Politics

Prosecutors say Jeffrey Epstein's suspicious passport — his photo, different name — used multiple times in '80s

Key Points
  • An expired passport found in a locked safe in accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan mansion — which featured Epstein's photo but a different name — was used multiple times in 1980s, prosecutors say.
  • "The passport contains numerous ingress and egress stamps, including stamps that reflect use of the passport to enter France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s," prosecutors write.
  • Prosecutors say the passport was located in a locked safe alongside "piles of cash" and "dozens of diamonds" found during a raid of Epstein's New York City mansion the day the wealthy financier was arrested on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to sex traffic minors.
Courtroom sketch showing Jeffrey Epstein at his bail hearing in New York on July 15th, 2019.
Artist: Christine Cornell

An expired passport found in a locked safe in accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan mansion — which featured Epstein's photo but a different name — was used multiple times in the 1980s, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Epstein's lawyers had said in a court filing Tuesday that prosecutors had offered "nothing to suggest — and certainly no evidence — that Epstein ever used" that passport, which was issued by Austria.

Epstein, a 66-year-old wealthy financier, is a former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.

On Wednesday afternoon, the prosecutors responded, saying, "In fact, the passport contains numerous ingress and egress stamps, including stamps that reflect use of the passport to enter France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s."

The prosecutors also noted that Epstein's lawyers did "not address how the defendant obtained the foreign passport."

"More concerning," they wrote, "the defendant has still not disclosed to the Court whether he is a citizen or legal permanent resident of a country other than the United States."

NBC archive footage shows Trump partying with Jeffrey Epstein in 1992
VIDEO0:5800:58
NBC archive footage shows Trump partying with Jeffrey Epstein in 1992

Prosecutors said the passport was in a locked safe alongside "piles of cash" and "dozens of diamonds" found during a raid of Epstein's New York City mansion the day the businessman was arrested on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to sex traffic minors.

Epstein, who is currently in federal lockup, has pleaded not guilty. He has asked Judge Richard Berman to release him on a bond of up to $100 million or higher and to include virtually any conditions for release that prosecutors or the judge demand.

The prosecutors have argued that Epstein should be detained pending trial, telling the judge he represents an extreme flight risk and a danger to his community.

Berman is set to rule on Epstein's bail proposal Thursday at an 11:30 a.m. hearing.

Epstein's lawyers downplayed his possession of the passport. In their letter to Berman on Tuesday night, they wrote that the passport expired 32 years prior, and "in any case, Epstein – an affluent member of the Jewish faith – acquired the passport in the 1980s, when hijackings were prevalent, in connection to Middle East travel."

"The passport was for personal protection in the event of travel to dangerous areas, only to be presented to potential kidnapers [sic], hijackers or terrorists should violent episodes occur," they wrote.

On Wednesday morning, NBC News published a video shot by NBC in 1992 at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, which showed the future president socializing with Epstein at a party there attended by cheerleaders from the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills football teams.

Read the letter from federal prosecutors:

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