The tentacles of the Jeffrey Epstein saga, especially since the Justice Department released millions of additional pages, extend beyond the United States and into the top echelons of several European nations, prompting intense scrutiny of the powerful people who associated with the wealth manager.
The latest batch of documents has revealed Epstein's network of friends and associates reach beyond his Caribbean island and East Coast circles into the gilded palaces of two of Europe's royal families and touch some of the highest offices of foreign governments.
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While inclusion in the files does not indicate a person is a criminal suspect, it does, in some cases, show a person had social or business connections. Several people in European power circles are facing inquiries or investigations, while others have stepped down from various professional roles.
While Epstein's connections to leaders in business, academia and government have been known for years, the DOJ's Jan. 30 document drop has provided a wider sense of the relationships cultivated by Epstein, who died awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Many maintained contact with him even after his conviction in 2008 for soliciting a prostitute and procuring a child for prostitution in Florida. His plea required him to register as a sex offender in 2009.
UK government under fire over Epstein emails
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing calls to step down, including from some within his own party, in connection with the Epstein files after he appointed Peter Mandelson, a friend of Epstein, as ambassador to the United States. (Starmer himself is not in any of the released documents.) Details of Mandelson's friendship with the late wealth manager became public after the latest round of documents from the DOJ revealed he'd corresponded with Epstein after he was a registered sex offender in 2009.
A little over a week after the Jan. 30 document dump, two of Starmer's aides have resigned: Communications chief Tim Allan and Starmer's top aide, Morgan McSweeney, who said he took responsibility for advising on the appointment of Mandelson to Britain's top diplomatic role. Mandelson has also resigned from the House of Lords.
British police are investigating Mandelson over allegations of "misconduct in public life" after he was accused of passing market-sensitive information to Epstein when he was business secretary under former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown over a decade ago. Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Two royal families ensnared in Epstein controversy
Among the most well-known European figures who the documents show to have had yearslong friendships with Epstein are members of two royal families: Norway's Princess Mette-Marit and the United Kingdom's Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III.
While Mountbatten-Windsor's relationship to Epstein has been known for years, the January document dump was the first time the Norwegian princess's correspondence became publicly available.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal title in October 2025 and pushed out of his vast home at Royal Lodge after reports of his association with Epstein hit a fever pitch. He was ousted as a senior royal three years prior. Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a prominent Epstein accuser who died by suicide in 2025, alleged she was sexually abused by the former royal multiple times when she was 17 years old. Mountbatten-Windsor has denied the allegations.
The latest release has only intensified scrutiny of the former prince, with the country's prime minister urging him to testify to U.S. lawmakers and forcing Prince William and Princess Kate to speak out about the controversy after years of silence. Britain's King Charles said in a statement Feb. 9 released by Buckingham Palace that the palace is ready to support the police as they investigate allegations against the king's brother.
Princess Mette-Marit, the Crown Princess of Norway, exchanged dozens of emails with Epstein, some as recently as 2014. The emails contradict a 2019 comment from the Royal Palace that she'd broken off contact with Epstein in 2011, according to the Norwegian tabloid VG.
Mette-Marit, wife of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, has apologized for maintaining contact with Epstein, saying she displayed poor judgment. In her most recent statement, released Feb. 6, she apologized again, "for the situation that I have put the royal family in, especially the King and Queen."
Norway's prime minister on Feb. 9 said that Mette-Marit and other prominent Norwegians named in the recently released Epstein documents should provide more details about their involvement with Epstein.
Norway opens investigations into ex-leader and diplomats
Norwegian authorities announced they are investigating two former ambassadors and a former prime minister over corruption tied to the Epstein files. All were known to have had ties to Epstein, but the new files have provided more details on their relationships and dealings with the late money manager.
The country's economic and environmental crime unit said in a statement on Feb. 9 it had conducted searches at two locations tied to former ambassador Mona Juul and her husband, Terje Rød‑Larsen. The pair is being investigated over charges of aggravated corruption and contribution to aggravated corruption. Authorities had opened a separate corruption investigation into former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland several days prior due to his alleged links to Epstein.
Jagland served as prime minister from 1996 to 1997, and also held top positions as chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and secretary general of the Council of Europe.
The diplomatic couple, Juul and Rød‑Larsen, helped facilitate contacts between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israeli government that led to the 1993-1995 Oslo Accords. Juul had been Norway's ambassador to Jordan and Iraq upon the latest Epstein file release, and has stepped down from the position. Rød‑Larsen is a former Deputy Prime Minister.
The files suggest that the couple and their children visited Epstein's island, and were named in a version of his will released in the Epstein documents. The two children stood to inherit $5 million apiece from him, according to Reuters.
French and Slovakian officials scrutinized, among others
Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, has stepped down from his role as the head of a cultural center in Paris following allegations he previously had financial ties to Epstein. The allegations have triggered a tax investigation. Lang denies wrongdoing and has described the allegations against him as "baseless."
Lang was the head of the Arab World Institute, an organization that promotes exchanges between France and Arab nations. In a letter to Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, viewed by the AFP news agency, Lang said that he would submit his resignation at the next board meeting of the Arab World Institute. Lang served as France's culture minister between 1981 and 1993. He later served as minister of education.
Miroslav Lajčák, an ally of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his national security adviser, resigned after it emerged in documents from the Epstein files that he had exchanged text messages with Epstein about women and diplomacy. The texts date from when Lajčák was Slovakia's foreign minister in 2018.
In a statement, Lajčák said he was resigning to avoid causing any political damage to Fico. He denied any wrongdoing. He also condemned Epstein's alleged crimes.
Contributing: Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY; Reuters.
Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr. Sign up for her daily politics newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Epstein file revelations spark probes, controversy in Europe
