The chairman of a major law firm that sparked backlash by caving to President Donald Trump to save itself from his retribution campaign gushed to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein about how “amazing” he was.
Brad Karp, the 66-year-old head of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, came under fire last year for being the first Big Law firm executive to make a deal with Trump after the president signed a series of executive orders targeting law firms that had represented his perceived enemies.
While other firms fought Trump’s orders and won big in court, Paul Weiss agreed to provide $40 million in free legal services to causes championed by Trump, release a statement about neutrality in hiring, and avoid any policies promoting diversity and inclusivity.
The deal backfired with major corporate clients and led to an exodus of top talent, and Karp was personally heckled and protested at a New York Bar Foundation gala in November, Bloomberg Law reported.
Now, the embattled firm leader’s awkward emails to Epstein have been released in the latest tranche of documents released by the Department of Justice.
“I can’t thank you enough for including me in an evening I’ll never forget,” Karp wrote to Epstein in July 2015, the day after a scheduled dinner with Epstein, Karp, and film director Woody Allen, the Financial Times reported. “It was truly ‘once in a lifetime’ in every way, though I hope to be invited against. You are an extraordinary host—and your home…!!!”
Epstein wrote back that “there are many nights of unique talents” and promised Karp would be “invited often.”
“You are always welcome,” he wrote.
“You’re amazing… and thank you!” Karp replied.
In another email, Karp asked Epstein for help getting his son a job with an Allen production, Bloomberg Law reported. The messages were sent several years after Epstein pled guilty to Florida state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
“Paul Weiss was retained by Leon Black, then the CEO of the firm’s longtime client Apollo, to negotiate a series of fee disputes with Jeffrey Epstein that spanned several years,” Paul Weiss said Sunday in a statement. “The firm was adverse to Epstein, and at no point did Paul Weiss or Brad Karp ever represent him.”
But the Justice Department’s files show that not all of Karp and Epstein’s communications on the matter were adversarial.
“can you please ha+e the discussion re my fees. I m leaving it to you to resolve. Thx,” Epstein emailed Karp in October 2018, the FT reported.
“I brought it up today and made now progress,” Karp replied. “Let me try again, in a different way.”
The next day, Epstein asked again, and Karp said that Black “just waved me off.”
The documents also show that Allen played a prominent role in Karp’s relationship with Epstein.
Epstein’s assistant arranged for Karp and his children to attend a small film screening in New York in 2014, and for Karp’s son to attend screenings in 2016 and 2018.
The 90-year-old filmmaker married his ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn in 1997 and was accused of sexually abusing Farrow’s other daughter Dylan, which he denies.
Allen and Previn were regular guests for years at Epstein’s townhouse on the Upper East Side, where they were always welcome despite the controversy surrounding the Annie Hall director, The New York Times reported in December.
While other celebrities featured in the Epstein files have said they regretted being involved with Epstein, who died in a Manhattan prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges, Allen has expressed neither embarrassment nor contrition, the Times reported.
Trump and Epstein were close friends for more than a decade. The president has denied knowing anything about Epstein’s crimes.
