The Epstein Accords
Part Two: Jared and the Road to Tehran
Trump’s White House staffing system has always been one part reality show casting and one part mob hierarchy. Do they look the part? Are they blood relatives?
In his first term, he made his daughter Ivanka a senior advisor to handle “the woman stuff.” Naturally, his Orthodox Jewish son-in-law would make a great Middle East envoy. And Jared has been waist deep in the region ever since, up to and including the moment he walked away from negotiations with Iran.
The Kushner model of Middle East diplomacy – do business with oil tyrants and support Israel – has precedent in the activities of an older, more experienced man (not a role model, but a model nonetheless). As we outlined in Part One, Jeffrey Epstein spent his post-prison years cozying up to Arab royals whose sovereign wealth funds contained trillions, and who might be persuaded to support – or at least not actively oppose – Tel Aviv.
In October 2017, Epstein tried for a third time to market himself to MBS, in a letter lathered with cringeworthy obsequy: “I begin my letter with the greetings of peace as instructed by the Noble Prophet Mohammed. November 7 will mark one year since you and I met and laughed . Many things have changed since, and many, have not. You became crown prince and I remained a friend” [sic].
He then proposed a series of financial options from his “sophisticated toolbox,” including selling billions of dollars of shares to China and creating a Saudi cryptocurrency – “the first to be wholly shariar [sic] compliant. The muslim world will rejoice and its uses will be for the future.” He concluded with the promise that his services would be entirely free. “I do not want any money from you or the kingdom. I believe in what you are trying to do … your time is precious , i realize but the economy is the blood of your vision.”
A few months later, Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen asked Epstein to prep World Economic Forum director Børge Brende ahead of a meeting with the Saudi prince: “Borge is seeing MBS on Wednesday. Inputs?”
Epstein’s play was simple: the sheiks and princes didn’t just want money, they wanted social cred; he was ready to help them with that through sportswashing (let’s have the stars of world soccer compete at a match in the UAE!) and techwashing (via another cringeworthy pitch to the son of the ruler of Dubai, whose father famously orchestrated the abduction of his own adult daughters).
When Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Turkey in October 2018, Epstein and his pals worried about their robed friend. Rød-Larsen met with MBS’ aide Raafat in London and reported back: “Dark Cloud over his head, and it won’t go away. Will keep you updated on R.” The CIA concluded that MBS ordered the killing of Khashoggi. He denied it. A year later, a Saudi court convicted eight men and sentenced five to death.
The sordid saga didn’t damage Epstein’s – or Kushner’s – friendship with the prince. From Davos in January 2019, Rød-Larsen sent Epstein a photo of himself walking beside Saudi King Salman, captioned “the king and I,” adding “I will get in touch with Ehud.”
Beyond the Norwegian, Epstein worked another pipeline into the Gulf: New York businessman and Trump’s inauguration committee chairman, Tom Barrack. Epstein’s relationship with Barrack, whose parents were Lebanese immigrants to California, dated back to at least 2012, when Barrack emailed Epstein, “How is my role model?”
A few weeks after the 2016 election, Epstein wrote to Tom Pritzker: “barrack and the boys in pb, wild wild” [sic].
In another email exchange, Barrack wrote to Epstein about himself and Michael Wolff: “We decided last night that we both love you and want to be your butler’s” [sic].
Epstein replied: “When do we see you? Are you meting Raafat” [sic].
Throughout 2016, Epstein schmoozed Barrack, hard. In August, he set up a lunch between Barrack, Ehud Barak, and soon-to-be-dead Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin. Apparently the meeting was a success. Epstein emailed Tom Pritzker: “lunch was AMAZING. tom barrack was floored.” The following month, probably during UNGA week in New York, he introduced Barrack to Rød-Larsen.
Meanwhile, Barrack – the man who wanted to be Epstein’s “butler” and was having “wild wild” times with Jeff and “the boys” – was busy connecting Jared Kushner with Gulf royals.
At first, the Arabs snickered about Jared. He seemed naive and was extremely tight with Israeli hardliners (as a teen, Bibi Netanyahu had even slept in his bed at the Kushner family home in New Jersey). But Jared was poised to replace Epstein as the Saudis’ Trump whisperer and eventually became MBS’s best friend at the White House.
“You will love him and he agrees with our agenda!” Mr. Barrack wrote in May 2016 to Emirati ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba.
For a while, Barrack kept Epstein in the loop. DOJ files show Epstein emailing Barrack about Saudi 9/11 survivor lawsuits, and name-dropping him with the Emiratis. In one email to Dubai businessman (and Epstein john) Sultan Bin Sulayem, he wrote “barrack said to give you a hug for him”.
But in spring 2017, Barrack went dark. Epstein worried that Barrack had perhaps been “sidelined” due to the growing investigation into foreign influence in the Trump campaign. In communications with New York Times reporter Landon Thomas Jr., Epstein predicted that Barrack was out of the inner circle and that National Economic Council director Gary Cohn and Jared were “likely to take over”. Landon replied: “How does Jared takeover now with FBI circling?”
Eventually Barrack reconnected with Epstein, after requesting a switch to encrypted communication methods, including Signal and WhatsApp.
Meanwhile, Jared was ascending. He had convinced the president, aka his father-in-law, to make his first visit to Saudi Arabia, where he and his delegation were lavishly received. In October, Jared traveled to Riyadh for a secret meeting with MBS. According to the Intercept, they discussed names of Saudis disloyal to MBS; days later, a purge was underway. One source claimed that MBS bragged to fellow royals that Kushner was “in his pocket.” According to the Washington Post, Kushner later told aides he and the prince met alone to “brainstorm” strategies.
The “adults in the room” in the first Trump administration were troubled by this mode of foreign policy. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster warned that Kushner was freelancing and “might make naive mistakes.” Trump’s first Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was frustrated that Jared was effectively setting up a parallel state department.
In February 2019, Jared was stripped of his top-level security clearance – but by then, it hardly mattered. He was already communicating directly with Saudi and Emirati crown princes via WhatsApp. That same month, Epstein emailed Bannon to let him know “MBS coming to wash 19th” [sic]. Bannon replied: “To have breakfast with Jared.”
Epstein now watched from the sidelines as the younger man, born rich, ignorant of the wiles it took to scrabble up from Coney Island, got richer and grew more acclaimed.
One exchange between Epstein and Bannon:
Epstein: “He thinks Jared and he can run it”
Bannon: “???”
Epstein: “Donald”
Bannon: “Can run the investigations ?”
Epstein: “Govt”
Bannon: “I think Jared has done the ‘fade’ recently as heat has been turned up”
Epstein: “Heard how smart , he is and he doesn’t need anyone else . Chat tonite. Not from here”
Bannon: “K”
In another exchange that month, the two men discussed a Maggie Haberman article contradicting Trump. Epstein observed that Bannon was Trump’s “only hope,” and added, “Im pushing, jared needs squashed” [sic]. Bannon replied, “He is killing Trump.”
Six months later, Epstein was dead and Jared would soon collect $2 billion in investment money from MBS. He was also the celebrated hero of the Abraham Accords. Today, he has plans to turn flattened Gaza into a shiny beach resort. And as a private citizen with deep ties to Netanyahu and MBS – who are both interested in blowing Iran into the Stone Age – he has played a pivotal role in igniting a regional war.
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