Law&Crime Sidebar - Jeffrey Epstein’s Private Calendar Reveals High-Profile Officials Met with Pedophile After Conviction

Episode Date: May 1, 2023

Jeffrey Epstein’s private calendar revealed that high-profile officials met with the trafficker after he was convicted of sex crimes. These officials, ranging from the CIA and White House counsel, were not named in Epstein’s “black book” or his flight logs. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber and Adam Klasfeld break it down.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Save 10% on your entire POM Pepper Spray order by using code LAWCRIME10 at http://bit.ly/3IGNFxvSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaDevil In The DormThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Jeffrey Epstein's private calendar reveals new details and potentially new relationships. Law and Crime Managing Editor Adam Classfeld comes on to break down what this all means. Welcome to Cybar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Well, we have another update for you in the sordid tale of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. New documents, including Epstein's private calendar, have revealed new meetings and potentially new relationships. Now, just taking a step back here, we remember who Epstein is. He was the

ex-financeer who was charged with sex trafficking of minors but died in his jail cell awaiting trial from an apparent suicide back in 2019. But what do we also know about Jeffrey Epstein? We know that back in 2008, he pled guilty to state solicitation of prostitution charges out in Florida, all in an effort to avoid federal crimes. And he ended up serving 13 months in a work release program. Why is that date important? Why is 2008 important? I will tell you why. Because a review of Epstein's private calendar, which I just mentioned, has revealed never before disclosed meetings with prominent figures after he pled guilty to those sex crimes in 2008. This is coming from reporting by the Wall Street Journal.

Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, it is not clear what the nature of these meetings were or if they actually took place. But who are these people? And what does this all mean? Well, time to bring in our Jeffrey Epstein expert, although I'm not sure he would love that title. So I'm going to give you a better title for it. The better one is managing editor of law and crime and the host.

host of the objections podcast, Adam, Klassfeldt. Adam, good to see it. Good to see you, Jesse. And thanks for the revised title. Yeah, I figured you liked that more. So, I mean, my goodness, I'm reading this Wall Street Journal report and it's being circulated by other outlets. They're saying he had meetings with the now director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, President Barack Obama's White House counsel, Catherine Ruhmler,

hopefully I'm pronouncing that correctly, Bard College President Leon Botstein, and Professor Nome Chomsky, when you hear about this, let's be very clear, did we have any inclination that these people had a connection to Jeffrey Epstein or he had potential meetings with them? Now, this breaks very new ground, Jesse. I mean, just take Nome Chomsky, for example. One of the kind of startling things in the article is Nome Chomsky's reaction to it, which is essentially it's none of your business. He obviously did not want to be confronted with this information. one of the other startlingly new things about this investigation is just where they acquired this information. I think you mentioned Jeffrey Epstein's private calendar. It seems that more evidence is coming forward and getting to the heart of something that you set up very well in that introduction, which is in 2008, Jeffrey Epstein pleads guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor. He is a convicted sex offender. There's a lot of new information

about that investigation and how it was actually his conduct was much more expansive than that plea would suggest. And yet, he is being welcomed into high society. And we knew that before. I'll just to kind of set that up, we knew that after his brief stint in a county jail under very permissive and very light terms, that he appears to be welcomed with open arms into some very powerful segments of society. And this shows a new chapter of that and how, in fact, one of the people who welcomed apparently took meetings with him now leads the CIA, though didn't at the time. Let's get into that a little bit. Okay. So let's start with William Burns, who's the now director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Again, this comes from the Wall Street Journal.

They're saying he first met Epstein back in 2014 when he was Deputy Secretary of State. He had traveled to Epstein's townhouse in New York, but a CIA spokeswoman told the journal, quote, the director did not know anything about him other than he, that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the private sector. Why do I feel like that doesn't ring true? How on earth could somebody who is now the director of the central intelligence agency not have information that the man that he's meeting pled guilty to sex crimes charges in 2008. There's something about that not true to you.

Well, I do have to say if that were true, that would be worrying about the Department of State. I mean, is this the type of research that they do with, I would imagine a deputy secretary of state, their time is valuable. Do they take meetings with anyone who says they're in the financial services sector without any kind of investigation or without, were his assistance asleep on the job that day? It does raise so many questions, and you're right, it doesn't appear to have that ring of truth, though it's quite interesting the kind of species of reactions that folks had to being confronted with this. You have on the one hand, oh, I had no idea who he was, and then with a couple of other reactions from certain people, Noam Chomsky being one, Bard College administrator being another, saying, oh, I believe that someone who has paid. their debt to society who has done their time. There's nothing wrong with taking that meeting,

defending it on the principle of rehabilitation. Yeah, I think that was Noam Chomsky who said that, but you mentioned Bard College President Leon Botstein. I'd like to get into this a little bit, because what the Wall Street Journal is saying is that it seems like a lot of these people were having these meetings with Epstein or trying to get in touch with Epstein because they wanted donations from him or they wanted powerful connections. Obviously, that would be very different than the worst case that they were involved in this sex trafficking ring. No one's making that allegation. It's not clear that any of these meetings show that.

So let's be very clear about that. But it does raise some eyebrows. So Mr. Botstein had about two dozen meetings scheduled with Epstein over about four years. Most of them again were like we said with the CIA director were to Epstein's townhouse. According to the reporting, Botstein was trying to solicit donations from him. Epstein was a guest at Bard College in 2013 for an opera in 2016 for a concert. Botstein told the Wall Street Journal that he knew Epstein was a convicted sex tender, but he believed, like you said, in rehabilitation.

And when Epstein visited Bard, he planned each time to bring some young female assistance with him, and he arrived by helicopter. So I believe, and this is a quote from Mr. Botstein to the Wall Street Journal, I was an unsuccessful fundraiser and actually the object of a little bit of sadism on his part and dangling philanthropic support. That was my relationship with him. What's your take on that? That fits right into Jeffrey Epstein's M.O.

And here's why I say that he was always dangling and or executing these philanthropic donations. He did that with MIT, which is the, of course, the Noam-Chomsky connection right there. And these were very valuable to Jeffrey Epstein. This is something that increased Burnish's brand made him more of a power player to be seen as his wealthy financier who could really bequeath his largest to any of these institutions. And also when we're talking about schools, Jesse, this also raised the issue of access to young people. And I'll go right back to the trial of Galane Maxwell where this came into the fore. Now, in that case, it wasn't a college. It was a summer camp.

One of the victims of Gleine Maxwell, who went testified by the pseudonym Jane, was a 14-year-old promising singer at Bard College. Excuse me, at Interlaken, excuse me, a academy in Michigan. And that was where she testified that she met Gailene Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, who was a donor of Interlochen at the time and had a lodge, a Jeffrey Epstein lodge, since renamed. that was in his honor. And why did he give these donations to this college? It was argued by prosecutors and accepted to the jury access to young people. Yeah, I'm not surprised that they changed the name of the lodge. I wonder, I wonder what, you know, facilitated that. Right. I do want to talk to you real quick about President Barack Obama's White House counsel, Catherine Rumler. She played made a big part in this Wall Street Journal article as well. So let me give you apparently her connection to Epstein.

So she, Epstein introduced her to potential clients like Bill Gates back in 2014. Again, this is after Jeffrey Epstein pled guilty in 2008. Epstein called Rumler within weeks of her leaving the Obama administration, planned a lunch with her, followed by a series of meetings to introduce her to a wider circle of acquaintances. Epstein and his staff, quote, discussed whether Rumler would be uncomfortable with the young women who worked as his assistants and staffers. And then over the next several years, she had more than three dozen appointments with Epstein. She was scheduled to fly with Epstein to Paris in 20.

And then in 2017, he planned to stop in St. Lucia to take her to his island home in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I get no indication she actually made these trips. She now works for Goldman Sachs. And Goldman Sachs put out a spokesperson said many of Ms. Rumler's contacts related to a potential representation involving the Gates Foundation, a representation of the Edmund D. Rothschild Bank and other business opportunities. Rumler has come out and said, I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein. What do you think about that? Well, one thing that immediately comes to mind is some investigative journalism long ago by the New York Times about Jeffrey Epstein's relationships and ties to Bill Gates.

They had reported back then, essentially Bill Gates had long disputed any connection to Jeffrey Epstein. And then they splash on the middle of their story. Oh, here's a photo of them together with none other than Jess Staley, J.P. Morgan. And it was clear that the Gates Foundation and J.P. Morgan were interested in embarking on an initiative. And there was a meeting at Jeffrey Epstein's townhouse about this initiative. And that goes back to the timing of this investigation. Now, it's not said anywhere in the Wall Street Journal story that this. has any connection to the fact that there's massive litigation right now in the Southern District

of New York about the financial relationships that Jeffrey Epstein had and how his financial relationships, the ties between that and how it financed allegedly his sex trafficking scheme. And that's always at the forefront of my mind here as I read this article because that litigation is premised on the fact that folks should have known after 2008 goes to their knowledge. They knowingly benefit from Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scheme. That is the question at the heart of multiple federal cases that are happening right now. And when I hear that story, when I hear that this was about a potential deal with the Gates Foundation, that this was a relationship that they were seeking.

my ears perk up. And it makes me wonder how much more of this story we're going to hear in federal court in lower Manhattan. I know you're going to follow it. And I'm glad you put it into context because these are really, really in serious and kind of eye-popping revelations, but the fact that you centered it into why it's important in this case and what it means overall, I think that's important. Let's making sense of it. Let's not jump to conclusions. Let's see where this story goes. Adam Klassfeld, thank you so much for taking the time. I know you're headed to court right now, right? You're headed to, which trial you're headed to cover? The E. Gene Carroll trial. The E. Jean Carroll versus Trump. Her testimony continues. Nothing too big there. Nothing too

big. It's simply, you know, just rape allegations against a former president of the United States, you know, something that's... Welcome to 2023, everybody. Welcome to 2020. Who knows what to expect next. Adam, appreciate it. Thank you so much. I encourage everyone to listen to Adam's objections podcast as well, where he does terrific reporting and interviews. Thank you, Adam. Thank you for having me, Jesse. All right. That's all we have for you here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. or Spotify.