Warren Buffett Pauses Gates Foundation Donation Amid Epstein Review (7/1/26)

Lesley Groff Grilled Over Epstein’s American Express Travel Records (7/1/26)

Lesley Groff, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant, was questioned by House Oversight lawmakers about Epstein’s use of American Express to book travel for multiple women or girls. CBS reported that Epstein used Amex’s Centurion travel service and a Black Card to arrange hundreds of itineraries, many involving women or girls from Eastern Europe, and that Groff was a key point of contact in those bookings. Groff told lawmakers she did not believe she ever arranged travel for anyone under 18 and said she understood the women to be “traveling assistants” who worked for Epstein. She also denied knowing that any of the travel was connected to sexual activity involving Epstein or anyone in his network. Lawmakers pressed Groff on records that appeared to show “decoy flights,” including a 2016 email where she asked Amex to hold a fake Rome-to-London itinerary for a redacted person who would actually be traveling to Miami to see Epstein. Groff said the woman wanted to hide the real trip from her parents, not obtain a visa, while her attorney pushed back on the idea that the booking was visa-related. In another 2012 exchange, an Amex employee flagged that holding a refundable itinerary for visa purposes was against company policy, but Groff later told lawmakers she was simply arranging a ticket and hotel reservation for someone who needed a visa. American Express declined to comment on Groff’s testimony, but previously said it regretted having Epstein as a customer and terminated his account after federal charges were filed. to contact me: bobbycapucci@protonmail.com source: Epstein's longtime assistant grilled by U.S. lawmakers over Amex travel booked for women or girls - CBS News [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epstein-longtime-assistant-grilled-lawmakers-amex-travel-women-girls/]

Warren Buffett Pauses Gates Foundation Donation Amid Epstein Review (7/1/26)

Warren Buffett has reportedly paused his usual mid-year donation to the Gates Foundation while he waits for the results of an outside review into the foundation’s past ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Buffett has given more than $47 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the foundation over the years, making him one of its most important donors, but renewed scrutiny of Bill Gates’ relationship with Epstein has now put that giving under a cloud. The review was ordered by Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman after recently released Justice Department emails showed Epstein communicating with foundation staff and trying to insert himself into Gates-linked philanthropy. Bill Gates has said his meetings with Epstein were about philanthropy and global health funding, while also admitting the relationship was a mistake. During private testimony to House Oversight lawmakers, Gates reportedly said Epstein later tried to pressure him using knowledge of Gates’ extramarital affairs, though Gates denied witnessing criminal activity. Buffett’s decision to hold back until the review is complete shows how Epstein’s fallout is still reaching into the highest levels of philanthropy, raising questions about what the Gates Foundation knew, how close Epstein got to its network, and whether one of its biggest benefactors is willing to keep writing massive checks without clearer answers. to contact me: bobbycapucci@protonmail.com source: Warren Buffett freezes Gates Foundation donation as Epstein questions resurface: report | The Independent [https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/warren-buffett-bill-gates-foundation-donation-epstein-b3005700.html]

Mega Edition: Jeffrey Epstein, Leon Black And The Shockwave Felt At Apollo Global (7/1/26)

Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with Leon Black detonated inside Apollo Global Management because Black was not just any executive — he was Apollo’s co-founder, chairman, and public face. Once it became clear that Black had paid Epstein enormous sums after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, Apollo had a reputational crisis on its hands. The firm launched an independent review through its board’s conflicts committee, which examined Black’s relationship with Epstein and whether Apollo itself had business ties to Epstein. The review said it found no evidence that Black was involved in Epstein’s criminal conduct and said Apollo had not retained Epstein, but it also confirmed that Black paid Epstein huge fees for personal tax and estate-planning advice. That confirmation was damaging enough that Black announced he would step down as Apollo CEO, and he later left the chairman role as well. The shockwave did not stop with Black’s exit. Apollo had to reassure investors, clients, and partners that Epstein’s relationship was with Black personally and not with the firm, while also overhauling governance and moving leadership to Marc Rowan. Years later, the issue is still haunting Apollo, with the firm again telling clients in 2026 that no one at Apollo other than Black had a business or personal relationship with Epstein, while shareholder litigation has accused Apollo and its leaders of misleading investors about the depth of Epstein-related ties. Black’s Epstein relationship turned into a long-tail corporate contamination problem: it damaged Apollo’s brand, forced a leadership transition, triggered legal and investor scrutiny, and left the company repeatedly trying to prove that Epstein’s shadow stopped at Leon Black and did not extend into Apollo itself. to contact me: bobbycapucci@protonmail.com

Mega Edition: Denise George And The Epstein Money Chase In The USVI (6/30/26)

Denise George tried to attack Jeffrey Epstein’s operation through the money trail, not just the sex-abuse allegations, by using the U.S. Virgin Islands’ civil enforcement power to subpoena banks and financial institutions that handled Epstein’s accounts, entities, trusts, charities, and shell companies. Her office sought records from major institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Citibank, and others, looking for account records, transaction details, communications, cash movements, and the financial architecture around Epstein’s estate and business entities. George later sued JPMorgan, accusing the bank of helping Epstein finance and conceal his trafficking operation, and her office had already reached a settlement of more than $105 million with Epstein’s estate and related defendants. In other words, she was trying to prove that Epstein’s crimes were not just enabled by recruiters and household staff, but by banks, lawyers, accountants, and institutions that moved the money and ignored the warning signs. A separate financial trail later raised similar questions around Ghislaine Maxwell. Reuters reported in 2026 that UBS helped move money connected to Maxwell before her arrest, including funds that ultimately helped purchase her secluded New Hampshire hideout, even after UBS had received a grand jury subpoena seeking information about her financial dealings in a child-sex-trafficking investigation. UBS had told Maxwell it would close her accounts, but documents showed millions still moved through the system before the shutdown was complete. That is what makes the institutional side of the Epstein story so damning: while George was trying to force major banks to explain how Epstein’s money flowed for years, other institutions were still handling Maxwell-linked money in the aftermath, showing once again how elite clients could remain bankable long after the red flags should have been impossible to miss. to contact me: bobbycapucci@protonmail.com

Mega Edition: Marc Rowan And Leon Black Outmaneuver Josh Harris To Keep Control At Apollo (6/30/26)

Josh Harris saw the Epstein revelations around Leon Black as an opening to reshape Apollo’s leadership and, according to reporting and later court allegations, pushed to position himself as the natural successor or power center inside the firm. Black’s Epstein relationship had thrown Apollo into crisis, investors were demanding answers, and the firm needed a clean leadership story. Harris had long been one of Apollo’s three founding figures, but his relationship with Black had deteriorated, and Black later accused him of organizing a behind-the-scenes campaign — even a so-called “war council” of advisers, lawyers, publicists, and allies — to weaken Black and seize control as Epstein scrutiny consumed him. Harris denied those accusations, calling them false, and courts later dismissed Black’s RICO claims against him. Harris did not get the prize. Instead, Marc Rowan emerged as the compromise successor and ultimately took over as Apollo’s CEO, while Black’s influence and board support helped block Harris from becoming the dominant figure. The result was a bitter private-equity civil war: Black was forced out by the Epstein fallout, Harris failed to convert the moment into control of Apollo, and Rowan became the beneficiary of the chaos. Harris later stepped away from day-to-day Apollo leadership and eventually focused more on his outside business and sports ownership interests, while Apollo tried to sell Rowan’s rise as a clean reset after the Epstein damage. The irony is brutal: Epstein’s relationship with Black created the opening Harris wanted, but the internal power structure Harris helped build at Apollo ultimately closed around Rowan instead. to contact me: bobbycapucci@protonmail.com