France has uncovered a Russian interference operation aimed at linking President Emmanuel Macron to the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to government sources cited by broadcaster BFMTV, the interference operation is said to be linked to a Russian network called "Storm-1516", through a news story that was flagged as fake by the Foreign Ministry's French Response account on the American social platform X.
An account named "Loetitia Halasz" claimed that Macron was a "frequent visitor" to Epstein's Paris residence, relying in particular on an article attributed to the France Soir media outlet, which subsequently denounced the claim as "imitation of brand and content."
"It turns out that Loetitia claims to hold world secrets. It turns out that artificial intelligence transforms them into images. It turns out that the France Soir article does not exist. It turns out that Russian networks are spreading it directly," said French Response, dismissing Loetitia's claim.
BFMTV pointed out that although Macron's name appears more than 200 times in the recently released Epstein files, he is only mentioned in discussions involving other people or in press articles and there is currently no evidence of any exchange or meeting between the French president and the sex offender.
Recently, the US Department of Justice released more than 3 million pages, 2 videos and 180 images related to Epstein, as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law by US President Donald Trump in November.
The materials include photographs, grand jury transcripts and investigative files, although many pages remain redacted.
Epstein was found dead in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls. /AA
