Secretary of the Navy John Phelan is named on a flight manifest found among millions of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that have been released in recent months, showing that he flew in 2006 from London to New York on Epstein’s private plane. US President Donald Trump and and Navy Secretary John Phelan look on during the unveiling a new class of warships, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 22, 2025. During the flight, Epstein pitched the other financiers on a tax concept that Phelan “had no interest in,” the friend said, and Phelan never spoke or interacted with Epstein again. According to details on the manifest, the plane — a Boeing 727 — was one of the notorious aircraft owned by Epstein. There is no evidence Phelan knew of any wrongdoing by Epstein or his associates when he took the flight.

Source: CNN February 07, 2026 03:12 UTC