Reid Hoffman has made considerable efforts over the years to separate himself from Jeffrey Epstein, offering numerous apologies for his past associations with the disgraced financier. The cofounder of LinkedIn and a notable Democratic contributor now finds himself in a widening political storm, a situation exacerbated by the disclosure of emails exchanged with Epstein in the late 2010s and President Donald Trump's attempts to investigate Democrats mentioned in the Epstein documents. This comes after the recent publication of documents indicating seemingly significant connections between Epstein and Trump, which appear to contradict the president's description of their relationship.
TL;DR
- Reid Hoffman faces political scrutiny over past associations with Jeffrey Epstein.
- President Trump ordered and then rescinded a DOJ investigation into Hoffman and others.
- Hoffman has apologized for his past involvement with Epstein, calling it a mistake.
- New emails reveal continued contact between Hoffman and Epstein in 2017.
Donald Trump has strongly and continuously refuted any accusations of misconduct, ignorance of Epstein's sex-trafficking activities, or participation in the claims detailed in recently published emails.
The controversy has escalated rapidly in recent days, as Trump ordered a Justice Department investigation into Hoffman, several other high-profile figures, and institutions like JPMorgan Chase, and then abruptly reversed his stance and spoke out in favor of releasing the full trove of Epstein files. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed on Nov. 13 that she would launch the probe. The move was widely interpreted as a political counteroffensive designed to deflect attention from Trump’s own ties to Epstein—ties that the 20,000 newly released documents described in detail.
Bondi has attempted to further link Hoffman to Epstein historically. During her contentious Senate Judiciary Committee testimony on October 7, she frequently mentioned Hoffman’s name when asked about Epstein and Trump, referring to him as “one of Epstein’s closest confidants.” Hoffman has consistently refuted any such claims.
On November 14, Hoffman hit back, speaking on X to call for “Trump should release all of the Epstein files: every person and every document in the files.” The co-founder of LinkedIn asserted that Trump’s investigation was “nothing more than political persecution and slander” and stated he had no professional relationship with Epstein, nor any dealings with him beyond soliciting donations.
In a Sunday evening Truth Social post, however, the president doubled down. He said calls to release the entire cache of Epstein files were a “Democrat Hoax” and declared, “The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on ‘Epstein,’ are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) And their relationship to Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!”
A White House spokesperson reiterated some of Trump’s claims, telling Coins2Day, “By releasing tens of thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, and President Trump recently calling for further investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends, the Trump Administration has done more for the victims than Democrats ever have. The Democrat Party did nothing about Epstein for years; they are only pretending to care about these victims now as they attempt to score political points against President Trump.”
Hoffman did not respond to a Coins2Day request for comment regarding his ties to Epstein. JPMorgan Chase, Clinton, and Summers also did not respond to Coins2Day’s requests for comment.
Summers apologized for his relationship with Epstein in a statement to the Harvard Crimson, writing, “I have great regrets in my life. As I have said before, my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgement.”
A spokesperson for Clinton refuted the Trump administration’s claims in a post on X. “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing. The rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else,” they wrote.
JPMorgan Chase, which previously settled a multi-million-dollar lawsuit with Epstein victims, responded to Trump’s probe in a statement to CNN: “The government had information about his crimes and failed to share it with us or other banks. We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts. We ended our relationship with him years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges.” (The bank did, however, continue to bank Epstein even after his 2008 solicitation of a minor conviction, working with him until 2013.)
When Hoffman met Epstein
Joi Ito, the former director of the MIT Media Lab, was the connection that initiated the relationship between Hoffman and Epstein. Reports indicate that Hoffman's initial contact with Epstein occurred when he assisted in securing contributions for the MIT Media Lab from the convicted sex offender. Epstein visited Hoffman and other individuals at the MIT campus in July 2013. By this point, Epstein had already been classified as a registered sex offender, a status resulting from his 2008 admission of guilt for soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida.
Hoffman then visited Epstein’s private island, Little St. James, in 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal. Ito was also present during this trip, which was described as being for the purpose of raising funds for MIT. According to Ito’s statement to the Journal, Hoffman participated in a “fundraising event” on the island “at my request.” Documents also indicated that Hoffman and Ito were planning another visit to Epstein’s island later in 2014, with plans to travel from Palm Beach to the island for a weekend and then onward to Boston.
In 2023, documents acquired by the Journal indicated that Hoffman intended to spend the night at Epstein's Manhattan residence on December 4, 2014. This was to be followed by a “breakfast party” the subsequent morning, with Both Epstein and Bill Gates anticipated to be present. It's uncertain if this meeting actually took place.
In 2015, Epstein and Hoffman had their final known face-to-face encounter during a dinner hosted by Hoffman. This event saw Epstein in attendance alongside prominent Silicon Valley figures such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Peter Thiel. Hoffman has indicated that he extended an invitation to Epstein for this event after receiving assurances from Joi Ito that Epstein had successfully passed MIT's vetting and clearance procedures.
In 2023, Hoffman claimed that the 2015 dinner marked his final interaction with Epstein. Nevertheless, unsealed emails examined by Coins2Day reveal that Epstein wrote to Hoffman at least once in 2017. This exchange seems connected to possible fundraising initiatives aimed at counteracting reductions in federal spending that Trump sought during his initial term.
Epstein's email to Hoffman, dated March 16, 2017 and presented here with its original errors, states, “a HUGE donor advised fund is an elegant solution to the cuts trump proposes to what some consider critical programs. You could organzie a huge public charity that would continue the work of many worthwhile orgs. Not my thing but structurally beautiful. Its the wealthiest now stepping into a quasi govt funding. National endowment for arts. Climate science, as extraordinary amounts of wealth have moved into private hands. Elons and jeff space goals should be mirrored with many other former govt ones. Hope to see you soon.”
The newly released emails do not show whether Hoffman ever replied.
In 2019, Epstein passed away by suicide within a New York detention facility as he awaited trial for additional sex trafficking accusations.
An external inquiry by MIT report, published in January 2020, also detailed Hoffman’s schedule. The findings indicated that in July 2016, Ito consulted Hoffman regarding the permissibility of Epstein's attendance at a Media Lab conference with “lots of people” who might “see him and maybe know he’s involved.” The report did not specify if Hoffman provided counsel or its nature.
Elon Musk accused Hoffman has been accused of being a client of Epstein’s in 2024, but no evidence supporting such a relationship has surfaced. Hoffman has also strongly refuted any such claims.
Hoffman has offered multiple public apologies and declarations concerning his dealings with Epstein. Following the public outcry in September 2019 regarding MIT's ties to Epstein, Hoffman issued an apology via a statement to Axios: “By agreeing to participate in any fundraising activity where Epstein was present, I helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice. For this, I am deeply regretful.” In 2023, he reaffirmed this stance in a statement to the Journal, saying, “It gnaws at me that, by lending my association, I helped his reputation, and thus delayed justice for his survivors.”
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a measure that would compel the DOJ to make all Epstein files publicly available “in a searchable and downloadable format” within 30 days.