Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 11: The Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday hit back at the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over mentioning of his name in the Epstein Files clarifying that he only met the late and disgraced American financier “on a few occasions (and) as part of a delegation” and only exchanged one email with him.
Puri told reporters this afternoon, hours after Gandhi’s explosive allegations in a parliamentary speech, that his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein “had nothing to do with charges against him…” The minister said his primary interaction at that time was with LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and that he had invited the internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist to India.
Accusing Rahul Gandhi of making “baseless allegations” related to Jeffrey Epstein files and failing to show parliamentary responsibility, Mr Puri said at a press conference that his name was dragged into a discussion linked to the so-called Epstein files and sought to place facts on record. He clarified that all information related to his interactions was already in the public domain.
“I want to remind you that during today’s Parliament session, my name was mentioned in the context of some developments elsewhere, the Epstein files. I want to clarify that these facts are all public,” Puri said. He explained that nearly three million emails covering the period from May 2009, when he served as India’s Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, until 2017, had been released. “There are references to only three or four meetings, and all my interactions were entirely professional, related to the Independent Commission on Multilateralism and other international work,” he added.
“Just three-four references (to his name) out of three million emails… I met Epstein on a few occasions as part of a delegation (and) exchanged just one email. Our interactions had nothing to do (with the crimes he is accused of),” Puri said, “We talked about ‘Make in India’.” “I had no interest in Epstein’s activities. For them, I was not the ‘right person’,” he also said, adding that Epstein had called him “two-faced” and that Rahul Gandhi should read the emails.
Puri’s strong response was after Rahul Gandhi, speaking to reporters outside parliament, referred to US files on Epstein that had mentioned Hardeep Puri and businessman Anil Ambani. On January 31, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had strongly dismissed references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2017 visit to Israel in an email purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files. He dubbed the reference as the “trashy ruminations” of a convicted criminal.
“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. 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,” Jaiswal said.
Last month the US Department of Justice released a vast new tranche of records from its files on Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law designed to shed light on what the government knew about his sexual abuse of young girls and interactions with wealthy and influential figures.
Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche said more than three million pages of documents were being released in the latest disclosure, alongside more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, published on the department’s website, include material that officials said had been withheld from an initial release in December.
The disclosures are mandated under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, enacted after months of political and public pressure. The law requires the government to open its files relating not only to Epstein but also to his long-time associate and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein died in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges, in a death ruled a suicide.
Mr Puri said the Congress leader has a pattern of levelling accusations without substantiation and walking out instead of listening to replies. “There are two kinds of leaders. One kind assumes responsibility within the political system, dedicates their lives to public service, and transforms the country, taking India from the 10th-largest economy to the fourth, and soon the third-largest. Then there are other leaders who occasionally come to the country, make allegations, and leave Parliament when a substantive reply is given,” he said.
At the press conference, Puri further attacked Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the Congress leader left the House after delivering his speech, echoing what he called a past tendency of avoiding debate. Without naming him directly, Puri said, You know the leader I am referring to…”
Earlier in the Lok Sabha session, Gandhi had alleged that businessman Anil Ambani was linked to the Epstein files and questioned why he was not in jail. “I would also like to ask Hardeep Puri, who introduced him to Epstein. I know who introduced him, and Hardeep Puri knows who introduced him…,” Gandhi claimed.