Journalist James B. Stewart interviews Jeffrey Epstein at his New York mansion. During the interview, Epstein claims that he’s been working with Elon Musk and Tesla.
Rumors have been swirling that Epstein is helping Tesla find a new chairman after the SEC opened an investigation into Musk and the company. Epstein tells Stewart that the rumors are true, but Tesla will never confirm it because he’s “radioactive.” He doesn’t say much else about Tesla except that he’s talking to Saudi Arabia about investing in the company.
He took me to a wall covered with framed photographs. He pointed to a full-length shot of a man in traditional Arab dress. “That’s M.B.S.,” he said, referring to Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. The crown prince had visited him many times, and they spoke often, Mr. Epstein said.
James B. Stewart
It’s always possible Epstein is lying about working with Tesla, but no one can deny that his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell has met Musk. There’s a publicly available photo of Maxwell and Musk together.
Epstein says that his rich friends still trust him with their darkest secrets because everyone knows that his own secrets are just as dark, if not darker. Still, he’s considering becoming a minister to guarantee that their conversations remain confidential. Most state laws would prevent Epstein from having to testify in court, or to law-enforcement, about what someone has confessed to him.
But in his mind, he tells Stewart, raping children shouldn’t be a crime to begin with. He doesn’t refer to what he and his buddies do as rape, of course, even though his victims are minors and can’t give legal consent. If they could, it’s unlikely he’d ask for it. Just ask some of his victims.
He said that criminalizing sex with teenage girls was a cultural aberration and that at times in history it was perfectly acceptable. He pointed out that homosexuality had long been considered a crime and was still punishable by death in some parts of the world.
James B. Stewart
About a week after the interview, Epstein invites Stewart to dinner with him and Woody Allen. Stewart can’t attend. Weeks later, he asks Stewart to join him for dinner with Steve Bannon and author Michael Wolff. Stewart declines.
I don’t know if these dinners actually happened. Mr. Bannon has said he didn’t attend. Mr. Wolff and a spokeswoman for Mr. Allen didn’t respond to requests for comment on Monday.
James B. Stewart
Musk and Tesla deny ever contacting Jeffrey Epstein and claim that Musk did not know Maxwell was behind him when the photo was taken.
External Sources
Photo: Obtained from Atlanta Jewish Times, photographer unknown