Former prime minister and outgoing US Ambassador Kevin Rudd has denied attending Jeffrey Epstein‘s New York home following the release of new US Department of Justice files.
In a lengthy statement, Dr Rudd vehemently denied ever corresponding with the convicted US sex offender or visiting any of his houses.
About 3.5 million pages of documents relating to Epstein were released by the US Department of Justice overnight, shedding further light on his network of contacts in business, politics and the media.
The documents give insight into how Epstein used his contacts to court those in power, using others to initiate meetings between him and other high-profile people.
For decades, Epstein maintained friendly relationships with former presidents and high-ranking officials and was reportedly involved in intelligence and influence activities.
Epstein was jailed for soliciting sex with minors and committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on more serious charges of sex trafficking of minors.
More than 2000 videos and 180,000 images were also released in Friday’s dump.
The files, posted to the department’s website, include some of the several million pages of records that officials said were withheld from an initial release of documents in December.
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd (pictured) has denied attending Jeffrey Epstein’s New York home following the release of new US Department of Justice files
About 3.5 million pages of documents relating to Epstein were released by the US Department of Justice overnight (pictured, a binder of ‘The Epstein Files’ shown in February 2025)
Epstein was jailed for soliciting sex with minors and committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on more serious charges of sex trafficking of minors
Emails in the file release showed Epstein had scheduled to meet Dr Rudd on Sunday, June 8, 2014, at 4.30pm.
But Dr Rudd strongly denied ever meeting Epstein and said there was no evidence that the former prime minister had accepted any invitation made to him.
‘Our office has no records of this meeting, and the published documents gave no indication about who was involved in organising it,’ a statement from Dr Rudd’s office said.
‘In any case, they were unsuccessful in arranging the introduction.’
Dr Rudd is one of thousands mentioned in the Epstein files, and the Daily Mail is not suggesting there was any form of personal relationship between Epstein and Mr Rudd, or that Mr Rudd engaged in any improper or illegal conduct, or that he had any knowledge of any improper or illegal conduct by Epstein.
‘We cannot rule out the possibility that they might have attended the same event at some stage, since Dr Rudd has attended literally thousands of functions in New York over the years,’ the statement said.
‘Most references to Dr Rudd in these latest documents mention him in passing. Others indicate there were attempts by mutual acquaintances of Jeffrey Epstein to introduce him to Dr Rudd.
‘No introduction ever took place, and there is no evidence of any direct contact between Jeffrey Epstein and either Dr Rudd or his office.’
The release comes after months of accusations between the government and Congress regarding the slow pace and opacity of the documents, which have been withheld due to extensive records and legal documentation pertaining to the Epstein case.
In the statement Dr Rudd’s office said: ‘Even if these various records were somehow to be accepted at face value, none of them allege that Dr Rudd engaged in any wrongful activity or had any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
‘Dr Rudd’s legal team is prepared to launch legal action against any defamatory statements asserting any kind of personal relationship between Dr Rudd and Epstein.’
