The invitation started with a ranch visit. On February 21, 2013, Jeffrey Epstein's executive assistant Lesley Groff emailed Mary Beth Brown, a senior staffer at SpaceX, with an invitation on Epstein's behalf:
"Hello Mary Beth...Jeffrey wanted to extend an invitation to Elon to visit him at his ranch this Sat. Feb. 23rd or Sun. Feb. 24th...his ranch is in Sante Fe, New Mexico... Otherwise, he says he will meet him at 1pm for lunch at Space X!" [EFTA00395118]
Brown replied a few hours later. Musk had LA commitments over that weekend. The Zorro Ranch offer was declined. The SpaceX lunch was confirmed for Monday February 25, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.
The Passport Scans
On February 22, Brown wrote to Groff with the visitor check-in protocol. For US citizens, a government-issued photo ID was sufficient. For non-citizens, the process was different.
Groff's reply is the passage this article turns on:
"Thank you for the specifics below. Jeffrey is a US citizen but he will have assistants with him who are not (2 Russian and 1 South African). They all have passports and proper paper work. I'm pretty sure he will bring them all with him. Will this be ok?" [EFTA00395118]
Brown's answer: "Yes, I need a scan of everyone's passport asap for security clearance and original passports must be brought onsite for check in."
The record shows Epstein walking into SpaceX on February 25, 2013 with three accompanying personnel, each a non-US citizen whose passports had been scanned for SpaceX security clearance four days in advance. Two Russian. One South African. 4 years and 7 months after Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to procurement of a minor for prostitution and completed a 13-month work-release sentence under the Non-Prosecution Agreement.
A Fourth Name in the Thread
A fourth person, not counted in the "2 Russian and 1 South African" group, identified themselves separately inside the thread. They wrote to Brown:
"Mary Beth just to let you know my citizenship and the passport I hold my visas in is actual British. Do you need the names of anyone who may accompany Jeffrey? I will be with him on the trip so please contact me at any time if you need any further information." [EFTA00395118]
The British-passport-holder's name is redacted in the indexed version. Groff's earlier note had described Epstein's party as Epstein plus 3 non-US-citizen "assistants." This fourth person was separately on the trip. Whether they were a fourth "assistant," a staff member traveling with Epstein, or something else is not resolved by the document.
What the Record Does Not Show
Who the three non-US-citizen "assistants" were. Whether they entered the SpaceX building on February 25. What business, if any, they had at the lunch. Whether Musk was aware of their citizenship status before Epstein arrived. Whether the SpaceX security check-in records of February 25, 2013 still exist. None of those questions is answered by the verified primary source.
Several Items Remain Open
The names on the passport scans, if SpaceX preserved them. Any additional Epstein-Musk correspondence in the EFTA corpus across 2013 to 2019. Whether the Zorro Ranch visit Groff initially proposed for February 23 or 24 was ever rescheduled. A complete retrieval is the next step.