Tesla CEO Elon Musk, PayPal founder Peter Theil named in newly released Jeffrey Epstein files

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, PayPal founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon appeared in partially redacted files tied to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to documents released Friday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. As reported by CNBC, the committee is investigating whether the federal government mishandled its case against Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting teenage girls to be abused by Epstein.

8,544 new documents reviewed

The newly released batch contained 8,544 documents from the Justice Department in response to an August subpoena. The panel said the files were redacted “to protect the identity of victims,” adding that a full review is ongoing.



According to CNBC, the files included Epstein’s itineraries, notes, and meeting records with business and tech leaders. One entry showed Epstein expected Elon Musk to travel to his private island in December 2014, writing, “is this still happening?” Musk has said Epstein “tried repeatedly” to get him to visit the island, but he declined.


The files also described Epstein’s meetings with Steve Bannon in 2019, Peter Thiel in 2017, and a tentative breakfast with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 2014.


Trump, who had once promised to release Epstein-related government documents, has resisted doing so since returning to the White House in January. Democrats released the redacted files without informing Republicans, drawing criticism from their GOP colleagues.


Epstein was arrested in 2019 on sex trafficking charges and died in federal custody before trial, in what was officially ruled a suicide. In June, Elon Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he believed Trump and his administration were keeping Epstein-related files from the public to protect the president’s reputation.


“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!,” he then wrote.