A then-New York Occasions finance reporter tipped off Jeffrey Epstein within the spring of 2016 that an investigative journalist and former NYPD detective was “digging round” on the convicted pedophile for a tell-all guide about his wicked life-style.
Landon Thomas Jr., gave the disgraced financier a heads-up after being contacted by ex-cop-turned-reporter John Connolly concerning the tome which turned “Filthy Wealthy,” based on a tranche of emails launched Wednesday by the Home Oversight Committee.
“Hold getting calls from that man doing a guide on you — John Connolly. He appears very eager about your relationship with the information media. I advised him you had been a hell of a man:),” Thomas wrote to Epstein in an e-mail dated June 1, 2016.
“He truly appeared to be a smart man/stable reporter — simply from the few conversations I had with him. I believe he’s near ending up. Did you ever communicate to him?”
Elsewhere within the trade, Thomas went on to notice that Connolly had apparently inquired about an article he had written for New York Journal in 2002 by which Donald Trump was quoted talking extremely of Epstein.
“One oddity: he stated he had been advised that that quote from Trump about you within the unique NY Magazine story had been manufactured. ie, that I didn’t truly communicate to Donald,” Thomas wrote within the e-mail.
“Which is bull s–t after all. I’m certain that’s what Trump advised him as they’ve been getting loads of questions from reporters about you.”
In earlier emails, Thomas acknowledged that folks had been coming to him as a result of they figured he had “juicy information on you and Trump” — particularly due to his journal article that quoted Trump as saying, “I’ve identified Jeff for 15 years. Terrific man,” and “It’s even stated that he likes lovely girls as a lot as I do and lots of of them are on the youthful aspect.”
Connolly, who died in January 2022 on the age of 78, printed “Filthy Wealthy: The Surprising True Story of Jeffrey Epstein” in October 2016, sharing writer credit score with celeb wordsmith James Patterson.
The guide turned the premise of a four-part Netflix documentary that started streaming in Could 2020, months after Epstein was discovered lifeless in his Manhattan jail cell whereas awaiting trial on federal intercourse trafficking fees.
In September 2017, practically a yr after the guide was launched, Thomas emailed Epstein that Connolly “is digging round once more — not clear if its one other guide/or expanded paperback model. Was asking me all kinds of questions on why you employed Ken Starr” — a reference to the previous impartial counsel who investigated the Clinton White Home.
“I advised him I had no concept — I believe he’s performing some Trump-related digging too,” Thomas added. “Anyway, for what it’s value…”
Different emails within the trove of greater than 20,000 paperwork launched Wednesday element Thomas’ chummy relationship with Epstein via the years — revealing that the reporter picked the pervert’s mind for background data on a possible story about Saudi Arabia
In a number of emails, Thomas fretted about Donald Trump doubtlessly defeating Hillary Clinton within the 2016 election, writing to Epstein in a Feb. 10 trade: “Its [sic] getting scary. The tales you can inform…”
Thomas left the Occasions in early 2019, after he revealed to editors that he had solicited a $30,000 donation to a cultural heart in Harlem from Epstein, NPR reported on the time.
His disclosure led brass on the Gray Girl to revisit Thomas’ previous work, turning up a fawning profile of Epstein printed in 2008, days earlier than he started serving time as a part of a slap-on-the-wrist plea deal on Florida baby prostitution fees.
“Landon Thomas Jr. has not labored at The Occasions since early 2019 after editors found his failure to abide by our moral requirements,” Occasions spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha advised The Submit Wednesday.
Makes an attempt to contact Thomas had been unsuccessful.
