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What Bucher said about Epstein
In a February 10, 2026 report, TechCrunch said Bucher posted on X in response to coverage of her relationship with Epstein. The underlying post was not independently available in the reporting reviewed here, so her comments below are attributed as TechCrunch quoted or reported them.
Bucher said Epstein made her feel she could be safe from the Russian government after she obtained a U.S. green card. As TechCrunch quoted her: “He made me feel I could be safe from the regime, someone with power and connections who could shield me” from threats she associated with Russia.
She also said, “I was naive; I didn’t dig deep enough early on.” According to TechCrunch, Bucher said she believed Epstein’s explanation of his earlier conviction and trusted validations from investors and scientists. She apologized to founders, her team and investors, saying the situation had “caused pain I never intended.” TechCrunch’s February 10, 2026 account reports these statements.
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What published reports say the correspondence shows
Forbes reported that hundreds of emails and messages between Bucher and Epstein appeared in a U.S. Department of Justice document release. Its account describes PR work for Epstein and introductions to journalists, founders and other Silicon Valley figures, alongside personal exchanges. Forbes also reported that Epstein solicited nude photographs; it said it was unclear whether Bucher sent any. The reporting does not establish that she did.
The Information likewise described contact and introductions in the correspondence. It noted that Bucher had previously characterized the relationship as meeting Epstein once and doing work as a favor, while its account of the messages described broader contact. That is a discrepancy between her earlier characterization and the reporting on the correspondence; the material cited here does not establish why the accounts differ.
Correspondence can document contact, requests or introductions. It is not proof on its own that a person committed a crime. TechCrunch said the released documents did not indicate Bucher broke laws. Forbes’s February 4, 2026 report and The Information’s account describe the correspondence; neither changes that distinction.
Did Epstein help establish or fund Day One Ventures?
The public accounts present claims that are not fully reconciled. Forbes reported that Bucher later said Epstein contributed zero dollars to Day One’s assets under management and did not help establish the firm. Forbes also reported a 2017 email in which Bucher asked Epstein for introductions to potential investors. Separately, The Information reported a 2019 message in which Bucher thanked Epstein for ideas and knowledge and said she would not have created her fund without them.
These reported statements distinguish direct funding from introductions or advice, but the accounts do not resolve their apparent tension or establish a direct Epstein investment in Day One. The evidence described in these reports therefore supports neither a claim that Epstein financed the firm nor a definitive account of how much his assistance mattered to its creation.
What Day One does and the scale Bucher reported
Day One Ventures combines early-stage startup investing with communications support for portfolio companies. TechCrunch reported that Bucher founded the firm in 2018. In a December 4, 2025 profile, it said Day One closed its third fund at $150 million in 2024. Bucher told TechCrunch that assets under management had grown from $11 million to more than $450 million. Those AUM figures are her statements as reported in 2025, not independently audited figures or necessarily current totals.
That business context matters because the reporting describes Bucher’s relationship with Epstein as involving both personal contact and professional networking. It does not, on the evidence cited here, establish that he invested in Day One or that the firm’s reported assets came from him. TechCrunch’s December 4, 2025 profile describes the firm and reports the dated fund and AUM figures.
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TechCrunch reports that Bucher was associated with the Russian youth group Nashi and appeared in the 2012 documentary Putin’s Kiss. The same report says she claimed to have given up her Russian passport, publicly denounced Putin and met some of Epstein’s victims. It also reports that a Russian investigative journalist disputed parts of her account concerning threats to her family and relinquishing her passport. The accounts cited here do not resolve those disputes, so the claims should not be treated as independently established facts.
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More broadly, the published coverage cited here describes released correspondence and reports Bucher’s explanations, but it does not provide a complete adjudication of her personal claims, the extent of Epstein’s role in her fund’s formation, or the circumstances behind each exchange.
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