Newly released correspondence published as part of the Epstein Files shows convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein exchanging messages in the days after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
The messages, published on Friday evening among a wider cache of documents amounting to three million, include exchanges between Epstein and a man called Anas Al Rashid.
Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, and US intelligence later concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the operation.
By 12 October, the case had erupted into an international crisis, fuelling global outrage over the brutal killing of the Middle East Eye contributor and Washington Post columnist.
In a message dated 12 October 2018, Al Rashid described the killing as “ugly .. very ugly”.
Epstein replied: “smells like something bigger to me. I wouldnt be surprised if MBZ set him up,” referring to the United Arab Emirates’ ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ). Al Rashid responded: “mmmmmm”.
When Epstein pressed for more detail, Al Rashid wrote that it was “difficult to tell [the] leaks are done in a very smart way and .. fast.. very fast” and warned the crisis had become a public relations battle, adding: “It is a media war now. I think saudis are loosing Trump if they dont start defending. Best defense is the truth even if ugly, in my opinion.”
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In another follow-up email included in the files, Epstein said a “secondary source” told him that one participant in the operation recorded a video on a phone before the device was hacked and the footage obtained.
The correspondence does not identify who hacked the phone.
On 13 October 2018, Epstein raised further questions in another exchange, discussing whether Khashoggi could be branded a “terrorist” and floated the possibility of a “failed covert operation” or an “entrapment trap”, repeatedly invoking Mohammed bin Zayed’s name.
That same night, the documents show Epstein receiving a message from an acquaintance whose name is redacted, saying Mohammed bin Zayed had requested an “urgent” meeting, with departure planned for the next morning.
Separately, an FBI memo released on Friday evening said Epstein worked with US and Israeli intelligence. “Epstein was close to the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, and trained as a spy under him,” the memo adds.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
