This article originally appeared onZeroHedgeand was republished with permission.
French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel- whose network delivered new girls from around the world to Jeffrey Epstein on a regular basis,was prepared in 2016 to tell U.S. prosecutors what he knew about Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.According to newly released files from the DOJ, the now-deceased Brunel’s lawyer was negotiating with attorneys for Epstein’s victims about a possible meeting with federal prosecutors in New York in exchange for immunity -and Epstein knew it.And of course,Goldman Sachs (soon to be ex-) General Counsel Kathy Ruemmleris involved.
According to handwritten notes taken by a federal prosecutor in February 2016 state: “One of Epstein’s bfs, Jean Luc Brunel, has helped get girls. He is wanting to cooperate.” The notes add: “Brunel is afraid of being prosecuted,” theWall Street Journalreports.
The discussions contemplated a date for Brunel to walk into the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. His lawyer said Brunel had recruited girls for Epstein and possessed incriminating photographs, according to the notes.
Then Brunel stopped communicating.
The files indicate thatEpstein learned negotiations were underway.On May 3, 2016, Epstein emailed Ruemmler, a top Obama administration attorney who recentlyannounced her resignationover the friendship.Epstein warned that Brunel planned to approach the U.S. Attorney’s office the following week -noting thatone of Brunel’s friends had “asked for 3 million dollars so that Jean Luc would not go in.”
Epstein said Brunel feared arrest if he did not appear.“I want to know more,” he wrote,dismissing Brunel’s lawyer and friend as “scammers.”
Ruemmler replied hours later, asking Epstein to call and explain. The next day she wrote: “Awake now. Talking to Poe in 20 mins.” Gregory Poe was Epstein’s lawyer in Washington, D.C.
Poe claims he didn’t speak with Ruemmler or Epstein about Brunel “on May 4, 2016 or at any other time,” telling theJournalthat he had a scheduled call that day with Ruemmler about his work on a motion to quash a subpoena directed at Epstein. “My engagement by Jeffrey Epstein was limited,” Poe said, adding that he terminated work for Epstein in August 2016.
It remains unclear why Brunel ultimately declined to cooperate, or whether Epstein gave him $3 million not to.What is clear from the files is that no investigation was opened at the time. A 2021 government court filing states that the prosecutor who took the February 2016 notes discussed the meeting with colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI, but no probe was initiated. The notes referencing Brunel were redacted in that filing. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York declined to comment.
Source: The Vigilant Fox
