LONDON – Billionaire Elon Musk and Prince Andrew are named in new files released by Congressional Democrats that relate to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The files turned over to the House Oversight Committee by the Jeffrey Epstein Estate appear to show that Musk had been invited to the financier’s island in December 2014. Separately, a manifest for a flight from New Jersey to Florida in May 2000 names the Duke of York among the passengers. Musk and Prince Andrew have been approached for comment. Prince Andrew has previously strenuously denied any wrongdoing. Musk has previously been quoted as saying that Epstein had invited him to the island but he had declined. The partial records are from the third batch of documents produced by Epstein’s estate. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee say they include phone message logs, copies of flight logs and manifests for aircraft, copies of financial ledgers and Epstein’s daily schedule. In addition to Musk and Prince Andrew, the files released publicly also contain the names of other prominent figures including internet entrepreneur Peter Thiel and Steve Bannon, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump. One line in the records dated 6 December 2014 reads: “Reminder: Elon Musk to island Dec. 6 (is this still happening?)” A flight manifest records that Prince Andrew was on a flight with Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell from Teterboro, New Jersey, to West Palm Beach, Florida, on 12 May 2000. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of conspiring with Epstein to traffic girls. One heavily redacted ledger records two references of payments for massages for an “Andrew” in February and May 2000. While Palace records, photographs and press reports from the time indicate Prince Andrew had travelled to the US around the time of the dates recorded in the newly released document, it is not clear who the “Andrew” referred to in the ledger is. On 11 May 2000, Buckingham Palace said on its website that Prince Andrew had flown to New York to attend a reception there for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Andrew returned to the UK on 15 May, a later entry said. There is also an entry in the files referring to a planned lunch with Peter Thiel in November 2017. They also include an entry about a planned breakfast with Steve Bannon 17 February 2019.
The files also mention tentative plans for a breakfast party with Microsoft founder Bill Gates in December 2014. In 2022, Gates told the BBC that meeting Epstein had been a “mistake”. It is not suggested that those mentioned in the files were aware of the alleged criminal activity for which Epstein was later arrested. Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. In 2008, he reached a plea deal with prosecutors after the parents of a 14-year-old girl told police in Florida that Epstein had molested their daughter at his Palm Beach home. He was arrested again in July 2019 on trafficking charges.
Sara Guerrero, spokeswoman for the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, urged US Attorney General Pam Bondi to release more files related to Epstein.
