World's Power Players Sought Advice From Jeffrey Epstein

A new batch of emails reveals that disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was a go-to adviser for a global roster of high-profile figures, even after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges. The 20,000-plus pages of correspondence, released by House lawmakers, show how former world leaders, top officials, and media personalities routinely sought Epstein's input on matters ranging from world affairs to personal matters, per NBC News.

In 2017, former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, then secretary-general of the Council of Europe, asked Epstein for insight into President Trump's administration, writing, "I really need to understand more about Trump and what's going on in the American society." Mohamed Waheed Hassan, the former president of the Maldives, reached out to Epstein in 2013 for advice on a suspicious $4 billion offer to his country's government. Epstein's blunt response—which Hassan ultimately said he would follow—called the offer fraudulent.

Other emails capture more mundane exchanges: Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers traded personal messages with Epstein, seeking guidance on a relationship, while journalist Michael Wolff (a co-founder of Newser) asked for a medical referral. The Guardian, meanwhile, details Epstein's correspondence with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, to whom Epstein apparently served as a "behind-the-scenes adviser" in 2018, with Epstein guiding Bannon on political messaging as he defended the agenda of President Trump, who was then serving his first term.

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Epstein's confidants weren't all men: CNBC, for instance, reports on "chummy" emails between Epstein and Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathy Ruemmler. The investment bank backed Ruemmler on Thursday, with a rep stating, "Kathy is an exceptional general counsel and we benefit from her judgment every day." The emails, often informal and riddled with typos, reflect Epstein's reputation as an all-purpose fixer with access to the powerful. Despite his 2008 conviction, Epstein remained in the orbit of politicians, academics, and journalists. The newly released messages are likely to fuel more questions about why so many influential people continued to rely on Epstein's advice, and whether they ever acted on his counsel.