A day after federal agents arrested Jeffrey Epstein on sex-trafficking charges in 2019, they were also apparently trying to contact a number of people they called potential “co-conspirators,” a newly released email exchange shows.
The highly redacted emails said there were about 10 people who needed to be contacted. All the names were redacted except three: Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges in 2021; Jean-Luc Brunel, a former French modeling agent who was found dead in his Paris jail cell in 2022 and was suspected of scouting girls for Mr. Epstein; and Leslie Wexner.
Mr. Wexner, the retail magnate behind The Limited and Victoria’s Secret, was arguably Mr. Epstein’s most important benefactor until 2007, when Mr. Wexner severed ties with him following Mr. Epstein’s indictment in Florida.
A legal representative for Mr. Wexner told The New York Times that he was not a target of the federal investigation or considered a co-conspirator. He provided federal prosecutors with background information on Mr. Epstein and was never contacted again, the representative said.
Because of redactions, it was unclear who sent the emails. In the first email, an unknown sender with a signature line that included “FBI New York,” began the exchange by writing: “When you get a chance can you give me an update on the status of the 10 CO conspirators?”
In a reply several hours later, a recipient gave a rundown of efforts to contact Mr. Wexner and the others, an effort that spanned New York, Florida, Massachusetts and Ohio. “I do not know about Ohio contacting Wexner,” the email ended.
Steve Eder has been an investigative reporter for The Times for more than a decade.
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