Jeffrey Epstein, a spy for Russia? New documents reveal accused financier had a message for Putin

Jeffrey Epstein tried to meet or speak with high-ranking Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, new documents released by the US Department of Justice reportedly revealed.

According to CNN, Epstein had met regularly with Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin in New York. As per the documents, Epstein had even offered to help Churkin’s son, Maxim, get a job at a wealth management firm in New York.

Churkin had "suddenly died" in 2017, CNN reported, adding that Epstein was now looking to talk with a different Russian official: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The documents reportedly revealed that on June 24, 2018 - a year after Churkin had suddenly died – Epstein emailed Norwegian politician Thorbjørn Jagland, then the secretary general of the Council of Europe: “I think you might suggest to putin, that lavrov, can get insight on talking to me. vitaly churkin used (to) but he died. ?!”

Jagland answered that he would meet with Lavrov’s assistant the following Monday and suggest it.

Epstein, as per CNN, replied: “churkin was great. he understood trump after [our] conversations. it is not complex. he must be seen to get something its that simple.”

The report further noted that while Epstein’s interest in scouting models from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe had previously come to light, the latest release of documents offered new insight into his attempts to draw closer to high-ranking Russian officials.

On May 9, 2013, according to the documents, Epstein wrote to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that Norwegian politician Thorbjørn Jagland “is going to see putin in sochi ” on May 20 and that Jagland asked if Epstein would make himself available to meet with the Russian president “to explain how russia can structure deals in order to encourage western investment.”

“I never met him, wanted you to know,” Epstein added in his email to Barak.

A few days later, Jagland told Epstein on May 14, 2013, that he planned to pass a message to Putin on Epstein’s behalf that Epstein could be useful.

“I have a friend that can help you to take the necessary measures [and then present you] and ask [whether] it is interesting for him to meet with you,” Jagland wrote in an email to Epstein.

Epstein replied: “He is in a unique position to do something grand, like sputnik did for the space race, You can tell him that you and I are close , and that i advise Gates. this is confidential. I would be happy to meet him , but for a minimum of two to three hours, not shorter.”

However, in another email to Barak on May 21, 2013, Epstein claimed without providing evidence that he denied a request from Putin to meet during a Russian economic conference in St. Petersburg.

Epstein had reportedly said that if Putin wanted to meet with him, he would “need to set aside real time and privacy.” (It’s unclear if Putin indeed ever requested to meet with Epstein.)

“More and more leads, more and more information, and more and more commentary in the global press all relate to the suspicion that this unprecedented pedophilia scandal was co-organized by Russian intelligence services,” Tusk was quoted by CNN as saying.

He added, “I don’t need to tell you how serious the increasingly likely possibility that Russian intelligence services co-organized this operation is for the security of the Polish state."

“This can only mean that they also possess compromising materials against many leaders still active today," he said.

However, the documents do not indicate whether Epstein ever succeeded in connecting with the Russian leader.

“The theory that Epstein was controlled by Russian intelligence services can be taken in any way, but not seriously,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Peskov added that reporters should “not waste time” looking into allegations Epstein had links to Russian intelligence.