Epstein Gave NY Times Journalist Tips About Trump. Why Did They Never Get Reported?

The trove of documents from a House investigation dumped online Wednesday reveal explosive new details about how the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein wielded influence with prominent and powerful people across the political spectrum.

Epstein’s influential friends, however, weren’t all household names. The documents also reveal details of Epstein’s unusually close relationships with scientists, academics, and philanthropists — and how he had a cozy arrangement with members of the media who got juicy tips from Epstein and did little critical work about him.

One reporter with whom Epstein connected frequently was Landon Thomas Jr., a financial journalist at the New York Times. Thomas exchanged dozens of emails with Epstein between 2015 and 2018, years after the financier’s conviction for soliciting a minor.

Epstein fed information to Thomas about Donald Trump’s allegedly lecherous behavior.

In the emails, Thomas tipped off Epstein about inquiries by other reporters and claimed to have vouched for Epstein, whom he said he called “one hell of a guy.” In one exchange, Thomas coached Epstein on how to repair his reputation.

The relationship was a two-way street. Epstein, who died in a Manhattan federal jail in 2019 awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking, was reportedly a valued source for Thomas. In the emails released Wednesday, one of the topics Epstein fed information to Thomas was about Donald Trump’s allegedly lecherous behavior. In the exchanges — through his trademark style of lowercase letters and abundant typos — Epstein alludes to Trump’s predilection for young women.

“read the [BuzzFeed story] re my airplane logs and hawain tropic contest,” Epstein wrote in one email on December 8, 2015, alluding the Trump’s frequent travel on the financier’s private plane. “have them ask my houseman about donad almost walking through the door leaving his nose print on the glass as young women were swimming in the pool and he was so focused he walked straight into the door.”

No reply or follow-up from Thomas appeared in the documents released Wednesday.

On one occasion, Thomas attempted to convince Epstein to speak out about Trump. Thomas had reportedly told his editors he solicited information from Epstein but would not write about Epstein himself. In the newly released email exchange, Thomas offered Epstein to pass any information about Trump to other journalists.

“I would not do it myself, but would pass on to a political reporter.”

“I am serious man — for the good of the nation why not try to get some of this out there,” Landon wrote in an exchange the same day. “I would not do it myself, but would pass on to a political reporter.”

Epstein deflected, sending a link to a story about a Norwegian heiress.

“my 20 year old girlfriend in 93„ that after two years i gave to donald,” Epstein replied.

“Amazing!” Thomas wrote back. “When did you last talk to him?”

Like the other exchange, the message is cryptic and no follow-up was recorded in the files released Wednesday to provide context. The Norwegian heiress has previously been linked to both Trump and Epstein, though she has denied being romantically involved with Epstein. Epstein’s claim that he “gave” the heiress to Trump had not previously surfaced.

Little Came to Light

In total, the exchanges about Trump between Thomas and Epstein amount to a series of tips about the president’s behavior. And these tips came from a known associate of the president, a convicted pedophile. Little of the information given to Thomas, however, ever saw the light of day — not in Thomas’s reporting, not in the New York Times, and not in any other outlets. The details are only now emerging with the release of Thomas’s cozy emails with Epstein.

“It would be useful for readers who have become aware of this to know more from the Times about who knew what, when,” said Margaret Sullivan, a media critic and a former public editor at The New York Times. “I think it’s really important for reporters to have their main constituency in mind, and that is the public.”

“Reporters have sources and some sources are unsavory or worse. But it’s really important to have the public interest at heart,” Sullivan said.

The Intercept made multiple attempts to contact Thomas at an address listed under his name, but was unable to speak with him for comment. In an interview with the Times on Wednesday, Thomas referred to Epstein as a “longstanding and very productive source.”

Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the New York Times, declined to respond to questions on the tips about Trump passed from Epstein to Thomas.

The White House said in a statement that the Epstein emails about Trump were a distraction.

“These emails prove literally nothing,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Intercept. “Liberal outlets are desperately trying to use this Democrat distraction to talk about anything other than Democrats getting utterly defeated by President Trump in the shutdown fight. We won’t be distracted.”

Wednesday’s dump came amid a monthslong furor over the so-called “Epstein Files,” the moniker for documents held by the government that could shed further light on the late financier and pedophile.

Epstein’s criminal activities, close ties to the rich and powerful, and mysterious death — which was ruled a suicide — have given rise to investigations, conspiracy theories, and a raft of memes. Despite his personal ties to Epstein, Trump and his supporters brandished Epstein’s relationships with powerful Democrats as a political cudgel.

Now, the administration’s failure to provide full transparency on the case has become a political liability for the president, fueling disaffection among some of his staunchest supporters. The attention on the case triggered an investigation by the House Oversight Committee, which released the trove of emails on Wednesday in two batches: a small one from the Democrats, followed by a massive dump by Republicans.

If the GOP was hoping to extinguish the controversy surrounding Epstein, it may have doused the fire with gasoline instead — and the newly revealed exchanges between Thomas and Epstein are fanning the flames.

“Juicy Info”

When Trump launched his bid for the White House in 2015, his past relationship with Epstein — the men were even neighbors in Palm Beach, Florida — brought fresh scrutiny. One of the focuses was Thomas’s 2002 New York Magazine profile of Epstein, the first recorded interaction between the journalist and the pedophile.

The New York Magazine story is written in a glamorous, gossipy style that cast Epstein as an “international moneyman of mystery,” and is held up by Trump’s critics as evidence that the president knew a thing or two about Epstein’s obsession with underage girls. The innuendo flowed from a now-infamous quote where Trump spoke winkingly of Epstein’s predilection for younger women.

“I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Thomas quoted Trump as saying. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Citing the future president’s “terrific guy” quote, Thomas wrote in a December 2015 email that he was fielding inquiries about Epstein and Trump.

“Now everyone coming to me thinking I have juicy info on you and Trump,” Thomas wrote. “Because of this.”

Two minutes later, Epstein replied.

“would you like photso of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen”

“would you like photso of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen,” he asked.

“Yes!!!” Thomas wrote back.

Epstein continued the exchange without following through on his offer.

More than a year later, Thomas was apparently still fielding questions about Epstein, this time from John Connolly, the former New York cop-turned-journalist who published a book on Epstein in 2017. On June 1, 2016, Thomas emailed Epstein to tip him off about the fresh round of questions.

“Keep getting calls from that guy doing a book on you — John Connolly. He seems very interested in your relationship with the news media,” Thomas wrote.

According to Thomas, Connolly had doubts about the veracity of Trump’s “terrific guy” quote from 2002.

“One oddity: he said he had been told that that quote from Trump about you in the original NY Mag story had been manufactured ie, that I did not actually speak to Donald,” Thomas wrote. “Which is bull shit of course.”

Later in the thread, Landon asked Epstein if he too had been questioned about his relationship to the GOP presidential hopeful.

“are you still getting calls from reporters re Trump?” Thomas asked.

“everyone except the NYT it seems :)” Epstein replied.

“How Are You Holding Up?”

Thomas’s relationship with Epstein helped precipitate the journalist’s downfall at the New York Times, according to NPR’s 2019 investigation into the pedophile financier’s relationship to the press. According to the story, Thomas had been asked to interview Epstein for the newspaper in 2018 and disclosed to his editors a friendship with Epstein — including Thomas’s solicitation of a $30,000 donation for a local uptown New York charity.

Thomas told his editors, according to NPR, that he pumped Epstein for information but did not report on him — though on several occasions in past years Thomas had. Thomas was barred from professional contact with Epstein, NPR reported, and within six months he was gone from the New York Times.

Rhoades Ha, the Times spokesperson, said Thomas had left the paper after ethical lapses were uncovered.

“Landon Thomas Jr. has not worked at The Times since early 2019,” she wrote in an email to The Intercept on Wednesday, “after editors discovered his failure to abide by our ethical standards.”

“You have moved on! People don’t know that and cant accept that unless you say as much.”

In 2008, on the eve of Epstein turning himself into Florida authorities, Thomas wrote one of his New York Times stories about the financier. Thomas traveled to Epstein’s now-notorious Caribbean island lair, Little Saint James. The story, critics said, soft-pedaled the offenses Epstein had pleaded guilty to, largely framing the charges around soliciting sex work rather than the alleged child victims, whose stories had by then become well known thanks to ongoing legal cases.

After his 2008 plea — now widely panned as a sweetheart deal by a Florida prosecutor who would later become political appointee in Trump’s first administration — Epstein led a comparatively low-profile life, even as he maneuvered behind the scenes to connect powerful players on a global stage.

The emails in Wednesday’s dump from the House don’t include any conversations between Thomas and Epstein until January 2015, when Thomas reached out to check up on Epstein.

“How are you holding up?” Thomas wrote in the subject line of an email sent on January 16.

It’s unclear what prompted the question, but it came just after a judge had heard arguments in Manhattan federal court over whether to unseal documents from the 2008 plea deal and allegations had emerged recently linking Epstein and Britain’s Prince Andrew to horrific acts of sexual violence.

If Epstein was worried, however, he didn’t show it.

“very well, my reputation has admittedly taken a hit,” Epstein replied. “however, again, more calls re currency than i can handle.”

Epstein proceeded to defend his conduct and cast aspersions on the character and motives of his accusers.

Thomas replied with some advice.

“I think the big issue is separating yourself from Andrew,” Thomas wrote. “I mean I can see why a statement might help in some way — but its Andrew (not clinton and the rest) that is keeping the story alive.”

“Until you are able to come forward and address that the story lives on,” Thomas continued. “You have moved on! People don’t know that and cant accept that unless you say as much.”

Thomas then asked Epstein for his thoughts on global currencies.