The newly released Epstein documents show the New York sex offender sought a wide-ranging network of political and financial contacts, including former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd.
In a statement provided to the ABC, Dr Rudd’s office insisted that the former PM had never met Jeffrey Epstein.
Dr Rudd’s name has appeared in multiple emails sent to and from Epstein, in the latest documents released by the US Justice Department (DOJ).
The documents reveal how third-party individuals attempted to secure Dr Rudd’s attendance at various events with Epstein, including at his New York house, and illustrate how the Epstein network courted people with power or influence.
‘No introduction ever took place’, says Rudd’s office
The DOJ dumped millions of documents online on Friday, local time, in the latest tranche of the so-called Epstein files.
The Epstein files comprise millions of documents, and simply being named in them does not imply any wrongdoing, nor that those individuals had ever met Epstein.
Dr Rudd, who was twice Australia’s PM, appeared to be referred to in several emails, some of which suggest that attempts were made by other individuals to secure phone calls or in-person meetings between the two men.
The documents seen by the ABC do not show any direct contact between Dr Rudd and Epstein.
Dr Rudd, who is finishing a three-year posting as Australia’s ambassador to the US in March, has denied having met Epstein.
His office told the ABC in a statement that, “most references to Dr Rudd in these latest documents mention him in passing”.
“Others indicate there were attempts by mutual acquaintances of Jeffrey Epstein to introduce him to Dr Rudd.
“No introduction ever took place, and there is no evidence of any direct contact between Jeffrey Epstein and either Dr Rudd or his office,” the statement said.
Most of the correspondence released by the DOJ mentioning Rudd dates to 2014.
High-profile invitations
Some emails refer to a gathering at Epstein’s house of political and business leaders, which Dr Rudd was invited to.
In one, sent on June 6, 2014, Japanese entrepreneur Joi Ito tells Epstein that Dr Rudd “might stop by” and notes he is the “former prime minister of Australia”.
The same day, an email sent by Epstein to two redacted names reads “also non vegetarin food, as now kevin rudd is also coming”.
It is unclear whether Epstein knew who Dr Rudd was at the time, but his former role of prime minister, was deemed relevant information.
“Our office has no records of this meeting, and the published documents gave no indication about who was involved in organising it,” the statement from Dr Rudd’s office said in response.
“In any case, they were unsuccessful in arranging the introduction.”
Another email in the documents was sent to Epstein by Lesley Groff, one of his assistants. It refers to a meeting scheduled for Sunday, June 8, and an entry under 4:30pm reads “Kevin Rudd” but provides no more information.
An email sent by Epstein on Saturday, June 7, 2014, to former US treasury secretary Lawrence H Summers appeared to invite him to a gathering the next day and misspell Rudd’s name.
The email reads: “in ny sunday at house , Ehud, hardeep purl, former head of counter teroorism u.n. < Keying Rudd Woody, joi ito. if you have any interest.”
Epstein’s informal writing appears to be talking about several high-profile people who have all appeared in the files before.
They are: former Israeli PM Ehud Barak, veteran Indian politician Hardeep Singh Puri, actor Woody Allen and Mr Ito.
At the time those emails were sent, Epstein was already a convicted sex offender, having served about 13 months behind bars in the US for soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008.
He was arrested again on sex trafficking charges in July 2019 and died by suicide in jail later that year.
Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted child sex offender. (AP: New York State Sex Offender Registry)
Another email, which appears to have been sent by the former prime minister of Norway, Thorbjørn Jagland, to Epstein also mentions Dr Rudd.
After receiving an email from Epstein sent on February 5, 2016 asking “how are you, it’s been too long”, Mr Jagland replies: “Yes, its a shame. Your island would be something for us in the Europe=n winter. When? Kevin Rudd, a friend of both of us just left m= house.”
In the statement providing to the ABC, Dr Rudd’s office confirmed that he did have dinner at Mr Jagland’s home in Strasbourg that evening.
However, “The Secretary-General’s reference to Dr Rudd being “a friend of both of us” appears based solely on their shared connection to the IPI (International Peace Institute).
Correspondence between Epstein and Mr Summers from 2014 also mentions Dr Rudd. On January 21, 2014, Epstein mentions a meeting later in the week with “Mongolians” and writes “kevin rudd will also be on the phone”.
According to Dr Rudd’s office, a diary record shows an invitation from the IPI to “Dinner with the Mongolian President,” but the invitation was ultimately declined.
“We do not know whether or not the dinner went ahead without him,” the statement said.
‘Do not wait’
Dr Rudd’s name appears in an email sent by Epstein to a man named Terje Rød-Larsen on June 27, 2013.
At that time, Dr Rudd was serving his second stint as PM. Epstein’s email reads “rudd will only be in power a few months, do not wait”.
Mr Rød-Larsen replies “I know!” Links between Rød-Larsen, a former Norwegian politician, and Epstein emerged in 2020, when reports claimed he had secured a personal loan from the disgraced financier.
When the stories broke, Dr Rudd and Mr Rød-Larsen both had senior roles at the International Peace Institute.
Reports at that time claimed Epstein had donated hundreds of thousands of US dollars to the think tank over an eight-year period between 2011 and 2019.
In 2020, when it emerged that the CEO had taken an undisclosed personal loan from Epstein, Dr Rudd then accepted the CEO’s resignation.
“At Dr Rudd’s initiative, the Board commissioned a forensic audit of IPI’s finances by KPMG to remove the possibility of any further donations or irregularities,” his office’s statement released on Saturday said.
Responding to this reporting in 2020, Dr Rudd issued a statement saying that he had convened several board meetings at the think tank to take “immediate” action after learning about the Epstein link.
He recommended that the board donate to charity an amount comparable to Epstein’s donations to the IPI, and told the ABC that he regarded Epstein as an “odious character in the extreme”.