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Which high-profile figures appeared most frequently on Jeffrey Epstein's flight logs?
Executive summary
Available flight-log compilations and court records show that aside from Jeffrey Epstein himself, Ghislaine Maxwell appears far more frequently on his plane manifests than any outside high‑profile guest — Business Insider’s analysis counted Maxwell on about 520 flights and Sarah Kellen about 350 [1]. Publicly released flight logs and related document batches (DOJ releases, court exhibits) list many famous names — Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew among them — but the most frequent named non‑crew passengers named in reporting are Maxwell and a small set of Epstein’s assistants, not necessarily outside celebrities [2] [1] [3].
1. Frequent flyers: Epstein’s inner circle dominates the logs
Journalistic reconstructions of the flight manifests show Epstein’s closest associates — notably Ghislaine Maxwell — as the single most frequent passengers; Business Insider compiled manifests and ADS‑B data and reported Maxwell on roughly 520 trips and Sarah Kellen on about 350, far outstripping appearances by outside public figures [1]. These counts reflect internal travel patterns: Maxwell and Kellen were part of Epstein’s operational circle and frequently accompanied him between properties [1].
2. High‑profile names appear, but not as the top repeat flyers
Many well‑known figures appear on flight logs that have been released or entered into evidence — reporting cites Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew and others in the manifests and “black book” releases — yet those people do not top the “most frequent” lists compiled by data reporters [4] [2] [3]. News outlets and document releases confirm high‑profile appearances but also show uneven frequencies and incomplete records [2] [4].
3. How reporters compiled the “most frequent” lists
Data‑driven projects combined court‑exhibited logs, FAA/ADS‑B movement data and unsealed files to count passenger appearances across thousands of flights; Business Insider’s compilation of manifests and flight signals tallied at least 2,618 trips and identified Maxwell and Kellen as the most regular passengers after Epstein himself [1]. These methods depend on combining handwritten logs, digital flight‑tracking signals and released court exhibits, which aids broader patterning but can leave gaps where entries are blank or illegible [1] [3].
4. Limits of the flight‑log evidence — what it does and doesn’t prove
Flight logs record names, initials or crew notations and route data; they do not by themselves establish the purpose of travel or what occurred on a flight. Authorities and reporting emphasize that logs are associative: a name’s presence shows travel but not criminal conduct [1] [3]. The DOJ and FBI have also reviewed extensive materials and in at least one public memo stated they did not find a single definitive “client list” or credible evidence that Epstein systematically blackmailed prominent individuals — a point cited in broader reviews of the files [5] [6].
5. Discrepancies in counts and public claims — why numbers vary
Different outlets report different totals because some analyses use only court‑exhibited log pages, others include supplemental FAA/ADS‑B tracking or later releases of estate emails and logs; that produces diverging tallies for any person’s appearances [1] [7]. Some local reporting also quotes specific counts for individual public figures (e.g., Trump flights cited in regional outlets), but those figures vary by dataset and time span used [8] [9] [10].
6. Competing viewpoints and political context around the files
Republican and conservative commentators have at times framed the released materials as largely recycled or politically weaponized, while other outlets and oversight investigators pushed for fuller transparency, noting new estate emails and the House review produced additional pages later in 2025 [7] [6] [5]. The DOJ’s public statements rejecting certain conspiracy claims about a “client list” exist alongside sustained investigative and media interest in who appears on flight manifests [5] [6].
7. Bottom line for readers seeking a concise answer
If you mean “who appears most frequently” in the compiled flight logs and manifest reconstructions, Epstein himself and his inner circle — especially Ghislaine Maxwell (≈520 flights) and Sarah Kellen (≈350 flights) — top the lists reported by data‑driven outlets [1]. If you mean “which prominent outside figures appear most often,” reporting shows names like Bill Clinton and others across logs, but they do not match Maxwell’s frequency and counts vary across datasets [4] [1].
Limitations: public reporting relies on released, often redacted or handwritten logs and on compilations that make methodological choices; available sources do not provide a single, definitive ranked list of all high‑profile figures across every dataset [1] [2].