French diplomat Fabrice Aidan exchanged dozens of emails over several years with Jeffrey Epstein. At this stage, the exchanges made public in the “Epstein files” do not seem to link him to the sexual crimes committed by the businessman. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs announced Tuesday evening that he had taken legal action.

Published on: 02/11/2026 - 00:18

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said he was "staggered" and "outraged", Wednesday February 11, by the facts - revealed the day before - implicating a French diplomat, Fabrice Aidan, whose name appears several times in the Epstein file.

“When I learned of this information, I was shocked and I did what anyone would have done in my place” by reporting the facts to the courts and launching an administrative investigation as well as a disciplinary procedure, the minister declared on RTL.

Jean-Noël Barrot assured that he only discovered this situation on Tuesday which “personally outrages” him. The alleged facts “are very serious,” the minister said. “But I forbid you to suggest that this would affect the agents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (...), who should not be involved in this,” he added, without “ruling out” that other French diplomats could be involved.

The minister indicated on Tuesday that he had taken legal action to “report the alleged facts” implicating the diplomat.

Jean-Noël Barrot published Tuesday around 10 p.m. on the X platform the reporting letter he sent to the Paris prosecutor, Laure Beccuau. “I am also launching an administrative investigation to contribute to the work of justice and launching a disciplinary procedure,” the minister wrote in his message on X.

Fabrice Aidan, whose name was cited in particular by Mediapart earlier Tuesday, is "senior foreign affairs secretary on availability for personal convenience and occupying functions in the private sector", indicates the minister in his letter. He worked within the Engie group, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP.

Engie announced to AFP "to suspend the functions of Fabrice Aidan", "due to elements brought to (its) attention and relayed in certain media, which concern a period prior to his entry into the group".

Also read: Epstein affair: Trump, Gates, Musk... the personalities cited in the latest documents

According to documents consulted by AFP, Fabrice Aidan exchanged dozens of emails over several years with businessman and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.

According to Mediapart and Radio France, the first listed exchanges date back to 2010. At this stage, the exchanges made public do not seem to link the senior official to the sexual crimes committed by the billionaire.

The UN alerted in 2013

In 2010, Fabrice Aidan was seconded by France to the United Nations, where he was advisor to the Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen. The latter, as well as his wife Mona Juul, are the subject of an investigation in Norway for "complicity in aggravated corruption" and "aggravated corruption" due to their links with Jeffrey Epstein, the police announced on Monday. This diplomatic couple played an important role in the secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s.

According to Mediapart and Radio France, Fabrice Aidan provided Jeffrey Epstein with “diplomatic information, services or his international networks”. For example, he sends, via his United Nations email address, “documents and reports from the organization to Epstein in person,” writes Mediapart. But Jeffrey Epstein also addresses more down-to-earth requests to the French diplomat: for example, he asks him to find Terje Rod-Larsen's size to offer him a pair of shoes.

According to Mediapart, the UN was alerted in 2013 by the FBI to the existence of an investigation likely to implicate Fabrice Aidan in New York. Contacted by the media which revealed these links, Fabrice Aidan did not follow up.

Resignation of Jack Lang

The publication, at the end of January, of millions of new documents linked to businessman and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein caused shock waves across the world, with many personalities appearing in these documents. The mention of a name in the sex offender's correspondence does not presuppose any wrongdoing.

Also read “Censorship”, withdrawal, redaction… Why the publication of the Epstein files is controversial

In France, former socialist minister Jack Lang had to resign from his position as president of the Arab World Institute, after the opening of an investigation into his links with Jeffrey Epstein.

With AFP

Keywords associated with the article

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.