The Federal Aviation Administration has inadvertently opened up a new realm of information about the activities of convicted sex offender and accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Insider has been compiling a searchable database of Epstein’s flights aboard his various aircraft.
In January 2020, the outlet asked for all of the records connected with his flights to show departure and arrival data. Two months later, the FAA declined, saying the data were linked to law enforcement proceedings.
The denial notwithstanding, the FAA sent Insider some of Epstein’s flight records along with unrelated correspondence.
The records of 2,300 flights covered four of his jets and covered 1998 to 2000.
But the data also included information on 704 flights between 2013 and 2016 that were previously unknown.
The names of who was flying on the planes were not disclosed.
Former President Bill Clinton was among Epstein’s famous passengers. He has acknowledged taking four flights on Epstein’s plane, but Fox News reported in 2016 that flight logs it obtained showed Clinton had taken at least 26 flights aboard the so-called Lolita Express.
Epstein’s prime travel routes were from New York City to Palm Beach, Florida, where his primary residences were located. Destinations such as Paris, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands also were common.
“Flight data is typically considered to be releasable information,” an FAA representative told Insider. The agency declined further comment.
Air travel will be a theme Tuesday in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate prior to his 2019 death in jail while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges, according to Reuters.
Maxwell, 59, faces eight counts of sex trafficking and other crimes. She is accused of recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein.
On Monday, pilot Lawrence Visoski said Maxwell would contact him to schedule flights for Epstein. He said the relationship between Epstein and Maxwell was “more personal than business.”
“We interacted quite often,” Visoski said of himself and Maxwell.
Visoski said he flew Epstein and those with Epstein between Epstein’s properties in New York, Florida, New Mexico, Paris and the Caribbean.
His testimony resumes Tuesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz has said prosecutors would present flight logs that included the names of Maxwell and some alleged victims.
“The defendant and Epstein made young girls believe that their dreams could come true,” Pomerantz said. “They were exploiting kids. They were trafficking kids for sex.”
Via The Western Journal.
