'Deserve to be dismissed with utmost contempt': India rubbishes PM Modi's mention in Epstein files
The response from the Ministry of External Affairs came hours after the US Department of Justice released a vast new tranche of records from its investigative files related to Epstein.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday rejected references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2017 visit to Israel mentioned in an email that is purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files, dismissing the claims as baseless.
Responding to reports, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the reference should not be taken seriously.
“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," he said.
Congress raises questions
Earlier, the Congress party sought to raise the issue after the Prime Minister was named in a purported email included in the documents released from the Epstein estate.
Epstein files: New batch released by US
The US Department of Justice on Friday released a large batch of investigative material linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The disclosure includes more than 3 million pages of records, over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images.
Announcing the release at a news conference, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the disclosures were in line with a transparency mandate passed by Congress last year.
"Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the act," he said.
Jeffrey Epstein died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, about a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. He had earlier served 13 months in custody in Florida following a controversial plea deal in 2008.