JD Vance claims Jeffrey Epstein had ties to Mossad or CIA during Joe Rogan interview

US Vice President JD Vance on the Joe Regan show, admitted that the late convicted sex offender Jefferey Epstein had connections with “Mossad or CIA or some other deep state”. He further added that Epstein's connection with Israel was in the left-central ideological bent, dodging linkups to the right of centre political ideologues of Israel with whom he shared ideological affinity.

Nearly an hour and 47 minutes into the interview, host Rogan asks Vance: “Well, most people think he [Epstein] was Mossad.” Vance responded, “Yeah, Mossad or CIA or some other deep state, whether in America or Israel or another country. He clearly had connections to the upper, the highest levels of American intelligence. He clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence,” said Vance.

“Epstein seemed to be connected to the elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of centre. I’ve always found that fascinating. It wasn’t like he was super connected to the right of centre of Israeli politics,” he added.

During the podcast, Vance also admitted to the mishandling of the Epstein files. He specifically focused on Pam Bondi, who was fired by Trump in April. Bondi said that a client list belonging to Epstein was sitting on her desk. Later, the DOJ backtracked on Epstein's “client list”, insinuating that he acted alone.

“I know Pam. I like Pam. I don’t think there was anything malicious going on,” Vance told Rogan. “I think Pam was trying to respond to the political moment. I think she overstated what we had and what we didn’t have.”

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Epstein's Mossad connection

The released tranche of 3.5 million files related to Epstein in January 2026, known as the “Epstein files”, does not explicitly prove that Epstein was an intelligence asset. An FBI Memo from 2020 said one of its sources claimed that “was a co-opted Mossad agent” who had been “trained as a spy”. It also reveals that Epstein had Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Mossad veteran Yoni Koren as regular visitors at Epstein’s New York residence. There is also more than an hour-long audio which features a former Israeli Prime Minister discussing racial engineering, by bringing Russian immigrants to Israel to delegitimise the Palestinian claim of statehood based on population. He also let Israeli officer Rafi Shlomo, then-director of protective service at the Israeli mission to the United Nations, install and control security equipment in a Manhattan apartment. Epstein also funded Israeli organisations through his foundation, a $25,000 donation to Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (Israeli army), and $15,000 to the Jewish National Fund. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Jeffrey Epstein’s unusually close relationship with Ehud Barak doesn’t suggest Epstein worked for Israel; it proves the opposite.