Epstein's files are mostly related to American domestic politics. But Jeffrey Epstein was also interested in European politics, including German actors like Angela Merkel and the AfD.
“I hope Angela Merkel gets run over by a bus soon.” These dark fantasies come from the pen of former advisor to US President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and are part of the newly released sections of the so-called Epstein files.
The German weekly magazine Spiegel reports that among the hundreds of thousands of emails and chats are sections dealing with the situation in German politics.
Bannon vs. Germany
These are conversations between the now deceased Jeffrey Epstein and several people about current German politics. In these conversations, primarily with former Trump advisor Bannon, Epstein speaks negatively about then-Chancellor Angela Merkel – and, like later figures in Trump's circle of influence, such as Elon Musk, he views the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a positive light.
On the eve of the EU elections, Bannon and Epstein are thus dreaming of strengthening the right in the European Union, on which Bannon, as stated in a correspondence with Epstein, has "great influence." In addition to the then National Front in France, Bannon also mentions the Italian right-winger Matteo Salvini, the British Nigel Farage, and the German AfD.
For Epstein and Bannon, the right-wing victory in the European Parliament elections is important in order to thwart the EU's planned rules on cryptocurrencies. "That way we can prevent any crypto regulation or anything else we want," Bannon wrote, according to Spiegel. Right-wing factions in the European Parliament have been against the planned regulation of cryptocurrencies.
AfD in the spotlight
Steve Bannon also met with the leaders of the Alternative for Germany party on several occasions, including the party's current co-chairs Alice Weidel and Tina Krupal. They even invited Bannon, at the time a former advisor to Donald Trump, as a guest to the Bundestag – but the visit never took place.
Johannes Volkmann, a member of parliament from the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the grandson of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, said after the discovery of these documents that "clear US influence on the AfD" was visible.
"It is certainly no coincidence that AfD deputies voted against the provision on cryptocurrency control," Folkman wrote on the X platform.
"May has fallen, Merkel and Macron are also falling"
Another email correspondence between Epstein and Bannon shows their hostility towards European politicians. After the resignation of British Prime Minister Theresa May in May 2019 ahead of the EU elections, Epstein praised Bannon in one email, believing that the resignation was “Bannon’s doing.” Bannon replied: “May is gone, Merkel and Macron will leave on Monday,” Bannon wrote, alluding to the German Chancellor and French President resigning after the right-wingers’ success.
As Der Spiegel further writes, among the files is a black-and-white photo, allegedly of a young Angela Merkel, naked. The photo had been circulating on the Internet for some time before that, and was sent to Epstein's address by a businessman from the Emirates with the note: "Young Angela Merkel." It was already known at the time that the photo had nothing to do with the former German Chancellor.
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