Tech mogul Elon Musk has made a surprise appearance in the recently dropped Jeffrey Epstein files, along with other high-profile individuals like Bill Gates and Trump ally Steve Bannon.
The newest filing, a six-page document released by Democratic lawmakers, contains an itinerary showing a tentative December 6, 2014, trip by the CEO of Tesla to Epstein's US Virgin Islands island—a destination at which many women later claimed to have been exploited by Epstein.
A handwritten note beside Musk's name on the schedule stated, "Is this still happening?" But the files did not establish whether Musk took the trip.
Musk has denied any impropriety. "This is false," he said in an X post.
The published copies of Epstein's calendar also point to a breakfast scheduled with Steve Bannon, a Donald Trump ally, on February 16, 2019, as well as a breakfast that had been tentatively scheduled with Bill Gates on December 5, 2014.
Democratic legislators called on the US Justice Department to release all documents from its investigation into Epstein. The request has been denied by the Trump administration, claiming that there is no "client list" to release—something contradicting long-standing conspiracy theories that Epstein was blackmailing powerful people, including prominent Democrats. Musk has been critical of the Trump administration since news broke that Trump had signed a birthday card to Epstein in 2003.
In a since-deleted tweet, Musk said Trump's name was mentioned in the Epstein documents, suggesting this was the reason why they had not been released. He later admitted the tweet "went too far."
Several weeks after stepping down as director of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after a standoff with Trump, Musk tweeted a series of sharp comments denouncing the Republican chief for failing to release the Epstein documents.
In a post on X, he asked, "Are there likely to be electronic records in any government or commercial computers recording who travelled on Epstein's plane to the US Virgin Islands?"
In another post, Musk pressured the US President to release the case files related to the sex offender, as promised. "Seriously. He said 'Epstein' half a dozen times while telling everyone to stop talking about Epstein. Just release the files as promised," he said.
