A renewed push in Congress to obtain and release federal files on Jeffrey Epstein is unfolding at the same time that a series of independent investigations is exposing an expansive set of intelligence and diplomatic activities Epstein performed on behalf of Israeli officials. These parallel developments, emerging from both Capitol Hill and a trove of hacked emails from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, have produced the most detailed public record to date of Epstein’s foreign intelligence work. The findings challenge longstanding narratives surrounding his influence and add urgency to the congressional effort to secure full transparency.
The most consequential evidence originates from more than 100,000 emails released in October 2024 by the Palestinian group Handala. The messages were taken from Barak’s personal accounts and cover the period from 2013 to 2016, beginning near the end of his six-year tenure as Israel’s minister of defense. Barak was widely regarded as one of Epstein’s closest associates. The Wall Street Journal reported that he visited Epstein’s Florida and New York properties more than 30 times between 2013 and 2017, long after Epstein had been convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
These contacts have drawn additional attention since the release of Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir. Giuffre described being violently raped on Epstein’s private island at age eighteen by someone she identified only as “the Prime Minister,” a figure widely believed to be Barak. In previous court filings, she accused Barak of sexually assaulting her. Barak has “categorically denied” the allegations and said he was unaware of Epstein’s activities with minors during their friendship.
The leaked emails have become the basis for a multipart investigative series published by Drop Site News. The correspondence reveals that Epstein and Barak maintained “intimate, oftentimes daily correspondence” during those years. Their discussions included “political and business strategy as Epstein coordinated meetings for Barak with other members of his elite circles.” Rather than acting as a peripheral consultant, Epstein appears consistently in the reports as a central facilitator of Barak’s international engagements.
One investigation details how Epstein helped Barak develop a formal security agreement between Israel and Mongolia. To accomplish this, Epstein enlisted well-connected allies such as Larry Summers, who had served as an economist to former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. According to the report, Summers was positioned to serve on a Presidential Advisory Board for Mongolia’s economy. Epstein also helped arrange for Mongolia to purchase Israeli military equipment and surveillance technology produced by companies to which both he and Barak had financial ties.
A second report shows Epstein’s involvement in creating a covert diplomatic backchannel between Israel and Russia during the Syrian Civil War. Israel sought to persuade the Kremlin to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom it considered a major security threat. The communications reveal coordination with Israeli intelligence and describe Barak ultimately securing a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a message to Epstein, Barak thanked him for “setting the whole thing together.”
A third investigation centers on West Africa. In 2014, Epstein and Barak helped the government of Côte d’Ivoire acquire Israeli surveillance technology used to intercept phone calls, monitor radio transmissions, and track communications at cybercafes. The Drop Site report describes the aftermath, stating that “Ouattara has tightened his grip on power, banning public demonstrations and arresting peaceful protestors,” while “his Israeli-backed police state has squashed civic organizations and silenced critics.”
The latest installment in the series details the involvement of Israeli intelligence intermediary Yoni Koren. According to the emails, Koren stayed at Epstein’s New York apartment for weeks at a time during three separate periods between 2013 and 2015. Koren helped arrange meetings between Barak and senior US intelligence officials, including former CIA Director Leon Panetta.
Murtaza Hussain, one of the journalists leading the investigation, told Democracy Now! that the focus on Epstein’s sex crimes, while justified, has overshadowed another essential component of understanding his influence. “There’s been a lot of justifiable focus on Epstein’s very grave crimes and facilitation of the crimes of others related to sex trafficking and sex abuse,” he said. “But one critical aspect of the story that has not been covered is Epstein’s own relations to foreign governments, the US government, and particularly foreign intelligence agencies.”
Hussain said the evidence points to Epstein acting as an informal Israeli intelligence asset rather than a formal Mossad agent, but still working to advance some of Israel’s most aggressive foreign policy priorities. He remarked that throughout the emails, “it’s not Epstein chasing Barak—it’s Barak chasing Epstein,” and that at times, “it looked like Mossad was working for Epstein instead of Epstein working for Mossad.”
Both Hussain and co-author Ryan Grim expressed disbelief at the lack of mainstream media coverage, writing, “We’re left wondering why the rest of the media, which has demonstrated no lack of excitement when it comes to the saga of Jeffrey Epstein, has all of a sudden lost its reporting capacity, in the face of reams of publicly available newsworthy documents.” They asked editors directly, “What are you doing?”
While the Drop Site series maps Epstein’s role in Israeli intelligence networks, House Democrats expanded the domestic investigation on Wednesday by releasing documents from Epstein’s estate. Among the newly public materials were 2011 emails from Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell stating that Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of his trafficking victims and referring to Trump as a “dog that hasn’t barked.” Another email from 2019 shows Epstein telling author Michael Wolff that Trump “knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said, “The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover. These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the president.” Garcia added, “The Department of Justice must fully release the Epstein files to the public immediately.”
Trump dismissed the developments on Truth Social. He wrote, “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.” He added that “There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else.”
Parallel to the growing public record, a major political confrontation erupted on Capitol Hill. After weeks of delay, Adelita Grijalva was finally sworn into office on Wednesday and became the critical 218th signature on the discharge petition required to force a House vote on releasing the federal Epstein files. In her first floor speech, Grijalva said Speaker Mike Johnson’s delay had been an “abuse of power.” She thanked survivors in the gallery and declared that “justice cannot wait another day.”
The Working Families Party praised her swift action. National press secretary Ravi Mangla said Americans were “getting a proven fighter who’s ready to hit the ground running,” and highlighted that one of her first priorities would be “holding Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplices accountable by forcing the release of the files.”
Demand Progress, which has organized a national campaign for disclosure, said that Americans have sent around 570,000 messages and made more than 8,000 phone calls urging Congress to act. Senior policy adviser Cavan Kharrazian said that “every new revelation, every denial from the White House, and every deflection from congressional leaders is a reason why we should just clear the air and release the Epstein files.” He argued that “there is no good reason to keep the information that our government has about this under wraps, except naked self-interest.”
The bill forcing release of the files is led by Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie. They have received support from Republicans Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Khanna thanked “the brave survivors who made the possible.” Massie celebrated the petition’s success, saying it succeeded “in spite of a last-ditch effort by the president to foil the motion.”
A full House vote is expected next week. Politico reported that “Republicans are bracing for a significant chunk of the conference” to support the legislation. The Oversight Committee also released 20,000 pages of additional documents from Epstein’s estate on Wednesday.
The convergence of these findings presents a rare moment when government transparency, intelligence operations, and political accountability intersect. The emerging record shows that Epstein operated far beyond the criminal network for which he became infamous, embedding himself within international intelligence and diplomatic systems at the highest levels. As Congress prepares to vote on releasing the files, the full scope of Epstein’s relationships appears closer than ever to entering the public domain.
COMMENTS