Obama, Oprah, Kimmel among names on fabricated Epstein island visitor list | Fact check

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The claim: Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama are among more than 160 confirmed visitors to Epstein Island

A Jan. 2 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) pictures a smiling Jeffrey Epstein below a list of more than 160 names.

“Here are the visitors to Jeffrey Epstein's island who were confirmed,” reads the post. The names listed include former president Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and other well-known figures in politics, entertainment, law and finance.

The post was shared more than 800 times in six days.

Fact check roundup: What's true and false about Jeffrey Epstein and the individuals on his list

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Our rating: False

The list is fabricated. It names people who do not appear in any records from multiple court cases related to alleged sex trafficking by Epstein as well as some who have acknowledged meeting Epstein but have never been proven to have visited his island. It also omits at least one person who publicly acknowledged visiting his island.

Post contains names without any known Epstein ties, misrepresents others

The social media post does not say where the purported “confirmed” list came from, but it does not match any publicly available documents from criminal and civil cases involving Epstein and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Epstein with sex trafficking in 2019, saying he operated an international ring targeting underage girls with Maxwell’s assistance. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while in jail awaiting trial. Maxwell was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison. Records released in the intervening years showed associations, some tenuous, with prominent public figures.

Documents released on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 from the U.S. District Court in New York contain names of public figures who had been mentioned in connection with a lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed she was trafficked by Maxwell and Epstein. The names include some individuals who may have had no direct connection to Epstein but were discussed as possible witnesses.

Some people named in the post, such as comedian Jimmy Kimmel, do not appear in the documents anywhere. He has vehemently denied any connection to Epstein.

Appearance in those court documents does not necessarily mean someone flew with Epstein to his island, let alone were aware of his wrongdoing. For example, former presidents Donald Trump, who is not named in the post, and Bill Clinton, who is, are named in the court records, but neither is shown to have been to the island. Both have denied knowing about sex trafficking.

The vast majority of the names in the social media post do not appear in the actual court records, and USA TODAY has debunked claims of ties between Epstein and the Obama family, Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, Chrissy Teigen and others named in the post.

Fact check: 'Friends' actor Matthew Perry was not on Jeffrey Epstein's flight logs

In 2021, prosecutors in the criminal case against Maxwell released flight logs maintained by Epstein’s pilot. Some of those records identified passengers such as Maxwell and Prince Andrew who have acknowledged being on the island, but the records again largely do not match the list in the social media post.

Some of those listed in the post have previously confirmed traveling on Epstein’s plane but not to his island, claims supported by the records. USA TODAY previously reported that records showed Gates flying on Epstein's plane, but the logs showed the plane went to Palm Beach, Florida, not the island, and Gates said he did not know it was Epstein's plane.

The list in the post, largely made up of people with liberal political views or ties to the Democratic Party, actually leaves out one prominent donor to the Democrats who has acknowledged going to the island. LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman said in 2019 he visited Epstein’s island on a fundraising trip but is not listed in the post.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Epstein island visitor list fabricated to include Obama | Fact check