Jeffrey Epstein, the late American financier and convicted sex offender, attempted to convey a message to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding U.S. President Donald Trump just weeks before Trump’s first meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018, as reported by Politico on Wednesday, citing newly uncovered emails.
These emails are part of a large batch released by congressional investigators this week, offering insight into Epstein’s far-reaching international connections. The correspondence, made public following a Democratic subpoena of Epstein’s estate, spans several years and includes interactions with Russian officials and individuals affiliated with Trump.
In an email dated June 24, 2018, addressed to Thorbjørn Jagland, the former Norwegian Prime Minister and then-president of the Council of Europe, Epstein suggested a meeting with Lavrov. He stated, “You might want to propose to Putin that Lavrov could gain some insight about [Trump] from our conversation,” referencing the fact that the email was sent nearly a month before Trump’s meeting with Putin in Helsinki.
Jagland replied that he planned to meet with Lavrov’s assistant the next day and could suggest connecting with Epstein. It remains uncertain if a meeting between Epstein and Lavrov ever took place.
Epstein also mentioned his previous talks with the late Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s former Ambassador to the U.N., who died in 2017, noting that these discussions provided him with valuable insight into Trump. Epstein reportedly remarked, “Churkin was fantastic. He grasped Trump well from our talks. It’s not complicated; Trump needs to be seen as gaining something. It’s that straightforward.”
Following the Helsinki summit in July 2018, Epstein criticized Trump’s method of engaging with Putin in an email to Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary. He seemed to refer to Trump’s public admiration for Putin while accepting the Russian leader’s denial of interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Epstein was apprehended in July 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking and died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell the following month while awaiting trial.
Requests for comment from Russia’s Embassy in Washington and Jagland did not receive immediate responses. It is also unclear whether Lavrov has been contacted for his views.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on Wednesday that the emails do “absolutely nothing to prove any wrongdoing by President Trump.” Trump, in a post on Truth Social, accused the Democrats of trying to revive the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax” to divert attention from the party’s management of the recent U.S. government shutdown.
