Elon Musk named in new Epstein files
Elon Musk and Peter Thiel are among several powerful names mentioned in new Epstein files released to the public.
Elon Musk and Peter Thiel are among the powerful names mentioned in new Epstein files released to the public.
US Democrats released the documents on Friday local time, as the Republican-led House Oversight Committee investigates how the sex trafficking charges against the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were handled.
The six pages of daily schedules, redacted in places, were obtained by subpoena from the US Justice Department, which said in July it would not make files from its investigation into Epstein public.
The schedules belonged to Epstein, who died in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. They made reference to a “pending trip” by tech billionaire and Republican donor Mr Musk to Epstein’s private island in December 2014.
One entry said: “Reminder: Elon Musk to island Dec. 6 (is this still happening?)”
Epstein’s notorious island, Little St James in the Caribbean, is a location where many women have said they were abused.
The documents also showed a lunch scheduled with billionaire PayPal founder Mr Thiel in November 2017, and a breakfast planned with Steve Bannon, an influential Trump ally, in February 2019.
And they listed Britain’s Prince Andrew as a passenger on Epstein’s private jet in 2000.
The flight, from New York to Palm Beach, Florida, also included Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew’s relationship with Epstein is well-documented after the sex trafficking trial of Maxwell in 2021, and the lawsuit brought against him by prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in Australia earlier this year.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Musk, Mr Thiel, Mr Bannon or Prince Andrew in the documents released on Friday, and they do not indicate if the planned meetings took place.
It was an awkward revelation for Mr Musk, however, after he had accused Mr Trump of being in the “Epstein files” during their falling-out earlier this year.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Mr Musk wrote in the since deleted June post.
“That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
The Justice Department’s refusal to release the files had angered Mr Trump’s conservative base, after the president made a campaign promise to reveal all documents compiled during the Epstein investigation.
In July, Mr Musk again taunted the president, writing, “How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won’t release the Epstein files?”
In an X post about a story referencing the documents’ release on Friday, Mr Musk wrote: “This is false.”
Mr Thiel, Mr Bannon and Prince Andrew have yet to comment on the documents.
