Anwar says he had 'absolutely no connection' with Jeffrey Epstein or associates, opposition demands explanation

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has waved off associations with financier and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after his name was spotted amongst documents released by the US Justice Department.

Explore potential future benefits

On Jan. 30, the United States Department of Justice released over three million pages of documents, as well as 180,000 pictures and 2,000 videos in the latest release of documents related to the “Epstein files”.

Amongst the documents was that of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was referenced in an email dated Feb. 21, 2012, whose identity was redacted by the Justice Department.

According to MalaysiaKini, the unnamed associate of Jeffrey Epstein asked if Epstein could set up a meeting between “Jes” and Anwar, in order to “explore potential future benefits for JPM”.

JPM is said to refer to JP Morgan, a U.S. bank, while "Jes" apparently referred to Jes Stanley, JP Morgan’s investment bank chief executive at the time the email was sent.

"Clean up Malaysia, gold mine for JPM"

The email asked if a private meeting between Anwar and “Jes” should be arranged, and that if Anwar “becomes prime minister of Malaysia he will clean up and it could be a gold mine for JPM.”

The unknown writer claimed that he knew Anwar well, having remained close to him even after many had said he was “finished”, but that it “looks different now”.

Epstein asked if Anwar would travel to the U.S. or Europe in May 2012, suggesting a meeting then.

MalaysiaKini further reported that the email’s writer was asked by Epstein to offer the possibility of Hollywood films being made in Malaysia.

At time of writing, there is no indication or evidence that Anwar has ever met Epstein or communicated with him.

Absolutely no connection

According to Bernama, Anwar has brushed off associations with Epstein, addressing the connection in a social media post on X on Feb 1.

Anwar said that he had only learnt about the email exchange that day, as well as the desire of an outside party to meet with him.

Anwar said that in the over dozen years since the email was sent, he had “absolutely no connection with any of the parties exchanging those emails, especially Epstein”, adding some sickly emojis to illustrate his feelings.

He then said that he would continue to “jalan-jalan (go walking)” in Johor Bahru, adding the hashtag “#DoneExplain”.

Opposition party Bersatu’s youth wing had made a demand that Anwar “provide clarifications” about the exchange.

MalaysiaKini noted that the exchange had taken place a year before the 2013 general elections, which was the first time an opposition coalition had obtained a majority of the popular vote, although it only won 89 out of 222 seats.

The news outlet also said that Anwar was touted by Western leaders as a reform-minded leader, which led to conspiracy theories that Anwar was being backed by them to take over as Malaysia’s leader.

Release of (some of) the files

The files' release comes six weeks after the passing of a deadline for the Justice Department to release all the Epstein Files.

The documents that have thus far been released in two phases and is believed to be only part of a large trove of six million documents.

The documents have been heavily redacted, ostensibly to protect Epstein’s victims, even though several of those victims have called for the unredacted files to be released.

Support for the release of the files is broad-based and bipartisan, with one of the leaders of the movement to get the files released being a Republican congressman, Thomas Massie.

Epstein was accused of sexual assault of numerous young girls, as well as trafficking them across the U.S. and to his private island in the Caribbean.

The files are especially pertinent now as they appear to document a history of closeness between the U.S. president Donald Trump, whose critics suggest is proof of inappropriate behaviour by Trump.

The latest release has seen numerous high-profile figures shown to have links and friendly communications with Epstein, including Elon Musk, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, and the former Duke of York, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, according to the BBC.

Top image via Anwar Ibrahim/Facebook & Wikipedia