Will the once-untouchable Jack Lang finally fall from grace? At the request of President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, the president of the Arab World Institute (IMA) and former French culture minister has been summoned on Sunday, February 8, to the French Foreign Ministry by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. According to Barrot, Lang must “account for” both his personal and financial ties to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, now that he and his daughter Caroline are under investigation for “aggravated money laundering of tax fraud,” as announced by the national financial prosecutor on Friday evening, February 6.
His summons to the Foreign Ministry was made public by the Elysée Palace and the prime minister’s office on Thursday evening, amid public outcry and growing calls for Lang’s resignation following revelations about his proximity to Epstein, who died in custody in 2019.
In this context, the government has not ruled out any options. Lang has been told to “think of the institution” he has led since 2013, according to the government’s notice, whose stated priority is to “guarantee the proper functioning, continuity and integrity of the Arab World Institute,” Barrot said Friday from Beirut. The foreign minister is seeking clarification from Lang about “unpublished and extremely serious” documents, in which Lang’s name appears several hundred times. These documents, released by the United States judiciary on January 30 at the request of the Trump administration, which itself faces pressure over the affair, “require a rigorous and thorough investigation,” the French foreign minister said.
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