{"id":4329,"date":"2025-12-13T05:36:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T05:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/13\/new-york-times-reporter-pitched-epstein-interview-on-your-terms\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T05:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T05:36:09","slug":"new-york-times-reporter-pitched-epstein-interview-on-your-terms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/13\/new-york-times-reporter-pitched-epstein-interview-on-your-terms\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Times reporter pitched Epstein interview on \u2018your terms\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>A New York Times reporter told Jeffrey Epstein that he could write an article that would define the financier on his own terms as he faced allegations of sexually abusing minors in the months leading up to his 2008 conviction, newly uncovered emails reveal.<\/p>\n<p>After a negative article about Epstein was published in September 2007, then-New York Times journalist Landon Thomas Jr advised Epstein to \u201cget ahead\u201d of more bad publicity by doing an interview that would define the story \u201con your terms\u201d.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/8\/thailand-launches-air-raids-along-border-with-cambodia-after-deadly-clashes\">Thai soldier, four Cambodian civilians killed as border tensions reignite<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/8\/nigeria-says-it-deployed-troops-to-benin-to-dislodge-coup-plotters\">Nigeria says it deployed jets, troops to Benin to \u2018dislodge coup plotters\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/8\/us-lawmakers-urge-release-of-video-of-double-tap-boat-strike-in-caribbean\">US lawmakers urge release of video of double-tap boat strike in Caribbean<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/8\/nigeria-secures-release-of-100-kidnapped-children-reports-say\">Nigeria rescues 100 children abducted from Catholic boarding school<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cI Just read the Post. Now the floodgates will open \u2014 you can expect Vanity Fair and NYMag to pile on,\u201d Thomas wrote to Epstein in an email dated September 20, 2007, referring to the magazines Vanity Fair and New York Magazine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy view is that the quicker you get out ahead of this and define the story and who you are on your terms in the NYT, the better it will be for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas, who left the Times in 2019, urged Epstein to quickly do an interview to prevent the \u201cpopular tabloid perception\u201d about him from hardening, and expressed sympathy over his legal troubles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know this is tough and hard for you, but remember jail may [be] bad, but it is not forever,\u201d Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n<p>As part of his pitch to Epstein, Thomas recalled a 2002 profile he wrote about the financier for New York Magazine, titled Jeffrey Epstein: International Moneyman of Mystery.<\/p>\n<p>Written before Epstein\u2019s first arrest in 2006, the profile portrayed the financier as an enigmatic but highly successful businessman with the appearance of a \u201ctaller, younger Ralph Lauren\u201d and a \u201crelentless brain that challenges Nobel Prize-winning scientists\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The piece contained glowing appraisals from Epstein\u2019s many high-profile associates, whose praise-filled descriptions included that he was \u201cvery smart\u201d, \u201camazing\u201d, \u201cextraordinary\u201d, and \u201ctalented\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRemember how for a while my NY Mag piece was the defining piece on you? That is no longer the case after all this,\u201d Thomas wrote to Epstein.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I think if we did a piece for the Times, with the documents and evidence that you mention, plus you speaking for the record, we can again have a story that becomes the last public word on Jeffrey Epstein.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4161779\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4161779\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP20219569645391-1765271273.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C651&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Epstein\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4161779\">Jeffrey Epstein is pictured for the New York State Sex Offender Registry on March 28, 2017 [File: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A little more than a week later, on September 28, Thomas sent Epstein an email reiterating the importance of \u201cgetting out ahead\u201d of other publications.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas suggested that he begin reaching out to associates of Epstein who could talk about the financier\u2019s business activities and scientific and philanthropic work, including former Harvard President Larry Summers and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore I get a glimpse of the legal material, I was thinking that I should at least start calling around to people who know you. Again to focus on the business and scientific\/philanthropic aspect of the piece,\u201d Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould I start to do that \u2014 call people like Larry Summers, Jess Staley, George Mitchell, Ehud Barak, Bill Richardson and others?\u201d Thomas finished the email expressing his hope that Epstein was \u201cholding up okay\u201d and stating his view that \u201cwe need to move on this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is not clear how Epstein responded to Thomas\u2019s emails, which were included in a trove of emails from Epstein\u2019s personal accounts that were made available to Al Jazeera by the whistleblower website Distributed Denial of Secrets.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Following Thomas\u2019s correspondence with Epstein, the Times went on to publish an article by the journalist detailing the financier\u2019s downfall the following year.<\/p>\n<p>The article, published a day after Epstein\u2019s guilty plea on June 30, 2008, drew from in-person and phone interviews that Thomas had conducted with the financier, including during a visit to Epstein\u2019s island of Little St James several months earlier.<\/p>\n<p>In the article, Thomas described the financier sitting on the patio of his island mansion as he likened himself to the eponymous character of the satirical novel Gulliver\u2019s Travels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGulliver\u2019s playfulness had unintended consequences,\u201d Epstein was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is what happens with wealth. There are unexpected burdens as well as benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4161784\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4161784\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-11-29T232022Z_1987363674_RC2B6IACXRYF_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-EPSTEIN-FILES-1-1765271555.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"LSJ\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4161784\">Little St James, a small private island formerly owned by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, is pictured in the US Virgin Islands on November 29, 2025 [File: Marco Bello\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A 2019 report by NPR said colleagues of Thomas at the Times had been \u201cappalled\u201d by the article when they reviewed it years later, following the journalist\u2019s admission that he had solicited a $30,000 donation from Epstein for a cultural centre.<\/p>\n<p>The emails obtained by Al Jazeera also show that Epstein emailed an error-strewn Word document to himself in which Thomas is described discussing the legal case against Epstein with then-Florida prosecutor David Weinstein.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose and origin of the document, which describes Thomas and Weinstein discussing technical aspects of the charges facing Epstein, is unclear. Weinstein said he spoke to Thomas in January 2008, but that the document did not contain an accurate description of their conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Weinstein said they had spoken about the \u201ccriminal justice process and general state and federal statutes\u201d, but not Epstein\u2019s case specifically.<\/p>\n<p>He said he did not know where the information in the document came from or who provided it to Epstein.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never spoke with him about the specific facts of the late Mr Epstein\u2019s case, nor did I offer any opinion about that matter,\u201d Weinstein told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>The emergence of the emails between Thomas and Epstein comes after correspondence the two men shared from 2015 to 2018 came to light last month in a batch of documents released by US lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>Among other revelations, those emails showed that Thomas let Epstein know that the late investigative journalist John Connolly had contacted him for information for Connolly\u2019s 2016 book Filthy Rich: The Jeffrey Epstein Story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe seems very interested in your relationship with the news media,\u201d Thomas wrote to Epstein in an email dated June 1, 2016. \u201cI told him you were a hell of a guy :)\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the Times said Thomas had not worked for the newspaper since early 2019 \u201cafter editors discovered his failure to abide by our ethical standards\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A New York Times reporter told Jeffrey Epstein that he could write an article that would define the financier on his own terms as he faced allegations of sexually abusing minors in the months leading up to his 2008 conviction, newly uncovered emails reveal. After a negative article about Epstein was published in September 2007, &#8230; <a title=\"New York Times reporter pitched Epstein interview on \u2018your terms\u2019\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/13\/new-york-times-reporter-pitched-epstein-interview-on-your-terms\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about New York Times reporter pitched Epstein interview on \u2018your terms\u2019\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}