Late sex offender Epstein clearly had connections to American, Israeli intelligence: Vance

U.S. Vice President JD Vance has suggested that the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein maintained connections with both American and Israeli intelligence agencies, and potentially elements of the "Israeli deep state."

“

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 made these remarks during a podcast episode with host Joe Rogan, published on Wednesday. He indicated that Epstein's connections extended to the "highest levels of American intelligence" and the "highest levels of Israeli intelligence." Vance also noted that while Prime Minister Netanyahu is not currently popular in the U.S., Epstein seemed connected to the "left of center" elements of the Israeli political landscape, while in America, his connections spanned both Republican and Democratic parties.

Addressing the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case, Vance conceded that the communications surrounding the release of Epstein's files were mishandled. He advocated for a faster release of information, stating, "we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning." The U.S. Justice Department recently released over three million pages of documents related to the case.

“

It wasn’t like he was super connected to the right of centre of Israeli politics. [In] America, he was connected across the board. Like he had Republican friends, he had Democratic friends. He had much deeper connections to the Israeli left of centre than right of centre.

Epstein died in a New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had previously pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to procuring a minor for prostitution. Victims have accused him of operating a large sex trafficking network used by wealthy and political elites.

“

If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty. We did mishandle, especially the communications of it. We absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files.

In a separate comment during the podcast, Vance also alleged that some members of the Israeli government attempted to influence U.S. public opinion against a deal to end the war on Iran. These remarks align with Vance's previous criticisms of Israeli government policy, fueling speculation about his potential presidential ambitions and a widening public rift.

“

I think that we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning; and obviously it takes a little time to review the stuff, to find the stuff, to redact things where you have victims and so forth. But we should have just done it as quickly as possible.