Buried deep in the latest tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files is an email sent by law enforcement with a concise subject line: “Co-conspirators.”
The email, sent July 7, 2019, the day after the disgraced financier was arrested after stepping off his private plane in New Jersey, shows police and federal prosecutors were trying to track down 10 others who were allegedly part of Epstein’s sordid sex crimes.
“When you get a chance can you give me an update on the status of the 10 co-conspirators?” someone from the FBI in New York asked colleagues shortly after a handcuffed Epstein was taken to a Manhattan prison.
What’s troubling for Epstein’s victims — and their supporters in the U.S. Congress — is that seven of the 10 names relayed in a subsequent email are blacked out, concealing who might have been cavorting with Epstein and possibly procuring young women and girls for sex.
Another email from May 2020 makes it clear the DOJ has some sort of list of potential wrongdoers, referring to a memo with “co-conspirators we could potentially charge,” but there are no names attached.
An email included in the Department of Justice’s Epstein files shows law enforcement discussing 10 co-conspirators. (U.S. Department of Justice)
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse have long demanded the government come clean with what it knows about who aided and abetted one of the most prolific pedophiles in history, having victimized over 1,000 women and children.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act that compelled the release of these files was unambiguous about what should be made public: all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials in the possession of the U.S. Department of Justice.
For clarity, lawmakers stipulated no record shall “be withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”
The bill did provide for some limited exceptions, including information that could identify a victim, images of child porn or details that could compromise an ongoing investigation.
Given that clear direction from lawmakers, the opacity of these documents is prompting questions about why the names of these possible co-conspirators were left out — and who is being protected as a result of the secrecy.
A redacted email in the Department of Justice’s Epstein files mentions co-conspirators. (U.S. Department of Justice)Survivor calls redactions ‘ridiculous’
Speaking to CBC News on Wednesday, Epstein survivor Sharlene Rochard said the redactions are “ridiculous.”
While some victims’ names were released by the department through this document dump — they maintain it was an oversight — the names of those who allegedly participated in these crimes are shielded from public scrutiny, said Rochard, who is Canadian.
“Pages and pages of black. Predators’ names have been redacted. It’s so disappointing — this administration is corrupt,” she said.
“The Department of Justice needs to shed more light on the co-conspirators, how they were involved and why they chose not to prosecute. Protecting predators is a crime.”
Epstein abuse survivor Sharlene Rochard holds a photo of her younger self during a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 18 in Washington, D.C. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
While Trump has referred to the push to release sealed documents as a “Democrat hoax,” Rochard said the full complement of files will show “[survivors] are not a hoax.”
“They’ve spent a million dollars redacting these files. If we are a hoax, why should you have to spend so much money redacting these files?” she said, referring to how much the department has reportedly paid out in overtime for the redaction job. “It’s not a million dollars to redact just survivors’ names — I can guarantee that.”
This redacted photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows a framed photograph of Jeffrey Epstein with a person on his lap, documented on Aug. 12, 2019, during a search of his home on Little St. James island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (U.S. Department of Justice)As many as 20 men could be involved: Massie
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has been leading the charge for disclosure despite fierce opposition from inside his own party, said there may be as many as 20 men tied to Epstein accused of sex crimes, based on what he’s learned from survivors’ lawyers.
Massie said he’s not optimistic those names will be released, given what Trump’s former lawyer Todd Blanche, who now serves as the deputy attorney general, told Congress in a six-page letter after the first batch of files was released.
U.S. Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, speaks to reporters ahead of a House vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. (Daniel Heuer/AFP/Getty Images)
In that correspondence, Blanche claimed some details must be withheld for privacy reasons and because other statutes allow it.
“The results are in: Nobody is buying this bogus Epstein release. The DOJ needs to quit protecting the rich, powerful, and politically connected,” Massie said in a social media post, saying the department “broke the law” by slowing the release and “making illegal redactions.”
Massie and his Democratic colleague in the fight, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, have threatened Attorney General Pam Bondi with contempt proceedings if she doesn’t produce what Congress has demanded.Â
Despite the shortcomings, Khanna called Tuesday’s dump a “bombshell.”
California Rep. Ro Khanna speaks during a news conference with lawmakers and Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivors on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 18. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
“The fact that there is an email saying there are 10 co-conspirators means that there are other rich and powerful men who were involved — it’s not only Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell involved in the abuse,” he told NPR.
“There are other men who either went to the rape island, abused them or covered up for that abuse.”
Victims’ lawyer says co-conspirators must be named
James Marsh is the lawyer who represents victims Maria and Annie Farmer.
The sisters have been vindicated by what’s been released so far as it shows Maria made a police complaint about Epstein preying on children nearly 30 years ago, just as she’d always said, despite Epstein’s former lawyer Alan Dershowitz accusing her of lying.
Marsh said the co-conspirators need to be named and the appropriate documents about their possible crimes released — while stating he doesn’t think the secrecy so far is necessarily a coverup.
“I think they have a list of names and I just think, honestly, this is government incompetence,” he said in an interview with CNN.
“I wouldn’t call it a conspiracy as much as I would a failure by bureaucratic institutions to do their jobs and do them properly. This massive data dump is just a mess.”
There’s speculation in some circles that there’s more to Trump’s connection with Epstein than what has been revealed so far.
Trump himself lamented that even the limited files that have been disclosed have ruined the names of people who were not part of Epstein’s crimes.
The U.S. president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, insisted in an interview with Vanity Fair that while Trump’s name comes up in the dossier — flight logs documenting his travel on Epstein’s plane have been released, for example — “he’s not in the file doing anything awful.”
3 names released publicly
The names that were disclosed in Tuesday’s trove are familiar to those who have been tracking this case closely.
The July 2019 email reveals authorities were pursuing Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s partner in crime who recruited girls across the globe for the elaborate sex ring the two ran for years. She was convicted of child sex trafficking.
The email also mentions Jean-Luc Brunel, a modelling scout who was close to Epstein — he was featured in dozens of pictures released by the DOJ in its first document dump last week.
Epstein and Maxwell in one of the images released by the DOJ. (U.S. Justice Department)
Brunel, who was being investigated for allegedly raping minors and trafficking them for exploitation, was found dead in a French prison cell in 2022.
There’s also a reference to Les Wexner, the Ohio businessman who founded Victoria’s Secret and other retail chains. Epstein ran the billionaire’s financial affairs for years.
A spokesperson for Wexner said Tuesday he was told by officials at the time of this 2019 email he was “neither a co-conspirator nor a target.”
“Mr. Wexner co-operated fully by providing background information on Epstein and was never contacted again,” the spokesperson said.
Still, Rochard, the Canadian survivor, said these three names are not enough.
“This is a crime against humanity as there is more to be revealed.”