A DOJ internal routing document from August 2019 showing that Guernsey's Auction House president Arlan Ettinger wrote to the Attorney General proposing to handle the disposal of Jeffrey Epstein's property after his death.

This is a Department of Justice Executive Secretariat control sheet tracking correspondence received on August 21, 2019—just 11 days after Jeffrey Epstein's death in his Manhattan jail cell. Arlan Ettinger, President of Guernsey's Auction House in New York, wrote to Attorney General William Barr proposing that Guernsey's auction Epstein's estate property. Ettinger pitched that the auction could both maximize financial returns and 'spread nationwide messages in support of young women.' He enclosed a letter from Judge Burton regarding the Rosa Parks Estate and Trust as a credential, referencing Guernsey's successful handling of that high-profile collection. The document was bounced between DOJ components before being assigned to the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys in the Southern District of New York.

Key Highlights

• •Guernsey's Auction House proactively pitched to handle Epstein's estate just days after his death
• •Ettinger proposed using the auction to 'spread nationwide messages in support of young women'
• •Referenced Guernsey's work with Smithsonian and the Rosa Parks Archive as credentials
• •DOJ routed the letter to EOUSA-SDNY after CRM, BOP, and EOUSA all declined to handle it

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