As the U.S. Virgin Islands finds itself back in national headlines over officials’ treatment of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. held firm that “the record in the Virgin Islands shows no instance where he was afforded any special privilege by this administration.”
The comments came during a Government House press briefing Monday, more than a month after the U.S. Justice Department’s congressionally-mandated release of millions of files related to its investigation into Epstein. Days later and following reporting which illuminated the breakdown in Bryan’s professional relationship with former V.I. Attorney General Denise George, who was fired on the last day of 2022, Bryan said that “none of this is new” and that “Epstein’s estate” received no concessions from the Virgin Islands Government.
The files did contain new information about Epstein’s activities in the U.S. Virgin Islands and about his relationships with current and former high-ranking government officials.
On Monday, Bryan did not deny texting with Epstein in 2019 amid a dispute with the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources over unauthorized construction on Great St. James. The conversation was reported by CNN last week in an article shared widely on social media. After Epstein railed against DPNR Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriol and the “anti development message” being sent by the department’s enforcement of environmental laws, Bryan wrote that he had asked Oriol to recuse himself “and concede on all previous permit requests.” Later, Bryan wrote “We got u” after Epstein continued to complain.
“The record is clear: there’s no concessions made. I don’t even know why this is a story,” Bryan said Monday before suggesting that the media is misleading people. “This is very simple. The Organic Act of the Virgin Islands empowers … the governor of the Virgin Islands with supervisions all over, over all government departments. The one thing I try in our administration to do is to be responsive. I do not need the permission of any commissioner to approve or disapprove any item. I could just tell them to do it — if they don’t do it, ‘you’re fired’ — but I gave, in every instance, the opportunity for anything that was requested of citizens to go through the process.”
Bryan said that whether those requests came from “a felon or a saint or a priest in the Catholic Church, you get the same service.”
“You get the ability for this government to be responsive,” he said. “I can’t tell you I’m going to get you it approved, [but] it’s within my right, certainly, as governor of the Virgin Islands to grant approval. That is my right. That is the power. If the media wants to be able to make the right run for governor, or anybody else. But in every instance, we always try to give the commissioners, the professional person who is assigned to these tasks, the opportunity to do it, and the responsiveness is what we do.”
In the wake of CNN’s reporting, former Senate President Adlah Donastorg wrote to Sen. Milton Potter, president of the 36th Legislature, requesting an investigative inquiry into Epstein’s impact on the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“While other jurisdictions across the globe have spoken loudly and acted decisively against the heinous criminal acts perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein, there remains a deafening silence from our own leadership,” he wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Source. “This silence is incompatible with a government that prides itself on transparency and accountability.”
Donastorg wrote that the latest batch of files “have highlighted potential illegalities and unethical conduct within our own borders that can no longer be dismissed as ‘unverified rumor’” and asked lawmakers to: adopt a formal resolution to mandate a full, public investigation; convene an investigative inquiry; and compel testimony from those named in the so-called Epstein Files.
“No one, regardless of status or office, should be exempt from explaining their connection to this criminal network,” he wrote.
Asked Monday, Bryan said he would “absolutely” support such an investigation before emphasizing that “even if I had told DPNR, ‘grant his permit,’ it’s perfectly within the right and power of the governor of the Virgin Islands and the powers ensued in the office.”
“So what would the investigation be about?” he asked.
The text exchange between Bryan and Epstein exists in the Justice Department files as a stand-alone document, but others do contain unverified or anonymous allegations of wrongdoing. One references a confidential informant who claimed that Epstein wired “over $380,000 to the Bryan/Roach Campaign during 2018, and possibly in 2019” through a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) organization, meant to promote social welfare. Asked Monday, Bryan said he had no record of any contributions from Jeffrey Epstein.
“My campaign record is public information,” he said. When the Source noted that the allegation involved flouting campaign finance laws, Bryan reiterated that “the record is clear.”
“It’s right on the books,” he said before noting that Epstein was convicted of a crime and sentenced “and was convicted of no crime … or arrested for any crime when he was just trying to get his permit approved or disapproved from DPNR.”
Other documents, released amid the Virgin Islands government’s lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, include several emails in which Epstein’s former employee, former first lady Cecile de Jongh, discusses charitable donations.
“Albert suggested a school for autistic children,” she wrote on Dec. 6, 2018.
“Albert asked that the $30k go to the VI Little League,” she wrote on Dec. 20, 2018.
That email was sent two minutes after de Jongh wrote to Epstein, saying she “got a call from the Bryan/Roach Inaugural Committee and they asked for a $25,000 donation to the inaugural events.”
“They are trying to raise all the money privately,” she wrote. “Please let me know your thoughts.”
It’s not clear whether Epstein ever signed off on the donations, but other emails suggest he made substantial contributions to political figures or on their behalf. On Oct. 24, 2014, de Jongh wrote to confirm that his Southern Trust Company “will send $13K to the Democratic Party for the benefit of Stacey Plaskett.” The same month, Epstein told de Jongh he wanted to donate$15,000 from his personal account to the “St. Croix District Democratic Party.” On Sept. 1, 2016, Epstein emailed de Jongh in typically broken English to say: “prepare a check for mapps super pac for 75k.”
