In 2016, Jeffrey Epstein collaborated with Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s inner circle during the presidential election. Epstein reportedly arranged meetings between influential Trump backers Peter Thiel, Thomas Barrack, and Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin. A year later, Churkin unexpectedly died after a “brief illness” and “heart attack.” Three days after Churkin’s death, Epstein sent an email to Thiel saying, “As you read, my Russian ambassador friend died. Life is short; start with dessert.” Vitaly Churkin hosted Donald and Ivana Trump during their July 1987 visit to Russia, a trip organized by Intourist, the Soviet tourism agency, a known KGB front. While Trump’s invitation to visit Soviet Russia originated with the Soviet Ambassador to the UN, Yuri Dubinin, the organizer of his trip was Churkin, who was then the First Secretary at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. Churkin later became Russia’s Ambassador to the UN in 2005. In October 2016, amid the U.S. presidential election, Churkin took the unusual step of defending then-candidate Trump, as Russia filed a complaint with the United Nations over comments by a senior UN official. Churkin had expressed concerns to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about speeches by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, who had warned against Trump and right-wing European politicians Geert Wilders, Viktor Orbán, Nigel Farage, and Marine Le Pen, all linked to Russian influence efforts, comparing their rhetoric to that used by terrorist groups. Zeid argued these politicians fueled divisive rhetoric with a focus on an idealized past—a “halcyon” era unified by race or religion—which he stated never truly existed. He claimed these tactics paralleled ISIS messaging strategies, where populists and extremists alike manipulate social anxieties to broaden their influence and recruit members. Churkin’s passing marked the sixth unexplained death of a Russian diplomat since November 2016, soon after Trump was elected President, prompting observers to connect the dots in what appears to be a troubling pattern. - Sergei Krivov was found unconscious in the Russian Consulate in New York on November 8, 2016, with a head injury later attributed to a heart attack. Speculations emerged regarding his role in preventing espionage against the consulate. - Andrei Karlov, Russia’s Ambassador to Turkey, was assassinated on December 19, 2016, during a public event, shot in the back by a Turkish police officer. On the same day, Petr Polshikov, a diplomat in Moscow, was found dead from gunshot wounds under suspicious circumstances. - Oleg Erovinkin, a former KGB chief suspected of helping draft a dossier on Donald Trump, was discovered dead in his car on December 26, 2016, with reports suggesting foul play, despite authorities later claiming he died of a heart attack. - Andrei Malanin, the Russian Consul in Athens, was found dead in his apartment on January 9, 2017, with authorities stating there was no evidence of a break-in and deeming the cause of death natural. - Alexander Kadakin, the Ambassador to India, died on January 27, 2017, after a “brief illness,” with reports indicating heart failure. In 2024, a California woman identified as Jane Doe 200 testified in a Manhattan federal court that during her time with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, they suggested Epstein was an agent for Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, similar to Maxwell’s father, Robert Maxwell. Maxwell allegedly warned Doe, “It’s not good to be Epstein’s enemy,” underlining the dangerous connections surrounding Epstein. Reports indicate that Epstein boasted about meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow and had ties to influential Israelis and Saudis, who all backed Donald Trump. In 2017, Steve Bannon, a close Trump ally, befriended Epstein, believing him to be a spy and a potential intermediary between various intelligence services. The lawsuit notes Epstein was not only extraordinarily wealthy but also suspiciously well-connected, even more so than the powerful men he associated with. Despite spending considerable time with Epstein in a committed relationship, Doe says the true nature of his work remains unclear. According to a DOJ report, the FBI had planned to arrest Jeffrey Epstein in May 2007 but pulled back after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, led by Trump’s former Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, derailed it. Trump’s former Attorney General, William Barr, was also part of the legal team that worked to protect Epstein from prosecution and one of the last people to see Epstein alive. In 2021, Acosta revealed he’d cut the non-prosecution deal with one of Epstein’s attorneys because he had been “told” to back off, asserting that Epstein was “above his pay grade.” “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone” he said. Soon after Epstein’s second arrest, the FBI raided his properties, including his Herbert N. Straus House in New York. They found a locked safe that contained 48 loose diamonds and $70,000 in cash. They also found three U.S. passports and one Austrian passport with Epstein’s picture but with someone else’s name and an address in Saudi Arabia. They also found a framed photo of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS). Epstein’s defence attorneys claimed the passport had been given to him “by a friend” for protection while travelling in the Middle East. US State Department records show Epstein applied for multiple passports and travelled extensively to Africa and the Middle East. He frequented Israel and certain Arab states, including Saudi Arabia. Epstein had long-standing connections with Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of Israel. Barak publicly acknowledged visiting Epstein “more than ten but less than a hundred” times, including one visit to Epstein’s private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, Epstein admitted to frequently speaking with Mohammed bin Salman. Peter Thiel, who co-founded PayPal with Elon Musk, Max Levchin, Luke Nosek, and Ken Howery, met with Epstein several times, starting in 2014. During an interview with a US podcaster, Thiel claimed it was LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman in Silicon Valley who introduced them in 2014. Thiel reportedly received invitations for private meetings with Putin on two separate occasions in 2018 and 2022. The first invitation came from Daniil Bisslinger, a Kremlin diplomat, during a birthday party in Vienna for Christian Angermayer, where he promised a meeting with Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Three years later, amid rising tensions over Russia’s impending invasion of Ukraine, Bisslinger renewed the invitation. Thiel, a strong supporter of Trump in 2016, did not endorse him in the 2020 election but has financially backed Trump-aligned candidates like J.D. Vance and Blake Masters ever since. The relationship between Thiel and Vance began in 2011 after Vance attended a talk by Thiel at Yale Law School, which he described as pivotal for his career. Thiel mentored Vance, leading him to join Mithril Capital in 2015 and later to establish his firm, Narya Capital, in 2019 with backing from Thiel and other prominent investors, including Eric Schmidt and Marc Andreessen. Thiel’s influence helped shift Vance’s previous anti-Trump stance; after Thiel introduced him to Trump in 2021, Vance secured Trump’s endorsement shortly before the election. Thiel’s anti-democratic sentiments, including his statement that “freedom and democracy are no longer compatible,” align with Thiel and Musk’s growing support for authoritarianism and Yarvanist revisionism. Their influence is both political and business-driven, with both using their power to tilt the scales toward policies and leaders that favour their financial and ideological goals. Musk, who co-founded PayPal with Thiel, hosted secretive meetings with investor David Sacks, the former PayPal COO, to strategize their ongoing political influence. Musk has used his social media platform X, formerly Twitter and purchased with funds from Saudi, Russian, and Israeli linked investors, to amplify anti-Biden, anti-Kamala, anti-Ukraine, anti-EU, anti-NATO rhetoric while showing pro-Trump and pro-Russia sentiments. Musk has publicly backed the Trump campaign with millions of dollars and by speaking at a 2024 Trump rally. Under Musk censorship requests increased on X. Musk has approved at least 83% of all censorship requests by authoritarian governments. In some cases, such as in Saudi Arabia users have been executed for their posts. In November 2022, Tom Barrack, a close friend of former President Donald Trump and former chair of Trump’s inaugural committee, was acquitted on charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), obstruction of justice and making false statements. Prosecutors argued Barrack secretly advocated for UAE interests using his connection to Trump while leveraging his access to the administration. UAE officials consorted with Barrack, rewarding him by pouring millions into his business ventures. Prosecutors presented evidence, including text messages, arguing Barrack became the UAE’s “eyes, ears, and voice” within Trump’s administration, allegedly coordinating to secure UAE financial backing for his real estate projects in return for his influence on U.S. foreign policy. Barrack said he aimed to use Trump to broker alignment between the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. He acted as Jared Kushner’s mentor in the Middle East, promoting Israeli, Saudi, and UAE influence, and helped introduce Paul Manafort, tied to Russian intelligence, to Trump. Officials from the UAE, Israel, and Saudi Arabia proposed a deal: Russia would reduce Iranian influence in Syria in exchange for the U.S. lifting sanctions related to Ukraine. Before the 2016 elections, UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed proposed a diplomatic arrangement to a “longtime American interlocutor,” focusing on collaboration with Russia to limit Iranian influence in Syria. Following the election and leading up to Trump’s inauguration, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, urged the Trump administration to work closely with President Putin to facilitate the removal of Iranian forces from Syria. In March 2017, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and his UAE counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed, reiterated this strategy, suggesting that the U.S. could lift sanctions against Russia in exchange for its assistance in reducing Iranian presence in Syria. An anonymous attendee reported, “Their message was: ‘Why don’t we lift the Ukrainian sanctions on Russia in exchange for getting the Russians to push Iran out of Syria.’” Tom Barrack offered to introduce Trump, then a presidential candidate, to the Emirati ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba over coffee in April 2016. On November 16, Otaiba wrote: “If you have any insights about postings to places like State, DOD, CIA, and the National Security Adviser, I would be grateful. I would only brief my bosses. Any indicators would be highly appreciated.” Barrack replied, “I do, and we’re working through them in real time. I have our regional interest in high profile. When you get a chance, let’s talk by phone.” Otaiba also expressed his support for Fran Townsend, George W. Bush’s counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, whom he referred to as a “dear friend.” Five days later, he suggested to Barrack that she would be an excellent candidate for Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, writing: “I saw her last night and immediately thought she would be a huge asset to you. She would make a perfect Director of National Intelligence or DHS Secretary. She would hit the ground running on every issue.” The emails also revealed alterations to the Republican platform for 2016, including removing a call for the release of 28 pages from the 9/11 inquiry thought to be incriminating. In July 2016, just one month after he became Trump’s campaign manager, Manafort sent Barrack an email from a Republican Party source regarding the removal of a reference to alleged Saudi funding of the 9/11 bombers. This email was forwarded to Otaiba, with Barrack’s comment that it was “really confidential but important. Please don’t distribute.” Manafort made further alterations to the Republican platform to remove any reference to arming Ukraine in its struggles against Russia. In January 2017, Erik Prince, a U.S. mercenary, met with Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and a key associate of Putin, in the Seychelles Islands, a meeting arranged by the UAE crown prince. Leaked emails indicated that Trump’s top advisers were prepared to exchange confidential information about U.S. government appointments with Otaiba. Tom Barrack is widely reported to have had long personal relationships with Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein. Trump called Barrack’s 2022 acquittal a “Great Victory for our Nation.” “Great news for our Country, Freedom, and Democracy in that businessman Tom Barrack, who should have never been charged or tried, was just acquitted,” Trump wrote. “My great respect goes out to the jurors for their courage and understanding in coming to an absolutely correct decision.” Journalist Michael Wolff described that in the 1980s and 90s, Trump, Epstein, and Barrack were “a set of nightlife musketeers.” Both Trump and Barrack were featured in Epstein’s infamous “little black book.” spookyconnections.com/2024/10/26/eps…
