Hardeep Puri denies Epstein link, clarifies meetings were professional

All information in public domain, says Union Minister on charges levelled by Gandhi

New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday rubbished charges levelled by Rahul Gandhi linking him to the infamous Epstein Files and said he met the sex offender as part of an International Peace Institute (IPI) delegation. The minister’s clarification came after Rahul Gandhi’s explosive Lok Sabha address.

Puri, at a press conference, said that his interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with the charges against the late American financier. He said that he met Epstein when he was part of a commission under the IPI.

“My boss at IPI Terje Rod-Larsen knew Epstein and I met him only on a few occasions, 3 or at max 4 times to be precise, as part of a delegation. Our interactions had nothing to do (with the crimes he is accused of),” Hardeep Puri said.

The minister added that all the information is in the public domain as the US Department of Justice has so far released over 3 million documents in connection with the case.

“Three million emails have been released, covering the period from May 2009, when I joined as India’s Ambassador to the UN in New York, until I became a minister in 2017. During this period, there are references to only three or four meetings, and my interactions were entirely professional, related to the Independent Commission on Multilateralism and other international work,” Hardeep Puri said.

“In eight years, there are just two references and one email exchange (with Epstein) because these people introduced me to him,” he clarified.

“The Epstein files Rahul Gandhi should know are about wrongdoing criminal offenses the epsilon files are about charges that he had an island where he used to take people to indulge in indulge their sexual fantasies charges of paedophilia and there are victims of this those victims have brought cases against the people in authority. My interaction has nothing to do with this,” he clarified.

“In the email exchange, also copied to Epstein, I am telling Reed Hoffman, former LinkedIn boss, that I am now convinced more than ever that India today presents a terrific opportunity for internet-based economic activity. I am just reading out parts of it: India, with two hundred

million users, is the world’s fastest growing country for internet users,” the minister said he read out the email exchange.

He read out another email exchange from 2014, “I had no interest in Epstein’s activities. For them, I was not the ‘right person’…Epstein called me two-faced. Rahul should read the emails.”

The clarification came shortly after Rahul Gandhi, while speaking in the Lok Sabha, said Hardeep Puri’s name is mentioned in the Epstein Files, which detail the criminal activities of the sex offender, including his social circle of public figures, politicians and celebrities. Several high-profile figures from across the world, including US President Donald Trump, Bill Clinton have been named in the files.

Epstein was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in August 2019 and a month later he died in a New York jail cell.