Epstein emails show Puri meetings, visa help for aide

A year later, in December 2015, Epstein forwarded an email from Puri, asking for “time for a coffee”, to Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen. Rod-Larsen responded with “Have you heard the saying: when you meet an Indian and a snake, kill the Indian first!” Epstein replied, “the question is how do you tell one from the other”.

The fresh tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) on January 30 in the Epstein case show that Union Minister Puri, then a recently retired diplomat who had joined the BJP, exchanged emails with the convicted child sex offender in 2014-15 in which he primarily made a pitch for India’s economic growth.

On Wednesday, these emails were at the centre of a political firestorm with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi raising questions on the references to Puri. In response, Puri held a press conference in which he accused Gandhi of making “baseless allegations” and failing to show Parliamentary responsibility.

Puri said he was in the US for eight years from May 2009 when he joined as India’s ambassador to the UN in New York and when he became a Minister in 2017.

“There are references to possibly two or three meetings in eight years… In that note, I told him that after I retired as India’s ambassador to the UN, a few months later I was invited to join the International Peace Institute,” he said.

“This was a commission set up in the IPI as a project to see if the United Nations was fit for purpose on the occasion of its 75th anniversary… The chair was the former Prime Minister of Australia… My boss in the IPI, Mr. Terje Rod-Larsen, was a person who knew this particular infamous person, Mr Epstein, and it is as part of a delegation of the IPI or the ICM that I met Mr Epstein on a few occasions — three or maximum four,” he said.

Puri retired from the Indian Foreign Service in February 2013, joined the BJP in January 2014 and was inducted in the NDA Cabinet as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs in September 2017. In 2021, he was given the portfolio of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

According to the emails released by DoJ, Epstein wrote to Puri on June 18, 2014, informing him that “Reid Hoffman is ready to come to India.” Puri replied on June 23: “Just saw your message on returning to Delhi, Jeffrey. Will be happy to assist/ facilitate Reid Hoffman’s visit.”

In September 2014, Epstein introduced Puri to Hoffman in an email: “reid – hardeep . hardeep reid, . reid hardeep is your man in india.”

A month after that “complicated” meeting with Hoffman in October 2014, Puri wrote to Epstein: “Jeff, I briefed you on my discussions with Reed in Silicon Valley on 3 October. Your reaction was that Reed should visit India sooner rather than later. Back in India, since mid-October, I am now convinced more than ever that India today presents a terrific opportunity for internet-based economic activity.”

Asserting that “newly elected Prime Minister Modi’s focus to revive the Indian economy includes an audaciously ambitious plan to expand rural internet coverage,” which would push India’s internet subscriber base to half a billion by 2018, Puri wrote: “Growth of the internet in the US will most certainly not be able to keep pace with India’s because in India, the penetration of the internet is less than 20%.”

A month on, Puri wrote to Epstein in December 2014 for a meeting, asking when he would be back from his “exotic island” so that he could “come across for a chat.” Epstein responded immediately: “I was writing you. Amazing. I spoke to Reid.” Puri replied: “Indeed, telepathy. Give me a shout when you are back. And, have fun. Not that you require encouragement from others fir that.”