E is for email. Also, Epstein

It has been fascinating to watch the corporate, political, finance, entertainment and academia dominoes fall since the U.S. Justice Department began its staggered, partial release of heavily redacted files related to the vast reticulation of movers and shakers assembled by the late Jeffrey Epstein, financier and sex trafficker of minors extraordinaire. Under the broad rubric of business alone, the Monster’s Ball fallout has included: • Thomas J. Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, who stepped down from his role as executive chairman of the Hyatt Hotels Corp. after the files revealed regular contact with Epstein for years following the latter’s 2008 plea deal on sex crimes charges. • Casey Wasserman, chairman (for now) of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, who announced that he was selling his talent agency in the wake of a wave of defections by musicians and performers after his flirtatious emails to Epstein’s longtime companion and co-monster Ghislaine Maxwell were made public.

• Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, who resigned as head of the Dubai-based ports giant after freshly revealed documents showed apparent attempts by him and Epstein to arrange business opportunities while abusing sexually vulnerable young women in their spare time. And so on. Others to resign as their perfidious connections with Epstein and Maxwell were divulged in recent years have included: Leon Black, co-founder of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management; James Staley, former chief executive of the British multinational universal bank Barclays; Dr. Peter Attia, former chief science officer for the protein bar company David; and Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, who accepted luxury gifts from “Uncle Jeffrey” and advised him on how to push back against negative (that is to say, accurate) media reports about his nefarious criminality. That list is in no way exhaustive; it seems to be growing almost daily. The only sure way to avoid serious consequences for lurid connections to “Don’s best friend” are to be a member of the Trump cabinet, like that nanny-pimping creep Howard Lutnick, or a hardcore MAGA hypocrite and former Epstein advisor like Steve Bannon. One thing we haven’t seen, though, and aren’t likely to, is the internal paper trail occurring at corporate headquarters whenever a mendacious senior executive named in the Epstein files tries to salvage his or her career by presenting his or her actions in the best possible light. With no disrespect to the victims, it’s intriguing to imagine the dose of deceptive, duplicitous and dissimulating double-dealing dodges that any associate of Epstein and Maxwell must have absorbed with mother’s milk. A humble example:

📧 LEAKED INTERNAL EMAIL THREAD Subject: Re: Quick optics question (please delete this thread)

From: Brad.T@company.com To: ExecTeam@company.com Time: 8:12 AM

Team,

Minor visibility hiccup. A photo has surfaced of me at dinner with … you know … him. Before anyone escalates, this was a legacy networking engagement conducted in a pre-problematic environment.

Best, Brad

From: Legal@company.com Time: 8:14 AM

Define “legacy.” And define “him.”

From: Brad.T@company.com Time: 8:16 AM

Legacy as in pre-indictment-adjacent era. “Him” as in formerly future-facing entrepreneur.

From: Comms@company.com Time: 8:18 AM

Brad.

Why is there a second photo of you on what appears to be a 200-foot yacht named The Alibi? What is that small island in the background? And why are you holding a champagne bottle labelled “To Continued Immunity”?

From: Brad.T@company.com Time: 8:19 AM

That was a floating roundtable. Very intimate thought-leadership setting. The champagne was metaphorical.

From: CFO@company.com Time: 8:20 AM

Why were there fireworks spelling your initials?

From: Brad.T@company.com Time: 8:21 AM

Celebrating ethical growth potential. The “BT + JE 4Ever” in pyrotechnics was a vendor misunderstanding.

From: HR@company.com Time: 8:23 AM

We need clarity:

• Were you aware of the allegations at the time? • Did you receive anything of value? • Why are you labelled in his phone as “Strategic Ally 🔥 (Knows Where Files Are)”? • Why is there a shared Google Doc titled “Plan B: If Subpoena”?

From: Brad.T@company.com Time: 8:26 AM

Awareness was … emerging. I received only appetizers and a commemorative offshore debit card. The fire emoji was aspirational. The Google Doc was theoretical fiction.

From: Comms@company.com Time: 8:28 AM

There’s now a video clip of you saying, and I quote: “He’s completely misunderstood. A great humanitarian. History will vindicate him.” You are clinking glasses during this statement.

Please explain the strategic intent.

From: Brad.T@company.com Time: 8:31 AM

Context matters. I meant misunderstood by branding. We were exploring a reputational pivot toward “controversial philanthropist.”

The clinking was accidental alignment.

From: Legal@company.com Time: 8:32 AM

Stop replying. Stop using corporate language. Stop typing.

From: IT@company.com Time: 8:33 AM

Brad, please log off Slack. Also please explain why your recurring calendar entry from 2014–2021 reads: “Dinner – no paper trail.”

From: CEO@company.com Time: 8:35 AM

Brad,

Effective immediately:

• You are taking a voluntary leave that is not voluntary. • IT is reviewing your calendar invites from 2014–2021. • Please stop describing federal investigations as “headwinds.” • Do not use the phrase “reputational pivot” again. • Do not expense any more “confidential synergy retreats.”

We will issue a statement emphasizing:

• Brief acquaintance • No financial entanglements • Profound shock • A commitment to integrity that predates yachts

Also: There are to be no more floating roundtables. Especially international ones.

Regards, CEO

From: Brad.T@company.com Time: 8:37 AM

Understood.

For the record: The yacht invited me. And the offshore account was passive. It was on an island somewhere. Oh, and I might have met a nanny.