DOJ Emails Show RFK Jr. Joined Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on 'Dinosaur Bone Hunting' Trip

Newly released Department of Justice records include emails and interview material that indicate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on a fossil‑hunting outing in the Dakotas.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005 Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Among more than three million documents released by the DOJ on Jan. 30 is an August 2012 email from Epstein referencing a visit to a ranch with paleontologist Jack Horner where they "found 90 million year old clams and fossils." The following day Maxwell replied, noting, in effect, that she and Epstein had gone fossil hunting with Kennedy in North Dakota; Epstein answered, "Yes."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 1992Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Excerpt from DOJ documents: Epstein wrote that he had been on the ranch with Jack Horner and had found "90 million year old clams and fossils." Maxwell replied, asking whether they had gone fossil hunting with "him and Bobby Kennedy in N Dakota." Epstein responded, "Yes."

Maxwell—who has been convicted of sex trafficking and has long been identified as Epstein's close associate—later confirmed the outing during an interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that was released by the DOJ and obtained by Politico. In that interview she said she did not remember specific flights with Kennedy but stated, "We went dinosaur bone hunting in the Dakotas."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Richardson Kennedy in 2010Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic

Flight Records and Public Statements

There is no publicly confirmed flight log tied specifically to the fossil‑hunting weekend. Separate flight records, however, show Kennedy and his then‑wife Mary Richardson Kennedy traveled with Epstein from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Palm Beach, Florida, in 1994; reports say two of Kennedy's children were on that trip.

Kennedy has acknowledged flying on Epstein's private plane on two occasions while addressing the matter during his 2023 presidential campaign. Speaking with Fox News host Jesse Watters in December 2023, he said he and his family took a ride to Palm Beach after Mary accepted Maxwell's offer, and that he later flew with family members to Rapid City, South Dakota, for a fossil‑hunting weekend. In a January 2024 interview with NewsNation, Kennedy reiterated that he "had no relationship with" Epstein beyond those flights and social encounters.

Jeffrey Epstein died in an apparent suicide while awaiting trial roughly one month after his arrest on sex‑trafficking charges in July 2019. The DOJ's document release is part of an ongoing effort by prosecutors and archivists to disclose records tied to the investigations of Epstein and his network.

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