India rubbishes Epstein file reference to PM Modi, calls it ‘trashy ruminations’

New Delhi: India on Friday strongly rejected references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an email cited from the “so-called” Epstein files, calling them “trashy ruminations” of a “convicted criminal” that merit outright dismissal and contempt.

The response came after the US Justice Department released a large batch of documents linked to its probe into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, reported IANS. The disclosure includes more than three million pages of records, along with around 2,000 videos and nearly 180,000 images.

Epstein, a prominent US financier, was found dead in a New York jail in 2019 while facing federal charges related to sex trafficking of minors. Authorities officially ruled his death a suicide.

"We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel," said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement issued on Saturday evening to “clarify certain reports”.

"Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister’s official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt," the statement added.

On Friday, the US Justice Department began making public millions of documents related to investigations and prosecutions involving Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, stating that the disclosures followed an extensive review mandated by a new transparency law signed by President Donald Trump.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters that the department was releasing over three million pages of material — including more than 2,000 videos and approximately 180,000 images — in line with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was enacted on November 19, 2025.

“In total, that means that the department produced approximately 3.5 million pages in compliance with the act,” Blanche said at a Justice Department press briefing.

He explained that more than 500 lawyers and professionals from multiple divisions, including the FBI and several US attorney’s offices, were involved in the review. Teams met “twice daily, sometimes more,” over nearly 75 days to complete the process.

According to Blanche, over six million pages were initially identified as potentially relevant, but a smaller volume was ultimately released after applying legal and privacy filters. “We erred on the side of over-collecting,” he said, noting that mandatory exclusions reduced the final number of documents made public.