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Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has publicly called for Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s resignation and apology to the nation over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. “He owes it to the nation to apologise and resign,” she says.

Moitra has also claimed that “Puri has lied repeatedly and brazenly about his relationship with Epstein.” Furthermore, his emails suggest a friendship and intimacy that he has not admitted to.

Asked if Hardeep Puri refuses to resign whether the prime minister should sack him, Moitra replied repeatedly “200%”.

Moitra points out that whilst Puri first claimed he had only exchanged one or two emails with Epstein it turns out that between June 2014 and June 2017 he actually exchanged 62 emails. Similarly, Moitra points out that whilst Puri claims he only met Epstein 3-4 times over an eight-year period and always in a delegation, it turns out that between 2014 and 2017 Puri met Epstein 14 times, of which nine meetings were in the five-month period of June-October 2014. As she puts it: “These were meetings at Epstein’s residence in New York and most were private one-on-one meetings.”

In his emails, Puri called Epstein “Jeff” and “my friend”. He often bantered with him, such as “Have fun. Not that you require any encouragement for that” and “Are you back from your exotic island?”

Moitra says there is a long list of people who have resigned because they used Epstein’s “tainted network despite knowing who he was” and not because they were involved in Epstein’s sexual abuse and trafficking. The list includes Tom Pritzker, the Chairman of Hyatt Hotels, Terje Rod-Larsen, Mr. Puri’s former boss at the International Peace Institute, Peter Mandelson (who was, in fact, sacked), Lawrence Summers, former US Treasury Secretary, and Kathryn Reummler, Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer. Mahua Moitra believes Puri should follow their example.

© The Wire