itstargetnews
Peter Thiel—the billionaire venture capitalist, PayPal and Palantir cofounder, and Candor commentator on all things related to the “Antichrist”—will appear at least 2,200 times in the latest batch of files released by the Department of Justice related to a convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The tranche of records shows how Epstein cultivated an extensive network of wealthy and influential figures in Silicon Valley. Several of them, including Thiel, continued to associate with Epstein even after his 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution and procuring minors to engage in prostitution.
The new files show that Thiel arranged to meet with Epstein several times between 2014 and 2017. “What do you do on Friday?” Thiel wrote to Epstein on April 5, 2016. “Should we try lunch?” Most of the communications between the two men in the data dump concerned scheduling meals, calls, and meetings with each other. Thiel did not immediately return a request for comment from WIRED.
A piece of letters appeared more strange. On February 3, 2016, Thiel’s former chief of staff and senior executive assistant, Alisa Bekins, sent an email with the subject line “Meeting – Feb 4 – 9:30 AM – Peter Thiel food restrictions – CONFIDENTIAL.” The first recipient of the email was redacted, but it was later sent directly to Epstein.
The contents of the message are the same redacted at least one version of the email chain was uploaded by the Justice Department on Friday. However, BOTH other files from what appears to be the same set of messages there is little information redacted.
In an email, Bekins listed about two dozen approved types of sushi and animal protein, 14 approved vegetables, and 0 approved fruits for Thiel to eat. “Fresh herbs” and “olive oil” are allowed, however, ketchup, mayonnaise, and soy sauce must be avoided. Only one actual meal is clearly outlined: “egg whites or vegetables/salad with some form of protein,” such as steak, Bekins included “When they have breakfast.” It is unclear whether the February 4 meeting ultimately took place; OTHERS the emails indicate Thiel was stuck in traffic on his way to Epstein that day.
According to a record an undated conversation between Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that was also part of the files released by the DOJ on Friday, Epstein told Barak that he hoped to meet with Thiel next week. He added that he was familiar with Thiel’s company Palantir, but continued to spell it out loud for Barak as “Pallentier.” Epstein speculated that Thiel might have put Barak on Palantir’s board, though there is no evidence that happened.
“I’ve never met Peter Thiel, and everybody says he’s kind of jumpy and acts weird, like he’s on drugs,” Epstein said at one point in the audio recording, referring to Thiel. The former prime minister expressed agreement with Epstein’s assessment.
In 2015 and 2016, Posted by Epstein $40 million in two funds managed by one of Thiel’s investment firms, Valar Ventures, according to The New York Times. Epstein and Thiel continue to talk and discuss meeting each other recently January 2019according to files released by the DOJ. Epstein committed suicide in his prison cell in August of that year.
Below are Thiel’s dietary restrictions as outlined in the February 2016 email. (The following list has been reformatted slightly for clarity.)
