Florida Governor from 2007 to 2011, and later U.S. Representative from 2017 to 2023 after switching parties from Republican to Democrat. Epstein mounted an extensive effort in late 2010 to obtain clemency from Crist after completing a 13-month sentence on Florida state sex charges.
The campaign involved enlisting New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as an intermediary, with emails between Epstein assistant Lesley Groff and Richardson deputy Janis Hartley showing that Richardson planned to call Crist on December 27, 2010 on Epstein's behalf. Groff's records also include a December 3, 2010 note that Crist was scheduled to call Epstein directly. Crist told NBC News he never spoke with Epstein or Richardson about a pardon and was aware of the clemency effort only through newspaper accounts.
No clemency was granted. The Epstein files released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act contain the email chain documenting the effort.