Five questions about Jeffrey Epstein with Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown
That reporting led the Southern District of New York to bring new sex crime charges against Epstein in 2019, but he died in federal custody one month later in what has been ruled a suicide.
Epstein's vast network of high-powered friends, including President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, along with Epstein's shocking death, have given rise to numerous conspiracy theories.
When the U.S. Department of Justice declined to release more information about its investigations into Epstein, it led to public outcry and caused a rift in the Republican Party.
The Miami Herald asked Brown five questions to help readers separate fact from fiction in a scandal that continues to capture the public's attention like no other. The conversation has been edited for clarity.
Q: Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly told President Donald Trump earlier this year that he is in the Epstein files. Is that a surprise? What do you think might be in the files related to Trump's relationship with Epstein?
A: Well, Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were very good friends for many years. They moved in the same social circles in New York and in Palm Beach, where they both had homes, and they both had a lot in common. They both liked beautiful women, as Trump is often quoted as saying, noting that Epstein liked them on the younger side, as he said in an interview many years ago.
So we know that they were friends. We are uncertain how close they were and also uncertain as to when their friendship had broken off because we kept hearing that they had a falling out at some point over a real estate deal and then later over an incident that happened at Trump's club Mar-a-Lago, involving a member who claimed that Epstein hit on his underage daughter. From that point, from what we understand, there was a falling out, and there wasn't really as close of a friendship. But in the '90s and early 2000s, it was thought that they were pretty close.
Trump had to know that he was in the files in some aspect because there have been plenty of stories written about him being on the plane, and the plane logs are part of some of these files. It's been well reported that he was part of the so-called little black book, which was essentially a phone directory that had almost every single imaginable phone number that Trump had, including his car phone, his secretary and his office. And then the third thing is he was on the message pads as having called Epstein back in the early 2000s. When the Palm Beach police searched Epstein's home, they found hundreds and hundreds of message pads, and Trump's name was on some of those, indicating that he had called Epstein. So, it'd be hard to believe that Trump didn't realize his name was in the files in some aspect since the black book itself was part of those files.
Q: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday, and the U.S. House Oversight Committee plans to talk with her in August. What kind of information do you think Maxwell could reveal?
A: Ghislaine Maxwell knows pretty much everything, I think. She was what the victims consider the mastermind of Epstein's sex trafficking organization. She was recruiting women to both work for Epstein and help schedule his trysts with these girls, these massage sessions, as they were called at the time. But she started the ball rolling by going into spas and gyms throughout Palm Beach and giving her business card to to young girls and telling them, 'You know, I work for a very wealthy man. He is looking for a masseuse. You can make a lot of money.' And that's what got the ball rolling.
Some of the victims consider her in some aspects worse than Epstein because they felt safe with her. Here was this woman that was a very nurturing kind of personality, very bubbly, telling them that this man's fine, he's going to help you. And they trusted her to some degree. So then to learn that she was part of the crime was a real betrayal to them because they were sort of tricked into this world by Ghislaine Maxwell.
Q: In the wake of the Justice Department's decision not to release files from its investigation into Epstein, they are now seeking to have grand jury records released from the two federal investigations into Epstein and its investigation into Ghislaine Maxwell. What do we think these records will show?
A: The Justice Department right now seems to be limiting its scope of what it's going to release or try to get unsealed. There were apparently two grand juries in Florida that were seated back in 2005 and 2007. Then there was another one in 2019 concerning Epstein's crimes and another in 2020 concerning Maxwell's crimes. At least that's what the motion that was filed by the Justice Department indicated. And so what they're seeking is all the underlying documents, mainly the testimony that was presented before all these grand juries.
It's hard to know what was in the earlier grand jury because it never resulted in an indictment. The records that we do have concerning the early federal probe into Epstein indicates that the prosecutors were having a hard time being able to present witnesses before those grand juries because Epstein's lawyers kept trying to intervene and present all kinds of reasons for them not to go before a grand jury. So it was very messy at the time, and we really don't know how successful they were in presenting any kind of evidence back then.
And then in 2019, the FBI ended up reinvestigating the case. We know that there was another grand jury, but we believe that the information that was presented to the grand jury back in 2019 was very narrowly focused on the minimum amount of evidence that they would need to get an indictment for Epstein. Traditionally in grand jury cases, you don't present your whole case anyway. You don't present all your witnesses. You just try to find a minimum amount of information in order to get an indictment. You can always do another indictment if it turns out the case is bigger than that or there's more crimes that you encounter, but initially you just want to get a minimum indictment. And that's what happened in 2019 and also with Maxwell in 2020.
Q: Is there an Epstein list? If so, who do you think is on it?
A: I don't think there was a proverbial Epstein list, per se. It was Maxwell who kept his little black book. Epstein wasn't really adept at using computers, and he used other people that worked for him to compile things on computers, for example, so I don't think he had a singular list.
What I do think is that he was a businessman and that he probably kept files on these men because a couple of the victims said that Epstein had quizzed them after their massage slash sex sessions about what kind of things the men enjoyed in the bedroom. And they thought that he was doing that in order to get something on the men.
Q: No one understands the Epstein story better than you do. Why do you think it has held the public's attention for so long?
A: I think that the reason why the Epstein story has held the public's attention is because it's a mystery that has all the elements that people gravitate toward. It has money, politics, sex, crime and mystery, because we really don't know all the answers. I think the public is very suspect of our government and the way that it operates. There is a distrust of the way that our government withholds information, for example, or covers things up, in their minds. So I think that this is an example of a case that still is a mystery, even after 20 years. We don't know all the answers, and it's a horrific crime. One would think that our government would have wanted to get to the bottom of how this happened a long time ago.
If you have more questions for Julie K. Brown, fill out the form below to send her a question.
Can't see the form below? Click here to fill it out.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why copper, aluminium and steel are at the core of Trump's MAGA ideology
Like the US government's country-specific tariffs, the hefty 50% levies on all steel, copper and aluminium imports go beyond economics — reflecting Trump's desire to reclaim once-dominant US industries and rally his blue-collar base. "Much of the motivation for tariffs on the base inputs of production, such as copper, is primarily a political motivation," David Stritch, a senior FX Analyst at Caxton, told Euronews. "Trump has on several occasions become frustrated at the reversal in the production of all three materials, away from the United States, which was the dominant global producer as recently as the 1980's, and towards Chile for copper and China for steel and aluminium," he continued. Trump has long framed steel and aluminium as the backbone of American strength, linking their production to economic survival as well as national security. During his first term in 2018, he underscored just how central he believes these industries are. "A strong steel and aluminium industry are vital to our national security. Absolutely vital," Trump said. "Steel is steel. You don't have steel, you don't have a country. Our industries have been targeted for years and years — decades, in fact — by unfair foreign trade practices leading to the shuttered plants and mills, the laying off of millions of workers, and the decimation of entire communities. And that's going to stop, right? It's going to stop," he declared at the time. When it comes to copper, the US currently imports around half of its resources, mostly from Chile and Canada. On Wednesday, copper prices fell sharply before the 1 August deadline for the implementation of new tariffs, with US copper futures sinking 20% to around $4.55 or €3.94 per pound, marking the largest intra-day fall on record. This came after US copper prices surged to new records in July when Trump first announced the levy. Again taking investors by surprise, the president then announced this week that the raw material — as opposed to semi-finished products — would be exempt from the duty, threatening less of a supply squeeze. Imports of copper concentrate and cathodes won't be affected by new levies, although shipments of wire, pipes, and sheeting will be. Meanwhile the doubling of steel and aluminium tariffs, to 50% from their previous 25% tariff rate, has significantly raised US domestic metal prices, cutting off cost-competitive imports and increasing volatility for manufacturers. Higher input costs and shrinking availability are forcing US companies to consider reshoring their investments and redesigning their supply chains. Whether or not tariffs will actually boost domestic production nonetheless remains to be seen, as levies imposed by Trump during his first term failed to do so. By 2024, US steel output was actually 1% lower than in 2017, before Trump's initial tariffs, while aluminium production had declined by nearly 10%. According to recent analysis, Trump's tariffs could raise manufacturing costs by up to 4.5%, squeezing narrow-margin sectors like EVs and appliances, as well as delaying investment in key manufacturing hubs across the country. Industries 'snatched away' from the US For most of the 20th century, the United States was the world's top copper producer until Chile took this title, marking the end of US dominance. Today, Chile remains the largest global producer of the metal. In terms of steel production, the US peaked in the early 1970s before the industry faced a prolonged collapse, deepened by a series of recessions. Cheaper and more efficient systems in Japan, South Korea, Europe and elsewhere undercut high-cost US integrated steel mills. A strong dollar also made foreign steel even cheaper, while domestic plants were burdened with aging equipment, high labour contracts and rising environmental costs. Steel towns — the ones Trump now wants to reinvigorate nearly 50 years later — collapsed economically, despite government interventions to keep them afloat. This is why the region from New York through the Midwest continues to be called the Rust Belt, referring to corroding mills and production sites that have long fallen out of use. Related Copper prices near an all-time high amid Trump's tariff threats, China's stimulus US copper prices soar after Trump threatens 50% tariff on imports In terms of aluminium, the US was the world's leading aluminium producer for much of the 20th century, largely due to the abundance of cheap electricity needed for smelting and strong domestic demand from defence, aerospace and automotive industries. In the early 2000s, China overtook the US as the leading producer of aluminium. "Trump's greatest base of support, primarily blue collar non-college educated men, has seen the largest drop in employment opportunities as a result of this offshoring," Stritch told Euronews. Increasing costs, especially in green-adjacent industries Trump's sweeping 50% tariffs on copper, steel and aluminium are likely to disrupt industries that rely heavily on these materials, from construction and defence and even green technologies. "Practically, all three materials are used extensively from solar panels to car batteries, one may assume that it would thus be the US manufacturing base that suffers to the largest extent," Stritch continued. Nowhere is this pressure felt more acutely than in sectors like electric vehicles and renewable energy, where these metals are essential and profit margins are already minimal. Stritch added: "We may further speculate that owing to the high tariff placed on these goods and the general fragility of the electric car market at present, the high inputs of all three materials and the thin average industry profit margin of 5%, EV producers may endure the worst of the increased input costs." Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Boston Globe
40 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
US and Israeli officials float idea of ‘all or nothing' Gaza deal
The Israeli government has also come under mounting international criticism over the mass hunger that has spread through Gaza's population of about 2 million people after Israel imposed strict restrictions in recent months on the entry of aid. Advertisement Israel has continued launching military strikes on Gaza, even as it has facilitated the entry of more aid into Gaza in recent days. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Sunday that Israeli artillery had hit its offices in Khan Younis, killing one of the aid group's staffers and injuring others. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration's special envoy to the Middle East, who is visiting the region, met with families of Israeli hostages on Saturday and told them that President Donald Trump now wants to see all the living hostages released at once. Advertisement 'No piecemeal deals, that doesn't work,' he said, according to an audio recording of part of the meeting published by the Ynet Hebrew news site. 'Now we think that we have to shift this negotiation to 'all or nothing' -- everybody comes home,' he said. 'We have a plan around it,' he added, without elaborating. A participant in the meeting confirmed that Witkoff made such remarks. Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly. Instead, negotiations for a ceasefire between the two sides have run through intermediaries: the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Trump are said to be working on a new proposal that would involve presenting Hamas with an ultimatum, according to reports in the Israeli news media that were confirmed Sunday by a person familiar with the matter. The White House was not immediately available for comment. Under the terms of the ultimatum, Hamas would have to release the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and agree to terms to end the war that include the group's disarmament. Otherwise, the Israeli military would continue its campaign. Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas official, said the Palestinian armed group had yet to receive a formal Israeli proposal for a comprehensive deal from Arab mediators. He said that while Hamas supported such an agreement in principle, it would not disarm -- which has long been a core Israeli condition. 'This has been our demand from the beginning: an end to the war, the release of prisoners, and day-after arrangements in the Gaza Strip -- a clear and comprehensive deal,' Mardawi said in a phone interview. Advertisement The prospects of any rapid advancement toward such a deal appear dim. Hamas has consistently rejected Israel's terms for ending the war throughout the negotiations. On Saturday, the group said in a statement that it would not disarm unless a Palestinian state was established, despite a call from Arab states last week for the group to do so. The Israeli government opposes Palestinian statehood. On Sunday, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli national security minister, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which Jews revere as the Temple Mount, long a tinderbox for Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Arab leaders denounced Ben-Gvir's ascent to the site -- during which he openly prayed -- as a provocation. 'It's important to convey from this place that we should immediately conquer Gaza, exercise our sovereignty there, and eliminate every last Hamas member,' Ben-Gvir said from the site, in a video shared by his office. Many Israelis say they support a comprehensive deal to return all the hostages and end the war. But many are skeptical that such a deal can be achieved under the conditions set by the hard-line Israeli government, which has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas surrenders or is destroyed. Many also doubt that Hamas would ultimately give up all the hostages, the only cards the group holds against Israel. On Sunday night, Netanyahu argued that Hamas 'does not want a deal' and vowed to press on in the attempt 'to release our captive sons, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.' Given the firm positions of both sides, an Israeli and American push for a comprehensive deal may not bring an agreement closer, according to analysts. Advertisement 'Hamas is essentially saying to Israel: 'If you want the 20 living hostages out, give us a full victory,'' said Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an independent research group. Hamas' terms are far beyond what Netanyahu would accept, Yaari said. But, he added, the prime minister 'has to keep convincing the Israeli public and his own voters that he is doing everything he can, and he has to reassure the families of the hostages.' Mardawi said that Hamas saw little reason to negotiate with Israel given the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. 'What is the point of talks when people are dying of starvation?' he said. The hunger crisis worsened after Israel's government imposed severe restrictions on aid entering the territory. Israel has accused aid agencies of mismanaging supplies and Hamas of diverting aid. But some Israeli military officials said the military never found proof that Hamas had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, including thousands of children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war, killed about 1,200 people, according to the Israeli government, and about 250 people were taken captive to Gaza. More than 100 hostages were freed during previous ceasefires and Israeli forces operating in the enclave have retrieved the bodies of some others. Ruby Chen, the father of American-Israeli soldier Itay Chen, who was abducted by Hamas, attended the meeting Saturday with Witkoff. Chen's son is now presumed dead by Israeli authorities. Advertisement He said Witkoff had discussed the need for a comprehensive deal, rather than a partial deal. 'After six months, they've now come to the understanding that it's not possible to execute it,' said Chen. 'We lost six months on this.' This article originally appeared in
Business Insider
41 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Trump says he'll name people to 2 jobs closely watched by Wall Street
President Donald Trump says he will soon be naming a new Federal Reserve governor and Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner. Trump was speaking to reporters on Sunday when he was asked about Federal Reserve Gov. Adriana Kugler's sudden resignation on Friday. Kugler, whose term was set to end in January 2026, said she would step down this week. "She left early, and I think she left because she agreed with me on interest rates, and yet they were on the other side of the ballpark. So I'll be announcing that probably over the next couple of days," Trump said of Kugler and his plans to replace her. Former President Joe Biden had nominated Kugler to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in September 2023. She was to serve the rest of the term of former Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard after Brainard left the central bank to lead Biden's White House National Economic Council. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Kugler's abrupt departure comes amid Trump's ongoing beef with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Trump has repeatedly called on Powell to cut interest rates and step down. Powell, however, said he won't and has not responded directly to Trump's attacks. Naming Kugler's replacement will allow Trump to reshape the Federal Reserve based on his preferences. The Board of Governors comprises seven members, three of whom were appointed in Trump's first term. They include Powell, Christopher Waller, and Michelle Bowman. Waller and Bowman had given a rare double dissent last week after the Federal Open Markets Committee voted to keep rates unchanged. In his interview on Sunday, Trump said that he will appoint a new Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner "over the next three or four days." He fired the previous commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, on Friday after the BLS released a weak jobs report and made downward revisions to job numbers from May and June. "We had no confidence. The numbers were ridiculous, what she announced, but that was just one negative number," Trump said of the job numbers. "If you remember, just before the election, this woman came out with these phenomenal numbers on Biden's economy. Phenomenal numbers. And then right after the election, they announced that those numbers were wrong. And that's what they did the other day. So it's a scam in my opinion," he added. McEntarfer was appointed to the BLS by Biden in January 2024. The BLS may revise its job figures, as the bureau continues to collect additional data after it releases its initial estimates. The BLS said on Friday that its latest revisions were "larger than normal" after it lowered total nonfarm payroll employment by 125,000 and 133,000 for May and June, respectively. Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that Trump wasn't firing people because they were reporting data he disagreed with. "The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable," Hassett said. "And if there are big changes and big revisions, we expect more big revisions for the jobs data in September, for example, then we want to know why. We want people to explain it to us," he continued.
