00:00Indeed, what we know is that Jacques Lang was pushed to step down from his post here at the Arab
00:05Institute here in Paris
00:07because of his ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
00:10Now, what has been revealed by the documents that were declassified by the Department of Justice
00:15is that indeed both men corresponded between 2012 and 2019,
00:20that in these files, well, the name of Jacques Lang is cited 673 times,
00:26that indeed his daughter, Caroline Lang, had a company on the U.S. Virgin Islands with Jeffrey Epstein to purchase
00:35art.
00:35And it was funded by Epstein for several hundred thousand dollars.
00:41And indeed also that Jacques Lang himself has received several tens of thousands,
00:48roughly 60,000 euros of financing for a film he was planning about himself and Mitterrand, also his deceased daughter.
00:58So there are ties there which are quite strong, all taking place after Jeffrey Epstein was indeed convicted
01:05in a sex fraud, sex abuse, minor sex abuse case in Palm Beach.
01:11And this is, of course, what's being investigated.
01:14When it comes to Jacques Lang himself, he says that he is, I quote, white as snowing,
01:18as in indeed he considers himself to have no part in this story
01:24and also saying that everything he did was legal.
01:26He told this to a Sunday newspaper yesterday and that he was actually quite happy to see this investigation take
01:32place.
01:33James, for the benefit of our international viewers,
01:36can you tell us a little bit more about the Institute itself, not to mention Jacques Lang?
01:43Yes, absolutely.
01:44The Institute was created under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Jacques Lang has been its president since 2013.
01:51It is a diplomatic and cultural tool to create a bridge between France and the Arab world.
01:58Now, he has presided over this Institute for 13 years.
02:02And actually, this morning, as this raid was taking place, well, there was a small ceremony with his collaborators
02:09in order to, you know, acknowledge the fact that he was stepping down from his post.
02:17He's 86 years old.
02:19Jack Lang, as for international viewers, we were saying he was a minister, a French minister twice, culture and education.
02:27One of his very marking achievements was to create what is known here as the Fête de la musique,
02:32which is an annual day where all groups can come out and play,
02:37something that went international over the following years.
02:40And he is a prominent figure of the main left-wing socialist party here in France.
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