The latest tranche of emails and other documents released from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate has raised more questions about the reach of the disgraced financier’s post-conviction influence and access to powerful public figures.
The records show interactions with individuals across politics, academia, finance and media, including intellect Noam Chomsky, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, venture capitalist and political activist Peter Thiel, magician David Blaine, and author Michael Wolff.
Their communications with Epstein continued years after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender.
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Newsweek has contacted parties identified in the documents for comment.
Why It Matters
The messages do not evidence criminal wrongdoing from the named celebrities.
But they reveal how a convicted sex offender continued to move within elite academic, political, and media circles long after his conviction in June 2008, raising questions about institutional accountability, and the power structures that allowed Epstein to maintain access to high-profile networks.
They also illuminate the ongoing political struggle over the release of the remaining government files, turning Epstein’s legacy into a bipartisan flashpoint on Capitol Hill.
What To Know
The newly released records—more than 20,000 pages published by a congressional committee—depict a sprawling web of political, academic and media relationships that persisted after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
Magician David Blaine
The files include sparse but documented exchanges with illusionist David Blaine.
In one undated letter to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Blaine wrote in support of a visa for "an amazing fashion model" he had met.
In a brief October 2016 email, Epstein wrote, “dinner with woody sun?” to which Blaine responded, “Great.”
Newsweek contacted Blaine’s publicist via email on Thursday.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
Emails show Barak discussing Middle Eastern politics with Epstein and coordinating meetings, including notes about his availability in August 2015 and discussions of intellectual material circulating among Epstein’s social circle.
In one exchange, Barak said, “We plan to be back in the last week of Aug. for several weeks (having some speeches to make) will you still be in NM? If positive we might come over for few days.”
Linguist Noam Chomsky
The newly released emails from House Oversight Committee show an intermittent correspondence between linguist Chomsky and Epstein from 2015 to 2017.
Much of their communication focused on politics, linguistics and world affairs.
In one December 2016 exchange, Chomsky responded to Epstein’s comments about the incoming Trump administration by observing that Trump’s avoidance of the White House “must be driving the Secret Service up the wall.”
Chomsky told Epstein on Boxing Day that year that President Donald Trump’s public statements “are hard to ignore” because others “can’t help considering the meaning of the words and take action accordingly.”
Other messages took on a more personal tone. On June 25, 2016, Jeffrey Epstein wrote to Chomsky and his wife Valeria: “Caribbean is close to Brazil. If you wanted, you are always welcome, and Valeria can meet you there.”
Chomsky replied: “Still eager to make it to the Caribbean, but it looks as though we’ll have to wait.”
Beyond these emails, earlier documents show that Epstein scheduled meetings with Chomsky in 2015 and 2016, including a planned dinner in Manhattan and a meeting arranged at Harvard.
Another scheduled event involved former Israeli Prime Minister Barak, which Chomsky said was for the purpose of discussing “Israel’s policies with regard to Palestinian issues and the international arena.”
Newsweek contacted Chomsky via email on Thursday.
Chomsky has defended his interactions with Epstein and has been explicit about his position on post-conviction reintegration.
Asked by The Wall Street Journal in April 2023 about his relationship with Epstein, Chomsky replied: “First response is that it is none of your business or anyone’s. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally.”
Venture Capitalist Peter Thiel
Messages between Epstein and Peter Thiel—co-founder of PayPal and billionaire Republican donor—suggested intermittent contact, with Epstein writing in one email in May 2014, “That was fun, see you in 3 weeks.”
Chomsky told student newspaper The Harvard Crimson in a May 2023 article that Epsein had “served his time,” which “means that he re-enters society under prevailing norms.” Asked if he regretted the association, Chomsky said, “I’ve met [all] sorts of people, including major war criminals. I don’t regret having met any of them.”
Epstein later referenced Thiel’s public commentary, writing in November 2018, “I liked your trump exaggerations not lies.”
Newsweek contacted Theil via his venture capital fund’s listed email on Friday.
Author Deepak Chopra
In November 2016, Epstein shared a link to a news article to Chopra, the Indian-American author and prominent figure in alternative medicine.
The article reported how Katie Johnson, who accused Donald Trump of raping her when she was aged 13 at an alleged Epstein “sex party,” abruptly dropping her civil lawsuit. Trump’s lawyers dismissed the claims at the time as a politically motivated hoax.
Chopra asked Epstein, “Did she also drop the civil case against you?”
“YuP,” replied Epstein, before Chopra responded, “Good.”
Newsweek contacted Chopra’s foundation via email on Thursday.
Author Michael Wolff
In January 2015, Epstein told journalist and author Wolff that, out of “respect and love,” he had kept his former “serious girlfriend” out of his legal troubles, noting she was never questioned or subpoenaed, and her name “never surfaced.”
‘Clinton was never on the island’
Epstein said, “She traveled with me almost everywhere, each house, she is on the plane many many times” and “she knows clinton was never on the island... she knows no sex with steven hawking, she knows no sex with ehud as he was also never on the island.”
On February 19, 2016, Wolff told Epstein that The New York Times “called me about you and Trump” and Hillary Clinton’s campaign was “digging deeply.”
“Again, you should consider preempting,” Wolff said.
Epstein replied later that day, “I’m here today. Ehud Barak at 1—would you like to join at 2?”
In September that year, Epstein wrote again, saying: “You can also add: fresh political juice by stating that Clinton was never on the island. I never met Al Gore. No dinners on the island with either of them, no matter how much detail has been in the press.”
Epstein also appeared to refer allegations made by Prince Andrew-accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April 2025.
“In fact, Boies—Gore’s attorney—knows that, but continues to represent the fabricator: the girl who claimed Prince Andrew had sex with her, and also accused Stephen Hawking and Marvin Minsky.”
Epstein’s Emails About Donald Trump
Epstein wrote to Ghislaine Maxwell in 2011 that Trump was “that dog that hasn’t barked” and had “spent hours at my house” with a victim whose name was redacted.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that the victim was Giuffre, whom had “repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever."
In some exchanges, Epstein criticized Trump in private messages, calling him “borderline insane” in one 2018 email to former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
What People Are Saying
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Newsweek in a statement on Friday: “These emails prove literally nothing. Democrats and the mainstream media are desperately trying to use this hoax as a distraction to talk about anything other than Democrats getting utterly defeated by President Trump in the shutdown fight. We won’t be distracted, and the entire Administration will continue fulfilling the promises the President was elected on, including cutting the Biden-era price hikes.”
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday: “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”
Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, who co-sponsored—alongside Republican Thomas Massie—the discharge petition to force a vote on the release of the Justice Department’s entire cache of Epstein-linked files told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday: “When you take a step back, you have a country where an elite governing class has gotten away with impunity, and shafted the working class in this country, shafted factory towns, shafted rural communities.”
What Happens Next
A U.S. House vote on whether to require the Justice Department to release all remaining Epstein files is scheduled for next week, after supporters secured the necessary signatures through a rare bipartisan coalition.
Republican supporters of the measure—including Representatives Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace—have reportedly faced pressure from the White House to withdraw their names.
If the bill clears the House floor, the documents would come out within 30 days of the vote.