[GRADE A2 -- EFTA01939674 (Epstein's files, DOJ corpus)]
On February 5, 2014, Nikolic emailed Epstein: "Larry checked with all teams and I got approval for what I did -- below." This indicates Nikolic was compiling a biography requiring approval from "Larry" (Larry Cohen) and "all teams."
[GRADE A2 -- EFTA02331772 (Epstein's files, DOJ corpus)]
A schedule dated June 18, 2014 shows Epstein's day: 11:00am Martin Nowak, 12:00pm George Church, 1:30pm Joe Thakuria to take JE's Saliva Sample, 2:00pm Joscha Bach, 3:00pm Mike Hopkins, 4:00pm Andy Strominger. Five significant DNA program figures in sequence.
[GRADE A2 -- jmail-efta02499436 (undated, bad date Jan 1, 1970)]
Epstein emailed Nikolic: "I have an respones to your qeti=ns im going to see george church today. what do y=u need me to do." The participants are Jeffrey E (sender), Boris Nikolic (mentioned), Boris Nikolic (de-node mentioned). This email proves Epstein took direction from Nikolic regarding George Church meetings -- Epstein was the messenger, Nikolic was the scientific director.
[GRADE A2 -- Groff scheduling chain (20 emails, 2011-2016)]
Lesley Groff coordinated Epstein-Church meetings from 2011 through at least 2016:
The scheduling shows Epstein visited Church at Harvard and Church visited Epstein at "the institute" (likely the Epstein Program for Mathematical Biology at Harvard).
[GRADE A2 -- jmail-efta02389983 (Jun 4, 2015)]
Nikolic to Epstein: "Please jus= ask him what he thinks will happened with IP around CRISPR/Cas9? Will Jenif..." (preview truncated). This confirms Nikolic channeled CRISPR/Cas9 intellectual property inquiries through Epstein to Church. "Jennifer" likely refers to Jennifer Doudna (UC Berkeley CRISPR co-discoverer, patent rival to Broad Institute/Church).
[GRADE A2 -- jmail-efta02368885 (May 31, 2015)]
Nikolic to Epstein: "It just occurred me that I never filed filed taxes r= BXN. I will need it for Editas." This confirms BXN is a Nikolic investment entity used for his Editas Medicine (CRISPR gene editing company) holdings. Nikolic needed to file BXN taxes for Editas-related purposes, establishing a direct financial link between Nikolic and CRISPR commercialization.
[GRADE A2 -- Jun 4, 2015 emails (19 on one day)]
The same day Nikolic asked about CRISPR IP, 19 other emails were sent, including: "George Church-30 minutes?" and "Jed Garfield today at 2:45 w/client." This was a peak operational day in the CRISPR IP assessment.
[GRADE A2 -- EFTA02717340 (Nov 2, 2014) -- eGenesis Business Plan]
Luhan Yang (eGenesis co-founder with Church) sent the eGenesis business plan to Lesley Groff, who forwarded it to Epstein. Church was CC'd. Yang's cover email: "Here is the eGenesis Business Plan per your request." The plan describes eGenesis's mission as delivering "human transplantable organ by engineering animals." Investment terms offered:
The chain shows the request originated Oct 23, 2014 when Church wrote to Epstein. Oct 24: Groff relayed "please send me the biz plan as outlined on the phone. use of funds for 2,5 years." Nov 2: Yang delivered the plan. Nov 6: Yang followed up asking "what do we stand?" (EFTA00359478). Epstein forwarded the plan to Richard Kahn the same day (EFTA00999514).
[GRADE A2 -- EFTA01743725 (Dec 30, 2015) -- Nikolic eGenesis Valuation]
Nikolic evaluated eGenesis for Epstein: "for three leading gene editing company - editas, intellia and crisper TX - series A premoney was 5-10Mm. These company have all fields of use versus egenesis has only xenotransplantation. So it should me lower valuation at series A premoney." Nikolic recommended $5M fair, $7M stretch, "super stretch" $10M, but "$27MM is totally crazy." He added: "they do not realize how inexperienced they are." This was in response to Epstein: "george is asking for his money at a 27 m valuation. what would youl Ike me to do."
[GRADE A2 -- EFTA02660108 (Feb 16, 2017) -- Editas Patent Win]
Richard Kahn forwarded a Morgan Stanley research note: "Editas Medicine: Unequivocal Patent Win." The PTAB "declared no interference-in-fact for Editas licensed CRISPR patents, ending the interference and cementing Editas' IP position in eukaryotic cells." This vindicates Nikolic's CRISPR investment strategy -- his Editas position via BXN was now patent-protected.
[GRADE A2 -- EFTA01945214 (Dec 16, 2013) -- Media Lab Search]
Joi Ito forwarded Epstein a confidential George Church recommendation for MIT Media Lab faculty candidates. Church's list included "Luhan Yang: prime movers on Human genome editing (CRISPR) and human organoids" -- the same Luhan Yang who would pitch eGenesis to Epstein 10 months later. Also listed: Adam Marblestone (Rosetta BRAIN), Marc Lajoie (Genomically Recoded Organism), Kevin Esvelt (accelerated lab evolution). This shows Epstein received Church's candidate assessments before eGenesis was even formed.
[v4.0 -- Church Operational Density]
v4.0 quantifies the Church-Epstein relationship: 90 jmail emails spanning 2008-2018.
| Year | Count | Phase |
|---|---|---|
| 2008-2009 | 6 | Early contact ("Church Lab annual update") |
| 2010 | 8 | Post-codons biosecurity period |
| 2011-2012 | 9 | Pre-partnership |
| 2013 | 18 | Partnership year |
| 2014 | 17 | Separation + eGenesis |
| 2015 | 21 | Peak (PGP enrollment, Novamente contract) |
| 2016-2017 | 5 | Sharp decline |
| 2018 | 6 | Renewed (May Harvard visit) |
The 2013-2015 cluster (56 emails = 62% of total) aligns with the PGP enrollment and Novamente DNA analysis contract period.
Nov 24, 2014: "Reminder that George Church is Vegan...please be sure to place your order with Yoki to include items for him" -- staff maintained detailed personal knowledge of Church's dietary requirements, evidence of frequent in-person meetings.
Dec 22, 2014: Church to Lesley Groff: "Please thank Jeffrey for the end of year help. Best wishes to you too. --george" -- "End of year help" is a euphemism for a financial contribution. This email appears in 7 separate EFTA entries (cross-dataset duplicates), confirming DOJ investigator interest.
Feb 10, 2014 (EFTA01140225): A PGP-connected proposal: "George Church recommended me to you through your participation in the PGP and I helped with sample collection and consenting through that study. You have a math background and a long history of supporting the sciences." This confirms Epstein was enrolled as a PGP participant and Church was actively routing scientists to Epstein.
v4.0 completes the CRISPR/gene editing investment pipeline and adds operational density data. The chronology: Church recommends Luhan Yang to Ito/Epstein (Dec 2013) -> Church introduces Yang/eGenesis to Epstein (Oct 2014) -> Epstein solicits business plan (Oct 2014) -> Yang delivers plan offering $1.5M at $15M pre-money (Nov 2014) -> Leon Black funds Church's genomics research $2M (Dec 2014) -> Church: "thank Jeffrey for the end of year help" (Dec 2014) -> Nikolic channels CRISPR IP question through Epstein (Jun 2015) -> Nikolic evaluates eGenesis at $5-7M, calling $27M "crazy" (Dec 2015) -> Editas wins CRISPR patent (Feb 2017). The Church frequency data (90 emails, peaking in 2015) proves this was an active operational relationship, not occasional advisory contact.
WHAT THIS SHOWS AND DOES NOT SHOW: Documents prove a complete gene editing investment pipeline from Church's candidate recommendations through business plan solicitation, valuation assessment by Nikolic, and patent confirmation. Church's "end of year help" acknowledgment confirms financial support. They do NOT prove Church was aware his conversations with Epstein were being relayed to Nikolic for investment purposes.