Dalai Lama’s office rejects claims linking him to Jeffrey Epstein

The Dalai Lama’s office on February 8, dismissed reports circulating on social media that attempted to link the Tibetan spiritual leader with late US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a press statement issued from Dharamsala, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama said it could “unequivocally confirm” that the Dalai Lama had never met Epstein and had never authorised any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on his behalf.

“Some recent media reports and social media posts concerning ‘Epstein files’ are attempting to link His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Jeffrey Epstein,” the statement said. The office reiterated that such claims were false and baseless.

The clarification comes in the wake of the release of a large tranche of investigative material related to Epstein by the US Department of Justice on January 31. The disclosures made public more than three million pages of records, over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images linked to the case.
 

Announcing the release, US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the disclosures fulfilled a transparency mandate passed by the US Congress last year, marking the end of a comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure compliance with the law and transparency to the public.

The release followed the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November, which mandated the publication of all federal records related to Epstein. The Justice Department had initially missed a December 19 deadline to release the full cache, Al Jazeera reported.

Officials said hundreds of lawyers were assigned to review the documents to determine necessary redactions to protect victims’ identities and avoid compromising ongoing investigations. Blanche said materials that could expose potential victims or interfere with investigations were withheld.

The latest disclosures include images showing several public figures socialising with Epstein, including Bill Gates, Steve Bannon, Woody Allen and former US President Bill Clinton. None of those depicted have been charged in connection with the case.

Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors and died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after his federal indictment. He had earlier served 13 months in custody in Florida following a controversial plea deal in 2008.

(Inputs from ANI)