Biden CIA Director Met Jeffrey Epstein After Sex Crime Revelations

Spy Chief Met with Jeffrey Epstein Multiple Times, Despite His Sordid Past

President Joe Biden’s CIA director William Burns met with Jeffrey Epstein multiple times, even after the late financier was publicly accused of grooming underage girls for sex. In 2014, when Burns served as deputy secretary of state, he met Epstein in Washington, D.C., and at Epstein’s New York City townhouse. According to the Wall Street Journal, Burns met with Epstein for “general advice” on the financial services industry and for career advice on his transition out of government.

Despite Epstein’s widely known sordid past, Burns did not look into his background before arranging to meet with him. Epstein registered as a sex offender in 2008 after pleading guilty to attempting to traffic underage girls. He was also publicly accused in 2006 of molesting girls as young as 14 and was indicted on federal charges in 2019 with trafficking multiple underage girls for sex at his homes in New York and Florida. He killed himself in jail while awaiting trial.

Burns is now facing scrutiny in Washington over his ties to Epstein and his failure to disclose the relationship. Links to Epstein have proved a liability for government officials and business leaders in the past. In 2021, Senate Democrats delayed a vote for Eric Lander, Biden’s first director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, because of his affiliation with Epstein years earlier at Harvard.

Epstein’s Ties to Other Business Leaders and Celebrities

The disclosures add to a growing list of business leaders, Beltway insiders, and celebrities who embraced Epstein even after his criminal sex convictions became widely known. Microsoft founder Bill Gates visited Epstein’s home numerous times and took frequent trips on Epstein’s jet. Democratic donor Reid Hoffman organized a dinner with Epstein in 2015. He apologized in 2019 for hosting the event, which he said had helped Epstein rehabilitate his public image.

Before he was ever accused of sex crimes, Epstein forged close ties to former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Clinton flew dozens of times on Epstein’s private jet, nicknamed the “Lolita Express.”

Epstein’s Meetings with Other High-Profile Figures

According to the Journal, Epstein also met dozens of times with Kathryn Ruemmler, who served in the Obama White House and is now the general counsel for Goldman Sachs. Epstein in 2015 and 2016 also arranged meetings with activist Noam Chomsky, then a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to discuss politics and academic research.

CIA Spokeswoman Defends Burns’ Meetings with Epstein

According to CIA spokeswoman Tammy Kupperman Thorp, Burns was introduced to Epstein through a mutual friend and met with him regarding the financial services sector and his transition out of government service. Kupperman Thorp said that Burns did not know anything about Epstein’s background before arranging to meet with him and that they had no relationship.