Pressure mounts on former French minister over ties to Epstein

Pressure mounted on former French culture minister Jack Lang on Friday to resign as president of the Arab World Institute. The reason is his contacts with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The French Foreign Ministry summoned Lang to a meeting to explain the situation, with sources saying the Élysée Palace is calling on him to "think of the institution."

Lang claims that when he met Epstein around 2012, he was unaware of his 2008 conviction. He described him as an acquaintance with an interest in art and film, whom he was introduced to by director Woody Allen. Lang emphasizes that Epstein was not his friend and that he has not been charged with anything.

However, new documents from the US Department of Justice show that Lang communicated with Epstein until his death in 2019. In an email from April 2017, he even thanked him for a "great time" and mentioned his "friendship" and "extraordinary generosity."

Lang's name appears more than 600 times in the files. However, he claims he has nothing to fear.

His daughter Caroline is also involved in the case after information emerged about her own contacts with Epstein. In response, she resigned on Monday as head of the French Independent Production Association.

She claims that she only learned about Epstein's 2008 conviction in 2014, when he himself told her to look him up on Google, and like her father, she denies any wrongdoing.

(reuters, lud)