Finding Skeptic Con-Man Al Seckel in the Epstein files (Part 1)

Now that the Epstein files have been (reportedly) fully released, I knew that Seckel must be in them. Seckel organized a "Mindshift" Science conference on Lolita Island, and he married the sister of Ghislaine Maxwell. The question is, what is in there? 

"Jeffrey Epstein and Al Seckel have assembled a diverse and eclectic intimate group of exceptional thinkers and achievers to discuss various topics...."

I wrote about Seckel two years ago, "The Strange Life and Death (?) of Al Seckel." (You should read that first if you're unfamiliar with the Seckel saga.) I first met Seckel at the 1984 CSICOP Conference, held at Stanford University. He was then an enthusiastic young man of twenty-six, (falsely) claiming to be a graduate student in “physics” and “history of science” at Cal Tech. (In reality, Seckel never completed a single year of college.) He sought me out because I had been a co-founder of the Bay Area Skeptics (along with the late magician Bob Steiner) just two years earlier. Seckel explained that he was in the process of founding a similar group, the Southern California Skeptics (SCS). He wanted to discuss our experiences, and get my advice. Later, he arranged for me to give the first lecture to the Southern California Skeptics.

I put a question mark after Seckel's reported death in France in 2015, which has been widely reported but never officially documented.

My search of the official DOJ Epstein Website for "Seckel" returned 1,376 results. It is obvious that many of them contain duplicate information; I have tried to manage this as best I can. So some important information might possibly be left out, although that seems unlikely. Much of their correspondence concerns agreeing on a time for a telephone talk. There are also the errors of OCR, especially around a blanked-out region. I find it funny that the email address Epstein was using was "jeevacation@gmail.com". I can imagine what kind of vacation he might have in mind! 😂 At one point (repeated in several documents), Seckel says to Epstein, "You are obviously having way too much fun," but does not specify what kind of fun he means.

What happened with the Southern California Skeptics? We find the following testimony from Bart D. Hibbs:

Seckel impersonating a real scientist

I am an engineer at AeroVironment in Simi Valley, CA.
I have known the plaintiff Al Seckel since approximately the mid 1980s. In approximately 1984, Al Seckel founded a skeptical group to counter various pseudoscientific beliefs in popular culture. This group was called the Southern California Skeptics (SCS). In
approximately1987, I was appointed by the Board to take over the role of SCS Treasurer from the previous treasurer John Edwards, and continued in this official role until the group suspended its activities sometime in 1990. Between 1987 and 1990 I was officially listed as
the SCS treasurer on all SCS mastheads. I reported to the SCS Board on a regular basis
about the finances of SCS. Al Seckel was present at these meetings, along with other SCS
board members. I also regularly attended the meetings of SCS.  I rarely see Al Seckel
anymore.
During the time that I was SCS treasurer, I personally handled all the finances and
accounting of the SCS. This task included keeping track and recording all income/expenses
of SCS, as well as check writing privileges for various SCS expenses. I made copies of all
checks, all bank deposit receipts (which included cash deposits from the basket to collect
donations during the meetings). All of this I entered into an accounting program on my
computer, and the results of the accounting were given to the SCS board at the Board
meetings, and accurate and true annual accounts were published in the LASER, the official
Newsletter of the group. I took this job very seriously, and did it myself. Al Seckel never
tried to influence me in any way in doing the accounting, was not involved in the
accounting, and I was never "under his control" as some people have falsely claimed. I am
my own person and do my own work.
While I was treasurer of SCS, at no time was there any significant income into the group,
and legitimate expenses seemed to always quickly consume any income that came in,
despite the fact that the group was run on a very tight shoestring. Any income to SCS was
quickly eaten up by expenses that related to mass promotional mailings, subscriber
mailings, printings of the flyers and other promotional literature, printing of the LASER
(the official journal of the group), subscriptions, book purchases, banquet and conference
costs, costs of the Beckman Auditorium, and other legitimate SCS expenses. On several
occasions, SCS was short funds to cover the expenses that had to be outlaid. At this point,
Al Seckel would step in and put his own personal funds into the SCS account to cover the
SCS account so that it would not be overdrawn. As SCS was always operating at a slight
loss, Seckel would rarely, if ever, reimburse himself for the money that he outlaid to cover
SCS. Other Board members also contributed some funds to keep SCS afloat. Seckel did not
"loot the skeptics out of existence" as has been falsely claimed.
The rumors that have been related to me that Al Seckel had somehow been inappropriate,
misused, or taken funds from the SCS accounts for his own personal benefit are completely
contrary to my experience and knowledge. I cannot say this more emphatically, as the truth
is just the opposite! I know of no foundation to these claims at all. The claim made by Pat
Linse that Al Seckel received $60,000 from SCS (during my tenure as treasurer 1987-1990) is absolutely false and without merit. I never saw those kinds of funds in the Skeptics at any time.
The accounting books of SCS have always been open to anyone that asked. These books
had copies of all checks deposited, originals of all checks written, copies of all deposit
receipts, all SCS bank statements, and a computerized accounting of all transactions. All of
this was prepared solely by me. A true and correct copy of the SCS accounting books were
provided to Elie Shneour, Phillip Klass, and CSICOP. I cannot recall anyone else that ever
asked me to examine them. I kept them in my possession until approximately a few years
ago, when lack of space and any interest in them, made me decide to throw them out. This
is a decision I did entirely on my own, and I did not consult with anyone about it, as SCS
had closed down its operation well over 10 years previously. This is what I informed Al
Seckel when he contacted me recently for copies of the SCS accounting books.
Finally, there have been allegations that Seckel somehow "fabricated" the accounting
books to make them appear as if he did not "loot the skeptics." I know of no reason to do
this, as the legitimate accounting books showed just the opposite: that he helped keep the
Skeptics financially afloat, rather than looting it. In addition he never accessed the
computer on which I kept the records without my presence. The computer was almost
always at AeroVironment so he could not have gained access to it without my knowledge.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct.
Executed this day of December , 2007 , at Simi Valley, California.
Bart D. Hibbs 

Concerning the alleged financial improprieties within SCS, the late, highly-respected Pat Linse, co-founder of the Skeptics Society, told a different story. As she explained to Michael Shermer, the other co-founder:

An amicus curiae brief on behalf of 72 Nobel laureates in support of the appellees in Edwards v. Aguillard, the case testing the constitutionality of Louisiana’s “Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act.” That brief was organized, in part, by the Southern California Skeptics, a local group that, along with many others, emerged after the successful growth of CSICOP (Committee for the Scientific nvestigation of Claims of the Paranormal—now CSI, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry).  Pat had much more to tell me about how that brief came about, and especially the inner workings of the local skeptics group and why it collapsed the previous year because of the personal shenanigans of the organizer [Seckel]. 

  As for the attendees' list for the Mindshift conference, Seckel writes the following:

Sure (all are confirmed and booked with the exception of Nathan below):
Al Seckel
Murray Gell-Mann
Gerald Sussman
Christof Koch
Frances Arnold
Leonard Mlodinow
Ron Reisman
Pablos Holman
Brock Pierce
Baron Reichart
Paul Kirkaas
Dan Dubno
Nathan Mhyrvold (waiting, trying to coordinate his schedule to come)
I had earlier asked a three other friends of mine to attend, but they had other
commitments, but will another time:
Danny Hillis
Ed Witten
Kip Thorne 

Seckel asked, 

if you can give me a date (I assume the location would be your island), what do I
offer them, in terms of travel arrangements? 

Epstein's reply was: 

everything„ hotel airfare, food

Seckel and Isabel Maxwell, speaking at the WEF, 2011

Apparently, at one point Seckel asks Epstein about "finding" his "research work" (Ha!) :(obviously "funding" - Seckel keeps apologizing for typos, blames his phone)

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 9:38 AM, Al seckel < > wrote:
Do you stilt want to do you gathering?
And, would like to know if you would be interested in finding, even in part, my research work...
If this is even a remote possibility, let me know what you would need. 

Then it gets interesting. Epstein seems to be angry that he has already sent money to Seckel, who still wants more(!):

From: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com>
To: Al seckel < >
Sent: Wed, December 8, 2010 11:00:26 AM
Subject: Re: MIKE IS STILL ON CALL, HE HAS BEEN WAITING 45 MINUTES FOR YOU.
II have lent you 25k paid isabels trip, given you the last 10k wired to mike with the understanding that most of the pages would be gone by nov, ten thousand was wired to him on the 20 th november. to call me and tell me the servers will go down if he doesn't get more money is ludicrous.

On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 1:34 PM, Al seckel < wrote:
Christ,
This is just not what I need this morning, as I got a rate (as I told you) for cash. Trying save you $$$.
On call with WEF now. Can't speak. Call me in 30 minutes: 

From: Jeffrey Epstein <"eevacation@gmail.com>
To: Al seckel < >
Sent: Wed, December 8, 2010 10:30:32 AM
Subject: Re: MIKE IS STILL ON CALL, HE HAS BEEN WAITING 45 MINUTES FOR YOU.
he received a wire transfer from me„ this is silly„ i would like to ask him .his bank knows that the wire came from me„ he is going to get a 1099 for 20k so far.
On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 1:27 PM, Al seckel > wrote:
He asked me not to give it out. WHAT do you want me to do??? I have asked him repeatedly. You can ask him, but he won't. He doesn't want to work that way. He doesn't even know I gave you his bank info. HE WOULD EXPLODE" 

From: Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@qmaitcom>
To: Al seckel < >
Sent: Wed, December 8, 2010 10:25:44 AM
Subject: Re: MIKE IS STILL ON CALL, HE HAS BEEN WAITING 45 MINUTES FOR YOU.
I would like his number please . asap/
On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 1:24 PM, Al seckel > wrote:
I have to now be on a scheduled call with the WEF. If you gave me your phone number, as I don't have your Santa Fe number, and a time he can call, then it can be arranged.
Don't force him, you have no hold, and he will walk. his services are in too high demand. 

From: Jeffrey Epstein < jeevacatior@gmail.com>
To: Al seckel < >
Sent Wed, December 8, 2010 10:20:53 AM
Subject: Re: MIKE IS STILL ON CALL, HE HAS BEEN WAITING 45 MINUTES FOR YOU. 
I expect you to give me his direct contact. i do not use conference services , for private calls. ever

From: Jeffrey Epstein < jeevacatior@gmail.com>
To: Al seckel
Sent: Tue, June 15, 2010 8:37:08 PM
Subject: Re: sunday guests
always
On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 10:27 PM, Al seckel
Sean Carroll, Colwell physicist
https://en.wikipedia. r /wiki can M. art It
• ' . fun, smart, wacky. would you be up for a call early evening on sunday?
wrote: 

I am wondering who "MIKE" is 😏. Obviously these two are unwilling to risk putting any real content of their discussions down in writing.  And I don't believe for a minute that Epstein's "servers" would come crashing down unless he wired more money to Seckel!

End Part 1. I am ending this posting here not because I have finished the task, but because the task is so large that I fear I might never be able to finish it. Judging by file counts, I am less than 10% of the way through the "Seckel" hits. Stay tuned for more.......