Billionaire Democratic megadonor funding Trump rape accuser's case visited Epstein's island

The billionaire Democratic mega-donor Reid Hoffman – who founded LinkedIn and is funding author E. Jean Carroll's rape lawsuit against former President Donald Trump – visited the private island of convicted sex offender and financier Jeffery Epstein and was scheduled to stay at his Manhattan townhouse in 2014, documents show.

Hoffman and former Massachusetts Institute of Technology official Joi Ito went together on their trip to Epstein's Caribbean island, known as Little St. James, on which Epstein and his associates allegedly trafficked minor girls, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Epstein died in in August 2019 in a New York City jail awaiting trial of federal sex-trafficking charges.

He was found guilty in 2008 in Florida for soliciting a child for prostitution and for soliciting a prostitute.

Hoffman said he visited the island only once, for an MIT fundraising trip with Ito, and says the trip in retrospect the trip was a "mistake." 

"It gnaws at me that, by lending my association, I helped his reputation, and thus delayed justice for his survivors," Hoffman said. "While I relied on MIT’s endorsement, ultimately I made the mistake."

Ito said he invited Hoffman to the island. He resigned from his position at MIT after Epstein's 2019 arrest and he apologized for accepting funding from Epstein. 

The recently uncovered document on which the Wall Street Journal recently reported, show other notable figures having visited Epstein's residence, including director Woody Allen and wife Soon-Yi Previn, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Hoffman funds the American Future Republic group, which gave funding to Carroll's attorneys. She said in court late last month that her attorneys are solely relying on contingency fees.

The newest report that Hoffman, Ito, Allen and Barak met with Epstein comes after the Journal published documents indicating that Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met with Epstein on multiple occasions. 

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.