Meet the high-profile Emirati business leader lawmakers are linking to Epstein torture email

U.S. officials made new disclosures from the Epstein files on Monday, naming who they believe was the recipient behind a disturbing email sent by the deceased financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, in which he referenced a supposed “torture video.”

That name is Sultan AhmedbinSulayem, one of the Emirates’ most powerful business figures, who, for years,maintaineda relationship with Epstein, with the communications often including explicit content, according to documents recently released by the U.S. Justice Department.

The latest revelation comes after Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. reviewed unredacted documents at the Justice Department on Monday.

Massie posted a screenshot of the email on the social media platform X. In the email, Epstein wrote to a redacted recipient: “whereare you?Are you ok, I loved the torture video.” The replystated: “I am inchinaI will be in the US 2nd week of May.”

Alongside the screenshot, Massie wrote that, “a sultan seems to have sent this,” and called on the DOJ to make the information public.

That caught the attention of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who responded to Massie on X,statingthe redaction protected personally identifiable information in an email address. He added thatSulayem’sname appeared unredacted elsewhere in the released files andlinked to a document containing his name.

Massie later said Blanche had “tacitly admitted that Sultan AhmedbinSulayemwas the sender of the torture video.”

CNBC sought comment fromSulayemthrough DP World, where he serves aschairmanand CEO, but did not receive a response.Sulayemhas not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing. It is also unclear exactly what the referenced “torture video” was, and whether it had actually been sent fromSulayemto Epstein.

Authorities have stressed that a mention in the Epstein files does notindicateevidence of wrongdoing nor prove that the name was part of apurported clientlist or blackmail scheme.

However, the email adds yet another thread to a tapestry of years of communications betweenSulayemand Epstein, which referenced everything from business deals, politics to sex.

His prominent leadership roles made him animportant representativeof Dubai’s economy amongst both the leadership in the UAE and the international community.Sulayemappeared regularly in international forums, including the World Economic Forum in Davos,often rubbing shoulders withpoliticians and giving speaking engagements.

However, emails released by the DOJ suggest that Epstein sawa very differentside of the Sultan — and in him, a friend and confidant, trusted enough to engage in high-stakes discussions of business and sex.

A search of the name “Sulayem” on the DOJ’s Epstein library yields thousands of results, many of which appear to be email exchanges between the two from around 2007 through 2019, long after the financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.

The DOJ’s file release shows that Epstein once referred toSulayemas a “close personal friend” he had known for 8 years. He also describedSulayemasone of his most trusted friendsin other writings.

In the world of Epstein, being a trusted friend appeared to have come with intimate communications regardingtopics including but not limitedto:arrangementswith masseuses;sexual encounters with women;escortandprostitution services;lewd commentsandjokes; andpornography.

The twooftenappeared tobediscussingin-person meetings. Onseveral occasions, Sulayem corresponded with Epstein about Little St. James, Epstein’sprivate islandin the U.S. Virgin Islands, which prosecutors allege was used as a base for sex trafficking.

In one2014 email, Epsteinappeared to inviteformerLabourcabinet minister Peter Mandelson to join a board ofSulayem’s, writing: “sultan[sic] has asked me to encourage you to join his board.”

The filesalso appear to showEpsteinconnectingformer Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak andSulayemvia emailin 2015. That comes after areportfrom Drop Site News in January suggested that Epstein hadbrokeredseveral meetings between Ehud Barak andSulayem, citing previously released emails.

Ehud Barak has previouslydefended his business with Epstein, explaining that at the time, he believed thebusinessmanhad paid his debt to society, and that he himself hadn’t been accused of wrongdoing.

According toBloomberg’sviewing of the public files and others obtained by the outlet last summer,Epstein also tried to help connectSulayemto figures such as an aide to formerFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy; Les Wexner, the retail billionaire and longtime Epstein patron behind Victoria’s Secret; and Jes Staley, who in the late 2000s was a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Sarkozy has not publicly addressed alleged ties to Epstein. Wexner said in 2019 that he had previously employed Epstein but was unaware of the illegal conduct for which Epstein was later indicted. In June, Staleyfailed tooverturna decision by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority that found he had“recklessly” misledregulators in 2019 about the nature of his relationship with Epstein.

CNBCalsoconfirmed that the latest DOJ files include a2010 emailfrom Epstein toSulayem, asking him if he wanted to meet Thomas Pritzker, executivechairmanof Hyatt Hotels.A representative of Pritzker declined to comment.

In the wake of the global financial crisis in 2009, Epstein sent an email addressing an unidentified “sultan”regardingan apparentinvestment deal and a payment to be made to Epstein. “Your people should talk to Pritsker,” Epstein wrote, adding that “Hyatt is the =erfectanswer to MGM.notBarrrack.”

Epsteinmay’vebeen referring to casino operator MGM Mirage, which Epstein andSulayemhad exchanged articles about.In2009,Sulayem’sDubai Worldhadreportedlyfileda lawsuit against the MGM Mirage for massive cost overruns.

Epsteinalso appeared to referthe “sultan” to Pritzker’s Hyatt over “Barrrack.” It is unclear who he was referring to, but private equity realestate investor Thomas Barrackappearedin other Epstein’s emails withSulayem.

In a December 2009 email, Epstein sent a couple of emails to Staley regardinginvestmentsand apotential meeting, also with an unspecified “sultan.”

Epstein andSulaymenalso shared details of their separate meetings with other prominent figures, notably U.S. President Donald Trump and people within his circle.

The Epstein files indicateSulayemwas invited to Trump’s first presidential inauguration by Thomas Barrack, a U.S. diplomat currently serving as U.S. ambassador toTurkeyand special envoy for Syria.”Should I accept the invitation,”Sulayemasked Epstein in aJanuary 2017 email.

Epstein, according to files, was also linked toSteve Bannon,Trump’s former senioradviserand a key architect of his 2016 election victory.

“We have becomefriendsyou will like him,” Epsteinsaid ofBannon toSulayemin anemailin February 2018. “Trump doesn’t like him,”Sulayemreplied. “dontbelivethe press,” responded Epstein.

Bannonhassaid little publicly about his relationship withEpstein, though he has called for the release of theEpsteinfiles.