Inside Jeffrey Epstein's ‘Dracula' Manhattan lair
Seeking to quell the backlash, the Justice Department dispatched a top official to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking. On Friday, Maxwell was moved to a lower-security facility. That fuelled speculation that Trump might commute her sentence or even pardon her in return for her cooperation.
For years, Maxwell was a fixture in Epstein's New York townhouse, where she had an office. But she and Epstein had split by the mid-2010s. A framed photo in the townhouse showing Epstein with Trump and his then-girlfriend, Melania Knauss, was cropped to exclude Maxwell.
At least one other MAGA luminary also visited the townhouse: Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Trump and an online media personality, who has said he videotaped hours of interviews in the mansion with Epstein in 2019. Framed photos of Bannon – including a mirror selfie snapped by Epstein – were kept in at least two rooms in the mansion.
The townhouse was one of five properties around the world owned by Epstein.
After his release in 2009 from a Florida jail, where he served 13 months for soliciting prostitution from a teenager, the mansion served as both a personal hideaway and a salon where he could hold court with accomplished intellectuals, scientists and financiers, according to legal records and interviews with people who frequented the home.
The visitors considered Epstein fun, smart and curious. Another perk: getting to mingle with the young, attractive women who roamed the property and worked as his assistants.
The townhouse, a stone's throw from Central Park, was sold to Epstein in 1998 by Leslie H. Wexner, the billionaire owner of L Brands. Epstein renovated and redecorated the mansion in an eccentric style.
Dozens of framed prosthetic eyeballs lined the entryway. A sculpture of a woman wearing a bridal gown and clutching a rope was suspended in a central atrium.
In the ground-floor dining room, Epstein entertained a rotating cast of celebrities, academics, politicians and businessmen. The food could be mundane – sometimes nothing more than a buffet of Chinese takeout, Allen's letter noted – but the events were anything but.
Photos show that guests sat in leopard-print chairs around a large rectangular table. Occasionally, attendees said in interviews, a magician performed.
Sometimes, a chalkboard was wheeled out so a guest could sketch a diagram or write a mathematical formula. Epstein preserved a map of Israel drawn on a chalkboard with Barak's signature, according to a photo reviewed by The New York Times.
Up a grand staircase was Epstein's wood-paneled office, featuring a massive desk. Photos show a taxidermied tiger lounging on a lush rug.
In the office, according to photos reviewed by the Times, Epstein showcased a green first edition of Lolita – the 1955 novel in which an intellectual develops a sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl and repeatedly rapes her.
Atop a wooden sideboard were more framed photos, including one of Epstein with Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Several of Epstein's victims have said the mansion was outfitted with a network of hidden video cameras.
In the massage room were paintings of naked women, a large silver ball and chain, and shelves stocked with lubricant, according to photos reviewed by the Times.
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Epstein regularly directed teenage girls – some recruited from middle schools in Queens – to massage him while he was naked. Sometimes he masturbated in front of them, according to court records and interviews with victims. Sometimes he raped or assaulted them. No surveillance cameras were visible in the photos of the massage room.
An earlier collection of letters, presented to Epstein in a leather-bound album for his 50th birthday in 2003, reflected an era of his life before he was first arrested.
That book included contributions from Trump and Bill Clinton, among dozens of others, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump has denied a report in the Journal that he contributed a sexually suggestive note and drawing. He has sued the news organisation for defamation. Clinton's spokesperson has said the former president was unaware of Epstein's crimes.
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But by 2016, as Epstein's reputation as a sexual predator became increasingly hard to ignore, his social network was shrinking. Three years later, he would die in a Manhattan jail while awaiting prosecution on federal sex-trafficking charges.
The Times reviewed seven birthday messages given to Epstein in 2016. In addition to those from Zuckerman, Allen and Barak, there were letters from linguist Noam Chomsky and his wife; Joichi Ito, an entrepreneur who years later would resign from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the board of The New York Times Co. because of his ties to Epstein; and Lawrence M. Krauss, a prominent physicist. Martin Nowak, a Harvard University biologist, contributed a science-themed poem.
Zuckerman, Allen, Ito, Nowak and Bannon did not respond to requests for comment. Barak declined to comment. Chomsky's wife responded on his behalf and declined to comment. Krauss said he didn't recall the letter, but attended 'several lunches with very interesting discussions' with scientists, authors and others at Epstein's home.
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In their typed letter, Barak and his wife, Nili Priel, hailed Epstein as 'A COLLECTOR OF PEOPLE'.
The letter concluded, 'May you enjoy long and healthy life and may all of us, your friends, enjoy your table for many more years to come'.
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