During an explosive feud with President Donald Trump last spring, Elon Musk reached for the nuclear button. “Time to drop the really big bomb,” he wrote on X in June, “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein Files.”
“The truth will come out,” the Tesla CEO added. He later deleted the posts and reconciled with Trump. In the months since, Musk has issued a steady drum beat of X posts calling for the arrest or prosecution of people linked to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who cultivated relationships with powerful figures in tech, finance and politics.
But when the Justice Department released what it said were millions of pages of documents last month from its investigation of the deceased financier, Musk featured prominently in the files.
The entrepreneur had repeated email exchanges with Epstein, as did Kimbal Musk, his brother and fellow Tesla board member, the documents show. Elon Musk’s messages included inquiries about parties. Musk and Epstein also discussed arranging to meet on Epstein’s island and their assistants arranged a visit for the two at the entrepreneur’s rocket maker, SpaceX. On Christmas Day in 2012, Musk wrote to Epstein and asked: “Do you have any parties planned?” He added that “I’ve been working to the edge of sanity” and wanted to “let loose.”
The revelations have thrust Musk in the awkward position of trying to cast himself as a stalwart defender of Epstein’s victims while also defending his own interactions with the convicted sex offender. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two charges of soliciting prostitution, including one involving a minor. He was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 and died in federal custody later that year. Judges and lawmakers say that he abused, trafficked and molested scores of girls over decades.
In recent weeks, Musk has taken aim in online posts at other political and business figures over their alleged interactions with Epstein — including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, former Trump chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and billionaire Les Wexner.
“The big difference between you and me, Reid, is that you went and I did not,” Musk said in a post on X directed at Hoffman in early February, referring to Epstein’s island, adding later, “UNLIKE YOU, I came to my senses and declined to go.” Hoffman has acknowledged visiting Epstein’s island, as part of work to help the Massachusetts Institute of Technology “fundraise from Epstein,” and said that he regretted ever interacting with the sex offender.
Wexner told Congress this month that he had been “duped” by Epstein and was not aware of his crimes. Bannon did not respond to a request for comment. Musk has refrained from making further allegations against Trump and stayed silent about the Justice Department files linking administration figures to Epstein, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who told Congress this month that he once took his family to lunch on Epstein’s island but “did not have any relationship with him.”
Musk has written on X that he “REFUSED” to visit Epstein’s island, even as the documents show him appearing to seek a visit. “When should we head to your island on the 2nd?” Musk asked Epstein on Christmas Day in 2013, in an apparent reference to a visit for the following January, the documents show.
Musk and his brother, Kimbal Musk, did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Appearing in the documents released by the Justice Department does not indicate wrongdoing.
At times, Musk’s attempts to focus on his preferred narrative about Epstein have backfired. Earlier this month, the billionaire reshared an X post from Mohamad Safa, executive director of the human rights group Patriotic Vision. “As someone works in human rights, I’ve never seen anything like the Epstein files in my 15-year career,” Safa wrote. “I don’t understand how we’re not having a global revolution right now.”
After Musk distributed that message to his around 235 million followers on X, Safa responded to point out that the billionaire was overlooking something.
“Elon, you’ve got it wrong,” Safa wrote. “It’s a revolution against every person in the Epstein files.”
Safa told The Washington Post that the Tesla CEO was wrongly trying to lump himself in with the human rights community demanding accountability in relation to Epstein.
“Elon bought Twitter to mislead the public on global issues, and he is now using it to mislead about his connection to Jeffrey Epstein,” Safa said.
After the release of the latest trove of files raised new questions about the extent of Musk’s contact with Epstein over the years, Musk issued a late-night statement on X last month in a 1:50 a.m. Eastern reply to a user known as “DogeDesigner.”
“No one pushed harder than me to have the Epstein files released and I’m glad that has finally happened,” Musk wrote. “I had very little correspondence with Epstein and declined repeated invitations to go to his island or fly on his ‘Lolita Express’,” he said, referring to Epstein’s airplane, “but was well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name.”
Musk added, “I don’t care about that, but what I do care about is that we at least attempt to prosecute those who committed serious crimes with Epstein, especially regarding heinous exploitation of underage girls.”
The Justice Department files reviewed by The Post, including dozens that refer to Musk or his brother Kimbal, paint a vastly different picture of Epstein’s relationship with the Tesla CEO.
“What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” Elon Musk asked Epstein in an email from November 2012, as he sought to plan a visit accompanied by actor Talulah Riley — Musk’s ex-wife — the files show. A month later, he wrote to Epstein again about partying.
“Do you have any parties planned?” he asked. “I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose.”
Musk added, “The invitation is much appreciated, but a peaceful island experience is the opposite of what I’m looking for.”
The newly released correspondence appears to show the entrepreneur interacting and making plans with Epstein over a period of more than a year that took place several years after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008.
In 2013, Musk and Epstein’s assistants planned a visit for the disgraced financier to SpaceX, Musk’s rocket building company. The visit included a scheduled lunch for Musk and Epstein. Epstein was scheduled to travel with three female assistants — one South African and two Russian — whose passports were vetted by SpaceX, a government contractor, for security clearance reasons, according to the emails. While the visit took place as planned, according to the emails, it was not immediately clear whether the two men met for lunch.
Musk has said he blocked and ultimately “ghosted” Epstein.
The files also show that Kimbal Musk corresponded with Epstein about an apparent romantic partner whom another person warned him not to mistreat. “Jeffrey: Message received wide and clear. ;)” Kimbal Musk replied, in a message on which he copied Epstein.
Years later, Epstein wrote in an email: “I gave another girl to kimball and he is thrilled.”
Kimbal Musk said in a statement that Epstein did not introduce him to his romantic partner at the time of the earlier emails, and that she was an adult.
“In 2012 I started dating a woman who was 30 years old,” Kimbal Musk posted on X. “I met her through a friend. Epstein did not introduce us. My only meeting with that demon was in his New York office during the day. I never met with him again and I never went to his island.”
He added that Epstein subscribed to a newsletter of his, leading his email address to appear in searches of the Epstein files numerous times.
“My heart goes out to the many victims of Jeffrey Epstein, as it does for all who have suffered any kind of sexual abuse or harassment,” Kimbal Musk said.
Soon after the Justice Department’s release of files last month, the nonprofit organization behind Burning Man, a massive cultural festival held annually in the Nevada desert, announced that Kimbal Musk was no longer on its board of directors. That decision was made by Kimbal Musk “based on other commitments and priorities” and came “well before” the revelations, the organization said.
Elon Musk, meanwhile, continues to face an uphill battle to convince skeptics that his support for Epstein victims is genuine.
Scott Berkowitz, president and founder of RAINN, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending sexual violence, said he did not know what is in Musk’s heart, but said one way the entrepreneur could effect change for victims of sexual abuse would be by reining in the Grok chatbot offered by his company xAI, which recently came under fire for allowing the creation of nonconsensual sexualized images of real people.
“RAINN is working to make the country safer from sexual violence. If Elon Musk wants to be a part of that and to use his influence to make life safer, there’s a long list of ways that he could be part of the solution,” Berkowitz said. “Partner with us to make Grok the model for AI safety and ensure it never creates another nonconsensual image, whether child or adult.”
On X, many have lobbed criticism at Musk over his messaging on the Epstein files, seeing it as an effort to reframe the narrative around his involvement.
Given “Elon Musk’s involvement with Epstein and his lies about it, it feels dirty to use this platform, which increasingly feels like his own propaganda machine and PR agency” Fred Lambert, the editor in chief of Electrek, an electric vehicle focused publication, said in an X post last week.
Safa, of Patriotic Vision said he is not convinced by Musk’s sudden interest in accountability. “He should be investigated like any other individual whose name has been mentioned, regardless of social, political or financial status,” Safa said, adding, “Why did he wait until now to speak out?”
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