Azernews.Az

Akbar Novruz

Read more

US Vice President JD Vance has claimed that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein maintained connections to senior figures within both American and Israeli intelligence agencies, while acknowledging that there is no public evidence proving the exact nature of those relationships, AzerNEWS reports.

Speaking during a three-hour appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Vance said Epstein had links to "the highest levels of American intelligence" as well as "the highest levels of Israeli intelligence."

"He clearly had connections to the upper, the highest levels, of American intelligence. He clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence," Vance said.

Describing himself as "one of the O.G. Epstein conspiracy theorists," Vance said he had explored numerous theories surrounding Epstein over the years.

When podcast host Joe Rogan referred to speculation that Epstein had ties to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, Vance replied, "Yeah, Mossad or CIA or some other deep state."

Vance further speculated that Epstein's alleged Israeli connections were primarily linked to what he described as "elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center."

"As much as I know, Prime Minister Netanyahu, not a particularly popular person in the United States of America right now, Epstein seemed to be connected to the elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center," he said, adding that Epstein had "much deeper connections to the Israeli left of center than right of center."

The vice president also addressed criticism surrounding the Trump administration's handling of documents related to the Epstein case, acknowledging that officials mishandled public communication on the issue.

"We did mishandle it, especially the communications of it," Vance said. "I think that we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning. We should have just done it as quickly as possible."

He denied there had been any deliberate cover-up, attributing the controversy to poor communication and what he described as exaggerated public expectations regarding the release of the Epstein files. Vance also criticized Epstein's 2008 plea agreement, calling it the "original sin" of the investigation.

During the interview, Vance discussed other aspects of the Epstein case, including the financier's relationship with billionaire Les Wexner and speculation surrounding his business dealings. He also rejected claims that US President Donald Trump had been blackmailed, describing such allegations as "crazy."