Epstein Says Suspicious Passport Was to Fend Off Hijackers
- An ‘affluent member of the Jewish faith,’ he says he needed it
- Prosecutors say the document is more proof Epstein might flee
Photographer: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images
Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein once again urged that the accused child sex trafficker be released on bail, asking a federal judge not to be swayed by the discovery of a foreign passport in their client’s mansion, with his photo but a different name. Epstein kept the Austrian document on hand in case he was taken hostage in a hijacking, not to deceive authorities, they said.
“Epstein -- an affluent member of the Jewish faith -- acquired the passport in the 1980s, when hijackings were prevalent, in connection to Middle East travel,” they said of the incongruous item in a court filing Tuesday. “The passport was for personal protection in the event of travel to dangerous areas, only to be presented to potential kidnappers, hijackers or terrorists should violent episodes occur.”