Colom wrote in the series of emails that he regularly meets Le Maire and his then chief of staff, Emmanuel Moulin. Moulin is currently President Emmanuel Macron’s chief of staff. There is no suggestion in the email that Moulin met with Epstein.
Le Maire and Moulin did not respond immediately to requests for comment. POLITICO could not immediately find contact information for Colom.
Le Maire, a longtime fixture of French conservative politics and a former presidential candidate, now teaches at a university in Lausanne. While he was mulling a bid for the 2027 presidential election, his reputation has suffered significantly as France has struggled to cut trillions in debt since his departure. Le Maire’s appointment as armed forces minister last year was met with such outrage it helped trigger a government collapse after a mere 14 hours.
Colom also asked Epstein in a 2013 email for “any ideas” helping to raise money for Le Maire as a “future candidate [sic] to the Presidential election.”
Epstein responded: “lets meet and talk about it.”
The documents include several exchanges between Colom and Epstein, including one in which Epstein says he is on his island in the Caribbean “with an aquarium full of girls.”
Colom responded: “The King of Saudi Arabia has a few white sharks in his [sic] at his Jeddah palace. I totally prefer yours. Sure I would enjoy the view.”
Marion Solletty contributed to this report.