Jeffrey Epstein's paper trail: A look at the convicted pedophile's high-powered connections
New York financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in his Manhattan cell early Saturday morning, was accused of child sex trafficking and sexually abusing girls as young as 14.
Epstein, long dogged by rumors of his sexual abuse of minors, was known for collecting friendships, forming a circle of noteworthy and influential politicians, foreign leaders and businessmen around himself prior to his 2007 guilty plea to solicitation of prostitution with a minor.
FOX Business takes a closer look at some of those connections:
Portrait of American financier Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1997. (Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
Donald Trump: President Trump is Epstein’s former friend, once flying on the financier’s private jet, and neighbor in Mar-A-Lago. Trump’s relationship with Epstein began in the late 1980s, and the duo reportedly partied together in the late 1990s, according to multiple media reports.
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
Trump has not been accused of engaging in underage sex.
Former President Bill Clinton walks onstage to delivers remarks during a summit on the country's opioid epidemic at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Bill Clinton: Former President Clinton was friends with Epstein and flew on his private plan four times. Epstein donated to the Clinton Foundation, as well as other Democratic causes and candidates. There have been no accusations of sexual misconduct against Clinton related to Epstein.
Prince Andrew: The Duke of York, who remained friends with Epstein until 2010, is accused of having sex with one of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. He has denied the accusation. In documents unsealed on Friday by federal prosecutors in New York, including affidavits and depositions of key witnesses in a lawsuit that Giuffre filed against Epstein and his associate, Giuffre alleged that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew in three separate locations.
Left: Leslie Wexner, founder and CEO of L Brands. Right: Jeffrey Epstein, who Wexner believes misappropriated millions of dollars of family funds. (Getty Images)
Leslie Wexner: Epstein was once praised by Leslie Wexner, the CEO of L Brands (which includes Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works), as “a most loyal friend” with “excellent judgment and unusually high standards,” the New York Times reported. Epstein served as Wexner’s personal money manager for a period that ended nearly 12 years ago, a company spokeswoman told the Times. The company called Epstein’s alleged crimes “abhorrent.”
SQUAWK BOX -- Pictured: Bill Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico, in an interview on January 13, 2015 -- (Photo by: Adam Jeffery/CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Bill Richardson: Richardson, the former New Mexico governor and a former Clinton cabinet member, was named in documents released by federal prosecutors on Friday. Giuffre said she was forced to have sex with Richardson, 71. He denied the accusations in a statement to Fox News, saying they are "completely false."
George Mitchell: The former Maine senator, a Democrat, was also named in the documents released on Friday, in which Giuffre said she was "trafficked" Mitchell. Mitchel is a former Senate majority leader who represented Maine from 1980-1985; he was later named a special envoy to the Middle East by President Obama. A sworn affidavit by a former Epstein employee, Juan Alessi, also alleges Mitchell, 85, of having associated with Epstein.
“The allegation contained in the released documents is false,” Mitchell said in a statement to Fox News. “I have never met, spoken with or had any contact with Ms. Giuffre.”
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