The Beginning of the End of Co-Conspirator, Michael Wolff
If you would prefer a video version of this discussion, you can watch that here:
Before Michael Wolff came to Substack in late October, 2025, I followed his writing religiously. The self-professed media “darling” claimed to know more about Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump than almost anyone, saying in multiple interviews that he had “upwards of 100 hours” of audio and video recordings with the notorious sex offender, in which Epstein was said to have given insider information about Donald Trump, his wife Melania, and the now-President’s comings and goings as a wealthy New York socialite with a sordid history.
My side-hustle small business is in transcription, so I wanted those interviews. They’re the holy grail of off-the-record information, and I didn’t care if it took me months and he didn’t pay me a dime, I wanted access to the innerworkings of a madman. (The “devil,” as Wolff now refers to Epstein.)
But as Wolff revamped his platform as an influencer, complete with sockless flats and Pioneer Woman-esque backdrops in his East Hampton home, something started to change. He came off as resistant, boasting, dishonest, and ultimately unwilling to let go of those 100 hours of interviews, no matter how many people asked, claiming that “nobody wanted them.” And when Melania threatened to sue him over his claims that Epstein had introduced her to Trump, Wolff set up a GoFundMe, making over $830,000 to pay for his legal bills. But the lawsuit never happened, and be that as it may, Wolff made $13 million on his best-selling book, Fire and Fury—what did he need with a GoFundMe, backed by the nickels and dimes of middle-class subscribers?
In November, the first real set of Epstein files dropped, mostly from the Epstein 1953 Estate, his private trust. In it, we saw a glimpse into Epstein’s relationships with dignitaries, friends, academics, and journalists, namely Michael Wolff. Wolff has since described their interactions as “transactional” and an attempt for Epstein to shape the narrative through Wolff. But as I began to read, it quickly became clear who was shaping the narrative, and it wasn’t Epstein.
In January 2026, we got our biggest batch of files, over 3 million, including 1,830 hits for “from Michael Wolff.” It was the motherlode of information, when both men completely let their guard down, never assuming their interactions would be part of one of the biggest, and most controversial investigations in American history.
And so I dug in, completely invested in their off-the-record conversations that appeared to start in 2009. But I knew there would be more. In Wolff’s own words, he’d traveled on Epstein’s private plane in the early 2000s to attend a TED conference on the West Coast. At the time he’d noticed Epstein’s propensity for “very tall girls.” It’s notable that he has since changed his statement to “model-tall young women.” But either way, it didn’t bother Wolff enough to stray from the friendship, because in 2003 he attempted to facilitate the sale of New York Magazine to Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, Donny Deutsch, and Nelson Peltz. They would ultimately be outbid by billionaire banker, Bruce Wasserstein.
The emails begin in 2009, with large gaps including the entirety of 2010, and all conversation prior; inevitably missing from our portion of the files. But by 2011, Epstein was sending Wolff pairs of his favorite sneakers, cementing the basis of their friendship by mid-summer.
Public Relations
In June 2011, Wolff introduced Epstein to Ian Osborne, a young PR guy with connections, telling Epstein they could effectively wipe the internet of his sexual history in 3-9 months, including “a rejiggering of search results through SEO and strategic content creation and replacement.” Over the next eight years, Wolff would add Ken Frydman, Matt Hiltzik, Oliver Lloyd, and Juleanna Glover to the PR team, working day and night to bring Epstein back into the fold of wealthy society and global leaders and strategists. In 2017, the PR shifted to covering Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, in hopes to “shape the story” in a more positive light.
But Wolff didn’t stop there, merely documenting the conversations as he claims. By November, Epstein was sending over financial proposals, asking Wolff if he wanted to work as his full-time documentarian, a ghostwriter perhaps. Wolff responds that he’s “allergic to all money discussions,” but the idea intrigued him, leading to their first on-tape interviews. By spring of 2019, Wolff was writing “counter-narratives” to the Miami Herald’s investigation into Epstein, which ultimately led to Epstein’s arrest.
“The Herald’s portrait carefully selects and cherry picks details to create a picture at dramatic odds with the greater circumstance, and their financial interest in the legal cases against Mr. Epstein. All extenuating or exculpatory evidence was ignored in the Herald’s report.” - Michael Wolff
Catch and Kill
But PR didn’t just mean building Epstein up; it meant discrediting any stories that came out about Epstein, his first trial, his financial dealings, and the long list of accusations from minor Jane Does. When the Daily Beast began investigating Epstein in the early 2010s, Wolff offered methods of “neutralizing” editor-in-chief Tina Brown, while discrediting senior investigative reporter, Wayne Barrett.
When Wolff proposed a New York Magazine puff-piece about Epstein in early 2015, a full campaign arose to give Epstein anything he wanted, and topping out at 6,000 words, would make Wolff a cool $18,000.
“I’d go with stressing that these are unidentified complainants and a dubious lawyer making these allegations, against not only you, but any bold-face name they could plausibly associate with you. i.e. extortion aided by a gullible press. On my part, this press wave is an opportunity for me to deal with the whole business in a larger context, casting you as a victim of media, zeitgeist, and ambulance-chasing lawyers. I actually think this current stuff is an opportunity to cast doubt on the conviction. If I can finish this in Feb, should be out by mid-to-late March.” - Michael Wolff
But when Epstein read through a later draft and noticed the inclusion of his squalid sexual history—“that was added by the NYM editor (a woman)”—he began to work with Wolff to kill the project. Wolff told the magazine he was working with Epstein to make it happen, but ultimately the two men had other goals to boost Epstein’s ego and Wolff’s tax bracket.
Epstein: bail, that cannot happen. it will cause more problems, sorry for the trouble.
Wolff: Deed done. Don’t worry about anything. Let’s talk later.
Four weeks later, they caught wind of a new book in the works by former NYPD detective John Connolly, and author James Patterson. By August, Epstein and Wolff had intercepted an email from Connolly through Epstein’s lawyers, verifying the project. And by the end of the year, just after his own book tour had finished, Wolff reached out to Patterson’s publisher. Wolff didn’t think much of either author, and, convinced the book would never happen, kept pinging the publisher for updates. He soon discovered there would indeed be a late-summer 2016 pub date via Little, Brown and Company. Epstein pushed him for updates, and he and Wolff debated whether they could publish a counternarrative in time or soon after, something to discredit Patterson and Connolly’s take.
“A few things to think about: If the Patterson book is being published in August, that presents some time frame issues...That being said, you do need an immediate counter narrative to the book. I believe Trump offers an ideal opportunity. It’s a chance to make the story about something other than you, while, at the same time, letting you frame your own story.” - Michael Wolff
Wolff reached out to the publisher again, asking if he could get an advanced copy of the manuscript. They agreed, probably by May, but Wolff would need to sign an NDA to receive a copy. He does, forwarding all of the email correspondence about the book to Epstein for review. But by August, the publisher suddenly changed their mind, perhaps having picked up on Wolff’s intent and reputed friendship with Epstein.
Wolff: Hey...do you know when I might get this? Today by any chance? Just have a block of time this weekend when I thought I could get through it. Best, Michael
Publisher: Hi Michael, unfortunately I am not able to share anything at this time, though I will let you know as soon as I am able to. Thanks for your patience!
Wolff: [forwards to Epstein] Weird.
Wolff never got an advanced copy, and Filthy Rich was published on October 10, 2016, becoming a New York Times Best Seller.
Friendship
Wolff has built a platform on being a journalist, an author, and a purveyor of insider information about Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. But what became clear to me reading these 1000+ pages of DOJ files, was that he often set aside the writer in order to be the confidant, and more realistically, the close friend. Now, we can argue if this was strategy or not, but nearly 20 years later, it’s a rough sell to say he was there to write a few articles.
In one of Wolff’s more wordy counternarratives, he uses their lengthy friendship as a kind of character reference to connect Epstein and Bill Gates, a highly-sought-after power-friendship Epstein worked on for years.
“I think the best way to approach it is...my friendship with you--how we met; ten years of knowing you; our chats; and the ways in which that shows you to be inherently unique and interesting.” - Michael Wolff
But their close friendship took them all over the world, namely to Epstein’s properties in New York, Palm Beach, and Paris, where Wolff often traveled with his young wife, former Daily Beast intern, Victoria Floethe. Epstein invited Wolff to come to Little Saint James, his notorious island in the Caribbean, but it’s not known whether Wolff ever followed through.
Over the course of their 20-year friendship, Wolff fed into Epstein’s argument, that he was innocent, that his buddy Woody Allen was framed, and that he simply liked a “rub-and-tug” from adult women every once in a while, and what’s the big deal? Meanwhile, Wolff enjoyed the intel, meeting Epstein’s bigger connections, and hobnobbing with New York’s wealthy elite.
With Epstein’s first trial in the rearview mirror, Wolff had no problem recommending a young “girl I know,” a graduate student from Columbia, to apply as Epstein’s new assistant. And when leaked information about Epstein hit the media, Wolff recommended he pay off his doorman, the likely leaker. And those Melania Transcripts? The stuff Epstein had on New York Times chairman “Pinch” Sulzberger? Those conversations would be held offline, perhaps in 100 hours of recorded interviews. As Wolff bounced back and forth to the White House, gathering quotes from Donald Trump and the cabinet for his book Fire and Fury, Epstein added anecdotes, read drafts, and edited to his liking.
But the biggest and most beneficial connection to both men, with an equal hatred of the now-President of the United States, was Steve Bannon, whom Wolff referred to as “spectrumy” and unfocused, always late, and paranoid. And yet, more than Wolff, Bannon seemed to know the most and have the most concrete connections with Donald Trump’s inner circle. And thus Michael Wolff introduced Bannon and Epstein in October 2017, a friendship that would last until Epstein’s death.
It played out rather curiously, a kind of choreography of back-stabbing, distrust, and competitive lunches, determining who of the three were the closest. Wolff even used his interviews with Epstein as leverage to get Bannon to talk. And talk he did. When Fire and Fury was released in January 2018, it was clear Wolff, at least for the time, had won.
The Saudis and the Mueller Report
Most people became friends with Epstein for three reasons: money, women, and connections to important people. I’d argue that the third fueled the first two, but it certainly was the most enticing for someone like Michael Wolff. And Epstein would not disappoint. He offered to introduce Wolff to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former Norway Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland, Woody Allen, Peter Thiel, Larry Summers, Gordon Brown, Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, Indian politician Hardeep Puri, Boris Nikolić, Sultan bin Sulayem, professor Stephen Kosslyn, Leon Black, Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Kathy Ruemmler, Ken Starr, Deepak Chopra, Noam Chomsky, James Watson, Ariane Rothschild, former pro-Putin activist Masha Drokova, Tom Pritzker, Joi Ito, Russian mathematician Mikhael Gromov, professor Martin Novak, French politician Jack Lang, neurologist Mark Tramo, Tim Zagat, and invited Wolff to several “UN dinners” with representatives from Mongolia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and also to discuss crypto, AI, math, and quantum computing. Wolff rarely said no.
But on one particular occasion, Wolff’s eagerness to connect crossed ethical, and potentially legal lines. In March 2017, Epstein offered to take Wolff to meet with a small group of Saudi leadership, led by someone with the initials “STD.” The Saudis were paranoid, “under close watch,” Epstein said, and would only meet in New York. Wolff agreed, saying he would “share with them all [he knew] about [White House] operation...100% off the record.” Wolff knew a lot about White House operations, having spent many hours in the Oval Office with Donald Trump, prepping for his book Fire and Fury. He’d spoken with officials and cabinet members in up to 200 separate interviews, including Jared Kushner and Stephen Miller, two of Trump’s closest strategists.
Two years later, Epstein offered insider information into the results of the Mueller Investigation. And when Wolff asked for insights into the Panama Papers in 2016, Epstein replied, “I’m your man.” It was clear both men had connections.
Who is Michael Wolff?
As we watched the two men dodge the Me Too Movement with quiet expertise, and a whole lot of PR and financial backing—“cross your fingers”—“believe me, I do”—it’s hard to ignore how much Michael Wolff would have gleaned from nearly 20 years and 100 hours of interviews as Jeffrey Epstein’s closest confidant. Whether it was riding on private planes with “tall girls,” hiring young assistants, meeting with Juilliard students in Epstein’s home, or endlessly conspiring to take down Dylan Farrow and recreate Woody Allen’s history as a “love story,” Michael Wolff’s intent was clear: he wasn’t in it for survivors.
And when Wolff claimed to have seen “roughly a dozen” photos of Donald Trump from Epstein’s safe that dated back to the 1990s, with “topless young women” and a “telltale stain,” there is no record that he reported anything to authorities. Meanwhile, he used the information to write a best-selling book about Trump, making $13 million with Epstein’s help.
Just prior to Epstein’s arrest in July of 2019, Wolff and Epstein had been discussing Wolff’s next project, a book about Epstein’s life. But it’s not what we know now, or what we might want to read while we pursue the arrest and conviction of a long list of co-conspirators who perpetrated a sex-trafficking ring on hundreds of underage girls. Instead, the two men had begun preparing a glowing review of Epstein’s return to glory, complete with his contributions to science and academia, global finance, Hollywood, and plans for a new mental health center for sex workers, named after survivor Courtney Wild.
And while Steve Bannon quietly interviewed Epstein for a small documentary of his own, Wolff connected Epstein with a high-cost cinematographer, and the two men got to work on a documentary with big names like Woody Allen, James Watson, Noam Chomsky, and Tim Zagat—“all eighties and above, should be spoken to sooner rather than later.”
The only conclusion I can reach about Michael Wolff, is that he was in it for himself. And the platform he’s been given now to “out” his buddy Epstein, is one of hypocrisy and even cruelty toward the women he ignored, steamrolled, and altogether discredited in the name of glory. It was all to write stories and make closer connections with Epstein’s vast rolodex, clearing a path for future books about the “real villain,” Donald Trump
With 1,830 pages in the DOJ files documenting the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Michael Wolff, I call on Congress to investigate those 100 hours of interviews, and any half-finished book or project Wolff was working on when Epstein died in 2019. Because I don’t believe that he hung onto them because “nobody wanted them.” I don’t even think it’s for money at this point, because he could put everything behind a paywall and click “publish.” No. I think those interviews not only condemn Epstein and Donald Trump, but I think they condemn Michael Wolff. And now that we see who he really is, the risk is too great to make them public.
Because a co-conspirator doesn’t have to be the money guy. It doesn’t have to be the pimp. If you asked Al Capone, the greatest asset was always a journalist.
You can read all of Michael Wolff’s emails to Jeffrey Epstein here.
Or, if you prefer a more searchable database, you can find one here, prepared with help from Rye Howard-Stone.
Ellie is an author, editor, and owner of Red Pencil Transcripts, and works with filmmakers, podcasts, and journalists all over the world. She lives with her family just outside of New York City.
Amazing work. I’ve been following Wolff’s cringey aesthetically curated posts on IG for several months and felt something was off, and I appreciate the work you’ve done here.
You are amazing, Ellie.