The email exchanges between Colom and Epstein do not specify when Le Maire, who spent seven years leading the Economy and Finance Ministry, allegedly met the disgraced financier. The messages between Epstein and Colom concerning Le Maire are dated Nov. 24, 2018 — before Epstein was charged in 2019 but long after the favorable plea deal he cut in 2008 with federal prosecutors in Miami. Epstein died by suicide while in federal custody in 2019.
Colom wrote in the series of emails that he regularly meets Le Maire and his then chief of staff, Emmanuel Moulin. Moulin is currently President Emmanuel Macron’s chief of staff. There is no suggestion in the email that Moulin met with Epstein, and Moulin told POLITICO that he has never met Epstein.
POLITICO could not immediately find contact information for Colom.
Le Maire, a longtime fixture of French conservative politics and a former presidential candidate, now teaches at a university in Lausanne. While he was mulling a bid for the 2027 presidential election, his reputation has suffered significantly as France has struggled to cut trillions in debt since his departure. Le Maire’s appointment as armed forces minister last year was met with such outrage it helped trigger a government collapse after a mere 14 hours.
Colom also asked Epstein in a 2013 email for “any ideas” helping to raise money for Le Maire as a “future candidate [sic] to the Presidential election.”
Epstein responded: “lets meet and talk about it.”