In April 2008, a formal invitation arrived in the inbox of Jeffrey Epstein's executive assistant, Lesley Groff. It came from the Trilateral Commission's offices, addressed to Epstein. The subject: the organization's annual plenary meeting, April 25–28, at the Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C.
The invitation addressed Epstein as a "Member and Participant."
The Trilateral Commission was founded in 1973 by David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski to foster cooperation between North America, Europe, and Japan. Its membership reads like a master list of global power. There is no application form. You are invited — or you are not.
Jeffrey Epstein — college dropout, former Bear Stearns trader, convicted sex offender — was invited.1
The Roster
A full copy of the Trilateral Commission's North American Group membership list turned up in the DOJ document release.2 Epstein is listed:
Jeffrey Epstein — J. Epstein & Company, Inc. — New York
Now look at who sat on that same list:
| Member | Role |
|---|---|
| David Rockefeller | Founder, Lifetime Trustee |
| Henry A. Kissinger | Lifetime Trustee |
| George J. Tenet | Former CIA Director (1996–2004) |
| John M. Deutch | Former CIA Director (1995–1996) |
| William H. Webster | Former CIA and FBI Director |
| Paul A. Volcker | Former Federal Reserve Chairman |
| Robert S. McNamara | Former World Bank President, Vietnam-era Defense Secretary |
| Lawrence H. Summers | President of Harvard University |
| Jamie Dimon | CEO, JPMorgan Chase |
| Dianne Feinstein | U.S. Senator |
| Zbigniew Brzezinski | Co-founder, former National Security Advisor |
| Richard N. Perle | American Enterprise Institute, architect of the Iraq invasion |
| Fareed Zakaria | Editor, Newsweek International |
| Francis Fukuyama | "End of History" author, Johns Hopkins |
Three former CIA directors. A Fed chairman. A Defense Secretary. The co-founders of the organization itself. And Jeffrey Epstein, sitting right there among them.
This is not conspiracy theory. This is the membership roster, released by the U.S. Department of Justice.2
Five Independent Confirmations
Epstein's Trilateral Commission membership is established by five separate, independent sources in the corpus. No single piece of evidence needs to carry the weight alone — they corroborate each other.
1. The Official Biography
Epstein's own bio, found across at least eight documents in the DOJ release, states plainly:
"Jeffrey E. Epstein is the Chairman of Financial Trust Company, Inc. Mr. Epstein is a former member of the Trilateral Commission and a former member of the Council on Foreign Relations."1
The same bio describes his COUQ Foundation as funding research topics including "Personal Genomics and Power" — a phrase worth sitting with, given what we now know about Epstein's activities at Zorro Ranch.
2. The Plenary Invitation
The 2008 invitation, forwarded by Lesley Groff, addressed Epstein directly as a "Member and Participant" and included logistics for the Washington, D.C. plenary.3
3. The Membership Roster
The full North American Group roster, described above, lists Epstein by name alongside the most powerful figures in American government, finance, and intelligence.2
4. Epstein's Own Words
Epstein referenced his TC membership in correspondence with multiple people, across multiple years — not as something to prove, but as a credential to invoke.
To Steve Bannon (May 8, 2018):
"when I was on the trilateral commission. I always took along my very pretty american looking california blonde assistant that was silently fluent in the three main dialects. I loved it when they smiled to me as they said to each other . be careful of the Jewish dog."4
On Ehud Barak (February 22, 2017):
"He is the most knowledgeable of all the players I have known. — including my stint on the Trilateral Commission."5
To "Khalid" (October 29, 2016):
"Khalid, great fun today, . trilateral commission. ? alberto pinto. ? ... see you in Saudi."6
Via iMessage (March 29, 2017):
"as you may know I used to be a member of the trilateral commission. so i have some strong views on benefits and burdens of the various orgs."7
Note the tense. By 2016–2018, Epstein describes himself as a former member. The plenary invitation dates to 2008 — the same year as his Florida conviction. The timing suggests the Trilateral Commission quietly dropped him after the plea deal. But not before he'd spent years inside the room.
5. The $50,000 Check
COUQ Foundation check #2373, dated October 1, 2006. Fifty thousand dollars. Made out to "The Trilateral Commission."8
The same 2006 COUQ ledger shows $958,000 in disbursements, including:
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| President and Fellows of Harvard College | $100,000 |
| Santa Fe Institute (Murray Gell-Mann research) | $75,000 |
| The Trilateral Commission | $50,000 |
| William J. Clinton Foundation | $25,000 |
| Stockholm School of Economics | $25,000 |
| Institute of International Education | $100,000 |
Epstein wasn't just attending meetings. He was writing checks.
The Woman in the Room
Epstein wasn't the only one from his orbit at Trilateral Commission events. Ghislaine Maxwell had her own access.
In 2002, Maxwell emailed Lars Erickson:
"Functions? Will there be any cute guys present other than you? I'm coming in for the Trilateral meetings. E mail me your no. so I can call you and we can coordinate some trouble."9
Maxwell at the Trilateral meetings — independently. Not as Epstein's guest, but on her own standing. The daughter of Robert Maxwell, the media baron whose intelligence ties are among the worst-kept secrets in modern espionage.
What It Bought Him
Membership in the Trilateral Commission wasn't a trophy on a shelf. It was a routing node — a place where introductions happened, deals were structured, and access was currency.
Look at the names on that roster again. Then look at who shows up across Epstein's 73,000+ emails:
Kissinger appears in 511 documents and 81 email threads. Epstein had Kissinger's personal schedule, arranged breakfasts pairing Kissinger with Ehud Barak and Ariane de Rothschild, and possessed the full business plan for Kissinger China NewCo — a private advisory firm with Kissinger as Executive Chairman and projected first-year profits split 50/50.10
Summers was nominated by Epstein for a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader award. When asked about the female nominee, Summers replied: "Is she smart? Attractive?" Then: "She is very hot." Summers later met Ariane de Rothschild at Epstein's house alongside his wife.11
Rockefeller University put Epstein on its board. George Church — the Harvard geneticist at the center of Epstein's transhumanism network — held conferences there.1
The Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, the World Economic Forum at Davos, the Bilderberg Group via Peter Mandelson — these weren't separate circles. They were one network, and Epstein operated at the intersection.
A profile piece circulated by Epstein himself described his operation as:
"by careful design, exclusive and clubby, part hang out, part secret society."12
He wasn't wrong.
The Uncomfortable Question
How does a man with no college degree, no visible source of wealth proportional to a $77 million Manhattan townhouse, and a 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor end up on the same membership roster as three CIA directors and the founder of the organization?
We don't have to speculate. We can point to the documents.
513 of them mention the Trilateral Commission. The roster is in the DOJ release. The check cleared. His own emails confirm it — multiple times, to multiple people, across years.
The question isn't whether Epstein was a member. That's settled.
The question is: what was the Trilateral Commission getting from Jeffrey Epstein?
The documents don't answer that directly. But they make the silence around it very, very loud.
Sources & Documents
All documents referenced below are from the U.S. Department of Justice Epstein document release or House Oversight Committee files, searchable on Unsealed.
- EFTA00725190 — Official Epstein biography: Trilateral Commission member, CFR member, Rockefeller University board, COUQ Foundation. View →
- EFTA01082667 — Full Trilateral Commission North American Group membership roster listing Epstein alongside Kissinger, Rockefeller, three former CIA directors. View →
- 2008 Plenary Invitation — Formal TC invitation forwarded by Lesley Groff, addressing Epstein as "Member and Participant." Search emails →
- EFTA00813315 — Epstein to Steve Bannon: "when I was on the trilateral commission." View →
- EFTA01053658 — Epstein on Ehud Barak: "including my stint on the Trilateral Commission." View →
- EFTA00813539 — Epstein to "Khalid": "trilateral commission... see you in Saudi." View →
- HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027222 — iMessage: "I used to be a member of the trilateral commission." View →
- EFTA00804104 — COUQ Foundation 2006 ledger: Check #2373, $50,000 to The Trilateral Commission. View →
- Ghislaine Maxwell correspondence — "I'm coming in for the Trilateral meetings." Search emails →
- EFTA00584255 — Kissinger China NewCo full business plan found in Epstein's files. View →
- Dossier records — Summers WEF Young Global Leader nomination via Epstein; meeting with Ariane de Rothschild at Epstein's house. Dossier →
- Michael Wolff profile — "part hang out, part secret society." Circulated by Epstein to associates. Search →
This article draws on the Secret Societies & Elite Power Networks research dossier, compiled from 1.3 million full-text documents, 73,000+ emails, and the complete knowledge graph in the Unsealed database.