Epstein Records Contain Hagerstown Region Mentions, Including Politicians, Businesses, and Nonprofits

An analysis of documents within the Epstein records released by the Department of Justice (DoJ) has revealed the names of several prominent local and state political figures, primarily appearing in intelligence bulletins and national news summaries. The analysis suggests that, contrary to any potential internet rumors, the inclusion of these individuals is largely due to their public roles and mentions in professional capacities within broader intelligence-gathering efforts, rather than indicating direct personal relationships with Jeffrey Epstein. Many of these records are understood to be from after Epstein’s death, likely involving the Ghislaine Maxwell trial. But among the files some familiar names surface, including Governor Larry Hogan, Wes Moore, Senator Chris Van Hollen, and County Commissioner Derek Harvey, as well as a mention of Saint James School south of Hagerstown. While these familiar names are included in the records released by the DoJ, none of these mentions include accusations of wrongdoing, and most appear to only be included incidentally through the investigative process and were likely never linked to Epstein whatsoever.

The bulk of the identified records fall under the category of “Intelligence,” comprising news bulletins and law enforcement briefings. This includes emails of news articles mentioning Derek Harvey, a retired U.S. Army Intelligence Colonel and former senior advisor to the House Intelligence Committee, who now serves as a County Commissioner for Washington County. The records specifically mention Harvey in relation to his extensive background in national security and investigative matters, and do not indicate any wrongdoing. His inclusion is likely completely incidental based upon available records.

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Additionally, former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is featured in substantial number of these bulletins spanning numerous pages. These documents are primarily news-style intelligence bulletins that reference his administration or regional political developments during his tenure. The current Governor, Wes Moore, is also noted in multiple files focused on his status as a business figure and author, with his scheduled appearance at “Dialog 2014,” a two-day bipartisan retreat, being the only record which appears to include his name sent directly to Epstein.

Other notable local names include David Trone, Chris Van Hollen, John Delaney, Angela Alsobrooks, Roy McGrath, and Steny Hoyer, but their mention seems to also be limited to news-style intelligence bulletins, and from our brief analysis have no indication of communication with Epstein or any wrongdoing. The records do not indicate the sender or receiver, and it is unknown if they were sent to associates of Epstein or simply included due to his name’s inclusion in the records.

Beyond intelligence briefings, the Epstein files also contain records related to potential investments and medical research. Furthermore, there are references to medical research or healthcare data, with specific mentions of Fort Detrick and local institutions, and a charitable donation solicitation from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which maintains a post office box in Hagerstown. There is also a non-disclosure agreement and related files for LinkSPINE Inc. with an address of Columbia, Maryland, but the NDA specifically calls out Washington County, Maryland as the location for legal jurisdiction. Records also include First Data in Hagerstown, now Fiserv, and were likely related to credit card processing.

One email that stands out is mention of Saint James school on a 2018 short list of potential boarding schools with African American students emailed to Epstein for someone named “CC”. Saint James School is a co-ed college prep school for grades 8-12, meaning that “CC” was likely under 18 years old. No other references to Saint James School appears to exist in the released files, and the email seemed to recommend visiting Florida Prep over the other potential schools in the list. There are also mentions of the University of Maryland across multiple records, which we have not yet analyzed.

One additional communication that does stand out is an email chain between Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein. It contains references to 2020 elections and mentions Bill Gates and possibly Larry Hogan in a third party ticket Presidential bid to try and defeat Donald Trump.

However, there was no 2020 presidential bid by Bill Gates or Larry Hogan, and the email simply classified the concept as a “thought experiment”. No additional planning related to such a campaign was found in the files, and while the name “Hogan” can be found in multiple files, the mention of that name appears ambiguous, such as the law firm Hogan Lovells or even Hulk Hogan.

A key takeaway from this analysis is that for the Maryland officials whose names have surfaced, the documentation primarily consists of routine news and intelligence summaries, rather than evidence of any personal associations with Jeffrey Epstein himself. However, these files do not provide context to understand if Epstein was tracking these topics or political figures, or if the reports were simply included due to their including Epstein in the same bulletin email, though the latter is strongly suspected. It’s important to note that the “Epstein Files” are an investigative archive, not a “Little Black Book.” An investigative archive contains everything from deep-cover evidence to the “junk mail” found on the suspect’s desk (or in their spam folder). To our knowledge, none of these records were referenced in any part of Epstein or Maxwell’s trials.

Our growing repository of Epstein files of local interest is available on DocumentCloud and will be updated as additional files are analyzed. Many of the files are available on a site called Jmail, which presents the emails and other files in a Google-style interface. We will continue investigating the latest drop of records, and release our analysis as we progress.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from Department of Justice.

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