Just how close was Jeffrey Epstein to Russian intelligence? The Justice Department has now released millions of files on the disgraced financier, providing more insight into his secret networks.
“It is becoming increasingly likely that Epstein consciously or unconsciously served the interests of Russian intelligence,” Marko Mihkelson, chairman of Estonia’s Foreign Affairs Committee said after another tranche of files was made public. “What the public has seen so far is probably just the tip of the iceberg.”
So I turned to former CIA officer Alex Finley, an expert on Russian intelligence. In this video, we started by discussing the women he trafficked. They weren’t just Americans, some were from eastern Europe and Russia.
“The first thing to remember about Russia and a number of organizations within Eastern Europe, they function as a mafia,” she said. “It’s almost certain that these networks overlapped, that they were using some of the same networks to traffic the women.”
Then we moved into Epstein’s use of sanctioned Russian banks — like Alfa-Bank and Sberbank. “These are banks that are known to be connected back to Putin and his main oligarchs,” Alex told me. “They’ve been used in the past to get money out of Russia in order to use for Russian intelligence operations in the West.”
We also spoke about Epstein’s interactions with then-Deputy Minister of Economic Development Sergei Belyakov. “Belyakov actually graduated from the FSB Academy back in the late ‘90s,” Alex said. “There doesn’t seem to be evidence that he went directly to work for the FSB, but given what we know about how the FSB and Russian intelligence generally works, that doesn’t mean that he isn’t actually working for the FSB and working for this state.”
Eventually, Belyakov led the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. “This is widely known as Putin’s Davos,” Alex said. And though it’s meant to attract investment to Russia, “these types of events are never really just about investment. This is about making sure we can gain some kind of leverage over some of the very important people who attend.” Kompromat.
Documents show that Belyakov helped Epstein deal with a Russian model who was supposedly “blackmailing” businessmen. He provided Epstein with information on her, though it’s unclear what happened next. “Interestingly, Belyakov now also works with Kirill Dmitriev, who is on the negotiating team for the Russians, dealing with [Special Enjoy Steve] Witkoff and Jared Kushner,” Alex said.
We also talked about an email that Epstein sent in 2018 to Norway’s former prime minister Thorbjorn Jagland, offering to discuss President Trump with Sergei Lavrov, Vladimir Putin’s Foreign Affairs Minister. “I think you might suggest to Putin that Lavrov can get insight on talking to me,” Epstein wrote. Norway is now launching an investigation.
And I also asked her about Epstein’s will. Just days before he died in prison, he set aside $50 million, a 33-carat diamond, loose diamonds, and numerous properties to a Belarusian woman.
Much more in the video. And the second part of our conversation — on overlapping tactics — will be available on Tuesday for paid subscribers.
