According to the Wall Street Journal, William Burns, the current director of the CIA, met with Jeffrey Epstein three times in 2014 while he was still Obama’s deputy secretary of state and after Epstein was found guilty of child sex exploitation.

According to a multitude of leaked documents, which include Epstein’s calendars but not his “black book” of contacts or travel records, the two men first met in Washington before Burns visited Epstein and his Manhattan residence.

Mr. Burns, a 67-year-old career diplomat and former ambassador to Russia, met with Mr. Epstein in 2014, when Mr. Burns held the position of deputy secretary of state.

In August of that year, a lunch was scheduled at the Washington branch of the legal firm Steptoe & Johnson. Documents indicate that Epstein scheduled two evening appointments with Mr. Burns at his condominium in September of that year. Epstein intended to have his driver transport Mr. Burns to the airport following one of the scheduled meetings.

Mr. Burns recalls being introduced in Washington by a mutual friend, and meeting Epstein once briefly in New York, said Ms. Thorp. “The director does not recall any further contact, including receiving a ride to the airport,” she said. -WSJ

Burns departed the State Department in October 2014, one month after his encounter with Epstein, to become the leader of the think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He supervised it until Biden nominated him as CIA director in early 2021.

Epstein also frequently interacted with Kathryn Ruemmler, who became the chief legal counsel at Goldman Sachs in 2020. In addition, Epstein had intended for her to accompany him on trips to Paris in 2015 and his private Caribbean island in 2017.

A representative for Goldman asserts that Ruemmler did not accompany Epstein on his vacation due to their “professional relationship,” which was based on her position at Latham & Watkins LLP.

“I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein,” she said.

According to the records, however, they were well acquainted after Epstein was found guilty in 2006 of assaulting females as young as 14 years old in Florida.

According to the documents, he requested that avocado sushi rolls be available for his meeting with Ms. Ruemmler. He visited apartments she was considering buying. In October 2014, Epstein knew her travel plans and told an assistant to look into her flight. “See if there is a first class seat,” he wrote, “if so upgrade her.”

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

After Ruemmler left the Obama White House in 2014, Epstein immediately began organizing a lunch in August at his townhouse and a series of meetings to introduce her to his friends.

When Epstein called her to inquire about her potential in representing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—a relationship that never materialized—the two first spoke. CONTINUE READING…