Steven Mnuchin’s Mysterious Link to Creepy Epstein Model Scout
In the late 1980s—before he was a member of Donald Trump’s Cabinet, or even a high-rolling hedge-fund manager—Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin served in an official capacity for a business run by one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most infamous associates.
In official records, Mnuchin is listed as the official state point of contact for Next Management Corporation, a company formed in 1988 by modeling-industry insiders Jean-Luc Brunel and Arnaud Brunel. At the time, Jean-Luc Brunel had just been the subject of a 60 Minutes documentary accusing him of drugging and raping at least three models. Later, he would be accused by two women of supplying girls to Epstein to be sexually abused. (Brunel has denied the allegations.)
Records accessed by The Daily Beast list Mnuchin as the New York Department of State process for Next Management Corporation. According to department officials, the DOS process is the person who files a company’s registration papers and receives lawsuits and other official documents on their behalf—usually a lawyer or some other legal representative.
A Treasury Department official said Mnuchin did not know he was listed as the DOS process for Next Management Corp. before The Daily Beast’s inquiry. He said it was “not clear” how Mnuchin wound up serving in that role and added that the secretary did not recall ever meeting either Brunel brother and had never done business with either of them.
Mnuchin’s office did confirm that he was longtime friends with Faith Kates, the owner of the Next modeling agency. The Brunel brothers co-founded the Next agency with Kates in 1989, and their company, Next Management Corp., owned a 25 percent stake in the agency for several years. The address listed under Mnuchin’s name in the state department records is the first address for Kates’ company, Next Management Company.
Reached by The Daily Beast, Kates denied any involvement with setting up Next Management Corporation and said she had nothing to do with Mnuchin serving as the DOS process.
“Ms. Kates was never involved with Next Management Corp. in any way,” a spokesperson said. “Given that, she never designated anyone, including Sec. Mnuchin, to be a DOS process or any officer or director of Next Management Corp.”
The spokesperson added that Kates’ agency sued Next Management Corp. 25 years ago, over allegations that the Brunel brothers had “raided” the agency, and said Kates had not had any contact with them since then. She said Kates had “no knowledge” of why her company’s address was listed in official records for Next Management Corp.
Kates has her own connections to Epstein, as The Daily Beast previously reported. Former employees say the financier regularly dropped in on the agency’s New York offices, and tax filings show he donated tens of thousands of dollars to charities connected to Kates and her family. At least two former Next models have been romantically linked to Epstein, and a third appears in his infamous address book.
A spokesperson for Kates said neither she nor the Next agency had any business or financial ties to Epstein and that Kates never introduced the financier to any models.
Mnuchin has been friends with Kates for approximately 30 years, according to the Treasury Department official, and once helped Kates set up a business “as a friend.” A spokesperson for Kates confirmed the two had been friendly for decades. She said Mnuchin had offered Kates business advice when she started Next Management Company and served as her real-estate broker.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/steven-mnuchins-mysterious-link-to-creepy-epstein-model-scout-jean-luc-brunel
December 17, 2020
This A+ list government official is going to have to give a much better explanation as to why he was listed as the point of contact on the legal documents for a modeling company used for prostitution and trafficking. The company was started by the person arrested earlier today.
Steve Mnuchin/Next Management Corporation/Jean Luc Brunel
https://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2020/12/blind-items-revealed-2_24.html