress which is investigating abuse claims against him.

The Telegraph reported:

“In a letter sent to the former Duke of York on Thursday, Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee say they believe he may also have crucial information about co-conspirators and enablers of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.

‘The Oversight Committee will investigate allegations of abuse by Mountbatten Windsor, and will seek information on Epstein’s operations, network, and associates based on the men’s longstanding and well-documented friendship’, they say.”

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Trump Fights Back — Seeks to Proceed with $10 BILLION Lawsuit Against Wall Street Journal Over Epstein ‘Birthday Book’ Hit Piece

President Donald J. Trump is fighting to move forward with his massive $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, and News Corp, accusing them of launching a “deliberate smear campaign” intended to destroy his reputation.

According to ABC News, Trump’s legal team filed a motion late Monday night urging a Florida federal judge to deny the Journal’s request for dismissal, arguing that the outlet’s July article, which tied Trump to a bawdy letter allegedly penned in Jeffrey Epstein’s so-called “birthday book,” was “malicious, defamatory, and politically motivated.”

In their latest filing, Trump’s attorneys blasted the Journal:

“Defendants did not publish the article on the front page of The Wall Street Journal based on a mere harmless joke between friends. Indeed, such an assertion strains credulity beyond repair. The article, and the surrounding media around it, were all a deliberate smear campaign designed to damage President Trump’s reputation.”

Trump’s lawyers are now pushing for oral arguments to expose a coordinated media effort to smear the president.

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Epstein: Dirty Secrets Emerge From a Painful Book — and the Powerful Squirm

The Jeffrey Epstein story ebbs and flows in the national conversation, sometimes seeming a bit less worthy of our attention compared to other urgent matters, only to revive as hot stuff with new developments.

The latest in an endless series of things we need to know about is the posthumously published memoir of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, whose torment by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell began in 2000 and ended in 2002. During that time, she was forced to perform unspeakable acts with the two of them, and others — she said she was “passed around like a platter of fruit.”

To get her to comply and never reveal these horrors, all Epstein had to do was let her know he knew where her little brother went to school. (And he showed her a photo proving it.)

I find this claim believable because someone I know recounted a story from one of his attorneys in a business-related lawsuit against Epstein. He described how during a phone conversation, Epstein mentioned having seen the attorney’s children crossing the street, and warned him to be extra careful so nothing would happen to them.

Back to Giuffre’’s claims: Epstein also bragged that he “owned the Palm Beach police department.” (Manipulating Giuffre was easy: At the age of seven, she had already been molested by a family friend.) Giuffre sued Maxwell and Epstein and became an advocate for other survivors. She committed suicide in April, at the age of 41.

Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice seems to be mentioned all over the place — The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, PBS, CBS, etc. — and it has got to be one of Donald Trump’s worst nightmares, assuming he can even fall asleep.

Because it’s bound to make more and more people demand to see the Epstein files. And to see just how he — Trump — is mentioned.

From the grave, Giuffre powerfully challenges the idea that all those famous people hanging out with Epstein had no inkling what he was up to:

Don’t be fooled by those in Epstein’s circle who say they didn’t know what he was doing. Epstein not only didn’t hide what was happening, he took a certain glee in making people watch. And people did watch — scientists, fundraisers from the Ivy League and other heralded institutions, titans of industry. They watched and they didn’t care.

And this description from on what she had to put up with, and from what sort of men:

[C]hoking, beating and bloodying from a former prime minister, whom she refused to name because “I fear that this man will seek to hurt me if I say his name here.”

As you probably already know, she named, and sued, Prince Andrew. (Note: Giuffre observed no encounters with Donald Trump, but others say they have.)

Related: How Epstein Got Rich: Clue Buried in Lawsuit? – WhoWhatWhy

Whether you think the Jeffrey Epstein story matters or not, the Republicans certainly think it does.

Their most recent effort, in a long series of efforts, to block release of the government’s files on the matter is to indefinitely avoid seating the newest member of the US House, Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ). That’s because she represents the final discharge petition signature needed to force a House vote on releasing those records.

The Grijalva stunt involves House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) claiming that, hey, there’s no reason for the delay and, um, I gotta go.

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Epstein ‘bankrolled Sarah Ferguson for 15 years’ and she ‘took daughters to celebrate his release from prison in US’ astonishing emails claim

Jeffrey Epstein secretly bankrolled Sarah Ferguson for 15 years, astonishing new emails claim.

The convicted paedophile complained to friends about the disgraced duchess’s scrounging ways in messages that suggest his financial support went far beyond the £15,000 she admitted taking from him.

In the previously unseen emails, Epstein reveals Fergie was so desperate to cosy up to him that ‘she was the first to celebrate’ his release from jail ‘with her two daughters in tow’. Princess Beatrice would have been 20 at the time and Eugenie 19, the same age as many of his victims.

The shocking claims are contained in a huge tranche of documents under review by the US Congress. They are set to be released once they have been redacted to protect the identity of hundreds of young girls Epstein raped and sexually abused.

The sordid nature of Fergie’s relationship with the paedophile and the chummy tone of their correspondence makes sickening reading that will repulse the sex offender’s many victims.

Emails seen by The Mail on Sunday show: 

  • Fergie begged to borrow $50,000 to $100,000 to help with ‘small bills’;
  • She asked to visit Epstein’s private island, joking whether her financial woes made it ‘unavailable to bankrupts?’
  • Epstein paid off debts the duchess owed a former employee but became angry when she failed to pay him back as promised;
  • While disavowing Epstein in public, Fergie kept up contact and let him help set up a charity for her;
  • Epstein brazenly gave Fergie ‘talking points’ before she was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. 

Tonight a well-placed source said: ‘Sarah and Prince Andrew have always maintained they distanced themselves from Epstein after his conviction for child prostitution. In fact, it was Epstein who ended up dumping them. He got sick and tired of Sarah constantly asking him for money.

‘She borrowed far more money off him than has ever come out. In public she said one thing but in private she was always holding out the begging bowl.’

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Jeffrey Epstein sent nasty emails to billionaire Leon Black demanding millions per year before arrest: report

Jeffrey Epstein sent a barrage of nasty emails to his cash cow, billionaire Leon Black, pressuring him to fork over millions of dollars per year to keep his lavish lifestyle afloat.

The disgraced financier and sex trafficker warned that Black’s financial advisors and “retarded” children had created a “really dangerous mess” by attempting to plug the flow of cash, according to emails obtained by the New York Times.

“I never want to have any more uncomfortable money moments with you , I find it very distasteful,” Epstein wrote in a Nov. 2, 2015 email to the Apollo Global Management founder.

“so to be clear , my terms are as follows . I will only work for the usual 40 million per year. It needs to be paid, 25 million upon signing an agreement . 5 million every 2 months thereafter for 6 months ie march may june . this can begin if i am able in January. I will immediately stop work , if the payment is not received [sic]” he wrote, according to the outlet.

The emails sent to Black by Epstein in 2015 and 2016 illustrates the strong relationship between the two men, who were close friends as well as business associates.

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Virginia Giuffre beaten, raped by ‘well-known prime minister’ in attack that broke Epstein spell, her memoir reveals

Prominent Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre was brutally bloodied, beaten and raped by a “well-known prime minister” in a series of savage encounters that finally helped the teenager break free from the sex trafficker’s spell.

In her posthumous memoir “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” Giuffre recalled begging Epstein to step in after the unnamed politician forced her to beg for her life — but the pedophile coldly told her it was simply part of her job.

“After the attack, I couldn’t stay a fool. Having been treated so brutally and then seeing Epstein’s callous reaction to how terrorized I felt, I had to accept that Epstein meted out praise merely as a manipulation to keep me subservient,” Giuffre wrote, according to an excerpt shared with The Post.

“Epstein cared only about Epstein.”

Giuffre simply referred to the deranged man as the “Prime Minister,” saying she was afraid the brute would “seek to hurt” her if she printed his name.

In the past, however, she pointed to Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Barak in court filings as one of the many elites who had raped her, a claim he has repeatedly denied.

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Epstein flight manifests revealed as House committee releases docs, transcript with former US attorney

The House Oversight committee on Friday released a transcript of its interview with the former U.S. attorney who initially negotiated a controversial plea deal with disgraced financier, in addition to flight manifest records from Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane.

Members of the oversight committee conducted the interview with Alex Acosta in late September, who previously served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Included in the document release by the House Oversight Committee are flight manifests for Epstein’s private plane, which include Prince Andrew, Bill Gates, Walter Cronkite and Richard Branson. None of these individuals have been accused of any wrongdoing.

Former President Bill Clinton also appeared again in the Epstein flight manifests several times. On at least one flight in 2002, he traveled with Secret Service agents, the documents show. Clinton isn’t accused of any wrongdoing.

Acosta helped Epstein in 2008 secure a plea deal that avoided federal charges by serving 13 months in jail and pleading guilty to state charges. Under the deal, Epstein registered as a sex offender and paid settlements to victims.

In explaining the plea agreement, Acosta claimed the case against Epstein was plagued with issues that may hinder a conviction.

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