Epstein Tapped Ex-Gates, Pershing Square PR Pro to Rebuild Image
A protester holds an image of Jeffrey Epstein outside the federal courthouse in New York in 2019.
Photographer: Stephanie Keith/Getty ImagesFour months before Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019, he flew a veteran tech communications executive named John Pinette to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, according to materials released by the US Department of Justice.
The two men discussed rebuilding the disgraced financier’s public image, Epstein recounted in a March email. He later asked Pinette if he could hire him with “no need to surfaace publicly,” working quietly with journalists. Pinette told Epstein: “If I’m in - I’m in” and that he was “thinking” about the offer.