The current U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria maintained a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein for years after the late offender was convicted of sex crimes in 2008.
Now, the Justice Department’s latest tranche of documents suggests that Tom Barrack, 78, regularly corresponded with Epstein for years, including during the campaign for and beginning of Trump’s first presidency.
Barrack, Epstein, and President Donald Trump were once described as the “1980s and ’90s set of nightlife Musketeers” by Michael Wolff in his book Fire and Fury. Trump has since tried to distance himself from his friendship with Epstein.
CBS News compiled a timeline of Barrack and Epstein’s relationship from the latter’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor to Trump’s first term.
Barrack was a major fundraiser for the president’s first campaign and served as the chair of his inaugural committee in 2017. He is the founder and former CEO and chairman of the LA-based Colony Capital. The real estate billionaire purchased Neverland Ranch in 2008.
“Thinking about u, hope u r good and life is calm again,” Barrack emailed to Epstein on Sept. 14, 2009, months after the financier was released from prison.
The Daily Beast reached out to Barrack and the White House for comment.
One correspondence between the two after Trump’s victory in the 2016 New Hampshire Republican primary showed that Epstein said he was stonewalling reporters who were attempting to report on his direct relationship with Trump.
“my answers are always i have nothing to say. or i try to ignore altogether. A few times i have been ambushed on the street with questions. but am more careful now,” the message said in part.
Epstein then proceeded to ask for photos of Barrack’s baby.
“send photos of you and child. —make me smile,” the message said.
At times, he would regard Barrack as his window into the Trump campaign and later presidency. One exchange between Epstein and a Saudi official refers to Barrack as his “point person” regarding Trump.
“What do you think if The King calls the new President to congratulate him after announcing the results?” the official asks, referring to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. “Is it good or bad idea?”
“Good,“ Epstein said, adding that “TOM barrack is your point person.”
The exchanges also show that Epstein presented a number of networking opportunities to the real estate investor-turned-Trump confidant. Epstein introduced Barrack to powerful people, including billionaire Peter Thiel and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
CBS News characterized Barrack as “a friend solidly placed within Trump’s orbit” for Epstein, which “had the potential to benefit them both,” although there was no evidence in the documents that suggested Barrack passed information from Epstein to Trump. Instead, the exchanges illustrate Epstein’s proximity to the first Trump administration.
A 2011 email also suggested that Barrack had previously met Emirati Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem through Epstein. The two apparently gushed over him.
“just saw Sultan who likes you a lot! I told him you are the best that you are a first class brain inside of a first class human being! Miss u,” Barrack wrote, with “Sultan” appearing to refer to Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who recently resigned from his role as CEO of logistics company DP World after Epstein thanked him in an email for sending a “torture video.”
In 2017, Bin Sulayem also emailed Epstein about attending events for Trump around his inauguration, which Barrack had invited him to.
In 2021, Barrack, who has advised Trump on the Middle East, was arrested and charged with foreign lobbying for the United Arab Emirates. He was found not guilty by a jury the following year.
The post Epstein’s Secrecy Orders to Trump’s Wealthy Henchman Exposed appeared first on The Daily Beast.
