section_path: Personal life/Alleged connections to intelligence agencies
section_name: Alleged connections to intelligence agencies
paragraph_text: Alleged connections to intelligence agencies
  
  Epstein was rumored to be associated with Intelligence agencies. The U.S. journalists Dylan Howard, Melissa Cronin and James Robertson linked Epstein to the Israeli Mossad in their book Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales. They relied for the most part on the former Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben-Menashe. According to him, Epstein's activities as a spy served to gather compromising material on powerful people in order to blackmail them. There is also a possible connection to the Mossad via Ghislaine Maxwell, whose father Robert Maxwell is said to have had contacts with the Mossad. Epstein's victim Virginia Giuffre also alleged Epstein to be an intelligence asset, linking on Twitter to a Reddit page, that alleged Epstein being a spy, running a blackmail operation.
  
  As U.S. Attorney in Florida, the later U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta reached a settlement with Epstein's lawyers (including Alan M. Dershowitz) in 2008, which allowed him to receive a very light prison sentence. Acosta later reportedly stated that he was told that Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and that the issue was above his "pay grade." According to Acosta, he was pushed to give him a good deal. Former CIA Director and diplomat William J. Burns met with Epstein three times. According to a CIA spokesperson, Burns hoped that Epstein would help him "transition to the private sector."
  
  Epstein was rumored to be associated with Intelligence agencies. The U.S. journalists Dylan Howard, Melissa Cronin and James Robertson linked Epstein to the Israeli Mossad in their book Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales. They relied for the most part on the former Israeli intelligence officer Ari Ben-Menashe. According to him, Epstein's activities as a spy served to gather compromising material on powerful people in order to blackmail them. There is also a possible connection to the Mossad via Ghislaine Maxwell, whose father Robert Maxwell is said to have had contacts with the Mossad. Epstein's victim Virginia Giuffre also alleged Epstein to be an intelligence asset, linking on Twitter to a Reddit page, that alleged Epstein being a spy, running a blackmail operation.
  
  As U.S. Attorney in Florida, the later U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta reached a settlement with Epstein's lawyers (including Alan M. Dershowitz) in 2008, which allowed him to receive a very light prison sentence. Acosta later reportedly stated that he was told that Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and that the issue was above his "pay grade." According to Acosta, he was pushed to give him a good deal. Former CIA Director and diplomat William J. Burns met with Epstein three times. According to a CIA spokesperson, Burns hoped that Epstein would help him "transition to the private sector."