Emmanuel Macron has expressed his desire to understand why no action was taken earlier regarding Fabrice Aidan, a French diplomat mentioned over 200 times in the Epstein files and targeted by an FBI investigation in 2013. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has alerted the justice system and launched an administrative inquiry. A lawyer from Innocence en Danger calls for investigating possible ramifications in France.
The declassified Epstein files, made public by U.S. justice since January 30, continue to cause ripples in France. Diplomat Fabrice Aidan's name appears over 200 times in exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein, dating back to 2010 when he was detached to the UN by France. In 2013, the FBI targeted him for accessing child pornography images, information revealed by 20 Minutes and Mediapart. Aidan, currently on personal leave, contests all accusations, according to his lawyer.
On February 12, Emmanuel Macron reacted after a European summit, calling Aidan's continued posting «unacceptable» despite past alerts. «If it is true that the administration had information several years ago, things should have been done,» he stated, claiming he had «discovered» the affair like the public. He asked Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to clarify why no measures were taken earlier. Barrot has reported the facts to French justice, opened an administrative inquiry, and initiated a disciplinary procedure.
Other French names surface, such as Jack Lang and his daughter Caroline, targeted by a preliminary inquiry for aggravated tax fraud laundering, or pianist Simon Ghraichy and conductor Frédéric Chaslin. Me Nathalie Bucquet, lawyer for Innocence en Danger, urges exploring Epstein's «black books» and flight logs of his jet to check for any incidents in France, particularly at his Avenue Foch apartment. She doubts Epstein «came to France to watch flies,» anticipating discoveries of sexual exploitation on French soil.
Macron maintains the affair concerns «mainly the United States» and U.S. justice should handle it. An Odoxa poll for Le Figaro shows 58% of French people interested in the case, including 15% passionately, with nearly eight in ten feeling «disgusted.» Bucquet suggests a parliamentary inquiry commission on France's judicial response from 2019 to 2023 rather than a full probe.
