Norwegian ambassador resigns over expanding Epstein-linked scandal

Norway’s Foreign Ministry says diplomat Mona Juul will step down from her post following a serious lapse in judgment connected to her past contacts with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Juul had been suspended earlier this week from her role as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq while the ministry examined links revealed in a large cache of US government documents related to Epstein.

The inquiry concluded that the matter had undermined confidence in her ability to continue in the position.

“Juul’s contact with Epstein represents a grave error of judgment and makes it difficult to restore the trust required for such a role,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement on Sunday.

Juul, 66, has held several high-profile diplomatic posts, including ambassador to the Israeli regime, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations, and previously served as a junior government minister.

Through her lawyer, she said she chose to step aside because the circumstances made it impossible for her to effectively perform her duties, and that she would continue to cooperate fully with authorities.

The ministry also announced a review of past government funding to the International Peace Institute, a New York-based think tank led until 2020 by Juul’s husband, Terje Rød-Larsen.

Rød-Larsen, a former cabinet minister, has previously acknowledged and apologized for his association with Epstein. His lawyer said he had no objection to a renewed examination, noting that the National Audit Office had already investigated the matter in previous years.

Juul and Rød-Larsen gained international recognition in the 1990s as key facilitators of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Epstein revelations have also drawn in other high-profile Norwegians, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who recently issued a renewed public apology through the royal palace.

On Tuesday, Craig Mokhiber, former head of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said Mona Juul and Terje Rød-Larsen, the Norwegian husband-and-wife team widely credited with engineering the Oslo process, took personal loans from Epstein and that “their children were reportedly left $10 million in Epstein’s will.”

Jeffrey Epstein left millions to children of ‘disastrous’ Oslo Accords architects: Ex-UN official

A former UN human rights official says two central figures behind the “disastrous” Oslo process had close personal and financial ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein, who had connections to numerous powerful figures, including US President Donald Trump, Britain’s former Prince Andrew, and former US President Bill Clinton, was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking minors.

Two months later, he was found dead in a New York jail cell. His death was officially ruled a suicide, though the circumstances have fueled years of speculation about his high-profile associates and possible efforts to conceal the full scope of his crimes.

Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress, the DOJ released files on Epstein and his accomplices and enablers.

Some of the sex trafficker’s emails reveal correspondence suggesting he acted as a private diplomat and intelligence fixer for a range of political figures.

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