Dalai Lama’s Office Denies Any Contact With Jeffrey Epstein After DOJ File Mentions

Overview

• In a Feb. 8 statement posted on X, the Dalai Lama’s office said he never met Jeffrey Epstein and did not authorize anyone to meet or interact with him.
• An AFP review of the Justice Department’s documents found the Dalai Lama’s name appears 154 times but reported no reference to any meeting with Epstein.
• China’s state broadcaster CGTN said the name appears at least 169 times and pointed to a 2012 email suggesting an island event where the Dalai Lama would be present, a claim not corroborated in independent reviews.
• The Justice Department released more than 3 million Epstein-related files on Jan. 30 after a 2025 law signed by President Donald Trump required their disclosure.
• Reports caution that name mentions alone do not imply wrongdoing, noting China’s longstanding portrayal of the exiled Tibetan leader as a separatist.