Photo pulled from Wikimedia
By: Joshua Rosenberg, February 2nd, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — Walter Isaacson, the Leonard Lauder Professor of American History and Values at Tulane University, was mentioned in the so-called Epstein Files, among other things, as having been invited to a party at which Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious child sex-trafficker, was seemingly present.
According to the Department of Justice’s database, Isaacson was invited to a small dinner party at Epstein’s home in 2013. Epstein was convicted in June 2008 on state (Florida) charges of procuring a child for prostitution and for soliciting prostitution.
“Hello Mr. Isaacson,” the email reads “Jeffrey Epstein is hosting a small dinner party on Thursday, April 4th at his home in NY…Peter Mandelson and Ehud Barak are among the guests. He is asking if you might be available to join the dinner. Please let me know at your earliest convenience.” Isaacson appeared to decline that particular invitation.
Ehud Barak is a former prime minister of Israel. The query “Walter Isaacson” shows 43 entries in the DOJ file database, some of which appear to be duplicates. Barak’s name appears 3,985 times in the Epstein Files. Mandelson is a prominent British politician, nicknamed “The Prince of Darkness.” His name appears 5,611 times in the Epstein Files.
One email appears to show Isaacson’s presence on an airplane communicated to someone with the email address: jeevacation@gmail.com for some reason. That email address has been confirmed by the U.S. House Oversight Committee as belonging to Epstein.
“Spoke to Walter Isaacson’s assistant, Pat. Walter will be on a plane to Chicago Tues. night at 7:05 for a board meeting,” a certain Lesley Groff wrote to “jeevacation@gmail.com.” Groff apparently was an assistant to Epstein.
In a separate email, someone says “NEED TO hear from Walter Isaacson,” and others re April 4th (2013) dinner.
Isaacson was previously accused by a student of assault. Isaacson also wrote a biography of Elon Musk. Musk was also named in the Epstein Files.
Neither Tulane University nor Isaacson responded to detailed questions in time for this article’s publication.
Isaascson is closely associated with Tulane’s popular Book Festival. Isaacson also has a role with Amanpour & Company, a news program, as an interviewer. The Rosenberg Brief asked Amanpour & Company if they had a comment for this story on Twitter/X after it was published.
Isaacson also sits on the Board of Advisers for Verite News, a nonprofit newsroom based in New Orleans.
The Rosenberg Brief asked Tulane University if Isaascon’s employment and/or association with the Book Fest may be affected by this revelation. The Tulane Book Festival is set to run from March 12th-15th this year.
In a separate email, Lesley Groff states that Isaacson, among others, have been contacted for a “Barak party” in September 2010.
“The only people who have been contacted are below,” she said. “I will not contact anyone else until I am told.”
Among those contacted were Tom Barack, the ambassador to Turkey and the private equity real estate investor, a certain “Arthur Saltzburger” which could be a misspelling of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, the former chairman of the board of the New York Times, Charlie Rose and Larry Summers.
Update: This report has been updated with additional information, 2/8
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