Lolita Express is finally arrested.
- Thread starter Krgrecw
- Start date
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
One of Jeffrey Epstein’s greatest skills was building and exploiting connections with those who had the power to help or hinder him. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, that included the federal Customs and Border Protection officers who inspected the people and goods that were going to and from his private hideaway.
Mr. Epstein dispensed food, helicopter rides, financial advice and even musical gigs to a handful of C.B.P. officers stationed on St. Thomas, the American port of entry that was near Little St. James, an island that Mr. Epstein owned.
At the same time, Mr. Epstein enjoyed concierge services from some of the customs officers in St. Thomas, according to emails and other records recently released by the Justice Department. They whisked him through inspections. And they helped him troubleshoot when he encountered problems at airports on the mainland.
Starting in 2019, those chummy relationships became the subject of a criminal investigation, the records show.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as federal prosecutors, spent more than a year looking into whether C.B.P. officers in St. Thomas allowed Mr. Epstein and his guests to avoid scrutiny as they entered the country.
The outcome of the investigation, which focused on at least four C.B.P. officers, including a supervisor, is unclear. There is no record of the officers' having been charged with crimes in connection to Mr. Epstein. Spokesmen for the F.B.I. and C.B.P. had no immediate comment.
The emails and other records show how Mr. Epstein — a master networker who traded favors with presidents, billionaires, superlawyers and Hollywood celebrities — also set out to woo usually anonymous customs officials in the Caribbean. The charm offensive took place from at least 2008 to 2016, a period during which authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands have said he was sexually abusing girls and young women on his island. (The criminal charges filed against Mr. Epstein in 2019 covered an earlier time period and conduct in New York and Florida, not the Caribbean.)
It appeared to be part of a broader effort to build alliances across the U.S. territory, which granted his business lucrative tax breaks. He donated generously to local politicians. He employed a governor’s wife.
The C.B.P. agents in St. Thomas had the power to interfere with the luxurious, under-the-radar life that Mr. Epstein had built for himself in the U.S. Virgin Islands — including his importation of young women from foreign countries.
After Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008 and became a registered sex offender, C.B.P. officers elsewhere sometimes pulled him aside for questioning at airports. They sometimes took note of his female companions. In 2013, for example, a C.B.P. officer at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida described intercepting Mr. Epstein, who was returning from St. Thomas. He “was traveling with several young women but of age,” the officer wrote in a report, which was previously described by Bloomberg News.
Mr. Epstein and his associates also appeared jittery about what C.B.P. officers might find if they showed up unannounced at Little St. James. In 2016, an employee alerted Mr. Epstein that C.B.P. officers were circling the island, according to an email released by the Justice Department. The employee instructed a colleague “to hide everything until further notice.” It wasn’t clear what she was referring to.
By the time of his 2008 incarceration, Mr. Epstein had a friendly relationship with at least one C.B.P. officer, the emails show.
The officer, Carol Montgomery, repeatedly sought Mr. Epstein’s advice and financial assistance, including a $200,000 loan after she transferred to a C.B.P. office on the mainland. It is unclear from the emails whether Mr. Epstein provided her with money or if she was part of the federal investigation.
Mr. Epstein dispensed food, helicopter rides, financial advice and even musical gigs to a handful of C.B.P. officers stationed on St. Thomas, the American port of entry that was near Little St. James, an island that Mr. Epstein owned.
At the same time, Mr. Epstein enjoyed concierge services from some of the customs officers in St. Thomas, according to emails and other records recently released by the Justice Department. They whisked him through inspections. And they helped him troubleshoot when he encountered problems at airports on the mainland.
Starting in 2019, those chummy relationships became the subject of a criminal investigation, the records show.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as federal prosecutors, spent more than a year looking into whether C.B.P. officers in St. Thomas allowed Mr. Epstein and his guests to avoid scrutiny as they entered the country.
The outcome of the investigation, which focused on at least four C.B.P. officers, including a supervisor, is unclear. There is no record of the officers' having been charged with crimes in connection to Mr. Epstein. Spokesmen for the F.B.I. and C.B.P. had no immediate comment.
The emails and other records show how Mr. Epstein — a master networker who traded favors with presidents, billionaires, superlawyers and Hollywood celebrities — also set out to woo usually anonymous customs officials in the Caribbean. The charm offensive took place from at least 2008 to 2016, a period during which authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands have said he was sexually abusing girls and young women on his island. (The criminal charges filed against Mr. Epstein in 2019 covered an earlier time period and conduct in New York and Florida, not the Caribbean.)
It appeared to be part of a broader effort to build alliances across the U.S. territory, which granted his business lucrative tax breaks. He donated generously to local politicians. He employed a governor’s wife.
The C.B.P. agents in St. Thomas had the power to interfere with the luxurious, under-the-radar life that Mr. Epstein had built for himself in the U.S. Virgin Islands — including his importation of young women from foreign countries.
After Mr. Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008 and became a registered sex offender, C.B.P. officers elsewhere sometimes pulled him aside for questioning at airports. They sometimes took note of his female companions. In 2013, for example, a C.B.P. officer at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida described intercepting Mr. Epstein, who was returning from St. Thomas. He “was traveling with several young women but of age,” the officer wrote in a report, which was previously described by Bloomberg News.
Mr. Epstein and his associates also appeared jittery about what C.B.P. officers might find if they showed up unannounced at Little St. James. In 2016, an employee alerted Mr. Epstein that C.B.P. officers were circling the island, according to an email released by the Justice Department. The employee instructed a colleague “to hide everything until further notice.” It wasn’t clear what she was referring to.
By the time of his 2008 incarceration, Mr. Epstein had a friendly relationship with at least one C.B.P. officer, the emails show.
The officer, Carol Montgomery, repeatedly sought Mr. Epstein’s advice and financial assistance, including a $200,000 loan after she transferred to a C.B.P. office on the mainland. It is unclear from the emails whether Mr. Epstein provided her with money or if she was part of the federal investigation.
No wonder Savannah Guthrie’s mom has been missing right as the files started trickling out.
Jaw
It's OVER 5,000!
I mean, I disregarded her when she was saying things I liked. Pretty sure I called her an embarrassment multiple times. Why would I give her credit for getting butthurt and switching sides? She’s still the same ditz she was before.
