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Epstein booked flights to and from MN
As more of the Epstein files are being released, it has been revealed that Jeffrey Epstein booked multiple flights to and from Minnesota for women. FOX 9's Leon Purvis has more.
(FOX 9) - Documents included in the latest release of the Epstein files show the disgraced late billionaire routinely paid for flights to fly women in and out of Minnesota over the course of years.
Epstein flew women out of Minnesota
What we know:
Records included in the Epstein files show Epstein paying for multiple flights for women to travel to and from Minnesota over the course of years.
Due to inconsistent redactions in the files, it is difficult to tell exactly how many women the convicted sex offender was moving and if all women were victims of Epstein's sex crimes enterprise.
However, FOX 9 identified at least four women who took flights to and from Minnesota at Epstein's expense who lived in his notorious residences on East 66th Street in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Emails show Epstein flying one young woman from Duluth for weekend trips around her class schedule. Files in the release show booked flights from Minnesota to New York City, Epstein's ranch in New Mexico, and even a $4,000 weekend trip to Paris.
Dig deeper:
The records also show Epstein's staff keeping a tight record of all the trips and control over the victims' travel. In one email, an Epstein assistant questions whether it's a good idea for one woman to travel to New York City considering she's spent time away recently, including a trip to Minnesota. Epstein okays the trip but tells the assistant to only book the trip for two or three days.
Other records show a woman being allowed to travel home to Minnesota for Christmas. In a 2012 email, one of Epstein's victims asks Epstein if she can travel to Minnesota to spend Christmas with another woman's family.
Epstein's manipulation:
When he was arrested in 2019, federal prosecutors outlined Epstein's system of controlling his victims through financial manipulation. Prosecutors say Epstein would often lure these young women and girls into his network by offering them large sums of money for simple massages. But, with his foot in the door, Epstein would escalate the physical contact during the massages into sexual abuse.
Some of the girls were as young as 14 years old when Epstein began abusing them. Prosecutors said Epstein also incentivized the victims to act as recruiters to bring in a "steady supply" of victims for him to prey on.
Epstein visit to Minnesota?
Local perspective:
Records also show Epstein may have made a visit to Minnesota in June 2015 himself.
An itinerary sent to Epstein by a Palm Beach doctor includes plans for a visit to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, including meeting with Mayo Clinic executives, a tour of the campus, and briefings about hospital programs. However, FOX 9 could not locate any flight logs or other records corroborating that Epstein actually made a visit to Mayo.
According to the email, it appears Epstein was looking to get a second opinion from Mayo doctors after receiving a consultation from Dr. Peter Attia. In the same email thread, Epstein shared some recommendations from Attia with the Palm Beach doctor.
Attia, now a CBS News contributor, is in hot water over the latest Epstein files release. According to Fox News, last weekend, 60 Minutes pulled a repeat of a segment featuring Attia due to controversy arising from his association with Epstein. Attia reportedly appears 1,700 times in the new files.
Attia has downplayed his friendship with Epstein, saying he never visited Epstein's island, or ranch and never traveled on his plane. He also claims Epstein misled him about his 2009 conviction for solicitation of a minor as a simple prostitution case.
Big picture view:
While it's not clear if Epstein made the 2015 trip, Epstein did routinely tout having Mayo Clinic contacts. In a 2018 message to Steve Bannon, Epstein offered to help the former Trump strategist to get a blood test at the West Palm Beach Clinic.
Epstein bragged he was friends with the clinic head, saying he could arrange for Bannon to have some of his "vampire blood" drained.
In other email exchanges, friend sought help from Epstein to get treatment at Mayo through his connections.
Minnesota flights timeline
Timeline:
FOX 9 uncovered discussion and evidence of more than a dozen Minnesota trips involving Epstein victims over the course of six years that were available in the files.
May 2009 — An Epstein associate references a recent trip to Minnesota for a model. (Note: This record initially identified the model but has since been removed by the DOJ).
July 2010 — Epstein assistant Lesley Groff tells Epstein she hasn't been able to reach a redacted person to book a trip to Minnesota. Epstein replies to book the trip for the following Monday.
October 2010 — Epstein pays to fly a young woman from Duluth to his Paris residence for a weekend trip.
December 2010 — Epstein flew a woman from Minnesota to his ranch in New Mexico.
May 2011 — Woman from Minnesota flies to New York to move into Epstein's apartment residence in Manhattan.
June 2011 — Epstein's girlfriend flew to Minnesota to sort out a furniture situation.
July 2011 — An Epstein assistant emails another associate, wishing her a good time in Minnesota.
December 2011 — A woman tells Epstein she's shopping for a trip to Minnesota. Epstein then directs someone to pay for her ticket to Minnesota.
March 2012 — An Epstein assistant arranges a flight for a Minnesota woman from Duluth to New York, working around the woman's class schedule.
July 2012 — Epstein asks a woman to check for flights between Duluth to Albuquerque.
October 2012 — A woman sends Epstein a text message stating "Good morning from Minnesota" with a photo of her in bed with a dog.
November 2012 — An Epstein assistant seems to be desperately searching for a woman and tells Epstein that she believes the girl boarded a flight to Minnesota.
December 2012 — Epstein emails a woman, asking her if "she's left yet?" The woman responds that she's already in Minnesota.
April 2013 — A woman emails Epstein telling him she's flying home to Minnesota due to a family emergency.
December 2014 — Epstein emails a woman, asking her if she wants to visit another woman in Minnesota.
December 2014 — A woman emails Epstein, saying Minnesota was great this year and wishes Jeffrey could have come, but he'd "probably want to leave after 10 minutes."
January 2015 — Epstein's accountant is trying to track flight purchases with his assistant. The assistant emails a woman asking when she flew to "the island," adding she hadn't booked any travel for her except "to Minnesota for Christmas."