NEW DELHI: India on Saturday strongly rejected references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an email purportedly linked to the recently released investigative files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, dismissing the claims as baseless and contemptible.
“We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister's official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt.”
The email is among a massive set of investigative materials released by the US Department of Justice on Friday. The disclosures include more than 3.5 million pages of documents, over 2,000 videos and nearly 180,000 images, made public in line with a transparency law passed by the US Congress.
The Ministry of External Affairs’ response came amid attempts by the Congress to raise questions over the reference. Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged, “That India's PM could have a proximity to such a disgraced figure raises serious questions of judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety. It is now clear that the Prime Minister had a direct unexplained association with Jeffery Epstein whose infamous list of elite clients has wreaked havoc ever since the Epstein files began to be released.”
Announcing the release of the documents, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the move fulfilled a statutory transparency mandate.
“Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act,” he said.
Epstein, a financier with powerful connections, died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. He had earlier served 13 months in custody in Florida following a controversial plea deal in 2008.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)