How Epstein was trying to get close to Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials. The message for the leader from the Kremlin
Jeffrey Epstein. Credit: Epstein Estate/House Oversight/Committee via ZUMA Press Wire / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
New documents released by the US Department of Justice about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein offer new insight into his attempts to get closer to high-ranking officials in Russia, including President Vladimir Putin, with whom Epstein tried to talk or meet on several occasions, according to CNN.
The documents do not show whether the sex offender was ever able to make contact with the Russian leader. Analysts say these only suggest he was trying to collaborate with influential figures and position himself as some kind of power player on the geopolitical stage.
On May 9, 2013, in an email to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Epstein said Jagland was “going to see Putin in Sochi” on May 20 and asked if he could make himself available for a meeting with the Russian president “to explain how Russia can structure deals to encourage Western investment.”
“I've never met him, I just wanted you to know,” Epstein added in the email to Barak.
Message on behalf of Epstein to Vladimir Putin
A few days later, on May 14, 2013, Jagland told Epstein that he intended to send a message to Putin on Epstein's behalf that he might be useful.
“I have a friend who can help you take the necessary steps (and then introduce yourself) and ask him [dacă] is interested in having a date with you,'” Jagland wrote in an email to Epstein.
Epstein replied, “He's in a unique position to do something great, like Sputnik did for the space race. You can tell him we're close and I'm advising Gates. It's confidential. I'd be happy to meet him, but for a minimum of two or three hours, no less.”
Through a spokesman, billionaire Bill Gates publicly described the meeting with Epstein as a “serious error of judgment” but denied any wrongdoing.
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He claimed to have refused a meeting with the Russian leader
In another email to Barak on May 21, 2013, Epstein claimed, without evidence, that he had rejected Putin's request to meet during a Russian economic conference in St. Petersburg. Epstein said that if the Russian president wants to meet him, “he has to reserve time and privacy.” CNN says it's unclear whether the Russian leader ever asked to meet with Epstein.
More than a year later, in July 2014, an email received by Epstein suggested — without confirming — that she had a planned meeting with Putin and had invited the LinkedIn founder to join them. Joi Ito, then director of the MIT Media Lab, wrote to him: “I couldn't get Reid to change his schedule to go with you to meet Putin. ;-).”
In June 2018, Jagland sent Epstein an email saying he hoped to stay at his residence in Paris and was returning from Moscow, where he planned to meet with Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and then-Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.
“I'm just sorry I'm not with you to meet the Russians,” Epstein replied.
On Thursday, Norwegian authorities announced they had opened an investigation into Jagland based on information from the Epstein documents. Jagland denies wrongdoing and his lawyer said he would cooperate with the investigation.
The documents also show that Epstein met frequently in New York with Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the UN, who died on February 20, 2017. Epstein had even offered to help Churkin's son get a job at a wealth management firm in New York.
Connections with the Russian secret services
The documents also suggest Epstein had a close relationship with at least one Russian with ties to the FSB, Russia's main security service and successor to the KGB. Epstein called Sergei Beliakov, who Russian news agency TASS reported graduated from Moscow's FSB Academy in 1999, “my very good friend” in a 2015 email to billionaire Peter Thiel.
The documents show that Epstein had offered to introduce him to Belyakov, who at the time headed the St. Petersburg Economic Forum Foundation, responsible for organizing Russia's largest economic conference.
On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that authorities in Warsaw would launch an investigation into possible links between Jeffrey Epstein and the Russian secret services, as well as any impact on Poland.
Poland wants to uncover links between Epstein and Moscow's secret services. Tusk suspects Russians have 'compromising material'
