A French diplomat, Fabrice Aidan, has denied allegations that he transferred confidential United Nations documents to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, his lawyer said on Thursday.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot described the accusations as “extremely serious” and confirmed that prosecutors had been alerted while disciplinary proceedings were initiated against Aidan.
Aidan, a mid-level career diplomat who joined France’s foreign ministry in 2000, worked at the United Nations from 2006 to 2013 while on secondment. Emails reviewed by Reuters reportedly show that Aidan sent UN Security Council briefings and other confidential materials to Epstein between 2010 and 2016.
The diplomat resigned from his U.N. post in 2013, according to a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric, who also confirmed a disciplinary process was launched based on information shared by a member state.
Aidan’s lawyer, Jade Dousselin, firmly rejected the accusations, saying her client never accessed websites containing child pornography. She emphasized that both FBI and French investigations had previously found no grounds for prosecution.
French former ambassador to the United States Gerard Araud noted on social media that Aidan had been sent back to France and that U.S. authorities had not sought to prosecute him.
