Jeffrey Epstein’s Ties to CBP Agents Sparked a DOJ Probe

United States prosecutors and national instrumentality enforcement spent implicit a twelvemonth examining ties betwixt Jeffrey Epstein and Customs and Border Protection officers stationed successful the US Virgin Islands (USVI), according to documents precocious released by the Department of Justice.

As The Guardian and New York Times person reported, emails, substance messages, and investigative records amusement that Epstein cultivated friendships with respective officers, entertaining them connected his land and offering to instrumentality them for whale-watching trips successful his helicopter. He adjacent brought 1 cannolis for Christmas Eve. In turn, Epstein would bring definite officers his complaints astir his attraction astatine the hands of different CBP and national agents. Most of the interactions described successful the records occurred years aft Epstein pleaded blameworthy to charges of enactment crimes successful Florida successful 2008.

The CBP officers were ne'er charged for immoderate crimes related to Epstein, and astatine slightest 1 aboriginal retired from the bureau with a pension, suggesting that the authorities yet didn’t find immoderate wrongdoing. The documents do, though, picture patterns of behavior—two of the officers referred to Epstein arsenic a “friend”—that 1 authorities morals adept described arsenic inappropriate and imaginable violations of national guidance. They besides incorporate expansive assemblage subpoenas that specifically sanction the officers and compel the recipients, which were mostly fiscal services firms, to assistance national prosecutors who were looking into allegations of a conspiracy to defraud the US government.

CBP and the Southern District of New York US Attorney’s Office, which led the probe into Epstein, did not respond to requests for comment.

For years, Epstein allegedly brought countless women and girls arsenic young arsenic 121 to his backstage island, Little Saint James, according to a 2020 complaint filed by the erstwhile USVI lawyer general. Epstein would often alert successful and retired of USVI connected his backstage jet.

In bid to depart from USVI to different parts of the US, Epstein’s level had to beryllium cleared by CBP, according to a November 2020 FBI interview report with Epstein’s idiosyncratic pilot, Larry Visoski.

Visoski told the FBI that immoderate passengers were assemblage students with letters from their schools explaining wherefore they were traveling. Other times, according to the study connected Visoski’s interview, Epstein traveled with a pistillate who had a overseas passport. If CBP officers started questioning these passengers, Visoski said, Epstein would intervene and commencement arguing with the officers.

Visoski, though, told the FBI that Epstein made an effort to beryllium affable with CBP officers, astatine times instructing Visoski to cod agents’ interaction information. (In an email to 1 CBP officer, Epstein wrote, “as you cognize Im precise respectful of radical conscionable doing their job.”) Over the years, emails and substance messages show, assorted CBP officers would effort to scope retired to Epstein, either straight oregon done Visoski oregon different associates. Sometimes, Epstein would person the officers retired to Little Saint James.

In May 2014, for example, Visoski emailed Epstein, “While going done customs successful STT, our bully idiosyncratic gave maine his compartment contact.” The aviator added that the “nice person” would beryllium disposable to sojourn Little Saint James that week. Visoski besides attached the person’s interaction information. The adjacent day, Epstein’s land property manager emailed Epstein to fto him cognize the person, a CBP officer, would beryllium picked up connected Wednesday for lunch. (It’s unclear whether this luncheon ever happened.)

Emails successful 2015 and 2016 amusement that Epstein would person different officer, Glen Samuel, travel to Little Saint James to execute alloy cookware drums—a broadside gig Samuel informally advertised astatine 1 constituent connected his Facebook page. In a January 2015 email thread, Epstein asked an subordinate to clarify Samuel’s rate. The subordinate replied, “Mr. Samuel says helium does not mean to complaint you. He considers you a person and was doing this for you. If you privation to springiness him something, helium is appreciative, but determination is nary fee.” Samuel did not respond to a petition for comment.