EFTA00038878 - EFTA00038879
An internal FBI-FAA email chain from December 2021 discussing the FAA's accidental release of over 2,000 Jeffrey Epstein flight records to Business Insider journalist Angela Wang.
This document reveals internal government communications about a significant FOIA mishap. The FAA had been withholding all Epstein flight data at the FBI's request due to an ongoing criminal investigation (the '50D investigation'), but accidentally released the records to Business Insider. The email chain shows FBI officials alerting the case agent about the inadvertent disclosure and coordinating their response. This provides insight into how federal agencies were actively suppressing Epstein flight records from public disclosure.
Key Highlights
- •FBI requested FAA withhold all Epstein flight data citing ongoing criminal investigation
- •FAA accidentally released 2,300+ flight records including 704 previously unknown flights
- •Document references active FBI '50D investigation' into Epstein
- •Four aircraft tracked: N9081E, N9091E, N212JE, and N120JE
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EFTA00038878 - EFTA00038879
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Page 1 - EFTA00038878
From: To: ' Cc: ' Subject: Re: FOIA requests that seek historical flight data for Jeffrey Epstein aircraft Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2021 18:52:00 +0000 Importance: Normal Inline-Images: image001.jpg Thank your for letting me know. Special Agent FBI New York le ice Child Exploitation/Human Trafficking From: Sent: Wednesday, December 1, 2021 2:32:33 PM To: Cc: Subject: FW: FOIA requests that seek historical flight data for Jeffrey Epstein aircraft Good Afternoon SA I'm a Unit Chief within the FOIA program and handle program coordination with other government agencies. We received the below forwarded email from FAA detailing FAA flight records that were inadvertently released as part of a FAA FOR production. Prior to FAA's inadvertent release, FAA had been withholding all Epstein flight data per our request. We wanted to make you aware of the situation as you are listed as case agent in the 50D investigation. Please advise if I can do anything to assist. Thanks, Unit Chief/FOU-4 Information Management Division Federal Bureau of Investigation IMD EFTA00038878
Page 2 - EFTA00038879
From Sent: Monday, November 29, 2021 5:31 PM To: Subject: (EXTERNAL EMAIL) - FOIA requests that seek historical flight data for Jeffrey Epstein aircraft Importance: High The FAA has previously received FOIA requests seeking historical flight data for aircraft owned or operated by Jeffrey Epstein, specifically N9081E, N9091E, N212JE, and N120JE and these are FOIA requests for which we have consulted with the FBI. One of those requesters, Angela Wang from Business Insider, submitted two requests in 2020 that sought the flight records for those four aircraft from January 1, 1990 to July 6, 2019. Both times, she was denied those records under exemption 7A because of the FBI's criminal investigation. Ms. Wang recently published an article (see link below) in which she references another FOIA request which sought all aircraft flights that are stored in the FAA Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) repository, which is where the FAA stores historical flight data. The records that were released in response to that FOIA request inadvertently included flights involving N9081E, N9091E, N212JE, and N120JE. We have implemented measures to keep flight data from being released for N908JE, N909JE, N212JE, and N120JE in response to future FOIA requests that seek the entire TFMS repository. https://www.businessinsider.com/faa-accidentally-released-jeffrey-epsteins-flight-records-2021-10 Please let me know if you have any questions. Manager FAA Air Traffic Organization FOR Program EFTA00038879
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