A French career diplomat, Fabrice Aidan, whose name appears more than 200 times in recently released U.S. Justice Department files linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has rejected all allegations against him, as French authorities refer the matter to prosecutors and launch internal disciplinary proceedings.
Fabrice Aidan, who joined France’s foreign ministry around 2000 and served on secondment at United Nations headquarters in New York from 2006 to 2013, is suspected of transferring confidential UN Security Council briefings and other sensitive documents to Epstein between 2010 and 2016. Emails reviewed by Reuters show the transfers were conducted from both Aidan’s personal and official UN accounts.
His lawyer, Jade Dousselin, said Thursday that her client “rejects all of the accusations” and is prepared to cooperate fully with French judicial authorities.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the allegations as “extremely serious” and confirmed that he had referred the matter to Paris prosecutors under Article 40 of France’s Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires public officials to alert judicial authorities when they become aware of potential criminal conduct. An internal administrative inquiry and disciplinary proceedings have also been initiated within the ministry.
“These emails, including the transfer of UN documents, are staggering,” Barrot told RTL radio, adding that he had learned of Aidan’s alleged conduct Tuesday through a report published by French investigative outlet Mediapart.
The documents passed to Epstein reportedly included Security Council briefings and a readout of a telephone conversation between former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Turkey’s foreign minister. Aidan had forwarded that call summary to a superior, who then passed it to Epstein. Reuters said it could not immediately determine the classification status of the documents involved.
UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric confirmed that a disciplinary process against Aidan had been underway at the time of his resignation from the UN secondment in 2013. He said the organization would address the current allegations in accordance with its legal and policy framework. “It goes without saying that the sharing of confidential information without express authority to do so is against procedure,” Dujarric told Reuters.
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The Mediapart investigation also reported that the FBI had flagged Aidan in 2013 for allegedly accessing child sexual abuse material online. Dousselin categorically denied this allegation on her client’s behalf.
“He never visited any websites containing child pornography. The FBI has already investigated this without any prosecution, and French investigations reached the same conclusion,” she said.
Gérard Araud, who served as France’s ambassador to the United States from 2014 to 2019, confirmed on social media that he had returned Aidan to France during his tenure. Araud acknowledged the existence of an FBI file on Aidan but provided no further details and said U.S. authorities had not sought to prosecute him.
The professional fallout from the revelations has been swift. Energy conglomerate Engie confirmed it had dismissed Aidan from his duties following the emergence of the reports, stating the alleged conduct concerned a period before he joined the company. Aidan had also apparently deleted his LinkedIn profile as of Wednesday morning, according to Reuters. The foreign ministry described Aidan’s current status as a “principal secretary of foreign affairs on personal leave and working outside the ministry,” indicating he had not been in active diplomatic service at the time the allegations surfaced.
President Emmanuel Macron is reported to be appalled by the disclosures. Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said all necessary light must be shed on the matter and called on judicial bodies to take up the case.
One email exchange in the released files revealed that Aidan had asked Epstein for the entry codes to the financier’s luxury Paris apartment, a request Epstein reportedly accommodated.
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The case forms part of a wider wave of disclosures following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act by the U.S. Congress in November. The legislation, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, compelled the Justice Department to release all documents in its possession related to Epstein, prohibiting withholding or redaction on grounds of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity toward any public figure or foreign official.
The January release of thousands of pages of files has implicated a range of prominent individuals across Europe and the United States, triggering political fallout in multiple countries. In France, former culture minister Jack Lang resigned from his position as head of the Arab World Institute after his name appeared in documents connecting him to an offshore company Epstein founded.
Epstein died in August 2019 in a Manhattan detention facility while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide, though it remains the subject of dispute.
Paris prosecutors will now determine whether to open a formal criminal investigation into Aidan’s conduct. The timeline for any such decision has not been disclosed.
