The Accomplice Who Was Going to Testify Against Jeffrey Epstein—Then Went Dark

[Unredacted]

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/epstein-acc ... e-6693cb70

Jean-Luc Brunel was ready to turn on the man who had been his patron and partner. The French modeling scout was prepared to tell prosecutors what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking.

Brunel was secretly negotiating in 2016 with lawyers representing Epstein’s victims, according to newly released Justice Department files. Brunel’s lawyer told them his client recruited girls for Epstein and had incriminating photographs. They discussed a date for Brunel to walk into the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York—in exchange for immunity.

“One of Epstein’s bfs, Jean Luc Brunel, has helped get girls. He is wanting to cooperate,” according to handwritten notes taken by a federal prosecutor in February 2016. “Brunel is afraid of being prosecuted.”

And then Brunel went dark.