Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein cast a wide net in cultivating his relationships with Europe’s political elite, according to documents newly released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
Alongside a new tranche of images, texts and emails that show the breadth of the late disgraced financier’s relationships with unexpected public figures, a wave of doctored images and misleading accusations has followed.
It is important to note that the DOJ deemed the files potentially relevant to the investigation of Epstein and his collaborator, Ghislaine Maxwell, but equally insufficient to bring a case against any of those mentioned.
Nevertheless, documents in the files show that many of Europe’s elite maintained a close correspondence with Epstein long after he first pleaded guilty and was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute in 2008. Others are only given a passing mention.
So, who are some of the high-profile Europeans mentioned in the files and to what extent are they implicated?
Emmanuel Macron
Multiple posts on X and a video on YouTube claim that French President Emmanuel Macron directly sought business advice from Epstein when he was France’s minister for economics and finance. The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking team, also saw posts and comments claiming that Macron was directly involved in Epstein’s trafficking of minors.
When you look at the files, the president’s surname appears in at least 211 documents. However, the majority of these mentions are newspaper clippings and discussions about French politics that do not directly involve Macron or his inner circle.
There is no evidence from the files that Epstein and Macron ever directly corresponded.
There are only a handful of documents that suggest the president was directly linked to Epstein, and these largely discuss business and politics through intermediaries.
One document, from 2016, shows Emirati businessman Sultan Bin Sulayem sending a message to Epstein saying he had lunch at the Élysée and a nice conversation with Macron “regarding our business in France”. There are no further mentions in the files of Macron and Bin Sulayem together.
Other correspondence between US billionaire Tom Pritzker and Epstein references a meeting with Macron and an attempt to get in touch with him. There is no evidence in these documents that Epstein and Macron met or were in communication.
A screenshot that has been relayed on X as depicting Macron asking for Epstein’s help on policies is misleading.
The document from 2018 actually shows a redacted sender saying “From Macron” with a request to think about political ideas. It ends with “Need something”. Epstein is a participant in this exchange, with the sender and another participant redacted.
Another document on 30 August 2018 with the subject line “Re: Macron” shows a redacted sender telling Epstein that someone is asking for “disruptive and thoughtful ideas for him”.
“He wants to lead Europe. Maybe the world,” the sender says. Epstein responds with “ok”.
Further evidence that Epstein was not in direct communication with Macron comes from an email sent by him on 2 October 2018, where he asks Caroline Lang, the daughter of the former French culture and education minister Jack Lang, for a direct contact “with someone in the Macron admin”.
Caroline Lang replies that “I will ask my father and return to you”, indicating that Epstein himself did not have direct contacts in Macron’s administration.
Caroline and Jack Lang
Jack Lang and his daughter Caroline, a French film producer, are named in the files as directly corresponding with Epstein.
Epstein received multiple emails from Jack Lang’s personal secretary, including links to copies of the family’s passports and details of various trips.
There is no link made between the Langs and Epstein’s sex crimes, yet the three discussed various business ventures, including email references between Caroline and Epstein to a “great project”.
Jack Lang also requested favours from Epstein, such as the use of cars and planes.
Lang has responded to the files by saying that he first met Epstein through US director Woody Allen, describing his shock at discovering Epstein’s crimes.
“I was completely shocked when I discovered the crimes he had committed,” he said in a statement shared on 2 February.
“I fully accept the ties I may have formed at a time when nothing suggested that Jeffrey Epstein could be at the heart of a criminal network,” he added.
Epstein first pleaded guilty to solicitation of sex from a minor in 2008. He died by suicide while in jail in New York in 2019 while facing federal charges of trafficking underage girls. Jack Lang’s correspondence with Epstein extends into 2017.
After the files were released, Caroline Lang resigned from her role as head of France’s Independent Production Union, according to RFI.
“I do not want this situation to in any way harm the union,” she said in a statement announcing her departure.
Børge Brende
There are documents in the files that confirm Børge Brende, Norway’s former foreign affairs minister, at least planned to visit Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in June 2019 when he was president and CEO of the World Economic Forum — a position he still holds.
Multiple victims of Epstein have said that his townhouse was a location in which they were frequently abused.
“I’m looking forward,” Brende writes in one message. “Sushi would be amazing.”
Epstein’s townhouse was raided in July 2019, weeks after he was arrested on the sex trafficking charges.
There are appointment logs between Brende and Epstein from 2018, as well as evidence of direct correspondence between the pair. On 4 October 2018, Brende texted Epstein saying “thx btw for a great dinner”, which Epstein responded to by sharing his predictions about the future of AI, among other things.
One exchange shows Epstein asking Brende if he is free, claiming, “I am flying to see miro in vienna, Friday.” A fraudulent Austrian passport attributed to Epstein was previously discovered in an earlier tranche of the Epstein documents, issued under the name “Marius Robert Fortelni”.
There is no evidence that the pair discussed women or that Brende was directly involved in Epstein’s crimes. Brende told Norwegian business outlet E24 that if he had known of Epstein’s wrongdoing, he would “never have met him”.
“I should have looked into Epstein’s past more closely, and I regret that I didn’t,” he said.
Thorbjørn Jagland
There is direct evidence of meet-ups and communications between Epstein and Norway’s former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland during the time he served as secretary general of the Council of Europe.
In one document, Epstein alleged that US-German entrepreneur Peter Thiel that Jagland would be on his infamous island “for the entire next week”. Many of Epstein’s victims have alleged they were trafficked on Little Saint James, a private island Epstein owned in the US Virgin Islands, often nicknamed “Epstein Island”.
Elsewhere, Epstein sends a message to US professor and writer Noam Chomsky telling him that Jagland will be with him. “He awards the Nobel peace prize,” Epstein wrote.
In a document from 2012, Epstein asks Jagland if he called a “doctor”, with Jagland responding, “I did not have time to call him on Friday, but I’ll do it on Monday. Looking forward to seeing you.” In another, Jagland writes to Epstein: “I have been in Tirana (Albania) extraordinary girls.”
Norwegian outlet Dagens Næringsliv reported that in 2019, the chair of the Nobel Committee asked its members if they had ever had contact with Epstein. Jagland responded no.
He recently backtracked, according to the Aftenposten, which wrote he said he had shown “poor judgment” in his contact with Epstein. “I never would have had this contact if I knew what we know now,” he said.
Marine Le Pen
Multiple posts on X claim that far-right French politician Marine Le Pen has been outed in the Epstein files as a “Russian asset”.
In reality, there are at least 68 results for the word “le pen” in the files. The search results show newspaper clippings, discussions about French politics and Le Pen herself between Epstein and Caroline Lang, as well as communications from Steve Bannon, an executive and former White House strategist.
Bannon was documented as visiting Europe’s far-right parties, such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD), during 2018. The documents show that Bannon briefed Epstein about his meetings and opinions of European politicians.
The claims that the Le Pens are a Russian asset originate from an exchange sent by Michael Wolff, a US journalist, to Epstein, claiming he saw “SB”, or Steve Bannon, in London.
“He was having a meeting yesterday with the French right wingers, including Le Pen’s husband, about refinancing the National Front Party because apparently a good part of their money comes from Russia,” the email reads.
“Two thoughts here, these guy [sic] seemed like idiots, pure Ruritania,” Wolff continues.
Le Pen has faced allegations of aligning her policies with Russia in the past, particularly over a multi-million-euro loan she took out from the First Czech Russian Bank, which was later transferred to the Russian company Aviazapchast.
In his message, however, there is little conclusive evidence other than an intermediary’s opinion that Le Pen’s party was financed by Russia. There is also no evidence that Le Pen and Epstein directly corresponded.
Miroslav Lajčák
Multiple documents in the file dump show Miroslav Lajčák conversing directly with Epstein and arranging to meet up while he was Slovakia’s foreign minister.
The pair discussed women on multiple occasions, including messages where Lajčák said in 2018, “Regards from Kiev! Just to confirm that girls here are as gorgeous as ever:)”.
Elsewhere, the pair exchange text messages in which Lajčák says, “I would take the ‘MI’ girl.” Epstein responds with “You can have them both, I am not possessive. And their sisters.”
In an exchange dated to 2018, he says, “Moscow has oil and girls” after Epstein writes that girls are “Moscow’s best export”.
Lajčák has denied wrongdoing, saying he was not offered sexual services by Epstein and that he did not know the full extent of the disgraced financier’s actions.
He has resigned from his role as Slovakia’s national security adviser, and told public broadcaster Rádio Slovensko that the messages “were nothing more than foolish male egos in action — self-satisfied male banter”.
Read the full article here
