New Norwegian investigation into Epstein files, US minister in hot water

There will be an independent investigation in Norway into links between people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Jeffrey Epstein. A committee of the Norwegian parliament has decided to conduct such an external investigation into possible corruption. It is not known who will conduct that research, what it will look like and what exactly will be investigated.

Norway has been under the spell for more than a week over the latest documents about the convicted pedophile and sex offender released in the United States. Almost every day there are new revelations about the ties that prominent Norwegians had with Epstein. The allegations of corruption are making a deep impression in Norway, which has a reputation as a country where bribery is rare.

Police investigations are already underway into possible criminal offenses by former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, diplomat Mona Juul and her husband, former minister Terje Rod-Larsen, but politicians now also want an overarching investigation. “If only half of what has come out in recent weeks is true, it is terrible,” said a Labor Party lawmaker after the parliamentary consultation.

In addition to being prime minister, Jagland was also chairman of the Nobel Committee and chief of the Council of Europe for many years. He is said to have asked Epstein for financial help with the purchase of an apartment in the Norwegian capital Oslo. That was in 2014, six years after the American was convicted of inciting prostitution and having sex with minors. Jagland also allegedly stayed with the sex offender.

Diplomat Juul offered her resignation as Norwegian ambassador to Iraq and Jordan on Sunday, after her name also appeared in the documents. She also had contact after Epstein’s conviction and is suspected of corruption. Her husband Rod-Larsen is seen as an accomplice. Like Jagland, they deny all accusations and have stated that they are cooperating with the police investigation.

The Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit also appears in the documents. She had friendly ties with Epstein, but is not suspected of any criminal offences.

The Epstein revelations continue to amaze people not only in Norway. In the United States, Secretary of Commerce Lutnick must answer.

He had previously stated that he had cut ties with Epstein before his conviction, but that turned out to be a lie. Under questioning by Democratic lawmakers, Lutnick has now admitted that meetings continued after 2008.

For example, he appears to have been to Epstein’s Caribbean island with his family in 2012 and at his home a year earlier. He said those contacts didn’t amount to much: “I actually had no relationship with him at all. I hardly had anything to do with him.”

Both Democrats and Republicans have called for Lutnick’s resignation. President Trump, who appointed Lutnick, supports him for the time being.