Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday strongly hit out at Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over references to his name in the so-called 'Epstein files', accusing him of making "baseless allegations" and spreading misinformation. “Because today during the session he took my name in the context of some developments, the Epstein files, I just want to share some information with you,” Puri said, responding to remarks made in Parliament.
Targeting Rahul Gandhi, Puri said, “He has a habit of making baseless allegations,” and added that there are “elements of buffoonery.”
Puri stressed that the material being cited is already public. “These facts are all known. They are in the public domain. Three million emails have been released,” he said.
Explaining the context, Puri noted that he was in New York for eight years — from 2009, when he joined as India’s Ambassador to the United Nations, until 2017, when he became a minister. “In those eight years there are references to possibly three or four meetings,” he said.
After retiring as ambassador, Puri said he joined the International Peace Institute and served as Secretary-General of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism. It was in that capacity, he said, that he met Jeffrey Epstein “on three or four occasions” as part of an institutional delegation, adding that Epstein “was not part of ICM’s work.”
Recalling an earlier interaction, Puri said that on Constitution Day, November 26, 2025, in the Central Hall of Parliament, Gandhi approached him after the event. “He came up to me and, in his style when he is in the mood, he winked at me like this. I was amused. He said, ‘Name is in interesting places.’ I asked him, ‘Do you want to know what the facts are? Do you want a note on it?’ So I actually sent him a note,” Puri said.
Referring to a November 13, 2014 email that has been cited, Puri said, “In that email, copied to Epstein, I wrote to Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, that India presents a terrific opportunity for internet-based economic activity.” He emphasized, “In November 2014 I was a private citizen.”
“If this is what they call ‘Hardeep Puri’s name appears in the Epstein files,’ this is it,” he said, asserting that there was no wrongdoing and that the allegations were politically motivated.
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