Epstein tried to cozy up to Russian officials, including Putin, documents show

Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Jeffrey Epstein had a message he wanted to get to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It was June 2018 – about a year after Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin had suddenly died . Churkin had been someone Epstein met with regularly in New York, according to new documents released by the Department of Justice, and Epstein had even offered to help Churkin’s son , Maxim, get a job at a wealth management firm in New York.

Now Epstein was looking to talk with a different Russian official: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. On June 24, 2018, Epstein emailed Norwegian politician Thorbjørn Jagland, then the secretary general of the Council of Europe, “I think you might suggest to putin, that lavrov, can get insight on talking to me. vitaly churkin used (to) but he died. ?!”

Jagland answered that he would meet with Lavrov’s assistant the following Monday and suggest it.

Epstein replied: “churkin was great. he understood trump after [our] conversations. it is not complex. he must be seen to get something its that simple.”

While Epstein’s interest in scouting models from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe had previously come to light, the latest release of documents related to the disgraced financier offers new insight into his attempts to draw closer to high-ranking Russian officials, including Putin, who Epstein tried to meet or speak with multiple times.

The new tranche of documents showing more of Epstein’s communications with international politicians, including Russian officials, has led to more speculation about the billionaire’s motives. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a cabinet meeting this week that his country will be launching an investigation into Epstein’s possible ties with Russian intelligence.

“More and more leads, more and more information, and more and more commentary in the global press all relate to the suspicion that this unprecedented pedophilia scandal was co-organized by Russian intelligence services,” Tusk said.

“I don’t need to tell you how serious the increasingly likely possibility that Russian intelligence services co-organized this operation is for the security of the Polish state,” Tusk added. “This can only mean that they also possess compromising materials against many leaders still active today.”

The Kremlin dismissed suggestions that Epstein was a spy for Russia.

Rick Friedman/Corbis News/Corbis via Getty Images

“The theory that Epstein was controlled by Russian intelligence services can be taken in any way, but not seriously,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. Peskov added that reporters should “not waste time” looking into allegations Epstein had links to Russian intelligence.

Analysts cautioned to CNN that the documents suggest little more than Epstein trying to rub shoulders with influential figures and position himself as a sort of geopolitical power player.

The documents do not indicate whether Epstein ever succeeded in connecting with the Russian leader.

On May 9, 2013, according to the documents, Epstein wrote to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that Jagland “is going to see putin in sochi ” on May 20 and that Jagland asked if Epstein would make himself available to meet with the Russian president “to explain how russia can structure deals in order to encourage western investment.”

“I never met him, wanted you to know,” Epstein added in his email to Barak.

A few days later, Jagland told Epstein on May 14, 2013, that he planned to pass a message to Putin on Epstein’s behalf that Epstein could be useful. “I have a friend that can help you to take the necessary measures (and then present you) and ask [whether] it is interesting for him to meet with you,” Jagland wrote in an email to Epstein .

Epstein replied: “He is in a unique position to do something grand, like sputnik did for the space race, You can tell him that you and I are close , and that i advise Gates . this is confidential, . I would be happy to meet him , but for a minimum of two to three hours, not shorter.”

Through a spokesperson, billionaire Bill Gates has publicly described meeting with Epstein as a “serious error in judgment” but denied any improper conduct .

But in another email to Barak on May 21, 2013 , Epstein claimed without providing evidence that he denied a request from Putin to meet during a Russian economic conference in St. Peterburg. Epstein said that if Putin wanted to meet with him, he would “need to set aside real time and privacy.” (It’s unclear if Putin indeed ever requested to meet with Epstein.)

CNN has reached out to the Kremlin for comment on Epstein’s correspondence with Barak.

More than a year later, in July 2014, an email to Epstein suggests that he had an upcoming scheduled meeting with Putin and had invited the LinkedIn founder to join. Joi Ito, then the director of the MIT Media Lab, wrote to Epstein, “I wasn’t able to convince Reid to change his schedule to go to meet Putin with you. ;-)”

Ito previously issued an apology for his association with Epstein and for accepting funding for the MIT Media Lab.

Some of Epstein’s communications with prominent Russians came at a sensitive time in US-Russia relations – after the US intelligence community accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 presidential election, which Donald Trump won.

Ute Grabowsky/Photothek/Getty Images

In June 2018, Jagland emailed Epstein that he hoped to stay at his residence in Paris and that he would be coming from Moscow, where he planned to meet with Putin, Lavrov and Dmitry Medvedev, then the prime minister of Russia.

“i m just sorry im not with you to meet the Russians,” Epstein replied.

On Thursday, Norway’s investigative unit Økokrim announced it had opened an investigation into Jagland based on information in the Epstein documents.

In a statement, Jagland’s lawyer Anders Brosveet said his client would cooperate with the investigation and provide “key findings and the relevant documentation” to the agency. “Based on what we have uncovered so far, we remain confident about the outcome,” Brosveet said.

Jagland has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

The documents suggest that Epstein had a close relationship with at least one Russian who had ties to the FSB – Russia’s main security service and successor to the KGB. Epstein referred to Sergey Belyakov, who Russian state news agency TASS said graduated from the FSB Academy in Moscow in 1999, as “my very good friend” in a 2015 email to billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

The documents show Epstein had offered to introduce him to Belyakov, who was running the St. Petersburg Economic Forum Foundation at the time, responsible for organizing Russia’s largest economic conference.

After attending the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in 2015, Barak, the former Israeli prime minister, reported back to Epstein that he’d met with several Russian officials, including Lavrov; the head of Russia’s central bank, Elvira Nabiullina; and several other heads of Russian banks.

“Thx for (setting) the whole thing together,” Barak wrote in an email to Epstein.

Barak’s office told CNN in a statement, the former Israeli prime minister’s visits to SPIEF “were always under invitation” of Putin’s office. The statement said Epstein was interested in Russian affairs and in meeting Putin but Barak “never raised” Epstein’s name with the Kremlin but “occasionally discussed” world affairs with him and “mentioned some people he met.”

In a 2016 exchange between Belyakov and Epstein, Belyakov tells Epstein that he has started a new position with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) – the country’s sovereign wealth fund – and that he was looking to attract investment for Russian projects.

“I will do anything [that] is helpful to you,” Epstein wrote to Belyakov in another email later that same week.

Anton Vaganov/Reuters

Epstein had also turned to Belyakov for help at least once. In a 2015 correspondence , Epstein wrote to Belyakov that a Russian “girl” from Moscow was attempting to blackmail a “group of powerful” businessmen in New York and “it is bad for business for everyone involved.” Epstein then told Belyakov when the woman arrived in New York and what hotel she was staying at, asking, “Suggestions?”.

CNN is attempting to contact Belyakov and has reached out to RDIF for comment.

Epstein also claimed to offer advice for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. In a 2018 email with Jide Zeitlin, the former CEO of Coach and a private investor, Zeitlin thanks Epstein for his “thoughts re Deripaska,” who had been sanctioned by the US just a month earlier. Epstein then forwarded the correspondence to Steve Bannon, formerly Trump’s chief strategist.

“Just keeping you in the loop,” Epstein wrote to Bannon .

An email from November 2010 included in the files references an effort by someone claiming to be an assistant for Epstein attempting to set up a meeting between Epstein and someone referred to as “Oleg.”

“I’m writing to see what the possibilities are of =effrey and Oleg to meet in Moscow next week Tuesday or Wednesday? Or =ossibly Oleg has plans to be in Paris next week?” The person wrote. The names of both the sender and recipient are redacted in the released files.

It’s unclear whether Epstein and Deripaska were ever in contact or ever met. Deripaska’s spokesperson told Bloomberg he didn’t personally know Epstein; CNN has reached out for a comment.

Another Russian in Epstein’s orbit was Masha Drokova Bucher, a 37-year-old venture capitalist who was a publicist for Epstein in 2017, helping him in the wake of his 2008 conviction on solicitation of prostitution. Bucher was known in Russia as a member of Nashi, a pro-Putin youth group, where she even got her own TV show. She was featured in a 2012 documentary about the movement called Putin’s Kiss , a reference to a famous moment when she kissed Putin on the cheek.

Bucher has since said she left the movement and gave up her Russian citizenship in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine.

She and Epstein appeared to have a close relationship. In 2017, she asked Epstein in an email if he’d heard anything about potential sanctions on companies with research and development in Russia because it could affect “some good friends.” He then told her he’d introduce her to Thiel.

Bucher later sent Epstein videos of her singing and told him she was “recharged” from not “doing any substances for a while.” She credited Epstein for helping her establish her Day One Ventures fund in 2018.

“Been thinking about all good things you taught me,” she said in a 2019 text message to Epstein . “I would never create my fund without the ideas and knowledge you shared with me and I do much love my work. thank you for being such a great friend Jeffrey!”

Handout/Day One Ventures/Reuters

In 2022, The Washington Post reported that Bucher’s pitches to investors boasted of her connections to Russian oligarchs, but she has dismissed those allegations and denied having any Russian funding.

Bucher has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on her connections to Epstein. Thiel did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

While it’s not clear exactly how often Epstein traveled to Russia, flight logs analyzed by CNN and published by the Justice Department confirm he did visit the country. Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell traveled to Russia between November 22 and 24 of 2002, flying from Copenhagen to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Epstein’s personal aircraft, according to flight logs and a 2018 email published by the Justice Department. The pair then flew to St. Petersburg, landing at Pulkovo Airport the same day. Then, on November 24, the flight log shows that both departed on the same aircraft for Ireland.

A photo uploaded on Esther Dyson’s Flickr account in 2005 shows Epstein in Sarov, Russia, standing in front of Andrei Sakharov’s cottage. Sakharov worked on the Soviet hydrogen bomb and later became known as a dissident. The photo geolocated by CNN is timestamped April 28, 1998, though CNN cannot independently verify the date it was captured.

Dyson, who was involved in startups in Eastern Europe and Russia at the time, confirmed the authenticity of the photo. Sarov is a Russian town housing a closed center for nuclear research – and Epstein was known to have had a keen interest in science and technology.

Epstein later reapplied for a Russian visa in 2018 , according to emails released by the Justice Department. Another email indicates that his team asked about transferring his valid Russian visa to a new passport in March 2019 , just months before his arrest on federal charges related to sex trafficking of minors.

CNN’s Nathan Hodge and Farida Elsebai contributed to this report.

维亚切斯拉夫·普罗科菲耶夫/泳池/法新社/盖蒂图片社

杰弗里·爱泼斯坦想向俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京传达一个信息。

那是2018年6月——大约在俄罗斯驻联合国大使维塔利·丘尔金突然去世一年后。根据司法部公布的新文件，丘尔金是爱泼斯坦在纽约经常会面的人，爱泼斯坦甚至还主动提出帮助丘尔金的儿子马克西姆在纽约一家财富管理公司找到一份工作。

现在，爱泼斯坦想和另一位俄罗斯官员谈话：外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫。2018年6月24日，爱泼斯坦给时任欧洲委员会秘书长的挪威政治家托尔比约恩·亚格兰发了一封电子邮件：“我想你可以建议普京，让拉夫罗夫和我谈谈，这样他就能获得一些内幕消息。维塔利·丘尔金以前也这么做过，但他去世了。？！”

雅格兰德回答说，他将在下周一与拉夫罗夫的助手会面并提出这一建议。

爱泼斯坦回答说：“丘金很棒。经过我们交谈后，他了解了特朗普。这并不复杂。他必须表现出来才能明白，就这么简单。”

虽然此前爱泼斯坦对从俄罗斯和东欧其他地区物色模特的兴趣已经曝光，但最新公布的与这位声名狼藉的金融家有关的文件，让我们得以更深入地了解他试图拉近与俄罗斯高级官员（包括普京）关系的努力，爱泼斯坦曾多次试图与普京会面或交谈。

新披露的一批文件显示了爱泼斯坦与包括俄罗斯官员在内的国际政要的更多通信，引发了人们对这位亿万富翁动机的更多猜测。波兰总理唐纳德·图斯克本周在内阁会议上表示，波兰将对爱泼斯坦与俄罗斯情报部门可能存在的联系展开调查。

图斯克说：“越来越多的线索、越来越多的信息，以及全球媒体越来越多的评论都指向一个怀疑，那就是这起前所未有的恋童癖丑闻是由俄罗斯情报部门共同策划的。”

图斯克补充道：“我无需赘述，俄罗斯情报机构参与策划此次行动的可能性越来越大，这对波兰国家安全有多么严重。这只能说明，他们也掌握着许多当今仍然活跃的领导人的把柄。”

克里姆林宫驳斥了有关爱泼斯坦是俄罗斯间谍的说法。

Rick Friedman/Corbis News/Corbis via Getty Images

克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫周四表示：“关于爱泼斯坦受俄罗斯情报部门控制的说法可以随意解读，但不必当真。”佩斯科夫还补充说，记者们“不应该浪费时间”去调查爱泼斯坦与俄罗斯情报部门有关联的指控。

分析人士向 CNN 表示，这些文件所表明的只不过是爱泼斯坦试图与有影响力的人物拉近关系，并将自己定位为某种地缘政治权力玩家。

文件并未表明爱泼斯坦是否成功与这位俄罗斯领导人取得联系。

根据文件显示，2013 年 5 月 9 日，爱泼斯坦写信给以色列前总理埃胡德·巴拉克，称贾格兰将于 5 月 20 日在索契会见普京，贾格兰询问爱泼斯坦是否愿意与俄罗斯总统会面，“解释俄罗斯如何构建交易以鼓励西方投资”。

“我从未见过他，想让你知道，”爱泼斯坦在给巴拉克的电子邮件中补充道。

几天后，2013年5月14日，贾格兰告诉爱泼斯坦，他计划代表爱泼斯坦向普京转达信息，表明爱泼斯坦可能有用。“我有个朋友可以帮你采取必要的措施（然后引荐你），并询问他是否有兴趣与你见面，”贾格兰在给爱泼斯坦的电子邮件中写道。

爱泼斯坦回答说：“他身处一个独特的位置，可以成就一番伟业，就像人造卫星斯普特尼克之于太空竞赛一样。你可以告诉他，你我关系很密切，而且我是盖茨的顾问。这是机密。我很乐意与他见面，但至少要两到三个小时，不能更短。”

亿万富翁比尔·盖茨通过发言人公开表示，与爱泼斯坦的会面是“严重的判断失误”，但他否认有任何不当行为。

但在2013年5月21日发给巴拉克的另一封电子邮件中，爱泼斯坦在没有提供证据的情况下声称，他拒绝了普京在圣彼得堡举行的俄罗斯经济会议期间提出的会面请求。爱泼斯坦说，如果普京想见他，就“需要腾出时间和隐私空间”。（目前尚不清楚普京是否真的提出过与爱泼斯坦会面的请求。）

CNN已联系克里姆林宫，就爱泼斯坦与巴拉克之间的通信寻求置评。

一年多后，2014年7月，一封发给爱泼斯坦的电子邮件显示，他当时已安排与普京会面，并邀请了LinkedIn创始人一同参加。时任麻省理工学院媒体实验室主任的伊藤穰一在邮件中写道：“我没能说服里德改变行程，陪你一起去见普京。 ;-)”

伊藤此前曾就他与爱泼斯坦的关系以及接受麻省理工学院媒体实验室的资助一事道歉。

爱泼斯坦与一些俄罗斯知名人士的通信发生在美俄关系敏感时期——此前美国情报界指责俄罗斯干预了 2016 年总统选举，而唐纳德·特朗普赢得了那次选举。

Ute Grabowsky/Photothek/Getty Images

2018 年 6 月，贾格兰德给爱泼斯坦发了一封电子邮件，说他希望住在巴黎的住所，他将从莫斯科过来，在那里他计划会见普京、拉夫罗夫和时任俄罗斯总理德米特里·梅德韦杰夫。

“我很遗憾不能和你一起去见俄罗斯人，”爱泼斯坦回答说。

周四，挪威调查部门 Økokrim 宣布，已根据爱泼斯坦文件中的信息对 Jagland 展开调查。

贾格兰的律师安德斯·布罗斯维特在一份声明中表示，他的当事人将配合调查，并向调查机构提供“关键调查结果和相关文件”。布罗斯维特说：“根据我们目前掌握的情况，我们对调查结果仍然充满信心。”

贾格兰否认与爱泼斯坦有任何不当行为。

文件显示，爱泼斯坦与至少一名与俄罗斯联邦安全局（FSB，克格勃的继承者）有联系的俄罗斯人关系密切。据俄罗斯塔斯社报道，爱泼斯坦在2015年发给亿万富翁风险投资家彼得·蒂尔的一封电子邮件中，称谢尔盖·别利亚科夫为“我的好朋友”。别利亚科夫于1999年毕业于莫斯科的FSB学院。

文件显示，爱泼斯坦曾提出将他介绍给别利亚科夫，别利亚科夫当时负责圣彼得堡经济论坛基金会，该基金会负责组织俄罗斯最大的经济会议。

2015 年，以色列前总理巴拉克出席了圣彼得堡国际经济论坛 (SPIEF) 后，向爱泼斯坦汇报说，他会见了多位俄罗斯官员，包括拉夫罗夫、俄罗斯中央银行行长埃尔维拉·纳比乌琳娜以及其他几位俄罗斯银行的负责人。

“感谢你把所有事情安排妥当，”巴拉克在给爱泼斯坦的电子邮件中写道。

巴拉克办公室在一份声明中告诉CNN，这位以色列前总理访问圣彼得堡国际经济论坛“始终是应普京办公室的邀请”。声明称，爱泼斯坦对俄罗斯事务和与普京会面很感兴趣，但巴拉克“从未”向克里姆林宫提及爱泼斯坦的名字，只是“偶尔”与他讨论世界事务，并“提到他见过的一些人”。

在 2016 年别利亚科夫和爱泼斯坦的一次交流中，别利亚科夫告诉爱泼斯坦，他已在俄罗斯直接投资基金（RDIF，该国的主权财富基金）开始担任新职位，并且他正在寻求为俄罗斯项目吸引投资。

“我会做任何对你有帮助的事，”爱泼斯坦在同一周晚些时候的另一封电子邮件中写给别利亚科夫。

安东·瓦加诺夫/路透社

爱泼斯坦至少有一次向别利亚科夫寻求帮助。在2015年的一封信件中，爱泼斯坦写信给别利亚科夫，说一个来自莫斯科的俄罗斯“女孩”试图勒索纽约一群“有权势的”商人，“这对所有相关人员的生意都很不利”。爱泼斯坦随后告诉别利亚科夫这名女子何时抵达纽约以及她入住的酒店，并问道：“有什么建议吗？”

CNN正在尝试联系别利亚科夫，并已联系俄罗斯直接投资基金（RDIF）征求意见。

爱泼斯坦还声称曾向俄罗斯寡头奥列格·德里帕斯卡提供建议。在2018年与蔻驰（Coach）前首席执行官、私人投资者吉德·泽特林的一封电子邮件中，泽特林感谢爱泼斯坦就德里帕斯卡提出的“建议”，德里帕斯卡在一个月前刚刚被美国制裁。随后，爱泼斯坦将这封邮件转发给了史蒂夫·班农，他曾是特朗普的首席战略顾问。

“只是想让你了解最新情况，”爱泼斯坦在给班农的信中写道。

文件中包含的一封 2010 年 11 月的电子邮件提到，有人自称是爱泼斯坦的助手，试图安排爱泼斯坦与一个被称为“奥列格”的人见面。

“我写信是想问问杰弗里和奥列格下周二或周三在莫斯科见面的可能性有多大？或者奥列格下周可能在巴黎？” 发件人和收件人的姓名在已公布的文件中均已被隐去。

目前尚不清楚爱泼斯坦和德里帕斯卡是否曾有过联系或见过面。德里帕斯卡的发言人告诉彭博社，他本人并不认识爱泼斯坦；CNN已联系德里帕斯卡寻求置评。

与爱泼斯坦关系密切的另一位俄罗斯人是玛莎·德罗科娃·布赫尔，这位37岁的风险投资家曾在2017年担任爱泼斯坦的公关，帮助他应对2008年因招嫖罪被定罪的事件。布赫尔在俄罗斯以亲普京青年组织“纳什”（Nashi）成员而闻名，她甚至在该组织拥有自己的电视节目。2012年，一部名为《普京之吻》（Putin's Kiss）的纪录片讲述了她与普京的一次著名亲吻，片名正是源于她亲吻普京脸颊的著名瞬间。

布赫尔后来表示，在2022年乌克兰遭到入侵后，她离开了该运动并放弃了俄罗斯国籍。

她和爱泼斯坦的关系似乎很密切。2017年，她曾发邮件问爱泼斯坦是否听说过俄罗斯可能对在俄罗斯进行研发的公司实施制裁，因为这可能会影响到她的“一些好朋友”。爱泼斯坦随后表示会把她介绍给蒂尔。

布彻后来给爱泼斯坦发了她唱歌的视频，并告诉他，她因为“一段时间没碰毒品”而“重新焕发了活力”。她感谢爱泼斯坦在2018年帮助她创立了Day One Ventures基金。

“我一直在想念你教给我的所有美好事物，”她在2019年发给爱泼斯坦的短信中写道。“如果没有你与我分享的想法和知识，我永远不会创建我的基金，而且我非常热爱我的工作。谢谢你一直以来都是这么好的朋友，杰弗里！”

资料来源/Day One Ventures/路透社

2022 年，《华盛顿邮报》报道称，布彻在向投资者推介时吹嘘自己与俄罗斯寡头有联系，但她否认了这些指控，并否认接受过任何俄罗斯资金。

布彻尚未回应CNN关于她与爱泼斯坦关系的置评请求。蒂尔也未回应就此事发表评论的请求。

虽然尚不清楚爱泼斯坦究竟去了俄罗斯多少次，但美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）分析并由美国司法部公布的飞行记录证实他确实到访过俄罗斯。根据飞行记录和司法部公布的一封2018年的电子邮件显示，爱泼斯坦和吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦于2002年11月22日至24日期间前往俄罗斯，他们乘坐爱泼斯坦的私人飞机从哥本哈根飞往莫斯科伏努科沃机场。随后，两人飞往圣彼得堡，并于当天降落在普尔科沃机场。飞行记录显示，11月24日，两人乘坐同一架飞机前往爱尔兰。

2005年，埃丝特·戴森在其Flickr账户上上传了一张照片，照片显示爱泼斯坦在俄罗斯萨罗夫，站在安德烈·萨哈罗夫的别墅前。萨哈罗夫曾参与苏联氢弹的研制，后来成为一位持不同政见者。CNN对这张照片的地理位置进行了定位，并标注了拍摄时间戳，日期为1998年4月28日，但CNN无法独立核实照片的拍摄日期。

当时在东欧和俄罗斯参与创业项目的戴森证实了这张照片的真实性。萨罗夫是俄罗斯的一个小镇，那里有一个封闭的核研究中心——众所周知，爱泼斯坦对科学技术有着浓厚的兴趣。

根据司法部公布的电子邮件，爱泼斯坦后来于2018年重新申请了俄罗斯签证。另一封邮件显示，他的团队在2019年3月询问如何将他有效的俄罗斯签证转移到新护照上，而就在几个月后，他因涉嫌性交易未成年人的联邦指控而被捕。

CNN的Nathan Hodge和Farida Elsebai对本报道亦有贡献。