Bonus fact for your next cocktail party: the late Jeffrey Epstein did not only hobnob with celebrities and mysterious donors. He traded emails and lunches with a well-known D.C. fixer, Juleanna Glover, who for more than a year exchanged messages with him about politics, press and even Elon Musk.
How the introduction happened
Glover and Epstein met through Michael Wolff, the journalist and frequent chaos agent who suggested she might be someone Epstein should talk to. Wolff pitched Glover as smart and well connected. Epstein obliged. What followed: several dozen emails, two in-person meetings and multiple calls, according to a review of government files. Glovers name shows up many times in those records.
What Glover says she was trying to do
Glover, known as a Never Trump Republican and a longtime D.C. insider, told investigators and reporters that her main motive in talking to Epstein was to learn whether he had information that could damage Donald Trumps political prospects. She referred reporters to other anti-Trump operatives who had been in touch about Epstein years earlier. But the public files do not include clear evidence that she asked Epstein directly for dirt on Trump.
Musk, PR and the give-and-take
At the same time, the correspondence shows Glover leaned on Epstein for help with matters related to her then-high-profile client Elon Musk. In 2017 and 2018 she swapped emails and calls with Epstein about Musks attempt to take Tesla private and about potential wealthy backers, including sovereign wealth funds. She even suggested Epstein might be helpful to those funds; Epstein responded with commentary about how Musk handled Middle Eastern negotiations and with suggestions for potential board members.
Those suggestions were a little wild. Epstein proposed names like Larry Summers and Kathy Ruemmler, and somehow included Margaret Thatcher even though she had been dead for years. Some people named in the files later publicly apologized or stepped back from commitments after their links to Epstein surfaced.
Epstein also offered media coaching and feedback. Glover asked if a New York Times reporter would be a good contact. Epstein said he preferred living in the "dark background." Glover and Epstein traded notes after a Times interview with Musk, with Epstein complimenting the work. The exchanges read less like a formal contract and more like two adults swapping professional praise and advice.
An attempted pro-democracy facelift
Glover also tried to attach Epstein to mainstream civic causes. She arranged a meeting between Epstein and the head of Freedom House, a pro-democracy nonprofit, and helped set up a conference call when schedules did not align. Freedom House says it never accepted money from Epstein. Glover told reporters she believed Epstein wanted to fund overseas democracy work and that she connected him to organizations that might need money. She later apologized to Freedom House leaders for making the introduction.
A warning about Steve Bannon
The emails show tension between Glovers establishment Republican instincts and Epsteins separate ties to more volatile figures. After learning Epstein planned to meet Steve Bannon, Glover warned him away. She described Bannon as manipulative and potentially dangerous to Epsteins interests. Epstein said he would take her advice, but the files show he continued to speak with Bannon up until his arrest the following year.
Paper trail and numbers
- The public files show Glovers name numerous times, though many mentions are duplicates.
- Glover characterizes her involvement as a limited series of contacts: she says she sent 31 emails to Epstein, two meetings and three phone calls. Of those emails, she says 12 were logistical and 15 related to Tesla.
- She has said Epstein was never a client and that she never took anything of value from him.
Why this matters
Beyond the eyebrow-raising optics of a mainstream D.C. operator hobnobbing with a convicted sex offender, the exchanges show how wide Epsteins reach was. The files read as a map of how influential people treated him: as a rich, connected source to be cultivated for deals, introductions or press, rather than as someone to be shunned for his crimes.
The relationship ended in the same ugly way as much of the Epstein story. He was arrested again on sex trafficking charges and died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019.
Bottom line
Glover says she was trying to get Epstein to cooperate with journalists and to nudge him toward actions that might harm Trump. The records show she also used the contact to help a major client and to plug Epstein into mainstream organizations. The result is a short, strange dance between a D.C. fixer and a man whose name would later taint many networks and reputations.
