Former US senator George Mitchell has denied meeting Jeffrey Epstein after the financier’s conviction for sex offences, saying he “declined or deflected” the “small number of invitations” he received from him.
In a statement, his spokesman said that “to the best of Senator Mitchell’s recollection, during the 12-year period between Epstein’s conviction and his death, members of Epstein’s staff extended a small number of invitations to the Senator, all of which he declined or deflected.”
Mitchell said he “profoundly regrets ever having known Jeffrey Epstein and condemns, without reservation, the horrific harm Epstein inflicted on so many women”.
He was responding to the latest release of US files on Epstein, which include emails and scheduling reminders detailing a meeting between Mitchell and Epstein planned for November 6th, 2013. It is not clear if the meeting took place.
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The files also show the convicted sex offender tried to contact Mitchell a number of times between 2010 and 2013 to arrange meetings, and include a message from an unidentified sender to Epstein claiming Mitchell had “called back ... he would love to speak with you”.
Mitchell had previously stated publicly that he had no contact with Epstein since his first conviction in 2008, for soliciting a minor in Florida.
Earlier this week, Queen’s University Belfast cut ties with the former senator, who played a central role in brokering the landmark 1998 Belfast Agreement which ended the North’s Troubles, taking his name from its Institute of Global Peace, Security and Justice and removing his bust and portrait.
Despite “no findings of wrongdoing by Senator Mitchell” the university deemed it “no longer appropriate” for its “institutional spaces and entities to continue to bear his name”.
The US-Ireland Alliance also announced Mitchell’s name would be removed from its George J Mitchell scholarship programme.
In the statement, Mitchell’s spokesman also addresses the allegation repeated in the newly-released files that Virginia Giuffre, a minor, was forced by Epstein to have sex with Mitchell.
This allegation was “first made public in 2020 and denied at the time”, the spokesman said.
“That allegation is based on a case of mistaken identity ... In 2021, Ms Giuffre supplied a photograph to OK Magazine, which incorrectly captioned it as depicting Senator Mitchell standing behind Jeffrey Epstein.
“The individual in the photograph was not Senator Mitchell.”
The word “not” is underlined in the statement.
“The publisher acknowledged the incorrect caption and removed it,” the statement said.
“Senator Mitchell reiterates unequivocally that he never met, spoke with, or had any contact of any kind with Ms Giuffre or with any underage women.”
The spokesman said that “at no time did Senator Mitchell observe, suspect, or have any knowledge of Epstein engaging in illegal or inappropriate conduct with underage women.
“He learned of Epstein’s criminal activity only through media reports related to Epstein’s Florida prosecution.”
