Poland to set up body to look into Epstein files

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Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has announced the formation of a special group tasked with analysing the release of files relating to late US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It will determine if there are any aspects of Epstein’s activities relating to Poland that require investigation, including whether any Polish girls or women were harmed by him. Tusk says that his team will also look into claims that Epstein could have been involved with or used by Russian intelligence.

“We have decided to establish an analytical group and possibly launch an investigation if the analyses confirm our concerns regarding the paedophilia scandal in the United States,” announced Tusk during remarks ahead of a meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday.

“This matter is of great concern to the Polish public because of the so-called Polish elements in this entire affair,” he added. Polish media have reported in recent days that the latest mass release by the US justice department of files relating to Epstein contains some documents relating to Poland or Poles.

One example cited by Tusk today are emails from one of Epstein’s so-called “scouts”, Daniel Siad, who wrote to his boss in 2009 saying that he “has some girls allready [sic]” in Poland, mentioning the city of Kraków specifically.

Tusk pledged that, if it transpires that there was “any exploitation of Polish children by the paedophile network and the organiser of this satanic ring, Mr Epstein”, then “we will of course do everything to…effectively prosecute those who committed such horrific crimes” and “provide redress to those harmed”.

“I will ask both prosecutors and the security services for a very detailed, rapid and thorough file-by-file analysis of every document currently available in the public domain,” added the Polish prime minister.

“If necessary, we will also request that the American side provide access to those documents or files that have not been disclosed and may concern potential Polish victims or other Polish clues.”

Tusk added said that, as well as the need to investigate potential crimes against Polish citizens, another important reason to look into the case is the fact that there is “more and more information…raising the suspicion that this unprecedented paedophilia scandal was co-organised by Russian intelligence services”.

He referred to questions raised by British journalist Andrew Marr on Monday as to whether Epstein could have been a Russian asset who set up “honeytraps” intended to create blackmail material against prominent figures.

“Epstein clearly had unlimited access to large sums of money, the source and origin of [which] remain unclear,” said Tusk. “He worked with numerous young Russian women, who were pimped out by him.”

The Polish prime minister noted that the files release so far contain a large number of mentions of Russia, including a claim by an anonymous FB informant that “Epstein was President Vladimir Putin’s wealth manager”.

“I do not need to tell you how grave this is for the security of the Polish state,” said Tusk, “this increasingly likely possibility that Russian intelligence agencies co-organised this operation, which can only mean that they also possess compromising materials against many leaders still active today.”

Poland has in recent years been the victim of a variety of so-called “hybrid actions” carried out by Russia, including espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation.

Earlier on Tuesday, a long-serving defence ministry official was detained on suspicion of collaborating with foreign intelligence. Media reports suggest he was working with Russia and Belarus.

Main image credit: KPRM/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.