The Vineyard in the Epstein files

The Department of Justice posted a website in December that allows anyone to search the millions of pages of partially redacted documents of what is now widely referred to as the Epstein files. Like many news organizations across the country, The Times decided to take a look. We wanted to find out about the depth of Jeffrey Epstein’s connection to the Vineyard, and I offered to dig around in the files.

Of course, the island that Jeffrey Epstein is mostly associated with was his private island in the Caribbean. An island where the powerful men who visited him are currently claiming that they didn’t know he was involved in the sex-trafficking of young women. Epstein was first convicted in 2008 of procuring a child under the age of 18 for prostitution. In 2019, he was arrested for sex trafficking, and he died in prison, reportedly by suicide, that August.

My first surprise, when I went on the Department of Justice site to do this search, was that I was asked to confirm that I was over the age of 18. This is obviously not something that the young women, some so young they may more appropriately be described as girls, who were brought to Epstein’s island needed proof of. 

Rather than looking into Epstein’s friends and associates with ties to Martha’s Vineyard who are being deposed by the House Oversight Committee — think Les Wexner, who last year acquired the Blue Heron Farm for a record estate price of $37 million, and Bill and Hillary Clinton — I focused my search on matters specifically Vineyard-related. I searched the files for “Martha’s Vineyard,” “Vineyard,” and “MV.” And then, because I was curious to see how another high-profile island, where presidential candidates and power players tend to convene, fared, I did a search for “the Hamptons.” 

It’s clear that Epstein visited the Vineyard, as did Epstein’s longtime partner Ghislaine Maxwell, but it doesn’t seem like he spent a lot of time here. There are emails from people mentioning they were on the Vineyard; there are emails from people wondering if he wanted to stop by the Island. Some of these were clearly from short-term visitors, and others from seasonal residents. The only person I could find who spent time with Epstein on the Vineyard who has also been arrested (brought into police custody and later released) for a crime related to Jeffrey Epstein is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew. Mountbatten-Windsor came to the Vineyard at least twice in the 1990s, and during one of those visits, he was a guest at a birthday party that Epstein attended. 

The search for Martha’s Vineyard — apostrophe included — turned up nothing. Once I dropped the apostrophe, nine documents appear, including a flight manifest and a copy of a 2005 American Express bill with a $354 charge for “Vineyard Coach and Limousines,” and a much lesser charge at a place not often associated with the Island’s high rollers, Trader Fred’s. 

There are also four copies of the same email exchange between Epstein and a New York–based restaurateur, who emailed Epstein to say he had just landed “in marthas vineyard [sic].” In this email exchange, the restaurateur said he wanted to get to his hotel to use a landline to call Epstein. He also wanted to know whether Epstein preferred to have their conversation on a landline. 

Many entries appear using the search for “Vineyard.” The majority of what comes up from this search references other vineyards, not what we think of as “the Vineyard.” However, there are a number of exchanges with or about seasonal Chilmark resident and legal and local provocateur Alan Dershowitz, Epstein’s former lawyer, who has also represented Donald Trump — many of them just noting, “Alan is on the Vineyard” and “He asked if you might want to stop by the Vineyard … ?” 

Included in the Vineyard search of the files is an email from an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, with the subject heading “Poor peoples problems” (ironic of course), that reads, “Which reminds me… if you want to pick us up at Martha’s Vineyard on =aturday [sic] on your way to Boston you could meet my dogs. ;-).” 

A 2013 email was sent to Epstein with the subject line: “Caroline Kennedy Selling 93 Acres of Martha’s Vineyard,” to which Epstein replied in all caps, “BORING.” 

Epstein’s “BORING” turned into a historic land conservation deal with Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. Alas, it’s not at all boring to have more than 300 acres of pristine land forever in conservation for the public to enjoy. 

Is it upsetting that it’s not surprising that Epstein visited the Vineyard? Of course. 

What may also be surprising is that he wasn’t more of a presence on the Island. And yes, it appears he was more inclined toward the Hamptons, which is why it is the New York Post, and not The MV Times, that recently ran the headline, “Jeffrey Epstein masterminded ‘girls weekends’ in ritzy Hamptons with weird overnight stays: emails.” 

While it would have been nice not to find any entries linking him to the Vineyard, I guess we’ll have to settle for “BORING.”