In late 2016, Jeffrey Epstein flew his private Gulfstream G550 alone from Paris to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and emerged from the visit with a lavish gift, apparently from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It was a tent, “carpets and all,” as he later described it. Bedouin tents, in Middle Eastern culture, are a symbol of hospitality. What Epstein was doing to be honored with that gift is currently a mystery. This was one of several meetings and interactions Epstein had with world leaders, according to emails and documents released in recent weeks that detail his activities in the final years of his life. They also included meetings with other members of the Saudi royal family. Bin Salman is visiting Washington this week and meeting with President Trump. It’s a major moment for the Kingdom as it seeks to enhance its global image in the wake of the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. So far, Epstein’s business dealings with the Kingdom and members of the royal family have largely avoided close scrutiny. Much of that information comes from the release of hundreds of text messages, emails and other documents sent to the House Oversight Committee by Epstein’s estate as part of the committee’s investigation. Revelations about the tent and carpets were included in emails between Epstein and Hyatt executive chairman Tom Pritzker. Epstein’s planning for his 2016 trip included an email from his assistant saying, “Did you need me to book the Four Seasons for you in Riyadh? Or is the king taking care of it!?” CBS News has reached out to Saudi officials in D. C. for comment and has not had a response by time of publication. There is no evidence that anyone involved in the Saudi government had involvement with anything related to Epstein’s sex trafficking allegations. Why Epstein’s estate has chosen to release certain documents is not clear. The release is in response to a subpoena that included requests for documents relating to his finances, as well as potential victims. What has been released is likely a fraction of what the estate possesses of Epstein’s communications, and it’s not clear if there will be future releases that could provide additional details. Epstein maintained extensive communication with his staff, financial clients and friends over the years. As Congress voted almost unanimously on Tuesday to demand the release of the Justice Department’s Epstein files, most of the public’s focus has been on his sex crimes but any release of additional documents could reveal more about Epstein’s vast global business connections, which have so far remained mostly unknown. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, told CBS News there are a host of unanswered questions stemming from Epstein’s financial dealings all around the globe. “My own investigation has found that Epstein was moving hundreds of millions of dollars around the world during the years he operated his cross-border sex trafficking operation, but it’s still not clear who among his foreign network knew about his trafficking, enabled it, and participated in it,” Wyden said. Epstein, who fashioned himself as an elite money manager, was also advising the governments of Mongolia and the Maldives, as well as traveling and presumably making or seeking business deals in the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, the Ivory Coast, China, Russia, Qatar and Belarus, according to those documents. But Epstein’s contacts with Saudi Arabia appear to have been some of his most extensive and potentially lucrative dealings with foreign leaders. Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman consolidated his control in Saudi Arabia in 2017 following a purge of high level government officials. A few days later, New York Times reporter Thomas Landon Jr. emailed Epstein, “Did your Saudi friends survive the purge?” Epstein responded, “All. With gods help ;).” Epstein discussed another brush with the Saudi crown prince in April 2018. It comes up in a text message exchange with an individual whose name is redacted in the documents, but who appears from the context of their chat to be former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. Epstein writes, “MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] has the Louvre and 400 guards. To himself,” and he indicates that he is on his way over. “No better way to spend s(sic) Sunday,” came the reply. That evening, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted a photo of himself and bin Salman at the Louvre with the caption, “With Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.” CBS News has reached out to the government of France to find out if Epstein was present, but has not received a response. That document ended with a text the following day from Epstein to Bannon: “If you are around the 18th, in dc. John Kerry,” the former senator, presidential candidate and secretary of state. A spokesperson for Kerry told CBS News that he was back home in Boston after the end of his service in the Obama administration. “He wasn’t in Washington, DC, was never scheduled to be in Washington, and did not have a meeting or meeting request from that cast of characters, period, which isn’t surprising since he didn’t have a relationship with either one of them, and wasn’t in contact with either of them,” the spokesperson said. According to other messages sent from Epstein, he was planning another visit for the summer of 2019 to Saudi Arabia. That trip never happened due to his arrest and incarceration on federal sex crime charges. Other signs of the connections between Epstein and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have surfaced since his death. Authorities found a photograph of Epstein posing with Mohammed bin Salman prominently displayed in his Manhattan mansion, according to The New York Times. After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, officials also discovered that he held an expired Austrian passport from the 1980s with his picture and a false name, which listed his residence as Saudi Arabia.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey-epstein-saudi-arabia/
Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with Saudi Arabia
