What is document EFTA00032419?

This is an internal Department of Justice email chain from October 9, 2019, in which prosecutors discuss how to respond to an unsolicited offer from Guernsey's Auctioneers & Brokers to handle the auction of Jeffrey Epstein's property. The matter was routed from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General to the USAO-SDNY for response.

Who is Arlan Ettinger?

Arlan Ettinger is the President and co-founder of Guernsey's Auctioneers & Brokers, a prestigious New York City auction house he founded in 1975. Guernsey's is known for handling high-profile estate sales including those of John F. Kennedy, Princess Diana, Elvis Presley, and Muhammad Ali. In this document, Ettinger's firm offered to handle the disposition of Epstein's property.

Did Guernsey's end up auctioning Epstein's property?

No. The DOJ declined to engage with Guernsey's offer. Epstein's estate was ultimately handled differently—real estate properties worth approximately $160 million were sold through standard transactions between 2021-2023, while some personal property and artwork were later sold through other auction houses like Millea Bros. in New Jersey.

What does this document reveal about the Epstein estate process?

The document reveals that the government was receiving unsolicited offers to handle Epstein's assets just two months after his death, but prosecutors were cautious and non-committal. It shows the bureaucratic routing of such inquiries through multiple DOJ offices and demonstrates that disposition of Epstein's property was still in very early stages at that time.

What is document EFTA00032419?

This is an internal Department of Justice email chain from October 9, 2019, in which prosecutors discuss how to respond to an unsolicited offer from Guernsey's Auctioneers & Brokers to handle the auction of Jeffrey Epstein's property. The matter was routed from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General to the USAO-SDNY for response.

Who is Arlan Ettinger?

Arlan Ettinger is the President and co-founder of Guernsey's Auctioneers & Brokers, a prestigious New York City auction house he founded in 1975. Guernsey's is known for handling high-profile estate sales including those of John F. Kennedy, Princess Diana, Elvis Presley, and Muhammad Ali. In this document, Ettinger's firm offered to handle the disposition of Epstein's property.

Did Guernsey's end up auctioning Epstein's property?

No. The DOJ declined to engage with Guernsey's offer. Epstein's estate was ultimately handled differently—real estate properties worth approximately $160 million were sold through standard transactions between 2021-2023, while some personal property and artwork were later sold through other auction houses like Millea Bros. in New Jersey.

What does this document reveal about the Epstein estate process?

The document reveals that the government was receiving unsolicited offers to handle Epstein's assets just two months after his death, but prosecutors were cautious and non-committal. It shows the bureaucratic routing of such inquiries through multiple DOJ offices and demonstrates that disposition of Epstein's property was still in very early stages at that time.

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An October 2019 internal DOJ email chain showing Guernsey's Auctioneers offered to handle the auction of Jeffrey Epstein's property shortly after his death, but prosecutors declined to engage as they didn't yet have possession of any properties.

This document is an internal government email chain from October 9, 2019, forwarded through the Department of Justice. Arlan Ettinger, President of Guernsey's Auctioneers & Brokers, sent a letter to the government offering to be retained to auction Jeffrey Epstein's estate property. The correspondence was routed from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (via Nathaniel Gamble II) to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (USAO-SDNY) for handling. The prosecutors decided to send a polite acknowledgment but take no further action, noting they did not yet have possession of any Epstein properties.

Key Highlights

•Guernsey's, a prominent NYC auction house known for handling estates of celebrities like Elvis Presley and Princess Diana, proactively offered services for Epstein's estate
•The DOJ declined to engage, stating it would be 'at best premature' since they had no possession of any properties
•Document shows ODAG (Office of Deputy Attorney General) routed the matter to SDNY prosecutors for handling
•Reveals the early stages of estate disposition planning just two months after Epstein's August 2019 death

Frequently Asked Questions

Books for Further Reading

Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story

Julie K. Brown

Investigative journalism that broke the Epstein case open

Filthy Rich: The Jeffrey Epstein Story

James Patterson

Bestselling account of Epstein's crimes and network

Relentless Pursuit: My Fight for the Victims of Jeffrey Epstein

Bradley J. Edwards

Victims' attorney's firsthand account

Document Information

Bates Range

EFTA00032419 - EFTA00032420

Pages

Document Content

Page 1 - EFTA00032419

From: To: Subject: RE: Arlan Ettinger Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2019 22:23:11 +0000 I think that's fine. We don't yet have possession of any properties, so would be at best premature. From: Sent: Wednesday, October 9, 2019 2:36 PM To: Subject: FW: Arlan Ettinger These guys want to help auction Jeffrey Epstein's property. I assume there's nothing particular going on with Epstein's property that we're involved in. I'm planning to send them a response something on the order of "Thank you for your letter, which has been forwarded to our Office for response. We will file it in the event we have any occasion to follow up on your offer of services." From Sent: Wednesday, October 9, 2019 2:06 PM To Subject: FW: Arlan Ettinger What is the right way to handle this? It seems to be an offer by Guernsey's Auctioneers & Brokers to be retained to handle the disposition of Epstein's property. I was assigned to respond to this. Please advise. Thanks From Sent: Wednesday, October 9, 2019 1:57 PM To: Subject: Arlan Ettinger Good afternoon! I have been advised to forward you the attached correspondence from Arlan Ettinger, President of Guernsey's Auctioneers & Brokers. The letter is regarding the property of the late Jeffrey Epstein. As advised by Nathaniel Gamble II from ODAG (see email attached), this has been assigned to USAO-SDNY for handling. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you very much in advance. Best, U.S. Department of Justice EFTA00032419

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Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys 0 Pronouns: she/ her/ hers EFTA00032420