Met Epstein as part of IPI delegation: Hardeep Puri on Rahul Gandhi's charge

New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Puri hit back at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Wednesday over mention of his name in the Epstein Files, clarifying he only met the late and disgraced American financier "on a few occasions (and) as part of a delegation" and only exchanged one email with him. Puri told reporters this afternoon, hours after Gandhi's explosive allegations in a parliamentary speech, that his interactions with Jeffrey Epstain "had nothing to do with charges against him…" The minister said his primary interaction at that time was with LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, and that he had invited the internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist to India.

"Just three-four references (to his name) out of three million emails… I met Epstein on a few occasions as part of a delegation (and) exchanged just one email. Our interactions had nothing to do (with the crimes he is accused of)," Puri said, "We talked about 'make in India'." "I had no interest in Epstein's activities. For them, I was not the 'right person'," he also said, "Epstein called me two-faced. Rahul should read the emails."

Last month the US Department of Justice released a vast new tranche of records from its files on Epstein, resuming disclosures under a law designed to shed light on what the government knew about his sexual abuse of young girls and interactions with wealthy and influential figures. Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche said more than three million pages of documents were being released in the latest disclosure, alongside more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. The files, published on the department's website, include material that officials said had been withheld from an initial release in December. The disclosures are mandated under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, enacted after months of political and public pressure. The law requires the government to open its files relating not only to Epstein but also to his longtime associate and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.