Lang, 86, stepped down late on Saturday evening, just hours before he was due to attend an emergency meeting convened by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links to Epstein….reports Asian Lite news
Jack Lang, the former French culture minister, has resigned as head of Paris’s prestigious Arab World Institute following revelations about his past contacts with the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the opening of a financial investigation by French prosecutors, The Guardian reported.
Lang, 86, stepped down late on Saturday evening, just hours before he was due to attend an emergency meeting convened by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links to Epstein. His resignation marks one of the most high-profile political fallouts in France linked to the latest release of documents connected to Epstein.
Earlier on Saturday, France’s national financial prosecutor’s office announced it had opened an investigation into Lang and his daughter, the film producer Caroline Lang, on suspicion of “aggravated tax fraud laundering”. The move followed their appearance in files released by the US Department of Justice late last month. Both Jack and Caroline Lang have strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Lang’s resignation comes amid growing scrutiny across Europe following the publication of Epstein-related files on 30 January, which detailed the financier’s extensive social, financial and political networks. Lang is the most prominent public figure in France to be named in the latest tranche of messages and documents, according to The Guardian.
A leading figure of the French left, Lang served as culture minister under Socialist president François Mitterrand throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, overseeing landmark projects such as the construction of the Louvre pyramid. Since 2013, he has chaired the Arab World Institute, a cultural and research body aimed at promoting understanding of the Arab world and operating under the supervision of the French foreign ministry.
The newly released files show that Lang corresponded intermittently with Epstein between 2012 and 2019, the year Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. News agencies reported that Lang’s name appeared more than 600 times in the documents, with his daughter also mentioned repeatedly.
Caroline Lang resigned earlier this week from France’s Union of Independent Producers after emails revealed she had co-founded an offshore company with Epstein in 2016 to invest in the work of young artists. She said she stepped down from the offshore structure in 2019 when further allegations against Epstein emerged and denied any improper conduct.
According to the investigative outlet Mediapart, Caroline Lang was also named as a beneficiary of €5 million in Epstein’s will. Speaking to French public broadcaster France 2, she said she had never seen such a document, had been unaware of its existence and had never received any money.
Jack Lang has denied any wrongdoing, saying he was “shocked” to discover his name appeared in the statutes of the offshore company and insisting that he viewed Epstein solely as a philanthropist. His lawyer, Laurent Merlet, told Agence France-Presse that there had been no movement of funds and that it was normal for prosecutors to seek clarification. He said Caroline Lang was “serene” because she had received no financial benefit.
In comments echoing a defence offered by several Epstein associates, Lang said he had been unaware of the financier’s criminal behaviour, despite Epstein’s 2008 conviction in the United States for soliciting a minor for prostitution. “How could a man so courteous, so charming, so generous have perpetrated such abominations?” Lang said in an interview this week, adding that he was shocked by the renewed allegations in 2019.
A video released as part of the investigation shows Lang standing alongside Epstein in front of the Louvre pyramid in March 2019, just months before Epstein was charged with sex trafficking girls as young as 14.
Both Le Monde and Mediapart have reported that none of the documents released by US authorities suggest Lang or his daughter were involved in Epstein’s sexual crimes. Despite that, pressure for his resignation had grown across the political spectrum in France, including from members of his own party. Earlier this week, Lang had insisted he would remain in post.
Lang has said he was introduced to Epstein by the American actor and director Woody Allen. Epstein, who owned a large apartment in western Paris, was a frequent visitor to the French capital before his death in prison in 2019, The Guardian reported.
