14th Dalai Lama mentioned 169 times in Epstein files: media

(ECNS) — Multiple international media outlets reported that the name of the 14th Dalai Lama appears 169 times in emails included in documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case that were recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Those media outlets included India's Financial Express, Belarus-based media outlet Nexta TV and Russia Today. 

Earlier reports also linked the 14th Dalai Lama to Epstein. On Aug. 29, 2025, U.S.-based website CounterPunch published an article titled "Why Was the Dalai Lama at Jeffrey Epstein's House?" The article cited journalist Michael Wolff, who said during a Daily Beast podcast that he encountered the Dalai Lama at a gathering held at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse.

The article quoted Wolff as suggesting that the Dalai Lama's appearance at the event was likely related to financial interests. It also claimed that the Dalai Lama attended and spoke at an event organized by the controversial group NXIVM in 2009, allegedly receiving one million U.S. dollars in compensation.

Epstein, a U.S. financier with extensive ties to political and business elites in the United States and Europe, was convicted in 2008 of soliciting a minor for prostitution. He was arrested again in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges and died in prison the following month, with authorities ruling his death a suicide. 

The DOJ announced in January that it was releasing more than 3 million pages of files on Epstein over a month after the deadline that the U.S. Congress set for it to release all related files. However, it has not issued detailed explanations regarding the nature or significance of individual names mentioned in the materials.

(By Evelyn)