CBS News' Peter Attia set meeting with Epstein even as his hospitalized infant battled for life

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Newly hired CBS News contributor Peter Attia had reportedly made plans to meet with Jeffrey Epstein while his infant son was hospitalized and fighting for his life.

The detail about Attia, a longevity expert and anti-aging influencer, has emerged in newly released Epstein emails.

Peter Attia planned to meet Jeffrey Epstein over family

In his 2023 book, 'Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity', Attia detailed how he ignored his infant child's critical health, prioritizing work.

In the book, he recalled receiving a phone call from his wife, Jill, on the evening of July 11, 2017, informing him that their infant, Ayrton, had suddenly stopped breathing.

“I stayed in New York, busy with my ‘important’ work,” Attia admitted in the book. “Ayrton’s cardiac arrest happened on a Tuesday, but I did not come home to San Diego until Friday of the following week. Ten days later.”

Newly released email correspondence between the two has now revealed that during that same period, Attia was arranging a meeting with Epstein.

The disgraced New York financier who was already facing allegations of crimes against minors at the time.

Attia later described himself in the book as a “blind, selfish, checked-out husband and father” and said he may never forgive himself for staying away from his family during the medical emergency.

“I feel nauseous about my behavior,” he wrote. “I can’t believe I did that to my family.”

Peter Attia's emails with Jeffrey Epstein released

Just one day after speaking with his wife about their critically ill son, Attia exchanged emails with Epstein on July 13, 2017, making plans to meet and even offering to adjust his own schedule for the convicted offender.

“Can you do before 10 am? tomrow,” Epstein wrote.

“Sure,” Attia responded. “I can come earlier, also, if you have a hard stop at 10. Let me know.”

It remains unclear whether the meeting between Attia and Epstein actually took place that day, or what occurred if it did.

The July 13 exchange was part of a much larger bundle of Epstein-related documents released Friday, January 30.

The correspondence between Epstein and Attia revealed extensive correspondence.

In one email, Attia told Epstein that “p***y is, indeed, low carb.”

Attia’s name appears 1,741 times across the roughly 3 million documents released, many of which include his inquiries into Epstein’s well-being and references to the financier’s “outrageous” lifestyle.

CBS weighs Attia's future as he apologizes

On Monday, February 2, Attia issued a lengthy apology on X, saying he was “ashamed” of his interactions with Epstein.

“I apologize and regret putting myself in a position where emails, some of them embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible, are now public, and that is on me. I accept that reality and the humiliation that comes with it,” he wrote.

Attia insisted that his dealings with Epstein had nothing to do with the financier’s “abuse or exploitation of anyone” and said he “was not involved in any criminal activity.”

He also attempted to explain the nature of the emails, including a 2015 message in which he referenced Epstein’s “outrageous” lifestyle.

“At that point in my career, I had little exposure to prominent people, and that level of access was novel to me,” Attia said.

“Everything about him seemed excessive and exclusive, including the fact that he lived in the largest home in all of Manhattan, owned a Boeing 727, and hosted parties with the most powerful and prominent leaders in business and politics.”

Attia said he met with Epstein seven or eight times at the financier’s Manhattan townhouse until 2019.

“Shortly after we met, I asked him directly about his 2008 conviction. He characterized it as prostitution-related charges,” Attia said, adding that he only realized in 2018 that the description was “grossly minimized.”

“I was incredibly naïve to believe him. I mistook his social acceptance in the eyes of the credible people I saw him with for acceptability, and that was a serious error in my judgment. To be clear, I never witnessed illegal behavior and never saw anyone who appeared underage in his presence.”

Attia insisted that his statement was not an attempt to excuse his past conduct.

“I am not asking anyone to ignore the emails or pretend they aren’t ugly. They simply are,” he said. “The man I am today, roughly ten years later, would not write them and would not associate with Epstein at all. Whatever growth I’ve had over the past decade does not erase the emails I wrote then.”

CBS News is reportedly weighing whether to sever ties with Attia following the revelations.

However, new chief Bari Weiss is said to be undecided, with sources telling the New York Post she is reluctant to cave to what some see as a “mob” demanding his removal.

Attia was named a new on-air contributor for the network on January 27, just three days before the latest batch of the Epstein files became public.