File 030343
Guardian Media Inquiry About Swiss Bank Accounts and Tax Evasion - Email Chain with Attorney (File 030343)
Email correspondence between The Guardian journalist David Pegg and Jeffrey Epstein's attorney Martin G. Weinberg regarding a media inquiry about Epstein's Swiss bank accounts, offshore assets, and potential tax evasion.
Summary
David Pegg from The Guardian newspaper contacts Jeffrey Epstein's attorney to request comment on an article about Swiss bank accounts held by prominent individuals. The Guardian's inquiry raises specific questions about Epstein's $3.5 million in Swiss accounts, his 2008 guilty plea to solicitation of prostitution, his connections to Leslie Wexner, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and Kevin Spacey, and his charitable donations to the Clintons. The inquiry notes the apparent inconsistency between Epstein's political engagement and tax avoidance, with references to Hillary Clinton's public statements on tax equity. Epstein is given until February 2, 2015 to respond.
From: Martin G. WeinbergSent: 1/30/2015 8:20:19 PMTo: jeffrey E. [jeevacation@gmail.com]Subject: Re: Media Enquiry - The Guardian - Re: Jeffrey EpsteinImportance: HighPrivileged - RedactedFrom: Jeffrey E.Sent: Friday, January 30, 2015 2:04 PMTo: Martin G. WeinbergSubject: Re: Fw: Fwd: Media Enquiry - The Guardian - Re: Jeffrey EpsteinPrivileged - Redacted:On Fri, Jan 30, 2015 at 3:03 PM, Martin G. Weinberg ____________________ wrote:Privileged - RedactedFrom: David PeggSent: Friday, January 30, 2015 12:00 PMTo:________________________________Subject: Fwd: Media Enquiry - The Guardian - Re: Jeffrey EpsteinDear Mr Weinberg,I hope this email finds you well. I am a journalist at The Guardian newspaper in London.We are preparing for publication an article in which we may mention Mr Jeffrey Epstein, who is your client.We have sent Mr Epstein an email concerning this article and made a number of attempts to contact him, towhich he has not responded.Please see the email in question below. Should Mr Epstein wish to respond, please ensure that we receive hisresponse by no later than 18:00 on Monday 2nd February 2015.I would be grateful if you could acknowledge receipt of this email.Yours faithfully,David PeggThe GuardianKings Place90 York WayLondonNi 9GUHOUSE OVERSIGHT 030343Forwarded messageFrom: David Pegg____________________________________Date: 29 January 2015 at 16:49Subject: Re: Media Enquiry - The Guardian - Re: Jeffrey EpsteinTo: Jeffrey@jeffreyepstein.orgDear Mr Epstein,I write further to an email sent to you earlier this month, concerning an article we are preparing forpublication in which you may be mentioned.We have not received a response from you. If you wish to respond, please do so as soon as possible and nolater than 18:00 on Monday 2nd February 2015.For your convenience, please see the original letter below,.Yours faithfully,David PeggThe GuardianKings Place90 York WayLondonNi 9GUOn 5 January 2015 at 11:14, David Pegg , > wrote:Swiss Accounts SurveyDear Mr Epstein,We are writing because a US media organisation, in concert with ourselves at the Guardian newspaper inLondon, is currently conducting a detailed survey of Swiss bank accounts, past and present.It is not illegal to have Swiss accounts. But as you may know, it is a topic of considerable public debate, andseveral governments have been investigating the owners of such accounts.There are a number of ways such accounts and also offshore trusts have been used to avoid inheritance tax,UK domestic tax, or tax imposed by other countries. Such accounts have also been used to launder money.We have seen records held in the US identifying you among those who have held accounts. These accountscontained assets of up to USD 3.5m, and include:HSBC (Suisse) SAFAMILY INTEREST L.P.22079BESSIEHOUSE OVERSIGHT 030344JEFFREY EPSTEIN1) You may therefore have been a person evading or avoiding tax, or laundering money.We will be particularly concerned with these questions:2) Why you had Swiss accounts.3) How much back tax you have settled with the tax authorities following their investigation of your affairs.Additionally, from public records and from material we have seen we note that:4) In 2008 you pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and procuring minors for prostitution. You weresentenced to 18 months in prison.5) Your above accounts were also linked with Mr Leslie Wexner.6) You are known to be or have previously been closely associated with Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and KevinSpacey.7) You have made substantial contributions to the Clintons' philanthropic causes. Tax reform campaignershave previously been critical of those who engage in public life or the political process while avoiding orevading tax. Hilary Clinton herself, speaking in 2012, noted the importance of elites paying a substantialshare of tax: "One of the issues that I have been preaching about around the world is collecting taxes in anequitable manner — especially from the elites in every country."It is intended shortly to publish the results of our survey in both the US and the UK.As responsible journalists acting in the public interest, we would first like to give you the opportunity tocomment.If we do not hear from you by 18:00 on Monday 12th January 2015 (preferably by email to____________________________________ we shall proceed on the basis that you do not wish to comment on oramend our information.But we have approached you in a straightforward fashion and hope you will take this opportunity to respondif you wish. Your substantive responses to each of our numbered points will be carefully considered andpublished if appropriate.(For the avoidance of doubt, we do not normally regard any generalised assertion of "inaccuracies" as asubstantive response; nor any generalised statement that the holders acted on advice. Neither will weregard as substantive any comment that only refers to the present state of affairs and not to the past.)We are, of course, happy to discuss directly any concerns you may have.We would be most grateful if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter. This will save us from chasing.Yours faithfully,David PeggHOUSE OVERSIGHT 030345The GuardianKings Place90 York WayLondonNi 9GUTelEmail:Visit theguardian.com. On your mobile and tablet, download the Guardian iPhone and Android appstheduardian.com/duardianapp and our tablet editions theduardian.com/editions. Save up to 57% bysubscribing to the Guardian and Observer - choose the papers you want and get full digitalaccess. Visit subscribe.theduardian.comThis e-mail and all attachments are confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the namedrecipient, please notify the sender and delete the e-mail and all attachments immediately. Do notdisclose the contents to another person. You may not use the information for any purpose, or store,or copy, it in any way. Guardian News & Media Limited is not liable for any computer viruses orother material transmitted with or as part of this e-mail. You should employ virus checking software.Guardian News & Media Limited is a member of Guardian Media Group plc. Registered Office: POBox 68164, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1P 2AP. Registered in England Number 908396please noteThe information contained in this communication isconfidential, may be attorney-client privileged, mayconstitute inside information, and is intended only forthe use of the addressee. It is the property ofJEEUnauthorized use, disclosure or copying of thiscommunication or any part thereof is strictly prohibitedand may be unlawful. If you have received thiscommunication in error, please notify us immediately byreturn e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmail.com, anddestroy this communication and all copies thereof,including all attachments. copyright -all rights reservedHOUSE OVERSIGHT 030346