The Financial Network

The Financial Network: Bannon, Goldman Sachs, and $9.38 Billion in Documented Flows

A database-driven investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's financial routing architecture, his secret relationship with Steve Bannon, Goldman Sachs connections reaching the CEO's dinner table, and the $9.38 billion paper trail buried in 49,769 transaction records — based on primary source documents from the DOJ Epstein Files release, the Unsealed email archive, kabasshouse intelligence datasets, the 1.3-million-document full-text corpus, and supplementary web research.


Executive Summarylink

While social media chases fabricated code words and invented rituals, the actual Epstein financial documents tell a story that needs no embellishment. $9.38 billion in documented transactions. $70 million wired to Goldman Sachs in a single fourteen-month window. The CEO of Goldman Sachs at Epstein's dinner table. Steve Bannon's son with an @epstein.com email address. A secret meeting arranged by the author of Fire and Fury. And a former Obama White House Counsel who became Goldman Sachs' General Counsel while lunching simultaneously with Epstein and Bannon.

None of this requires interpretation. It's in the documents.

Key findings:

  • Steve Bannon had at least 7 documented meetings with Epstein in 2017-2018, including lunches, dinners, and multi-person gatherings — plus an iMessage archive spanning October 2017 to July 6, 2019 (the day of Epstein's arrest)
  • Michael Wolff arranged a secret meeting between Bannon and Epstein in October 2017: "For reasons I will explain, he wants a secret meet"
  • Epstein coached Bannon on a cover story for their meetings: "I suggest if someone ask you about visiting me, its about global economics"
  • Bannon and Epstein collaborated on a $100 million cryptocurrency political scheme — "Citizens of the American Republic" — with Epstein providing detailed financial structuring advice
  • An FBI FD-302 (SECRET/NOFORN) documents an informant telling agents that "EPSTEIN was an Israeli spy" who "paid BANNON with money from the Israelis"
  • A victim witness told the FBI she saw Steve Bannon at Epstein's house in 2018 "trying to reboot his reputation"
  • Eight days before arrest, Bannon asked to be announced as Ehud Barak's strategic advisor for Israeli elections — brokered by Epstein
  • Six days before arrest, Epstein compiled his entire 100-name rolodex for Bannon — Clinton, Prince Andrew, Gates, Thiel, Hoffman, Summers, Ruemmler, Jes Staley, Woody Allen
  • On the day of his arrest (July 6, 2019), Epstein's final text to Bannon was: "All canceled"
  • Sean Bannon (Steve's son) was assigned an @epstein.com corporate email address and received Apple Watch gifts via FedEx from Epstein's office
  • Epstein's entities wired $70 million+ to Goldman Sachs in 2004-2005 through Financial Trust Company
  • Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs CEO) attended Epstein's dinner in September 2010; in January 2014, Epstein launched an eight-document, week-long campaign to get a meeting with Blankfein through Leon Black
  • Epstein privately called Goldman's president Gary Cohn "a jerk" and Goldman culture "vile" — while simultaneously feeding Gary Cohn intelligence to Michael Wolff, a Saudi contact, and Goldman's own General Counsel
  • Epstein attended a lecture at Goldman Sachs headquarters in November 2017 — two years after Goldman rejected his account and nine years after his conviction
  • Judie Taylor at Goldman continued forwarding proprietary Goldman research to Epstein's financial advisor through at least October 2018 — three years after the account rejection
  • Goldman Sachs rejected Epstein's $10 million account opening in July 2015 — the relationship manager "pushed hard internally" but compliance said no
  • Epstein possessed Goldman Sachs internal emails from the 2007 mortgage crisis featuring Blankfein, Gary Cohn, and David Viniar discussing: "We lost money, then made more than we lost because of shorts"
  • Kathy Ruemmler — Obama's White House Counsel, Goldman Sachs' General Counsel — was on Obama's shortlist for US Attorney General while corresponding with Epstein. She later wrote a full legal defense essay for him calling trafficking "sexual favors for hire"
  • Epstein got Ruemmler a JPMorgan account through Mary Erdoes (JPM Asset Management CEO) five months before his arrest
  • Epstein was consulted about incoming Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — and was actively asked by the NYT's Landon Thomas for Treasury Secretary suggestions. Thomas was later fired from the NYT for taking $70,000 in payments from Epstein
  • $30.5 million flowed from Leon Black's BV70 LLC (Apollo Management HQ address) to Epstein's aircraft entity in two months — Deutsche Bank compliance described it as "fees"
  • The FBI opened a wire fraud investigation into Southern Country International after $15 million was transferred through the defunct entity after Epstein's death
  • FinCEN received a request from France tracking a transaction between Epstein's Gratitude America charity and a former French Ministry official

Part I: The Bannon Connectionlink

The Secret Meeting — October 2017link

The most damning Bannon-Epstein document is not a financial record. It's an arrangement.

EFTA02367627 (October 6, 2017): Michael Wolff — the journalist who was then embedded in the Trump White House gathering material for Fire and Fury — wrote to Epstein: "For reasons I will explain, he wants a secret meet. I'm in transit. Let's speak tomorrow."

Epstein replied: "Count me in. Tomorrow I have president of UN. If you both would find it interesting."

Michael Wolff — who had unprecedented access to the Trump White House, who was simultaneously writing a book that would shake the administration — was arranging a secret meeting between Trump's former Chief Strategist and a convicted sex offender. And Epstein was casually offering to include the President of the United Nations.

EFTA02368555 (October 6, 2017): Follow-up confirming the arrangement.

The Calendar — Seven Meetings in Fourteen Monthslink

Epstein's calendar alerts and staff correspondence document at least seven direct meetings with Bannon between October 2017 and November 2018:

Date Event Source
Oct 6, 2017 Secret meeting (arranged by Michael Wolff) EFTA02367627
Jan 19, 2018 1:30pm LUNCH with Steve Bannon EFTA02236536
Feb 8, 2018 Meeting arrangement EFTA02237330
Mar 14, 2018 11:00am Appt with Steve Bannon plus 3 EFTA02239408
Mar 15, 2018 7pm Dinner with Terje and Berge, Steve Bannon EFTA02239420
Mar 22, 2018 6:00pm Ehud / 6:45pm Steve Bannon (Ehud will stay) / 7:00pm DINNER w/Ehud and Steve Bannon EFTA02240013
Mar 24, 2018 Lunch with Kathy Ruemmler, Miro, Steve Bannon EFTA02240659
Apr 25, 2018 7:15pm DINNER with Miro and Steve Bannon EFTA02245731
Oct 16, 2018 12:00pm LUNCH with Steve Bannon EFTA02260347
Nov 29, 2018 Call Darren with Steve Bannon leaves EFTA02264319

March 2018 was particularly intense — four meetings in eleven days. The March 14 entry notes "Steve Bannon plus 3," indicating Bannon was bringing associates to Epstein's residence. The March 15 dinner included Terje Roed-Larsen, the Norwegian diplomat and president of the International Peace Institute, who received $250,000+ from Epstein. The March 22 schedule reveals that Ehud Barak was already at Epstein's when Bannon arrived — and stayed for dinner with both of them.

The Cover Storylink

On August 8, 2018, as media attention grew, Epstein proactively coached Bannon on a narrative for their meetings:

EFTA01615242 (August 8, 2018): Epstein to Bannon via iMessage: "I leave it to you but I suggest if someone ask you about visiting me, its about global economics"

Bannon's reply: "I thought u were my long lost Jewish mother"

Three days later, Page Six ran an article exposing their 7am meeting. Epstein had anticipated the exposure and had the cover story ready.

The Cryptocurrency Scheme — "Citizens of the American Republic"link

The iMessage archive reveals that Bannon and Epstein were not merely socializing. They were collaborating on a political finance vehicle:

EFTA02524442 (February 19, 2018): Bannon: "How do we launch the c4 'Citizens of the American Republic' by announcing we have $100 million worth of bitcoin--- that announcement alone will cause a complete meltdown of the political world"

Epstein provided detailed financial structuring advice on donor advised funds, C4 entities, and cryptocurrency campaign finance: "research campaign finance with coins... bitcoin is inherently anonymous and bearer like"

Bannon's vision: "and this potential grassroots (ie retail) financial muscle in back of a grassroots army u disintermediate mcconnel's corporatist apparatus"

In the same exchange, Epstein boasted: "Noam Chomsky yesterday referred to me as the Swiss Army Knife of finance"

This was not a casual conversation. Bannon was asking a convicted sex offender to help structure a $100 million crypto-funded political organization designed to reshape the Republican Party.

The Goldman Sachs Introductionslink

Bannon did not merely receive from Epstein — he also delivered:

EFTA00879459 (February 23, 2018): Bannon to Jide Zeitlin and Epstein: "Jeffrey: jide is the close friend and former goldman colleague I mentioned ---i will let u guys figure out the best time to get together"

Jide Zeitlin — former Goldman Sachs partner, then chairman of Tapestry (parent company of Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman) — was introduced to Epstein by Bannon. By January 2019, Epstein was routing women's names and resumes to Zeitlin for corporate placement at Tapestry. Zeitlin resigned as Tapestry CEO in July 2020 amid sexual misconduct allegations.

The Bolton-Qatar Diplomacylink

Epstein positioned himself as a diplomatic broker between Bannon's political operation and foreign governments:

EFTA01615501 (December 11, 2018): Epstein to Bannon: "you can explain to your boys that the lynchpin in the middle east is Qatar, blockade lifted. they can help on many fronts"

"i think i m getting bolton on board. at least he's an adult"

Bannon's reply revealed his own power: "Bolton only doing what Sheldon Adelson tells him to do-- I got John the job but he will not cross Sheldon" — and: "Key is MBZ -- get him, get actionable deal"

Bannon was claiming he "got John Bolton the job" as National Security Advisor. Epstein was trying to broker Qatar diplomacy through him. And both were discussing how to move Mohammed bin Zayed.

The Davos Connectionlink

EFTA01615365 (September 25, 2018): Epstein: "President of Davos coming tonight, looking for ideas to reinvigorate the forum"

Bannon: "Keynote by SKB" [Steve K. Bannon]

Epstein: "Confidentially-Putin coming to Davos"

Epstein was consulting with Bannon on reshaping the World Economic Forum, sharing insider intelligence about Putin's attendance.

Bannon as Barak's Strategic Advisor — Eight Days Before Arrestlink

EFTA01615966 (June 28, 2019): Bannon: "Ehud massive-- can we announce I'm his strategic advisor?"

Epstein: "This will be a long campaign. Elections in sept (17). Lots to talk about"

Epstein: "Now you can understand why trump wakes up in the middle of the night sweating when he hears you and I are friends"

Bannon: "Dangerous"

Eight days before Epstein's arrest, Bannon was asking to be announced as Ehud Barak's strategic advisor for Israeli elections — a role brokered entirely by Epstein. Epstein boasted about the fear their alliance created.

Epstein as Bannon's PR Managerlink

When Michael Wolff's second book attacked Bannon, Epstein intervened directly:

EFTA01615911 (June 5, 2019): Wolff's book claims "Bannon has knowledge of Trump's crimes and obstruction of justice."

Bannon: "What an asshole"

Epstein: "Why is he doing this---its total bs"

Bannon: "Tell him to lay off me--it's both NOT working and NOT helping"

Epstein: "Ok" ... "done."

Epstein called Wolff on Bannon's behalf and reported back: "done." He was actively managing Bannon's public relations in real time.

The Final Days — "All Canceled"link

The iMessage archive captures the final days before Epstein's arrest on July 6, 2019:

EFTA01615976 (July 3-6, 2019):

  • July 3: Planning filming on Epstein's island. Discussing a visit to James Watson (Nobel laureate, DNA co-discoverer) at Cold Spring Harbor.
  • July 5: Bannon: "Can I join u?" to visit Watson. Epstein: "Yes"
  • July 6: Bannon: "Can we film Sunday morning: Sunday afternoon???""If we can arrange it can we film on the island?"
  • July 6, FINAL MESSAGE: Epstein: "All canceled"
  • Bannon: "You r not coming in?"

Bannon was planning to bring a film crew to Epstein's island on the day Epstein was arrested. They had been co-producing a documentary — with earlier messages showing passport collection for crew members, logistics, and Epstein asking "Did your guys prefer beard or no beard" about his appearance for filming.

The Rolodex — Six Days Before Arrestlink

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029622 (June 30, 2019): Epstein compiled his entire contact network for Bannon, sent to himself as a memo:

"list for bannon steve: mandelson, barnaby summers watson, axel bottstein. karim terje, pritzker edelman. set lloyd, martin novak minsky, tata susskind, strominger krauss, hopkins. randall, kosslyn, gardner gates, thiel. hoffman, hoie sinofsky, sheldrake, suzlberger. jes staley, joscha bach, joi ito. HBJ berge, miro, anas raafat, sultan, nathan feigenbaum, ramashandran... john kery, george mitchell... prince andrews, jagland, clinton pastrana, richardson, leahy, jarecki, schumer, ranieri... woody, churkin, sergey, ruemmler..."

Approximately 100 names. Gates. Thiel. Hoffman. Clinton. Prince Andrew. Jes Staley. Summers. Ruemmler. Sulzberger. Schumer. Kerry. Richardson. Woody Allen. The Sultan. Six days before arrest, Epstein was preparing to hand Bannon the keys to his entire network.

The FBI Assessmentlink

EFTA00259527 (April 28, 2020): SECRET/NOFORN FBI FD-302 — A 9-page FBI interview of Chuck Johnson (who ran Clearview AI facial recognition and worked with CIA/NSC):

"JOHNSON expressed concern that JEFFREY EPSTEIN was an Israeli spy. He and BANNON may have had a business relationship and EPSTEIN paid BANNON with money from the Israelis."

"BANNON was close to EPSTEIN and that troubled JOHNSON as a father of young girl."

"JOHNSON said BANNON was 'for sale' and was promised money after he left the WH."

"BANNON lived in an apartment building owned by a foreigner. He believed a look into BANNON's finances would identify foreign governments he was involved with."

Johnson recommended FBI agents interview Kyle Bass regarding Bannon's relationship with Guo Wengui (Chinese fugitive billionaire), and Michael Wolff regarding Bannon's relationship with Epstein. The iMessage archive from Bannon to Epstein confirms Johnson's timeline: "I'm all day by day now-- heading to see Kudlow then Texas -- u know Kyle Bass?" Epstein: "no. Not a heavy..."

The Victim Witnesslink

EFTA01246874: A victim told the FBI in an FD-302 that she "saw Steve Bannon at Epstein's house in 2018 trying to reboot his reputation."

DEFCON — "The Most Dangerous Force"link

On July 2, 2018, Bannon and Epstein exchanged messages about the annual DEFCON and Black Hat security conferences:

EFTA02506034: Epstein described 20,000 hackers discussing "hacking crypto exchanges, voting booths, medical records, self-driving cars, planes, and networks" — calling them "the most powerful — (read dangerous) — us group. much stronger than military" and "the most dangerous force in today's society. BY FAR!!!"

Bannon's response: "Do u know these guys?? U know these guys??? what was the 20k reference. Do u think I could get an invite to speak??"

Sean Bannon — The @epstein.com Emaillink

Steve Bannon's son Sean Bannon appears in the files with an email address that raises immediate questions: sean.bannon@epstein.com.

EFTA02271255 through EFTA02271576 (January-February 2019): Multiple threads document Lesley Groff (Epstein's executive assistant) FedEx-ing Apple Watches to Sean Bannon in Washington, D.C.

The iMessage archive confirms the gift-giving extended to Steve Bannon himself:

EFTA01615587 (January 22, 2019): Epstein: "Did you get your Apple Watch I sent you for xmas""Sent to sean you, he will get it to you"

Three days later, a more significant message: Epstein to Bannon: "Reid called and asked me to pass along" — referencing Reid Hoffman. Epstein was serving as message conduit from Silicon Valley to Trump's former chief strategist.

The Kahn Bombshell — "More Than Anyone on Trump's Team"link

Ten days after Donald Trump's election, Richard Kahn wrote to Brock Pierce:

EFTA02669093 / EFTA01785924 / vol00009-efta00697552 (November 18, 2016): "good morning and thanks for taking the time yesterday to review coinbase with me. I realized that if i were you, i would suggest to steve bannon that he talk privately with jeffrey. as you know jeffrey knows more about international finance than anyone on trump's team, by a long way. tom barrack knows jeffrey well, and apart from the google mess he makes steve menuchin look like my son in terms of sophistication."

The full thread — previously only partially known — reveals that Pierce agreed: "I'll work on getting us all together." Kahn then dropped additional bait: "please communicate with jeffrey, who is also close to peter thiel. jeffrey thinks peter is really thoughtful." And on November 30, Kahn followed up with Epstein: "has he been in touch shall i follow up with him again?"

The Uranium One Bridgelink

Epstein played both sides of the political aisle simultaneously:

EFTA02568165 (November 14, 2017): Epstein to Michael Wolff: "you should suggest to SB [Steve Bannon] that they talk to Doug Band re uranium 1"

Epstein was brokering between Trump's chief strategist and Clinton's gatekeeper (Doug Band) on the Uranium One scandal. Not picking sides — connecting them.

Richard Kahn's Bannon News Servicelink

Kahn maintained a steady stream of Bannon-related news clips forwarded to Epstein:

Date Subject Source
Nov 10, 2017 "Steve Bannon Advised Mark Cuban to Run in 2020 as a Democrat" EFTA02569245
Dec 22, 2017 "Sen. McConnell mocks Steve Bannon's 'political genius'" EFTA02595293
Jan 2, 2018 "Bannon Reportedly Mulling 2020 POTUS Run" EFTA02543712
Sep 15, 2018 "Steve Bannon was supposed to be in Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 11/9'" EFTA02595293
Jan 25, 2019 "Steve Bannon is the 'high-ranking' Trump official in Roger Stone indictment" EFTA02626545
Mar 22, 2019 "Bannon descends on Rome, sowing chaos" EFTA02636333

Abu Dhabi and the Security Warningslink

Epstein coordinated Bannon's Middle East diplomatic activities and provided tradecraft:

EFTA01615435 (November 16, 2018): Bannon: "Heading to AD tonight; just confirmed meeting"

Epstein: "Miro and Terje are there"

Epstein: "Tomorrow meeting powerful. Reminder. Phones not secure AT ALL. Wait until you return for downloads"

Epstein was not merely socializing. He was providing operational security guidance for diplomatic meetings.


Part II: Goldman Sachs — The $70 Million Wirelink

The Wire Transfers (2004-2005)link

The kabasshouse financial transactions dataset documents massive capital flows from Epstein entities to Goldman Sachs:

Date Amount Description
Feb 5, 2005 $50,000,000 Wire to Goldman Sachs FAO Financial Trust Company
Apr 1, 2005 $20,000,000 Wire to Goldman Sachs FAO JCK Partners Opp Fund LP
Feb 5, 2004 $2,800,000 Wire to Goldman Sachs FAO Financial Trust Company Inc
Dec 9, 2004 $100,000 Free delivery to Goldman Sachs & Co
Dec 20, 2004 Undisclosed Free delivery to Goldman Sachs & Co

$72.9 million in documented transfers to Goldman Sachs in fourteen months. The single $50 million wire — sent from Financial Trust Company through Citibank to Goldman Sachs — is one of the largest single transfers in the entire Epstein financial archive.

"FAO" means "For the Account Of" — standard wire transfer language indicating that Goldman Sachs was receiving these funds on behalf of Epstein's Financial Trust Company. JCK Partners Opp Fund LP was a separate investment vehicle managed through Goldman's infrastructure.

The JCK Partners investment was a full round-trip. Financial records show Goldman returned $19,955,949.63 to Epstein's JPMorgan account when the fund was unwound (EFTA01508943). A file index links JCK Partners to Financial Trust Company alongside the Wexner Children's Trust and MBZ (Mohammed bin Zayed) — revealing the investment vehicle sat alongside Epstein's two most sensitive client relationships (EFTA00300480).

The Account Opening — July 2015link

A decade later, when Epstein tried to open a new account, Goldman Sachs said no.

EFTA02496193 (June 30, 2015): Richard Kahn to Epstein — "Please advise if 10mm is ok for STC to open account at Goldman. Thank you."

"STC" is Southern Trust Company — Epstein's primary USVI investment vehicle with an $88 million balance. The $10 million was the minimum deposit.

Goldman's Investment Management Division was initially enthusiastic:

EFTA02496193 (June 30, 2015): Judie Z. Taylor (Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, 39th Floor) to Kahn — "Nice speaking with you. We look forward to expanding our relationship and thank you for giving us the opportunity... I just want you to know the account minimum is $10 million, is that going to be ok?... We're very excited."

Two weeks later, the excitement was over:

EFTA02377184 (July 13, 2015): Kahn to Epstein — "i spoke with Judie Taylor from Goldman and she said that they were unable to open account. she pushed hard internally and mentioned to her team that you had other accounts on the street however said they were sorry but could not open account."

Goldman's compliance department overruled the relationship manager. But the timeline matters: this was seven years after Epstein's 2008 conviction. From 2004 to 2008, Goldman had no such reservations — they accepted $70 million+ in wire transfers. The compliance rejection came only after Epstein's name had become toxic enough to represent reputational risk.

Post-Rejection: The Relationship Continuedlink

The account rejection did not end Goldman's engagement with Epstein. Judie Taylor continued forwarding proprietary Goldman Sachs research to Epstein's financial advisor Richard Kahn, who forwarded it to Epstein:

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_026893 (October 15, 2018): A full Goldman Sachs Investment Strategy Group "Sunday Night Insight" report — "The Unsteady Undertow Commands the Seas (Temporarily)" — containing proprietary research on US equities, recession probability, FANGMAN stocks, buyback desk estimates ($1 trillion in authorizations), and China trade war analysis. Forwarded by Taylor to Kahn, then to Epstein.

Multiple House Oversight documents (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_014533, 014617-014619, 025694-025698, 026906-026907, 026921, 026966) are Goldman Sachs investment presentations and derivative documentation found in Epstein's files.

The unofficial relationship persisted through at least October 2018 — three years after the account rejection and eight months before arrest.

Goldman Sachs HQ — November 2017link

EFTA02231788 / EFTA00465228 (November 30, 2017): Lesley Groff emails a guest: "can you give me your guest name as soon as possible? Below is the link for information on the event! Names must be submitted to Goldman Sachs Security... The event is tomorrow afternoon lecture at Goldman Sachs."

Epstein was bringing guests to an event at Goldman Sachs headquarters. This was over two years after Goldman rejected his $10 million account and nine years after his sex offense conviction. Goldman's compliance blocked his bank account but apparently did not block him from attending events at their headquarters.

Goldman Bond Trading — Post-Rejectionlink

After the account rejection, Epstein continued accessing Goldman Sachs products through intermediaries:

vol00009-efta00650400 (August 1-2, 2016): Richard Kahn trading Goldman Sachs Capital II 4.0% bonds (CUSIP: 381427AA1) through Morgan Stanley. Southern Trust Company held 2 million units. Kahn directed pricing at "81.75 or better" — selling 300,000 bonds through Andrew Atlas at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

The rejection didn't end the relationship. It just added an intermediary.

The $5 Million Bond Purchaselink

EFTA02446893 (June 4, 2015): A $5 million purchase of Goldman Sachs 5.375% Fixed-to-Floating bonds (maturing 2020) — documented as a direct deposit into Epstein's account. This was purchased just three weeks before the account opening rejection, suggesting the bond was acquired through an existing channel before the new account was denied.

Equity Swaps — Betting on Goldmanlink

In 2010, Epstein's Financial Trust Company held equity swap positions on Goldman Sachs Group stock:

Date Notional Value Type
May 2010 $4,775,970 Long Total Return Swap on GS
May 2010 $3,208,420 Long Total Return Swap on GS
Total $7,984,390 GS equity exposure

Epstein was literally betting on Goldman Sachs stock going up — while simultaneously using Goldman's infrastructure to manage his own capital. The total Goldman exposure across bonds, swaps, and wire transfers exceeded $80 million.

The C.O.U.Q. Foundation Goldman Accountlink

Epstein's C.O.U.Q. Foundation (a charity based in West Palm Beach) maintained its own Goldman Sachs investment account — a detail absent from public reporting:

EFTA00299850 / EFTA00299901: File index documents listing "COUQ Goldman Sachs Account" as a separate line item alongside "COUQ/JP Morgan Account" and "Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities Partners, LP."

Financial transaction records confirm a $2,929.52 transfer from Goldman to the C.O.U.Q. Foundation on July 9, 2010 — indicating the account was active well after his 2008 conviction.


Part III: The Blankfein Dinner and the Pursuitlink

September 20, 2010 — Ehud Baraklink

The most direct evidence of Epstein's Goldman Sachs executive access is a dinner guest list:

EFTA02421941 (September 20, 2010): Epstein hosted a dinner for Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defense Minister and former Prime Minister.

The guest list:

Guest Position
Lloyd Blankfein CEO, Goldman Sachs
Larry Summers Former Treasury Secretary
Steve Schwarzman Chairman/CEO, Blackstone Group
Charlie Rose PBS anchor
Arthur Sulzberger Publisher, The New York Times
+ additional guests

The CEO of Goldman Sachs, the former Treasury Secretary, the chairman of the world's largest alternative investment firm, the most prominent television interviewer in America, and the publisher of the nation's paper of record — all at the dinner table of a registered sex offender, hosted in honor of Israel's Defense Minister.

This was not a Goldman Sachs compliance failure. This was the CEO choosing to attend.

January 2014 — The Blankfein Meeting Pursuitlink

Four years after the dinner, Epstein launched a week-long, eight-document campaign to get a private meeting with Blankfein — using Leon Black as his intermediary:

EFTA00982138 (January 21, 2014): Epstein: "i have tasked loen [Leon] to set up a meeting with blankfein"

EFTA02116625 (January 21, 2014): Lesley Groff to Melanie Spinella (Leon Black's admin at Apollo Global Management): "Jeffrey says he has asked Leon to set up a meeting with Blankfein...can you keep me in the loop please?"

Over the next week, Groff followed up every single day:

Date Doc Content
Jan 22 EFTA02116175 "Morning. Any word regarding Blankfein and when he can see Jeffrey?"
Jan 23 EFTA00375460 "any update on a Blankfein meeting?" — Spinella: "Not yet"
Jan 24 EFTA02116234 "one last time to ask before the weekend...Blankfein? nothin? :)"
Jan 24 EFTA02580142 Groff reports to Epstein: "I have followed up with Melanie in Leon's office every day re a meeting with Blankfein...she says nothing has been arranged as of yet"
Jan 27 EFTA02115569 "do I need to keep asking about a Blankfein meeting? or maybe I should be asking Jeffrey this!??"
Jan 28 EFTA02580340 Groff: "I have followed up with Melanie every day re has Leon made an appt for you with Blankfein and the answer has been no."

Leon Black either could not or would not arrange the meeting. The trail shows Epstein's post-conviction access limitations — he couldn't approach Blankfein directly and needed a billionaire intermediary. But the attempt itself reveals the ambition: using Leon Black's standing at Apollo Global Management to get face time with Goldman's CEO.

The 2007 Internal Emailslink

Perhaps the most remarkable Goldman artifact in the Epstein archive is a chain of internal Goldman Sachs emails from November 2007, during the peak of the mortgage crisis:

vol00009-efta01114616 (November 2007):

Lloyd Blankfein (CEO):

"Of course we didn't dodge the mortgage mess. We lost money, then made more than we lost because of shorts. Also, it's not over, so who knows how it will turn out ultimately."

David Viniar (CFO) to Gary Cohn (President), on the trading P&L:

"Tells you what might be happening to people who don't have the big short."

Lucas van Praag (Communications):

"GS alums have extraordinary influence... John Thain, but Rubin, Hank, Duncan et al are all in the mix too." "It feels like GS is running everything."

Gary Cohn (President) forwarded mortgage trading P&L:

  • Mortgage Backed Securities: +$48.7M
  • SPG Trading (CDO/CDS): +$373.0M
  • Markdowns: -$230.0M
  • Residuals write-down: -$92.0M

Michael Swenson (Goldman trader, October 11, 2007): "ABS Desk P and L will be up between 30 and 35mm today" — Donald Mullen replies: "Sounds like we will make some serious money"

How did Jeffrey Epstein come to possess Goldman Sachs' internal communications about their most sensitive trading activity? The email chain — featuring the CEO, President, CFO, and Communications director — was either forwarded to Epstein by a Goldman insider, obtained through his access to Goldman distribution lists, or preserved from business dealings that gave him visibility into Goldman's operations.

Tracking Goldman's Vulnerabilitieslink

Epstein didn't just possess Goldman's internal emails — he actively tracked the bank's exposure:

EFTA00918392 (August 22, 2011): Epstein sent Ian Osborne a CNN Money article about Blankfein hiring a criminal defense attorney during a DOJ investigation into Goldman's mortgage dealings.

EFTA00749925 (June 10, 2010): Jeffrey M. Matusow (JPMorgan) forwarded to Epstein a Bloomberg article about the SEC probing Goldman's Hudson CDO — cross-bank intelligence flowing to a convicted sex offender.

EFTA00881195 (March 27, 2009): Someone in Epstein's circle: "Lloyd Blankfein, the ceo of GS is taking a salary of 1.1M for 2008, compared to 70M for 2007. How crazy is that?" Epstein's reply, weeks later: "where are my photos?"


Part IV: "Project Jes" — Installing a Bank CEOlink

The Barclays Scheme (July 2012)link

After the Libor scandal forced Barclays CEO Bob Diamond to resign, Epstein and Ian Osborne launched an active campaign to install Jes Staley as his replacement:

vol00009-efta00712264 (July 19-20, 2012): Subject line "Re: Project Jes"

Osborne laid out the full campaign: press targets (Sky News, Telegraph), Treasury contacts (George Osborne's chief of staff Rupert Harrison), and Barclays board members (Mike Rake). He had obtained the full Barclays CEO shortlist:

  1. Jes Staley (Epstein's candidate)
  2. Greg Fleming
  3. Gary Cohn (Goldman Sachs President)
  4. Rich Ricci (internal)

Epstein's assessment of the competition: "Fleming is only brokerage, tossed from Merrill. Cohn is a jerk, gs culture vile."

Osborne agreed: "Totally agree about Cohn. He is a tosser in the first degree."

Jes Staley ultimately became Barclays CEO in December 2015. By that point, his relationship with Epstein spanned 6,985 documents and 288 email threads in the archive. Staley confirmed under oath that Epstein introduced him to Bill Gates. An 86-page SDNY co-conspirator memorandum names both Staley and Leon Black (EFTA02731082).

The Gary Cohn Intelligence Feedlink

Epstein's private disdain for Gary Cohn didn't stop him from using Cohn intelligence as currency. When Cohn became Trump's National Economic Council Director, Epstein ran a real-time intelligence operation:

Date Doc Message Recipient
Apr 10, 2017 EFTA02654291 "focus on gary cohn, puppet master" Michael Wolff (writing Fire and Fury)
Jul 31, 2017 EFTA01039264 "tillerson and donald not speaking. donald wants sessions to go to homeland. diva powell going and gary cohn wants OUT. so wild" Anas Alrasheed (Saudi contact)
Aug 1, 2017 EFTA02641761 "hes nuts gary cohn wants out. bannon more in control. have to watch venezuela and Iran" Kathy Ruemmler (Goldman's General Counsel)

Epstein was providing real-time White House intelligence about Goldman's former president to: (a) the journalist writing the book that would shake the administration, (b) a Saudi contact, and (c) Goldman Sachs' own General Counsel. The April 10 email to Wolff — "focus on gary cohn, puppet master" — may have directly shaped Fire and Fury.


Part V: The Ruemmler Bridgelink

Obama's Lawyer, Goldman's Lawyer, Epstein's Lunch Companionlink

Kathryn Ruemmler served as White House Counsel under President Obama from 2011 to 2014 — the highest-ranking legal position in the executive branch. After leaving the White House, she became General Counsel of Goldman Sachs — the highest-ranking legal position at the world's most influential investment bank.

Throughout both roles, she maintained an extensive, documented relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

EFTA02240659 (March 24, 2018): Epstein's schedule for the day:

  • 1-2pm: Skype call with Reid Hoffman
  • 2pm: Lunch with Kathy Ruemmler, Miro, Steve Bannon

On a single afternoon, Epstein video-called the co-founder of LinkedIn, then sat down for lunch with the former White House Counsel / current Goldman Sachs General Counsel and the former White House Chief Strategist.

The Attorney General Shortlistlink

EFTA02591681 (October 15, 2014): Ruemmler forwarded to Epstein the Bloomberg article "Obama Favoring Former White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler to Succeed Holder as Attorney General."

She was on President Obama's shortlist for US Attorney General — the nation's top law enforcement official — while actively corresponding with a convicted sex offender. Had she been nominated, Epstein would have had a direct channel to the person responsible for federal criminal prosecutions.

EFTA02610284 (December 16, 2018): Ruemmler wrote a full legal defense memorandum for Epstein, calling him "our former client -- and now-friend" and minimizing sex trafficking as "sexual favors for hire" and "a quintessentially local criminal matter."

Her cover note to Epstein: "Forgot to include the informant part. Use this version."

This was written just weeks before the Miami Herald's "Perversion of Justice" series exploded the case back into public view. Goldman Sachs' General Counsel was crafting legal defenses for a sex offender and coaching him on how to spin the informant angle.

"They Know Nothing of Your Connection"link

EFTA02627619 (February 3, 2019): Epstein to Ruemmler: "larry summers wife gave me a list of letters for black women. to invite to her poetry project... woody allen did it. but the station pulled it. of course they know nothing of your connection."

Epstein openly acknowledging that Ruemmler's link to him must stay hidden.

The JPMorgan Accountlink

Five months before arrest, Epstein was still leveraging his financial connections for Ruemmler:

EFTA02276796 (February 7, 2019): Lesley Groff to Mary Erdoes (CEO, JPMorgan Asset Management): "Jeffrey wanted me to reach out to you re his very good friend and former White House counsel to Pres. Barak Obama, Kathy Ruemmler. She would like to open an account with JPM."

EFTA02276491 (February 11, 2019): Erdoes responds: "Thanks so much. I dont handle accounts myself but we will definitley get her in the right hands. I will reach out to her this week."

Epstein's ability to pick up the phone and get JPMorgan's Asset Management CEO to personally facilitate an account opening — for Goldman Sachs' General Counsel — in February 2019 illustrates the persistence of his network power.

NSA, Zuckerberg, and the Inner Circlelink

EFTA02491483 (August 1, 2015): Epstein to Ruemmler — "my meeting with zuckerburg has grown as they all want info on money, elon musk, thiel, reid hoffman, it will be fun" — followed by: "its an interesting question for one of your nsa guys, whether their intercepts can distinguish gender with some degree of regularity."

EFTA02731526 (December 10, 2015): Epstein to Ruemmler — "reid hoffman, knows little about making money. joi ito, executive action? communication between human cells. nsa."

EFTA02520584 (June 27, 2018): Ruemmler to Epstein after a meeting: "Impetus for this search was a conversation that he had with Bill Gates and Brad Smith." Epstein: "Wait until hotel" before talking. Ruemmler: "not sure I should talk in front of driver."

EFTA02612791 (December 1, 2018): Epstein to Ruemmler: "larry summers came to dinner. he had been speaking to sheryl." Ruemmler: "About the Soros stuff?" — Summers feeding Epstein intel from Sheryl Sandberg about the Facebook/Soros controversy.

EFTA02301988 (June 5-6, 2016): Epstein ordered personalized sweatshirts for his inner circle: "joi, martin reid thiel ruemmler and rothschild" — Ruemmler alongside Joi Ito, Martin Nowak, Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel, and Ariane de Rothschild.

Ruemmler is the bridge that connects four networks: the Obama White House, Goldman Sachs, the Epstein circle, and the Bannon orbit.


Part VI: The Mnuchin Consultationlink

"How Well Do You Know Him?"link

When Donald Trump nominated Steven Mnuchin — a former Goldman Sachs partner — as Treasury Secretary in November 2016, Epstein was actively consulted:

EFTA02668134 (November 2016): Landon Thomas Jr. (NYT financial reporter) to Epstein — "Seems like he is going to get the big job" — referring to the Treasury Secretary nomination. Thomas then asked Epstein directly: "How well do you know him?"

But the consultation went deeper:

EFTA02669349 (November 27, 2016): Epstein asked Thomas: "do you have any suggestions for treasury?" Thomas responded: "What happened to mnuchin? James? Romney too controversial? Immelt is hard right."

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_032369: Thomas to Epstein: "Any further intel on Treasury? Priebus choice suggests to me that he may go for a bigger name in treasury than Mnuchin."

A New York Times reporter was asking a convicted sex offender for intelligence on Cabinet formation. Thomas was later fired from the New York Times for taking $70,000 in payments from Epstein.

Post-Inauguration: Sharing Meetingslink

EFTA02652254 (April 21, 2017): Thomas to Epstein: "Saw Mnuchin/Cohn in DC -- they are talking a big game but I don't know if they can deliver on tax reform. What do you think? I don't know why Trump does not reach out to Schumer."

The NYT's financial reporter was sharing his meetings with the sitting Treasury Secretary and top economic advisor with a convicted sex offender — and asking for Epstein's policy analysis in return.

EFTA02667729 (November 30, 2016): Ruemmler to Epstein: "Mnuchin seems to be trying for the Gordon Gecko look." Goldman Sachs' General Counsel mocking the incoming Treasury Secretary to a sex offender.

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029583 (December 22, 2018): Someone to Epstein: "Can u get rid of Powell or really get rid of mnuchin" — discussing removing the Treasury Secretary and Fed Chair with Epstein as if he had the power to do so.

The Captured Reporterlink

Landon Thomas was not merely a source. He was compromised:

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031496 (October 2016): Thomas to Epstein: "PS: does my story on Abraaj get me a meeting with Gates next time he is in town :)" — explicit quid pro quo: favorable coverage in exchange for access.

EFTA01885824 (September 30, 2012): Epstein to Thomas: "bill gates and I, are going to convene some very small gatherings on new solutions for the financial distress. who would you suggest, out of the box. (elon musk, geitner, muscovici? monti?)" — Epstein and Gates co-convening international economic summits, using the NYT reporter as a talent scout.

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_032633 (September 27, 2017): Thomas to Epstein: "Got another call from Connelly... He is digging around again... Was asking me all sorts of questions about why you hired Ken Starr. I told him I had no idea." — Thomas was warning Epstein about journalists investigating him.


Part VII: The $9.38 Billion Paper Traillink

Transaction Database Overviewlink

The kabasshouse financial transactions dataset contains 49,769 records documenting the flow of money through Epstein's entity network.

Category Records Total Value
Deposits 2,206 $6.41 billion
Credits 2,463 $6.05 billion
Other transactions 24,023 $2.80 billion
Wire-ins 548 $521.65 million
Transfers 619 $6.64 million
Wire transfers (out) 5,022 -$391.9 million
Total 49,769 $9.38 billion

Banking Relationshipslink

The transactions reveal the full scope of Epstein's banking infrastructure:

Institution Transactions Volume Role
JPMorgan Chase 586+ $300M+ Primary banking (pre-2013)
Deutsche Bank 211+ $49.52M+ Primary banking (post-2013), Stewart Oldfield managed 40+ entity accounts
Goldman Sachs 26+ $80M+ Wire transfers, bonds, equity swaps, COUQ Foundation account
Bear Stearns 66+ $65.2M+ Emerging markets, options, asset management distributions
Citibank 271+ $42.62M+ Correspondent bank for wire chains
FirstBank Puerto Rico 1,224+ Various Primary USVI/PR banking, 1,224 transactions across all entities
Bank of NY Mellon Multiple $20M+ Wire correspondent (ABA: 021000018)
Valartis Bank AG (Zurich) Multiple Various Swiss banking for FTC; correspondent via JPMorgan (SWIFT: VLRTCHZZ)
LGT Bank (Liechtenstein) Multiple Various Haze Trust transferred here April 2019
Charles Schwab Multiple $2M+ New relationship opened April 2019
Mellon Bank 3+ $6.5M Virgin Islands wire correspondent
Wells Fargo Multiple Various Wire transfers
TD Bank Multiple Various Wire transfers (Harlequin Dane LLC)

The KYC Map — 40+ Entitieslink

The Deutsche Bank relationship was far more extensive than previously documented. Stewart Oldfield — Deutsche Bank Wealth Management director in New York (345 Park Avenue) — managed the entire Epstein entity web across 40+ accounts:

EFTA01421742: Master client spreadsheet showing Oldfield managed: Jeffrey E. Epstein, Southern Trust Company, Southern Financial LLC, J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Gratitude America, Plan D LLC, JEGE Inc, JEGE LLC, MORT Inc, Zorro Management, Prytanee LLC, Jeepers Inc, HBRK Associates, Neptune LLC, NES LLC, LSJE LLC, JSC Interiors, Hyperion Air LLC, Hyperion Air Inc, Butterfly Trust, The Haze Trust, Falcon Trail Capital, TFMG LLC, Madison Park Capital, Diamond B Capital, and many more.

The core entity architecture from Deutsche Bank KYC documentation (EFTA01297231):

KYC Code Entities Authorized Signers
1790655 Southern Financial LLC, Southern Trust Company, J. Epstein VI Foundation Jeffrey Epstein, Harry Beller, Darren Indyke
1790685 Hyperion Air LLC, Plan D LLC, JEGE LLC, JEGE Inc Jeffrey Epstein, Harry Beller, Darren Indyke
1791049 2007 Jeffrey Epstein Insurance Trust No. 3, HBRK Associates Jeffrey Epstein, Richard Kahn, Darren Indyke
1790820 Zorro Management LLC Jeffrey Epstein, Darren Indyke
1790862 The Haze Trust Darren Indyke (sole signor)
Additional Neptune LLC, NES LLC, Butterfly Trust, ISLE LLC, MORT Inc, Jeepers Inc, Prytanee LLC, Gratitude America, Southern Country International Various

Darren Indyke (attorney, 457 Madison Avenue, NYC) appears on nearly every entity as an authorized signer — the single point of control across the entire architecture. Richard Kahn appears on the insurance trust and HBRK Associates — the financial management layer.

Southern Country International — The Post-Death Wire Fraudlink

The most explosive entity discovery in the full-text corpus:

EFTA00128637: FBI opened wire fraud investigation 196D-SJ-3262541: "SOUTHERN TRUST; SOUTHERN COUNTRY INTERNATIONAL; Wire Fraud - To open an investigation into the transfer of $15,000,000 by Jeffrey Epstein after his death on 8/10/2019 into his defunct SOUTHERN COUNTRY INTERNATIONAL"

Southern Country International — a USVI International Financial Services Entity at the same 6100 Red Hook Quarter address — received $15 million from Epstein's estate after his death. The New York Times reported: "Jeffrey Epstein's Mystery Bank Came Alive After His Death" (EFTA00024753).

Financial records show $1 million flowing from Southern Country International to HBRK Associates on July 31, 2019 — twenty-five days after Epstein's arrest and ten days before his death. The IRS contracted forensic accountants to review the bank accounts of Southern Trust and Gratitude America connected to the investigation (EFTA00128840). An FBI CHS (Confidential Human Source) report on Boris Nikolic appears in the same case file (EFTA00128842).

The FBI ultimately closed the case, noting it was "originally opened to support potential public corruption targets during IRS-CI investigation" (EFTA00128639).

Gratitude America — The French Connectionlink

EFTA00153569: "FinCEN received an Egmont Request from their counterpart in France trying to track down a financial transaction between a USVI company (Gratitude America LTD) and a former French Ministry. It turns out that Gratitude America is owned by Epstein."

Epstein's "charity" — funded with $10 million from BV70 LLC (Leon Black's entity) — wired money to:

  • UBI Banca (Italy) for "Associazione Mind Education and Research" — $25,000
  • Coutts & Co. (the Queen's bank) for Peter Fenwick — $15,000
  • Wells Fargo — $25,000
  • Multiple checks totaling $568K+ over a seven-month period

Deutsche Bank compliance noted: "BV70 was set up by a US person for the purpose of managing some tax matters... the entity was used to protect the identity of the person making the donation" (EFTA01425264).

Honeycomb Ventures — Pre-IPO Tech Investmentslink

Epstein's entities accessed pre-IPO tech investments through Honeycomb Ventures:

  • Honeycomb Ventures I LP: $1 million invested by Southern Trust Company in Spotify pre-IPO. Return: $1,871,000 (87% gain). Richard Kahn: "Please advise if you would like more than 1mm in Spotify as there is an additional 2mm capacity" (EFTA02366568)
  • Honeycomb Ventures IV LP: $10 million invested in Tencent Music Entertainment via JPMorgan Chase, March 2019 — four months before arrest

Largest Single Transactionslink

Date Amount Entity Description
2009 $137.41M JPMorgan Prime Money Market Fund
2008-06-27 $65.20M Bear Stearns Securities Corp / Emerging Markets
2005-02-04 $50.00M Goldman Sachs Wire FAO Financial Trust Company
2017-03-31 $22.50M BV70 LLC → Plan D Leon Black "fees" to aircraft entity
2017-03-10 $36.00M The Haze Trust Internal transfer
2017-04-20 $30.50M Cash Management Transfer (x2)
2019-02-22 $24.56M The Haze Trust Close account transfer
2017-03-28 $14.75M Plan D → Insured Aircraft Title G550 aircraft purchase
2015-11-23 $23.00M Transfer Transfer of Funds
2015-11-13 $23.00M Kellerhals Ferguson Incoming Money Transfer
2010-07-28 $20.09M BNY Mellon Fed wire to The Haze Trust
2005-04-01 $20.00M Goldman Sachs Wire FAO JCK Partners
2014-11-26 $15.02M Leon Black APO 1 GRAT NO 2 wire
2017-03-27 $15.00M Plan D LLC Cash Management Transfer
2017-09-26 $15.00M Epstein account Cash Management Transfer

Wire Transfer Infrastructurelink

The email archive documents 2,472+ messages containing wire transfer instructions, with full ABA routing numbers, SWIFT codes, and correspondent bank chains:

Bank ABA/SWIFT Role
Wachovia Bank, Woodstock GA 061000227 Aircraft payments (Cerulean Jet)
Bank of New York Mellon 021000018 Wire correspondent
Firstbank PR 221571473 Puerto Rico operations (1,224 transactions)
Citibank Frankfurt CITIDEFF (SWIFT) Euro transfers
Deutsche Bank Trust Co Americas 021001033 Primary custody
Valartis Bank AG, Zurich VLRTCHZZ (SWIFT) Swiss banking for FTC
LGT Bank, Liechtenstein Various Haze Trust transfer destination

Post-Arrest Financial Operations — The HBRK War Chestlink

In July 2019, after Epstein's arrest on July 6, HBRK Associates (Richard Kahn's firm at 575 Lexington Avenue) became the financial command center. Emergency funding flowed from multiple Epstein entities:

Date Amount Source Destination
Jul 2019 $1,000,000 x3 Southern Trust Company HBRK Associates
Jul 31, 2019 $1,000,000 Southern Country International HBRK Associates
Jul 2019 $1,500,000 Southern Trust Company HBRK Associates

HBRK then routed payments to aviation companies (Equus Global Aviation $50K, Stevens Aerospace $343K, Rolls Royce Deutschland $16K, Bell Helicopter $11K) and continued ACH transfers to entity accounts (Neptune, JEGE, Zorro, Hyperion).

A Rolls-Royce refund of $19,041 arrived at HBRK on September 10, 2019 — one month after Epstein's death.


Part VIII: The Goldman-Libya Deallink

Epstein as Goldman's Intermediarylink

In March 2012, Gregory Brown of GlobalCast Partners brought Epstein into a Goldman Sachs negotiation with the Government of Libya:

EFTA02681252 / EFTA01839915 (March 2012): Brown proposed that Epstein participate in Goldman Sachs' settlement negotiations with Libya's post-revolution government.

The deal involved:

  • A mandate signed by the Vice President of Libya and the Vice President of the National Transitional Council
  • Libyan nationals representing the new government
  • A meeting scheduled for March 28 in NYC with Epstein and "your law firm that will run the litigation"

Goldman Sachs had lost approximately $1.2 billion of Libya's sovereign wealth fund money in 2008, and the post-Gaddafi government was pursuing claims. Epstein was being positioned as an intermediary in this sovereign dispute — evidence of the kind of "leverage force of my introductions" he described in other correspondence.


Part IX: Benjamin Harnwell and "The Movement"link

Bannon's European Operativelink

Benjamin Harnwell, founder of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (44 Via delle Fornaci, Rome), served as Bannon's European operative. His correspondence with Bannon flowed through Epstein-adjacent channels:

EFTA02601131 / EFTA02600045 / EFTA02601536 (July 22, 2018): Harnwell and Bannon discussing "The Movement" — a European right-wing populist alliance coordinating Salvini (Italy), Orbán (Hungary), Le Pen (France), and Farage (UK), with the stated goal of capturing a third of the European Parliament in 2019.

vol00009-efta01004850 through vol00009-efta01004917 (July 22-23, 2018): Extended exchange between Bannon, Harnwell, and Epstein — with Epstein commenting: "9th circle" (referring to Dante's Inferno) on Bannon's European activities, and advising: "If you are going to play here, you'll have to spend time. Europe by remote doesn't work. Lots and lots of face time and hand holding."

Epstein was not merely socializing with Bannon. He was advising him on European political strategy.

33 emails from Bannon's business domain (steve@arc-ent.com / steve@arc-ent.co) appear in the archive, spanning February 2018 to April 2019.


Part X: Ghislaine Maxwell's Goldman Sachs Fundlink

The Liquidationlink

A smaller but significant Goldman connection involves Ghislaine Maxwell. The financial transactions dataset shows Maxwell held shares in the Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund:

Date Transaction Amount
Oct 1, 2015 Dividend (reinvested) $312.58
Nov 2, 2015 Dividend (reinvested) $373.84
Dec 1, 2015 Dividend (reinvested) $438.57
Dec 22, 2015 Dividend $257.92
Dec 23, 2015 SOLD entire position $139,069.72

Maxwell was receiving monthly dividend reinvestments in a Goldman Sachs mutual fund through 2015 — then liquidated the entire $139,000 position the day before Christmas.


Part XI: The Leon Black Pipelinelink

The $30.5 Million Aircraft Purchaselink

The full-text corpus reveals the complete money trail for Leon Black's payments to Epstein, routed through BV70 LLC — an entity registered at 445 Park Avenue, Suite 1401 (Apollo Global Management's headquarters) and 9 West 57th Street (Apollo's executive office):

EFTA01389074: Deutsche Bank compliance inquiry. Richard Kahn responds: "Entity BV70 LLC is owned by Leon Black, who is a client of Southern Trust Company. BV70 LLC is the owner of Leon Black's yacht."

EFTA01357173 (April 12, 2017): Compliance Q&A reveals the $22.5M wire from BV70 to Plan D, LLC was "to pay a fee as Mr. Black is a client of Mr. Epstein." And: "Mr. Epstein is expecting $8-10mn more to come into the account."

The money trail:

Date Amount From → To Purpose
Mar 31, 2017 $22,500,000 BV70 LLC → Plan D, LLC "Fee" from Leon Black
Apr 17, 2017 $8,000,000 BV70 LLC → Plan D, LLC Second tranche
Total $30,500,000 Leon Black → Epstein Two months

Plan D, LLC was Epstein's Gulfstream G550 (N212JE) entity. The money flowed directly to the aircraft purchase:

Date Amount From → To Purpose
Feb 1, 2017 $1,000,000 Plan D → Insured Aircraft Title Service Deposit
Mar 28, 2017 $14,750,000 Plan D → Insured Aircraft Title Service Aircraft purchase
Mar 29, 2017 $15,863 Plan D → Insured Aircraft Title Service Fees

Deutsche Bank compliance was confused: "KYC indicates the purpose of the account is to hold the funds necessary for the costs associated with owning/running one of Jeffrey Epstein's airplanes. Your response below indicates that BV70 LLC is an entity that owns Mr. Black's yacht. How do these correlate?"

The Cumulative Ledgerlink

Internal tracking documents show the total Black-to-Epstein payment flow:

EFTA02467352: Cumulative ledger entries — $10M, $25M, $45M, $58M, $65M.

EFTA02731648: "it has been discovered that Leon Black paid 62.5 million to USVI"

Additional documented payments:

Date Amount Source Path
May 24, 2013 $16,500,000 Leon D Black Bank of America → Southern Trust Company
Dec 30, 2015 $10,000,000 Leon D Black & Debra R Black c/o Apollo Management → Epstein account
Dec 18, 2015 $10,000,000 ERS, L.P. c/o Apollo Management → Epstein account
Apr 25, 2017 $8,000,000 R Black c/o Apollo Management 9 W 57th → Epstein account
Nov 26, 2014 $15,020,000 APO 1 GRAT NO 2 → Epstein account

The Goldman Sachs Job Arrangementlink

EFTA02731526 (May 27, 2021): A victim evidence package submitted to SDNY references "3 Black accounts, Spinella, Goldman Sachs, NDA" — identifying three payment accounts, a "Goldman Sachs job arrangement," 700 pages of bank statements, and a victim NDA. Goldman Sachs infrastructure was used as part of the financial architecture supporting payments to an Epstein victim.

The Gratitude America Roundtriplink

BV70's $10 million donation to Gratitude America was eventually returned:

EFTA01425264: "$10MM came from BV70 to Gratitude America in 2015... Looks like Epstein used the Plan D account to return the contribution last year to the same BV70 entity. BV70 was set up by a US person for the purpose of managing some tax matters... the entity was used to protect the identity of the person making the donation."

Leon Black donated $10 million through BV70 to Epstein's charity, which Epstein later returned through his aircraft account — a round-trip through at least three entities designed to obscure both the donor and the purpose.


Part XII: Timelinelink

Year Event
2004-2005 $72.9M wired to Goldman Sachs through Financial Trust Company
2007 (Nov) Goldman Sachs internal mortgage crisis emails in Epstein's possession — Blankfein, Cohn, Viniar
2008 Epstein convicted; Bear Stearns collapses; $65.2M final Bear Stearns flow
2008 (Oct) Goldman Sachs wire IN: $1.96M final redemption payment
2010 (May) $7.98M in Goldman equity swaps through Financial Trust Company
2010 (Jun) SEC probes Goldman Hudson CDO — article forwarded to Epstein from JPMorgan
2010 (Sep) Lloyd Blankfein at Epstein's Ehud Barak dinner with Summers, Schwarzman, Rose, Sulzberger
2011 (Aug) Epstein tracks Blankfein hiring criminal defense attorney
2012 (Mar) Goldman/Libya settlement — Epstein positioned as intermediary
2012 (Jul) "Project Jes" — Epstein and Osborne scheme to install Jes Staley as Barclays CEO; Cohn on shortlist: "Cohn is a jerk, gs culture vile"
2013 (May) $16.5M from Leon Black to Southern Trust Company
2014 (Jan) Eight-document Blankfein meeting pursuit through Leon Black / Apollo — daily follow-ups for a week; meeting never materialized
2014 (Oct) Ruemmler on Obama's AG shortlist — shares Bloomberg article with Epstein
2015 (Jun) $5M Goldman Sachs bond purchase (5.375% Fixed-to-Floating)
2015 (Jun-Jul) Goldman Sachs rejects $10M account opening — Judie Taylor: "pushed hard internally"
2015 (Dec) Maxwell liquidates $139K Goldman Strategic Income Fund position
2015 (Dec) $20M from Leon Black entities in two wires via Apollo Management
2016 (Aug) Goldman Capital II bond trading through Morgan Stanley — $300K sold at 81.75
2016 (Nov 8) Trump elected
2016 (Nov 18) Kahn bombshell: "jeffrey knows more about international finance than anyone on trump's team" — Pierce agrees to facilitate meeting; Thiel name-dropped
2016 (Nov) Mnuchin consultation — NYT reporter asks Epstein "How well do you know him?" and seeks Treasury intelligence
2017 (Jan) Goldman Sachs 2017 Outlook sent to Epstein
2017 (Mar-Apr) $30.5M from BV70 (Leon Black) to Plan D — G550 aircraft purchase
2017 (Apr) Epstein to Wolff: "focus on gary cohn, puppet master"
2017 (Jul-Aug) Gary Cohn intelligence feed — Epstein sends WH intel about Goldman's former president to Saudi contact and Goldman's own General Counsel
2017 (Oct 6) Secret Bannon-Epstein meeting arranged by Michael Wolff
2017 (Nov 14) Epstein suggests Bannon talk to Doug Band re Uranium One
2017 (Nov 30) Epstein attends lecture at Goldman Sachs HQ — nine years post-conviction
2018 (Jan 19) Bannon lunch with Epstein
2018 (Feb 19) $100M cryptocurrency scheme — "Citizens of the American Republic"
2018 (Feb 23) Bannon introduces Jide Zeitlin (Goldman) to Epstein
2018 (Mar 14-24) Four Bannon-Epstein meetings in 11 days — including Barak dinner and Ruemmler lunch
2018 (Apr 25) Bannon dinner with Epstein and Miro
2018 (Jul 2) DEFCON discussion — "the most dangerous force in today's society"
2018 (Jul 22-23) Harnwell/Bannon/Epstein exchange on European "Movement" strategy
2018 (Aug 8) Cover story coaching: "if someone ask, its about global economics"
2018 (Sep 25) Davos connection — "Confidentially-Putin coming to Davos"
2018 (Oct 15) Goldman research still flowing — Judie Taylor→Kahn→Epstein: "Sunday Night Insight"
2018 (Oct 16) Bannon lunch with Epstein
2018 (Nov 16) Abu Dhabi: "Phones not secure AT ALL. Wait until you return for downloads"
2018 (Nov 29) Bannon visit — "Call Darren with Steve Bannon leaves"
2018 (Dec 11) Bolton-Qatar diplomacy: Bannon: "I got John the job"
2018 (Dec 16) Ruemmler writes legal defense essay"sexual favors for hire"
2019 (Jan-Feb) Sean Bannon receives Apple Watches via Epstein's assistant; has @epstein.com email
2019 (Jan 22) Epstein: "Did you get your Apple Watch I sent you for xmas" to Bannon Sr.
2019 (Jan 25) "Reid called and asked me to pass along" — Hoffman→Epstein→Bannon
2019 (Feb 7) Epstein gets Ruemmler a JPMorgan account through Mary Erdoes
2019 (Apr-May) Island filming logistics — passport collection for Bannon's film crew
2019 (Jun 5) Epstein calls Wolff on Bannon's behalf: "Tell him to lay off me." Epstein: "done."
2019 (Jun 28) Bannon: "can we announce I'm his strategic advisor?" re Ehud Barak
2019 (Jun 30) The Rolodex — Epstein compiles 100-name contact list for Bannon
2019 (Jul 3-5) Planning island filming and James Watson visit
2019 (Jul 6) ARREST DAY — Epstein: "All canceled" — Bannon: "You r not coming in?"
2019 (Jul 6+) HBRK war chest assembled: $4.5M+ emergency funding from multiple entities
2019 (Jul 31) $1M wire from Southern Country International to HBRK (post-arrest)
2019 (Aug 10) Epstein dies
2019 (post-death) $15M transferred through defunct Southern Country International — FBI opens wire fraud investigation
2020 (Apr 28) FBI FD-302 (SECRET/NOFORN): Informant says Epstein paid Bannon with Israeli money
2021 (May) Leon Black victim evidence references Goldman Sachs job arrangement

Part XIII: What the Documents Actually Showlink

Social media accounts have attributed impossible claims to these files — satanic rituals, cannibalism codes, children served as food. Every one of those claims collapses under scrutiny (see: "Jerky" in the Epstein Emails, "Cream Cheese" in the Epstein Emails, and Cannibalism Code Word Search on this site). The effect — intended or not — is to make legitimate investigation look ridiculous by association.

The actual documents show something that doesn't need embellishment:

A financial operative maintained secret meetings with the President's Chief Strategist — coaching him on cover stories, collaborating on a $100 million cryptocurrency scheme, brokering his appointment as Ehud Barak's strategic advisor, managing his media relations, coordinating his Middle East diplomacy, and compiling his entire 100-name contact network for delivery six days before his own arrest. He wired $70 million to Goldman Sachs, dined with the Goldman CEO, possessed Goldman's internal crisis communications, schemed to install his own candidate as Barclays CEO, attended events at Goldman headquarters nine years after his conviction, and maintained the ongoing flow of proprietary Goldman research through an unofficial channel. He had the former White House Counsel — who was on the AG shortlist and later became Goldman's General Counsel — writing legal defenses calling trafficking "sexual favors for hire," while he got her a JPMorgan account through the bank's Asset Management CEO. He was consulted on the Treasury Secretary nomination by a captured New York Times reporter who was later fired for taking $70,000 in payments. He received $30.5 million from Leon Black through a shell company Deutsche Bank couldn't even find on the internet. And after his death, $15 million moved through a defunct entity, triggering an FBI wire fraud investigation that was ultimately closed.

An FBI informant told agents he was an Israeli spy who paid Bannon with foreign money. A victim told agents she saw Bannon at his house. On the day of his arrest, his last text was "All canceled."

That is the documented record. It is sufficient.


Methodologylink

This report was compiled from:

  1. Primary source documents from the DOJ Epstein Files release and House Oversight Committee releases (1.4 million documents), accessed via the Unsealed full-text corpus (fulltext.db, 5.65 GB) and structured databases (unsealed.db, jmail.db, kabasshouse.db)
  2. Financial transaction analysis using the kabasshouse financial_transactions table (49,769 records), with specific queries on Goldman Sachs counterparties, wire transfer routing, entity flows, BV70/Leon Black, Southern Country International, Gratitude America, Honeycomb Ventures, and post-arrest HBRK operations
  3. iMessage archive analysis (EFTA01615xxx series) documenting Bannon-Epstein communications from October 2017 through July 6, 2019
  4. FBI FD-302 analysis including the SECRET/NOFORN Chuck Johnson interview (EFTA00259527) and victim witness statements (EFTA01246874)
  5. Calendar analysis using Epstein calendar alert emails (EFTA02236536-EFTA02264319) to map meeting frequency
  6. Entity mapping using KYC documentation (EFTA01297231) and Deutsche Bank master client spreadsheet (EFTA01421742) to identify the full 40+ entity architecture
  7. Email correspondence analysis across 73,000+ emails and 1.4M full-text documents for terms including: Bannon, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, arc-ent, Harnwell, Ruemmler, Mnuchin, Blankfein, Gary Cohn, wire transfer, routing, ABA, SWIFT, BV70, Southern Country International, Gratitude America, Kellerhals, Zeitlin, Boris Nikolic, Project Jes, Jes Staley, Ian Osborne, Mary Erdoes, Landon Thomas
  8. Cross-database correlation linking financial transaction records to email correspondence, entity relationships, dossier intelligence, and network data
  9. Verification of social media claims against primary source documents

All document references cite EFTA file keys verifiable against the DOJ Epstein Library (justice.gov/epstein) and the Unsealed database on this site.


Key Sourceslink

Primary Documents — Bannonlink

Primary Documents — Goldman Sachs & Financelink

Primary Documents — Ruemmler & Mnuchinlink

Primary Documents — Leon Black & Entitieslink

  • EFTA01357173 — BV70 compliance Q&A: "$22.5M to pay a fee"
  • EFTA01389074 — "BV70 LLC is owned by Leon Black"
  • EFTA02467352 — Cumulative ledger: $10M→$65M
  • EFTA02731526 — Leon Black victim evidence: Goldman Sachs job arrangement
  • EFTA00128637 — FBI wire fraud investigation: Southern Country International
  • EFTA00153569 — FinCEN/France Egmont request: Gratitude America
  • EFTA02681252 — Goldman/Libya settlement intermediation

Institutional Reportinglink

  • Deutsche Bank Settlement: $75 million (2023)
  • Goldman Sachs: Libya sovereign wealth fund losses (~$1.2B)
  • Dechert LLP: Leon Black investigation (2021)
  • Michael Wolff: Fire and Fury (2018)
  • NYT: Leon Black / Epstein financial relationship (2021)
  • NYT: Landon Thomas Jr. fired for $70,000 in Epstein payments