Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Steve Bannon are among high-profile names listed in Jeffrey Epstein's personal schedules and travel records made public Friday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, marking the latest release of files from the panel's ongoing investigation into the government's handling of Epstein's case.
The newly released tranche contains 8,544 documents, including flight manifests, phone logs, daily itineraries and financial ledgers spanning decades. Among the entries is a December 6, 2014 note asking, "Reminder: Elon Musk to island Dec. 6 (is this still happening?)," suggesting the billionaire was invited to Epstein's private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Musk has previously acknowledged visiting Epstein's Manhattan townhouse but has denied ever traveling to the island. In 2019, he told Vanity Fair that Epstein "tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island," but he declined. Musk reignited controversy earlier this year when he alleged on X that President Donald Trump's administration had been withholding Epstein-related files "to protect the president's reputation."
The documents also show Epstein had a November 2017 lunch scheduled with Thiel, a venture capitalist and Republican megadonor, and a February 2019 breakfast with Bannon, who served as senior counselor to Trump in the White House. Both meetings would have taken place after Epstein's 2008 sex offense conviction in Florida and within months of his 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges.
Sara Guerrero, spokesperson for Oversight Committee Democrats, said in a statement, "It should be clear to every American that Jeffrey Epstein was friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world. Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims." She added that the committee "will not stop until we identify everyone complicit in Epstein's heinous crimes."
Republicans blasted the unilateral release, accusing Democrats of "cherry-picking" documents while withholding materials that could implicate Democrats. "They are intentionally withholding documents that contain names of Democrat officials, and the information they released today is old news," a GOP Oversight spokesperson said, adding that Republicans intend to release unredacted calendars, call logs and cash ledgers once victims' names are redacted.
The release also references a May 2000 flight manifest listing Prince Andrew as a passenger on an Epstein plane along with Ghislaine Maxwell, underscoring the depth of Epstein's network of high-profile associates. Another entry shows Epstein attempted to schedule a "tentative breakfast party" with Bill Gates in December 2014, though there is no confirmation that the meeting occurred.
