PARIS — French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in an interview Wednesday that he could “not rule out” the possibility that more French diplomats are in the Epstein files after revelations emerged of a former envoy who was allegedly in close contact with the convicted sex offender.
The allegations regarding the former French diplomat, which emerged Tuesday in French media, prompted Barrot to report the individual to the justice system, launch an internal probe and a disciplinary process — which could affect the individual’s lifelong privileges enjoyed by civil servants — the top French diplomat said on X.
Barrot said Wednesday in his interview with French radio station RTL that the release of 3 million files by the U.S. Department of Justice related to Jeffrey Epstein show “attempts to influence or maybe interfere with politics in European countries and even maybe French politics.”
The latest developments in the Epstein case have already had serious repercussions in France.
The most high-profile figure figure to be ensnared in the scandal is former Culture Minister Jack Lang, widely considered to be one of the most impactful politicians to have held the role. Lang resigned as president of the Paris-based Arab World Institute after the latest revelations about his and his family’s financial ties to Epstein. Lang had first acknowledged those ties in a 2020 interview with POLITICO but told POLITICO last week that he “never knew of Epstein’s crimes.”