Thousands of documents in the so-called "Epstein Files", amassed by the US Department of Justice following multiple criminal investigations into Epstein's activities, have been released.
Following months of refusal, US Congress in November ordered the department to release the full cache.
The documents cover multiple facets of Epstein's life spanning many years, and simply appearing in the cache does not suggest involvement in wrongdoing or sordid activity.
However, at least in some cases, the documents appear to show Epstein's 2008 conviction did little to discourage people from staying connected to the convicted sex offender.
Epstein served about a year in jail after his guilty plea to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl but then went on to renew relationships with many high-profile figures in business, academia and politics.
He then took his own life in 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges.
The release of about 20,000 documents in November brought his connections back into the spotlight and now the first tranche of the Epstein files offer another glimpse into his relationships with some of the world's most powerful people.
ABC News journalists are currently combing through those files and some revelations may take time to emerge.
But here are the main things that have cropped up in the few hours since their release — and some of Epstein's key connections we already knew about.
Celebrity snaps and a lot of Bill Clinton
Among the documents released today are thousands of photos that feature celebrities, rock stars and well-known associates of Epstein. Being named or pictured in the files does not imply any wrongdoing or criminal activity.
Most of the photos contain no context on when or where they were taken, and many people's faces have been blacked out.
Some of the faces we've seen include disgraced actor Kevin Spacey, musical artists Mick Jagger, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, and billionaire Richard Branson.
There's also an image of Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, pictured with a woman who's identity has been covered.
Former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor appears in a group photo, where everyone but Ghislaine Maxwell has been redacted.
Mountbatten-Windsor lost his royal title over his past connections with Epstein but has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Former US president Bill Clinton appears numerous times in the documents released today.
Some images show him swimming in a pool with Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of Epstein's who is now serving time in prison for sex trafficking.
Most of the photos of Mr Clinton show him pictured with women whose faces have been redacted.
#startcarousel
#br
#br
#br
#br
#endcarousel
His spokesperson, Angel Ureña, has released a statement on social media accusing the Trump administration of "shielding themselves from what comes next".
"They can release as many grainy 20-plus-year-old photos as they want, but this isn't about Bill Clinton. Never has, never will be," he said.
There is no implication that Mr Clinton has been involved in wrongdoing.
The Epstein connections we already knew about
US President Donald Trump, who initially opposed the release of all the Epstein files, reversed his position and encouraged Republicans to vote in favour of it, once it became clear the bill had the numbers to pass.
It came after Mr Trump's relationship with Epstein was pushed back into the spotlight after several years-old emails were released by the US president's opponents in early November.
In November, Mr Trump also asked the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Epstein's links to prominent Democrats, including former president Bill Clinton and his US Treasury secretary, Larry Summers.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was also stripped of his prince title in October, after the release of prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre's memoir, in which she accused the former prince of sleeping with her when she was 17. He has consistently denied the allegations.
Shortly after, the newly released batch of emails appeared to reveal the former prince was in contact with Epstein months after he claimed their relationship had ended.
Epstein's rumoured ties have also extended to influential figures across the globe, including the UK's former ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson and former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak.
Donald Trump
Emails released in November show an exchange between Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, dated 2011 — after Mr Trump and Epstein had purportedly ended their friendship.
In the first email, which contains multiple typos, Epstein wrote to Maxwell:
"i want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump.. [Redacted victim's name] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there."
Maxwell replied to Epstein that evening:
"I've been thinking about that…"
Though the victim's name was redacted in the published version of the email, she has been identified as prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Before her death in Australia earlier this year, Ms Giuffre said she was recruited by Maxwell while working at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump's members-only club. However, she said she never saw Trump engage in any inappropriate conduct.
In late August, publicly released interviews with Maxwell said she had never seen Mr Trump in "any inappropriate setting in any way".
"The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects," she said, according to the transcript.
She added that she never heard Epstein or anyone else allude to Mr Trump as doing "anything inappropriate with masseuses".
In another email from 2019, Epstein wrote to author Michael Wolff, saying:
"[Redacted victim's name] mara lago. [Redacted text]. Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop"
The AP left messages with Wolff seeking comment, while Mr Trump has denied any knowledge of the email or Epstein's crimes.
It is understood Donald Trump was friends with Epstein for at least 15 years.
In a 2002 New York Magazine feature on Epstein, Mr Trump calls him a "terrific guy" and a "lot of fun to be with".
"It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side," Mr Trump told the magazine.
The pair were seen throughout the 90s frequently attending parties together and Mr Trump's name is also seen in Epstein's flight logs seven times — though none of these flights are to his private island, Little St James.
Little St James is one of Epstein's private Caribbean islands where he was alleged to have trafficked underage girls and welcomed a number of high-profile guests.
"I never went to his island, fortunately," Mr Trump told podcaster Lex Fridman in 2024.
"But a lot of people did."
After Epstein's 2019 arrest, Mr Trump said he had not spoken to him for 15 years due to a "falling out".
In July, Mr Trump revised the reason for the pair's falling-out, saying it was because Epstein "stole" young women from the club.
"When I heard about it, I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people'," he told reporters.
"And then, not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.'"
Mr Trump's name once again appeared in Epstein's birthday book — a collection of messages from friends and associates compiled for his 50th birthday in 2003 — contained in a letter in the shape of a naked woman.
The message reads: "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey," wishing that "every day be another wonderful secret" and adding: "Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?"
Mr Trump's signature appears at the bottom, in an apparent reference to pubic hair.
The Wall Street Journal had previously reported on the existence of the book and letter in July, prompting a defamation suit from Mr Trump.
The White House, and Mr Trump, have both denied the signature's authenticity and want to have the handwriting analysed.
Another image in the book shows Epstein standing among palm trees and holding an oversized novelty cheque for $22,500 with a "Trump" signature on it.
Bill Clinton
Mr Trump isn't the only president who was seen to associate with Epstein.
Court documents in Ms Giuffre's case against Ghislaine Maxwell, unsealed in 2024, feature Mr Clinton's name several times.
Ms Giuffre claimed she had met Mr Clinton shortly after his presidency ended on one of the private Caribbean islands where Epstein was alleged to have sexually trafficked and assaulted underage girls.
She did not allege any wrongdoing by the former president, but her legal team repeatedly pushed for him to be subpoenaed to give testimony about his relationship with Epstein.
According to the records, one of Epstein's alleged victims, Johanna Sjoberg, testified that Epstein once told her Mr Clinton "likes them young, referring to girls".
In September, as Epstein's 2003 birthday book was released, a message from Mr Clinton was also released.
"It's reassuring isn't it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing … and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends," the former president wrote.
In the same article where Mr Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy", a spokesperson for Mr Clinton said he was thankful for Epstein's "insights and generosity" after the financier chartered a flight to Africa.
While flight logs from other lawsuits have shown Mr Clinton did travel on Epstein's jet, they do not mention a visit to Epstein's private island, Little St James.
His lawyers, a spokesman and a former FBI director have all stated he did not visit the island.
Mr Clinton's spokesman, Angel Ureña, said in a 2019 statement that he had "not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade".
"President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York," he said.
In her released August interviews, Maxwell said Mr Clinton was her friend and she never saw him receive a massage — nor did she believe he ever did.
The only times they were together, she said, were the two dozen or so times they travelled on Epstein's plane.
"That would've been the only time that I think that then-president Clinton could have even received a massage," Maxwell said.
"And he didn't, because I was there."
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
Former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, King Charles's brother, has repeatedly found himself drawn into Epstein's web.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre publicly claimed that Epstein and associate Ghislaine Maxwell forced her to have sex with the former Duke of York in 2001 when she was 17 — which he has always denied.
A recently released email from Epstein appears to confirm that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with Virginia Roberts Giuffre despite his repeated denials.
Epstein — who allegedly took the photo — sent the email, which contains multiple spelling mistakes, in July 2011.
"Yes, she was on my plane, and yes, she had her picture taken with Andrew, as many of my employees have," the email read.
It was sent after The Mail on Sunday first published the photograph in March that year.
Epstein's account contradicted the former prince's assertion that he never met Ms Giuffre, and his long-standing suggestion that the photo was doctored.
In a separate email to publicist Peggy Siegal on July 1, 2011, Epstein said: "he [sic] girl who accused Prince Andrew can easily be proven a liar. I think Buckingham Palace would love it. You should task someone to investigate the girl, that has caused the Queens son all this agro."
The trove of documents also appear to show the former prince was in contact with Epstein months after he claimed their relationship had ended.
Using an email address titled "The Duke", the correspondence of March 2011 was in response to a list of questions sent by a reporter from the British tabloid The Mail on Sunday.
The queries included the allegation that the then-prince had sex with Ms Giuffre in a London house in 2001.
The former prince responded to the list of questions by instructing Epstein to ensure a strong denial was sent to the newspaper.
"Please make sure that every statement or legal letter states clearly that I am NOT involved and that I knew and know NOTHING about any of these allegations," the message states.
"I can't take any more of this, my end."
Epstein responded to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor several hours later, again containing multiple spelling mistakes.
"Just got it two minutes ago … I ye asked g [Ghislaine Maxwell] lawyers to send a letter. Not sure, it is so salcisous and ridiculous, I'm not sure how to respond," he said.
"The only person she didn't have sex with was Elvis."
Other information has since emerged that appears to contradict Mr Mountbatten-Windsor's insistence that he broke off contact with Epstein in 2010.
In October, The Mail on Sunday revealed another email exchange between the former prince and Epstein where Mr Mountbatten-Windsor said "it would seem we are in this together and will have to rise above it".
The Mail emails from February 2011 also revealed he told Epstein to "keep in close touch" and hoped that they would "play some more soon".
An email from Mr Mountbatten-Windsor's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, also suggested continued contact with Epstein in 2011, describing him as a "steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family".
A spokesperson for Ms Ferguson said her email was written to counter a threat from Epstein to sue her for defamation and that she really regretted any association with him, the BBC reported.
In 2022, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor settled a lawsuit brought by Ms Giuffre, which did not include an admission of guilt, and said he regretted his friendship with Epstein.
In August this year, Maxwell further denied the claims as "rubbish" and spoke glowingly of the prince.
In the released 2024 documents, one of Epstein's alleged victims, Johanna Sjoberg, claims Mr Mountbatten-Windsor also groped her in 2001 while she was visiting Maxwell's London home.
Buckingham Palace has said the allegations are "categorically untrue" but in October, King Charles stripped his brother of his prince title and ordered him to leave the royal lodge.
Reporting with ABC Europe correspondent Kathryn Diss
Larry Summers
Recently released emails have revealed Larry Summers — who served as US Treasury secretary under former president Bill Clinton — maintained a friendly relationship with Epstein long after his 2008 guilty plea.
There is no allegation of sexual misconduct or wrongdoing against Mr Summers but he seemingly sought advice on his personal life from the financier.
A 2019 email to Epstein showed Mr Summers discussing interactions he had with a woman, writing that "I said what are you up to. She said 'I'm busy'. I said awfully coy u are."
Epstein, who often wrote with spelling and grammatical errors, replied, "you reacted well.. annoyed shows caring. , no whining showed strentgh."
When asked about the emails, Mr Summers issued a statement saying he has "great regrets in my life" and that his association with Epstein was a "major error in judgement".
After the emails' release, Mr Summers abruptly went on leave from teaching at Harvard University, where he once served as president.
He has also severed ties with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, after sitting on its board of directors.
The Center for American Progress, a progressive DC-based think tank, confirmed Mr Summers was "ending his fellowship at CAP". A spokesperson for the Budget Lab at Yale also told the AP Mr Summers was no longer a member of the organisation's advisory group.
Steve Bannon
Steve Bannon, a former top advisor to Mr Trump and a longtime ally, has been revealed as another political figure Epstein was connected to.
In several recently released emails from 2018, Epstein advised Bannon on his political tour of Europe that year.
Bannon first forwarded Epstein a news clip that described the German media as "underestimating" Bannon and that he was "As Dangerous as Ever".
"luv it," Epstein responded.
Epstein wrote that he'd just spoken to "one of the country leaders that we discussed" and that "we should lay out a strategy plan. . how much fun".
Several months later, Epstein sent some advice: "If you are going to play here , you'll have to spend time, europe by remote doesn't work."
"its doable but time consuming," Epstein continued in a follow-up email, "there are many leaders of countries we can organize for you to have one on ones".
Bannon did not immediately respond to the AP's requests for comment.
Robert F Kennedy Jr
The current US Secretary of Health and Human Services has been candid about his former ties to Epstein.
He has said he went on Epstein's jet twice, with his family.
Mr Kennedy said, in 1993, he went to Florida with his wife and children to visit his mother over Easter.
A second time, he told Fox News in 2023, he used the plane to go "fossil hunting" in South Dakota
"My wife had some kind of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell and they offered us a ride to Palm Beach so I went then," he said.
He clarified he was "never on his jet alone".
"It was before anybody knew about Jeffrey Epstein's nefarious issues," he added.
The politician didn't elaborate how his first wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, knew Maxwell.
Pictures have also shown the pair at a table together during a New York Academy of Art gala in 1994.
Kathryn Ruemmler
In 2018, Epstein was insulting Mr Trump in messages to Kathryn Ruemmler, the former White House counsel under President Barack Obama, recently released emails show.
Ms Ruemmler sent a message to Epstein calling Trump "so gross". A portion of that message was redacted, but Epstein replied, "worse in real life and up close".
"You see, I know how dirty Donald is," he wrote in another note to Ms Ruemmler.
In other emails with Ms Ruemmler, Epstein detailed a whirlwind of well-known people he appears to have been meeting, hosting or speaking with that week, including an ambassador, a tech giant, foreign businesspeople, academics and a film director.
"you are a welcome guest at any," he wrote.
Jennifer Zuccarelli, a spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, where Ms Ruemmler now works, declined to comment to the AP.
Peter Mandelson
Epstein's rumoured ties continue to dog influential figures across the globe.
The United Kingdom's ambassador to the US was fired by British PM Keir Starmer in September after the depth of his friendship was revealed.
Before his ambassador role, Lord Mandelson had served as a politician and minister in previous British Labour governments and as a so-called "spin doctor" for the party.
He is also considered the architect of former prime minister Tony Blair's landslide election win in 1997.
Lord Mandelson was quoted in Epstein's 2003 birthday book as referring to the disgraced financier as his "best pal".
It came a day after the British Telegraph newspaper revealed that, when Lord Mandelson was business secretary in 2010, Epstein had helped broker the 1 billion pound ($2 billion) sale of a UK taxpayer-owned banking business.
This was said to have taken place after Epstein first admitted child sex offences in 2008.
Leaked email correspondence dating from 2008 also suggested Mr Mandelson held doubts about Epstein's conviction.
"I think the world of you and I feel hopeless and furious about what has happened," he wrote to Epstein, in emails seen by British media.
"Your friends stay with you and love you."
In response to the emails, Lord Mandelson told the BBC that he "relied on assurances of his innocence that turned out later to be horrendously false".
"His lawyers claimed that it was a shakedown of him, a criminal conspiracy. I foolishly relied on their word, which I regret to this day," he said.
Ehud Barak
The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak visited Epstein dozens of times and accepted flights on his private jet in 2014, a Wall Street Journal investigation into Epstein's schedule revealed in 2023.
Mr Barak told the publication he often visited Epstein when he travelled to New York.
He said he met interesting people at Epstein's townhouse, where they would discuss politics and other topics.
"In retrospect, [Epstein] seems to be a terrible version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but at the time seemed to be an intelligent person, socially well connected and of wide areas of interest, from science to geopolitics," Mr Barak responded to the story.
He said that he never participated in any parties or activities with girls or women and had no knowledge of Epstein's activities.
A New York Times investigation also found Mr Barak and his wife, Nili Priel, penned a note in 2016, hailing Epstein as "A COLLECTOR OF PEOPLE" and that Epstein preserved a map of Israel drawn on a chalkboard with Mr Barak's signature.
George Mitchell
Former Democratic Senate majority leader and primary architect in Ireland's 1998 Good Friday Agreement also went on the record as calling Epstein a "friend and a supporter".
In the 2002 New York Magazine piece, Mr Mitchell says Epstein had "supported some philanthropic projects of mine and organized a fund-raiser for me once".
Virginia Giuffre alleged Epstein told her to have sex with Mr Mitchell, according to court documents unsealed in 2019.
Mr Mitchell denied the allegation and said he had "never met, spoken with or had any contact with Ms Giuffre".
"In my contacts with Mr Epstein I never observed or suspected any inappropriate conduct with underage girls," he told Vanity Fair.
"I only learned of his actions when they were reported in the media related to his prosecution in Florida. We have had no further contact."
Epstein's pilot, Larry Visoski, also testified to having flown Mr Mitchell on Epstein's plane, but did not accuse him of wrongdoing.
Bill Richardson
Ms Giuffre similarly alleged Epstein told her to have sex with former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.
Before his death last year, Mr Richardson denied ever meeting Ms Giuffre, and he was not charged with any crime.
Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, is another figure Mr Trump asked the FBI to investigate Epstein's "involvement and relationship" with after he was named in the release of 20,000 documents in November, despite him not being accused of wrongdoing by any alleged Epstein victims.
One of Silicon Valley's most influential individuals, billionaire Peter Thiel, also appeared in those documents. He had first been mentioned in a batch made public in September.
Reports of his ties to Epstein have also dogged Bill Gates for years, since the New York Times reported in 2019 the pair had met several times.
Bill Gates
Epstein and Microsoft founder Bill Gates met several times, The New York Times reported in 2019.
The tech billionaire has said that he regretted his meetings with Epstein and called them "a mistake".
By the time the pair met, Epstein was already a registered sex offender following his 2008 conviction.
Following her divorce from Gates, Melinda Gates revealed she had questioned the meetings.
"I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him," she told CBS in 2022.
Mr Gates later said Melinda's instincts might have been "keener than mine".
"Any meeting I had with him could be viewed as almost condoning his evil behaviour. So, that was a mistake," he said.
A New York Times investigation also found Epstein framed a dollar bill signed by Bill Gates, possibly as payment of a bet.
"I was wrong!" the bill read.
Reid Hoffman
Emails between Epstein and Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn founder and Democratic donor, were among the 20,000 documents released in November.
Nothing in the messages suggested any wrongdoing on Mr Hoffman's part.
After Epstein's sex trafficking arrest in 2019, Mr Hoffman said he'd previously only had a few interactions with the financier, all related to his fundraising for MIT's Media Lab.
Mr Hoffman nevertheless apologised, saying that "by agreeing to participate in any fundraising activity where Epstein was present, I helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice".
Mr Hoffman recently called for Mr Trump to release all the Epstein files, saying they will show that "the calls for baseless investigations of me are nothing more than political persecution and slander".
Mr Hoffman bankrolled writer E Jean Carroll's sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against Mr Trump.
Peter Thiel
One of Silicon Valley's most influential individuals, billionaire Peter Thiel, appeared again in the Epstein documents released in November — having first been mentioned in a batch made public in September.
Epstein sent an email to Mr Thiel in 2014 saying "that was fun , see you in 3 weeks".
Four years later, Epstein asked if Mr Thiel was enjoying Los Angeles, and, after Mr Thiel said he couldn't complain, replied "Dec visit me Caribbean". It's unclear if Mr Thiel ever responded.
Mr Thiel is one of the co-founders of PayPal and the CIA-backed Palantir Technologies, and was an early investor in Facebook.
He's a major financial backer of MAGA Republicans in the US.
Mr Thiel did not immediately respond to the AP's requests for comment, and a representative told Politico that he never visited the island.
Les Wexner
The billionaire founder of L Brands (which might be better known for owning Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works) is one of Epstein's only public former financial clients.
Epstein's 51,000-square-foot Manhattan townhouse was bought from Mr Wexner, and the sex offender even served as trustee of the Wexner Foundation from 1992 to 2007, according to reports.
Mr Wexner said he severed all ties with Epstein in 2007 after he "misappropriated vast sums of money" from Mr Wexner's family.
In 2020, an independent review found Epstein played "no meaningful role" in the budget, finances or accounting practices of the Wexner Foundation.
Mr Wexner also publicly told investors he was "embarrassed" by his ties to the disgraced financier and stepped down as L Brands CEO in 2020.
Glenn Dubin
The hedge fund manager and billionaire was referenced in Virginia Giuffre's allegations.
In court documents unsealed following Giuffre's civil suit against Maxwell, Giuffre testified that "Ghislaine told me to go to Glenn Dubin and give him a massage, which means sex".
Mr Dubin denies all allegations.
The billionaire's wife Eva Andersson-Dubin also reportedly dated Epstein for years in the 1980s before she met Mr Dubin.
And according to Vanity Fair in 2019, the pair stayed in contact with Epstein after his conviction.
According to that article, Mrs Andersson-Dubin also wrote an email to Epstein's probation officer, asserting that she was "100% comfortable with Jeffrey Epstein around my children", who were then all minors.
Jes Staley
Former Barclays CEO Jes Staley allegedly called his relationship with Epstein "profound".
Court documents from a lawsuit against JP Morgan by the US Virgin Islands unsealed in 2023suggest Mr Staley exchanged around 1,200 emails with Epstein between 2008 and 2012.
Epstein was a client of JPMorgan from about 2000 to 2013, where Mr Staley served in a number of senior roles.
A 2009 email Mr Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein, describes the depth of their friendship.
"I'm in the hot tub with a glass of white wine … I owe you much. And I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have few so profound."
Another email in 2010 sees the pair referring to Disney princesses.
"That was fun. Say hi to Snow White," Mr Staley emailed Epstein in July 2010, according to the filings.
"What character would you like next?" Epstein replied.
"Beauty and the Beast," Mr Staley allegedly responded.
Mr Staley was forced out of his Barclays position in 2021 after the UK financial regulator found he had failed to accurately disclose the nature and length of his relationship with Epstein.
Mr Staley has consistently denied knowing anything about Epstein's crimes.
He told a 2025 tribunal hearing against the UK financial regulator his relationship with Epstein was professional rather than personal and he had no idea about Epstein's "monstrous activities".
An email chain between Epstein and American author Michael Wolff, released in November, reveals the pair once discussed how Mr Trump would handle journalists' questions about his connection with Epstein.
The chummy exchange wasn't the first time Epstein's name had been tied to well-known figures in media, the arts and academia.
Prominent scholar Noam Chomsky reportedly had several meetings with Epstein after his 2008 guilty plea, while the Wall Street Journal also reported director Woody Allen attended dozens of dinners at Epstein's mansion.
Michael Wolff
Michael Wolff is an American journalist, columnist, and author of books on the rich and the famous.
Recently released messages between Epstein and Wolff show the pair had a frequently chummy exchange, and in one case, show Wolff giving Epstein advice on how to deal with the media.
Wolff's advice came in a December 2015 exchange, where the writer said he heard CNN was going to ask then-presidential candidate Donald Trump about his relationship with Epstein.
Epstein replied: "If we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?"
"I think you should let him hang himself," Wolff replied.
"If he says he hasn't been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency.
"You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt."
Wolff has said the email exchanges were part of his investigations into Trump. He admitted on the "Inside Trump's Head" podcast that some of the email messages were embarrassing, but said his knowledge of the media offers "the kind of cachet that gives me a place at the table, which has gotten me the Epstein story, if anybody wanted to pay attention".
Noam Chomsky
The US intellectual reportedly had several meetings with Epstein while a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
A Wall St Journal report found that Epstein had met with Mr Chomsky in March 2015 — a meeting Mr Chomsky said was discussing neuroscience and other topics.
In 2018, Mr Chomsky also asked Epstein for help with a "technical matter" regarding the disbursement of common funds relating to his first marriage, the Journal reported.
He confirmed the transfer of approximately $270,000 from an account linked to Epstein, telling the publication it was "restricted to rearrangement of my own funds, and did not involve one penny from Epstein".
When asked about his relationship with Epstein, Mr Chomsky also replied in an email: "First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone's. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally."
Epstein donated at least $US850,000 to MIT between 2002 and 2017, according to the university's 2020 review.
In a 2020 interview with the "dunc tank" podcast, Mr Chomsky said that people he considered worse than Epstein had donated to MIT.
Michael Jackson
One of Epstein's alleged victims, Johanna Sjoberg, said she met the pop star through Epstein, although she did not allege any wrongdoing by Mr Jackson.
Asked whether she massaged Mr Jackson, Ms Sjoberg said: "I did not."
Mr Jackson's life was plagued by child sexual abuse allegations, though his estate continues to deny all allegations, as Mr Jackson did in his lifetime.
Woody Allen
The famous director Woody Allen attended dozens of dinners with his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, at Epstein's mansion and invited Epstein to film screenings, according to a Wall Street Journal story.
Mr Allen's spokeswoman told the publication the filmmaker went with his wife to group social events at Epstein's townhouse. Mr Allen has previously said Epstein had told them he had been "falsely put in jail in some way".
In a New York Times investigation, Mr Allen also penned a letter describing how the dinners at Epstein's home reminded him of Dracula's castle, "where Lugosi has three young female vampires who service the place."
Mr Allen has faced sexual abuse allegations from his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow — allegations he labelled "untrue and disgraceful".
David Copperfield
Alleged victim Johanna Sjoberg said she met the magician through Epstein, although she did not allege any wrongdoing by Mr Copperfield.
A 2024 Guardian investigation alleged Mr Copperfield appeared to have met with Epstein at least three times in the years before his 2008 conviction.
In response, his lawyers said the magician "was not a friend of Jeffrey Epstein" and was unaware of his "horrific crimes".
Jean-Luc Brunel
Modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel was considered central to the French investigation into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls by Epstein.
Epstein often travelled to France and had apartments in Paris.
Virginia Giuffre alleged that Mr Brunel procured women, some of them minors, for sex with Epstein and other wealthy people, luring them with promises of modelling work.
In 2022, Mr Brunel was found hanged in his jail cell after he was arrested on suspicion of the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation.
Mr Brunel had denied any wrongdoing.
His arrest was part of a French inquiry into sex trafficking and sexual assault allegations against Epstein, focusing on potential crimes committed against French victims and suspects who were French citizens.
ABC/wires
