New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday hit back at Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday over the mention of his name in the Epstein files, clarifying that he only met sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “on a few occasions (and) as part of a delegation” and exchanged only one email with him. He said that he met Epstein when he was part of a commission under the IPI.
The minister issued the clarification while holding a press conference after Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the Lok Sabha.
Puri told the media that his interactions with Epstein “had nothing to do with charges against him…”
“My boss at IPI knew Epstein and I met him only on a few occasions, 3-4 times to be precise as part of a delegation. Our interactions had nothing to do with the crimes he is accused of.” He added, “I had no interest in Epstein’s activities. For them, I was not the ‘right person’… Epstein called me two-faced. Rahul should read the emails,” he said.
“Three million emails have been released, covering the period from May 2009, when I joined as India’s Ambassador to the UN in New York, until I became a minister in 2017. During this period, there are references to only three or four meetings, and my interactions were entirely professional, related to the Independent Commission on Multilateralism and other international work,” Puri said.
