Pizza and Grape Soda: What the Epstein 'Code Words' Actually Mean

In early February 2026, within days of the Department of Justice releasing more than three million pages of Epstein files, a claim went viral: the documents contained secret code words used by Epstein and his associates to discuss the trafficking of children. "Pizza" appeared 859 times. "Grape soda" appeared in messages alongside instructions that "no one else can understand." A "Chinese cookie" was invoked as a metaphor for something unspeakable.

The claims were aggregated by RT, amplified across social media platforms, and reported by outlets ranging from Unilad to the Sunday Guardian. Within a week, "Epstein code words" was one of the most searched phrases related to the files release. Fact-checkers at multiple organizations noted the lack of prosecutorial confirmation but could not definitively explain what the phrases meant in context, because the context had not been published.

We read the documents. The answer is not what anyone expected.

The Conversation

The phrases "pizza and grape soda," "Chinese cookie," and the line "no one else can understand" all originate from a single source: a series of text messages between Jeffrey Epstein and a man identified in the files as "Harry Fish." The messages are preserved across multiple EFTA documents (EFTA01616214 through EFTA01616235).

Harry Fish is Dr. Harry Fisch, a prominent New York urologist affiliated with Weill Cornell Medicine. He appears in 655 documents in the released files and has a profile in the Epstein Exposed database. The text thread between the two men spans March through June 2018 and reads like a conversation between two aging New Yorkers who enjoy junk food, Jewish humor, and low-stakes bickering.

On March 1, 2018, Fish sent Epstein a photo of a cookie and wrote: "This is a test. What's the name of this cookie." Epstein responded: "Chinese cookie. Not made with truffles." Fish replied with a reference to the Three Stooges. The exchange continued with jokes about kishkas and whether truffles belong in them.

On March 31, Fish wrote: "Pizza and grape soda." Epstein replied: "Nough said."

On April 11, the conversation turned to prescription medication. Epstein asked Fish to call in a Stendra prescription (an erectile dysfunction drug) to a pharmacy called Zitomer. After the prescription was filled, Fish texted: "After you use them, wash your hands and lets go get pizza and grape soda." This was a joke. About pills. And lunch.

On May 24, Fish wrote: "Greenberg's bakery just started making pop-tarts." Epstein replied: "Lets go ASAP." Fish responded: "First we get a slice of pizza with grape soda. Then the pop tart."

On June 17, a message referenced Sultan bin Sulayem wanting to "replace bionic dick with new swiss version," followed by Fish writing: "Pizza and grape soda tomorrow for lunch? We can also buy tefillin for Woody."

The "Chinese cookie" email that went viral (EFTA00841659) was sent on April 6, 2018, with the subject line "VERU" and an attached equity research PDF from Brookline Capital Markets about Veru Inc., a pharmaceutical company. The full text read: "This is better than a Chinese cookie! See attached. lets go for pizza and grape soda again. No one else can understand. Go kno."

The sender was sharing a stock tip. "Better than a Chinese cookie" meant better than a fortune cookie's prediction. "No one else can understand" referred to their private running joke about junk food outings. "Go kno" appears to be a truncated phrase, possibly "go know" (Yiddish-inflected English for "who would have thought").

What the Real Coded Language Looks Like

While millions of people debated whether "pizza" was a trafficking code, the actual coded language in the Epstein files sat unexamined in a different part of the archive: the calendar alert system.

Epstein's executive assistant Lesley Groff maintained a Google Calendar linked to Epstein's jeevacation@gmail.com account that functioned as a people-tracking network. Calendar entries were created to monitor the movements of associates, targets, and visitors across cities. Each entry triggered email notifications to Epstein.

The alerts used a consistent format: "Alert - [name/codename] [location/action]." Some used real names. Others did not.

Among the entries we identified in the files:

"Alert - GATES IN PARIS JUNE 9/10" tracked Bill Gates's presence in Paris. "Alert - Sultan in Paris" tracked Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. "Alert - leon return" monitored Leon Black's travel. "Alert - glenn in boson" tracked someone named Glenn (likely Glenn Dubin) in Boston. "Alert - Michael Wolff in Paris w/Victoria June 12-17" tracked the journalist and his companion. "Alert - DINNER AT ARIANE DE ROTHSCHILD HOME IN PARIS" logged a social event at the banker's residence. "Alert - remind JE People to see in Paris: Rassek, Rivkin, Lang" compiled a list of Paris contacts for Epstein's upcoming visit.

And then there is one that has never been decoded: "choslyh in paris."

The Codename That May Have Been Cracked

On November 24, 2016, Thanksgiving Day, a Google Calendar notification was sent to Epstein's Gmail account (EFTA01742935):

"Notification: choslyh in paris. Thu Nov 24, 2016 3am to 4am Eastern Time."

The entry was created by Epstein himself. It appeared as an "Alert" in a separate document from the same date. The word "choslyh" matches no known English, French, or Hebrew name. It is not an anagram of "Ghislaine" (the letters do not match). It is not a simple keyboard cipher.

But a community tipster may have cracked it: "choslyh" strongly appears to be Noam Chomsky.

The evidence is striking. On that exact date — November 24, 2016 — Chomsky delivered a lecture titled "The Galilean Challenge" at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. This is not an approximate match. It is the same day, in the same city, recorded in the same calendar system Epstein used to track contacts like "Glenn in Boston" and "Michael Wolff in Paris."

The connection runs deeper. In February 2026, Chomsky's wife Valeria issued a statement admitting they "visited Epstein's Paris apartment one afternoon for the occasion of a work trip." A linguistics lecture at the BnF is precisely that kind of work trip. And Chomsky's documented relationship with Epstein — spanning 2015 to 2019, including visits to properties in New York, New Mexico, and Paris, plus $270,000 in financial transfers — places him firmly in Epstein's orbit during this period.

Even the letters align: both words are seven characters long, share the "CHO" prefix, and match on five of seven unique letters. The k-to-l discrepancy sits on adjacent phone keyboard keys — consistent with either a swipe-typing error or deliberate obfuscation.

This identification remains unconfirmed, and we present it as the strongest hypothesis rather than established fact. But the convergence of an exact date match, a confirmed Paris visit, an admitted relationship, and letter-level similarity makes coincidence increasingly difficult to argue.

What Matters

The viral "code words" story was wrong in its specifics but right in its instinct. Epstein did use coded language. He just did not use it in the places people were looking.

The food references were friendship banter with a urologist. The real surveillance system was a calendar-based tracking network that monitored the movements of a former Israeli prime minister, the CEO of Microsoft, the chairman of Apollo Global Management, the head of DP World, and what now appears to be Noam Chomsky — tracked under the misspelling "choslyh" — across cities and continents.

The code was not in the vocabulary. It was in the infrastructure.

Source Documents

• EFTA01616214-01616235: Complete Epstein-Fish text message thread, March through June 2018. Contains all "pizza," "grape soda," "Chinese cookie" references in original context.
• EFTA00841659: "This is better than a Chinese cookie!" email with VERU stock research attachment. April 6, 2018.
• EFTA01742935: Google Calendar notification: "choslyh in paris." November 24, 2016, 3am-4am ET.
• EFTA02124461: Alert: "DINNER AT ARIANE DE ROTHSCHILD HOME IN PARIS." September 27, 2013.
• EFTA02135786: Alert: "GATES IN PARIS JUNE 9/10." June 9, 2013.

The calendar alert system documented in this article spans 352 "in Paris" entries alone. A full index of decoded alert entries is available in the Epstein Exposed database.