EXCLUSIVE: Palm Springs businessman issues statement on Epstein connection

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) - A Palm Springs connection to the Epstein case. Palm Springs businessman Peter Mahler and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein messaging each other — revealed in newly unsealed federal records.

Justice Department files News Channel 3 has been going through show Mahler, operated a staffing company with a Palm Springs office, helped recruit potential employees for Jeffrey Epstein in 2013, five years after Epstein pleaded guilty to child prostitution charges.

Mahler has not been accused of wrongdoing, and there is no indication that any candidates recruited were victims of Epstein.

Mahler shared a statement exclusively to News Channel 3:

"While our firm doesn't comment about the thousands of staffing searches and interviews we have conducted over the past three decades, I am making an exception under these circumstances. The revelations about Jeffrey Epstein are abhorrent. We were conducting searches for professional administrative staff and property management positions for Jeffrey Epstein. These ultimately failed because he did not like the qualified candidates we identified for him to interview. Knowing what we know now, we would never have worked with him under any circumstances."

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.