[0:00]Last Friday, US authorities released another batch of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein, if you need reminding, was a convicted sex offender. He died in a New York prison back in
[0:10]2019 while awaiting another trial for running a sex trafficking operation involving underage girls. Now, this latest release, made up of more than 3
[0:20]million documents, images, and videos, gives new insights into Epstein's ties to the rich and powerful. It is also fueling speculation that Epstein could have been working for Russia. The
[0:31]suspicion is that Epstein would lure his powerful connections into sexual encounters which were then used for the purposes of blackmail. Now, this tactic
[0:42]is synonymous with Russian intelligence who happen to have their very own name for this compromising blackmail material. It's called compromat.
[0:52]At least one European leader appears to be taking the potential Russian connection very seriously. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. He has ordered a probe into whether Epstein's activities
[1:03]were directed by the Kremlin. >> A growing number of commentators and experts assume that it is highly
[1:14]probable that this was a premeditated operation by Russian intelligence. This so-called honey trap, a sweet bait,
[1:28]a trap set for the elites of the Western world, primarily the United States. It is increasingly likely that Russian
[1:40]intelligence services co-organized this operation. I don't need to tell you how serious that is for the security of the Polish state. This can only mean that they possess
[1:54]compromising materials against many leaders still active today. >> All right, for more on this honey trap, I want to pull in now Bartosh Valenci. He's the deputy editor-inchief of the
[2:05]Polish daily newspaper, The Gazetta Viborcha. Barto, it's good to have you with us. Um, do we know >> do we know what's in the Epstein files
[2:16]that prompted Donald Tusk to launch this investigation? Well, there are contacts between uh Jeffrey Epstein and uh and guy called
[2:27]Bilakov who used to be a former economic adviser to Vladimir Putin and uh well you know if you are adviser to Vladimir Putin uh if you work with the Kremlin as
[2:38]a Russian national you must have some connections with the secret services you must be involved in all those uh dealing by FSB so the successor of of of KGB
[2:50]Everything in Russia is a special operation. Everything dealing with the west that dealing with the west itself is a special uh operation. They consider it as a matter of of of foreign
[3:01]intelligence and uh damn well multiple threats and you know the the method of of of dealing uh the network Epstein
[3:10]created that looks like has been you know copied and paste from old Soviets uh textbook of of of the espionage to create a network of gaining you know
[3:21]those compromise those materials u well you know photographs made during think you know well most uncomfortable
[3:31]situation uh Shantage and and and stuff like that uh this this rises a suspicions our prime minister didn't say
[3:40]who is to blame didn't say uh who was for sure dealing with Russians he sees that the things the entire situation is
[3:49]very dangerous the you know suppositions and that has to be cleared so they started with a analytical Yeah, let me
[3:59]probably let me let me just I want to make this clear though, Barto. I mean, we're not talking about there being strong evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was working with Russian intelligence, right? These are just these are
[4:11]suspicions that we're talking about, right? >> Yes. Yes. Yes, indeed. But uh the suspicions are so serious >> and the situation is so dire. We live now in uh we have a war in Ukraine. We
[4:22]have a hybrid war in Europe. We have the sabotage actions. uh well done by Russia, in Poland, in Germany. Uh well, we don't know what happened in Spain. I
[4:33]mean this terrible accident uh with with the trains. Uh we have a drone uh uh assault in Poland. So many things are
[4:42]happening and suddenly we uh we we learn about you know uh global network of pedophilia and espionage uh which is
[4:52]which is really frightening and well if you standard up you need to be very cautious and and you need to know who you're dealing with. There are some Polish names on the list. There are some
[5:04]Polish girls that possibly have been recruited by Epstein or one of his henchmen in Poland. >> What about the investigation years ago? >> Barto, what about what about the
[5:15]investigation? How is the investigation going to work? Do we know? >> We Yes. Yes, we know. The prosecutor general will be the the head of the investigation and the first step would
[5:27]be to analyze everything that has been revealed from the Epson files or from other sources and then the con there will be connections analyzed and then
[5:37]well in criminal cases there will be a prosecution criminal prosecution in uh cases regarding counter intelligence uh there will be further analytical job
[5:46]done probably with the allies uh from NATO and from from from from other countries uh looking for well Russian operatives in in the network if there
[5:57]are any. Of course, this is, you know, very vag must be checked. Uh, but actually u, you know, the experts says that that smells Russian, terrible
[6:07]Russian stench what what gets out of it. And it's funny that nobody came to this conclusion uh earlier. Uh, this is not nothing new. The Epstein the Epson case
[6:18]that that's that's you know for for for a decade uh since we we we first learn about this this this procedure. Well, funny. Nobody nobody nobody learned about it before that the
[6:29]Russians could be involved. >> I know that Donald Tusk says that Epstein's activities could pose a national security threat to Poland. Help us understand that. I mean, how how can
[6:40]his activities be a threat considering that Jeffrey Epstein is dead? He's no longer alive. >> Well, uh, what he did before, we know about politicians. We know about
[6:52]diplomats who are giving him access to restricted material I mean to the classified informations informations also regarding uh security of the NATO. >> Do you do you know Bartosh? Do you know
[7:04]Bartosh um the the nature of that information? Is there anything that you can you know divulge here tonight? I mean what was what was shared that could be so bad? We we don't know such details
[7:14]but there is also a supposition that uh among the information he was given by those uh uh Norwegian diplomat by the British politicians were also NATO secrets if he if he known about the
[7:25]measures taken for for bailout of Greece during the Euro crisis. Uh he could have learned about NATO defense plans for for the eastern flang of of the alliance. Uh
[7:36]why not? That also has to be checked and and and and and proved uh if Russians uh has have our our our defense plans that
[7:46]could meet disaster for for the NATO. This is a extremely serious business here and uh interestingly uh that has been tolerated
[7:56]for so long nobody nobody seen that coming. I know that Epste's activities have raised the question um whether or not Russia was involved um in
[8:06]blackmailing political leaders. But if we put the comprom um aside for a moment, what kind of other operations does Russian intelligence carry out to
[8:16]sway Polish domestic politics in, you know, in Moscow's favor? I mean, what comes to mind um when you're thinking about the the way Russian intelligence
[8:27]manipulates Poland? Well, let me start that this is a hybrid war. So, this is almost a war. We live in such a pre-war period as our prime minister used to say. Uh we have had two
[8:38]different types of operation. The first is uh kinetic I mean the saboturs who were committing arson in Poland. Few few of them were were arrested and and even
[8:49]sentenced. Uh they are migrants from Belarus, from Ukraine that have been recruited by the Russian uh special services. uh and that uh accident that that you know blowing up the rails uh
[9:00]close to Warso a few months ago was also caused by by such sabotage. This the first sort of actions and this is the most dangerous most acute thing and the
[9:09]other thing is uh well constant uh propaganda operation manipulation over social platforms uh spreading you know fake news regarding Ukraine regarding
[9:19]the war in the Ukraine. The Russians are aware that they can't make PS to to Russian lovers. Nobody in Poland would believe that Putin is a man of peace and and so on.
[9:29]>> But they easily could trigger anti- Ukrainian, anti-western uh sentiments and uh well they are quite effective with that because we observe a
[9:40]rise uh in terms of anti- Ukrainian sentiment in in in Poland. They're using you know some tensions that exist between Polish and Ukrainian community living in in in Poland. And uh this is a
[9:51]serious issue and well it's hard to defend yourself because uh that well Ellen Musk isn't working isn't playing the the same the same team as we are.
[10:01]Unfortunately he's supporting somebody else. >> Yeah. Well we know that you will stay on this story Bartosh as will we and we appreciate you taking the time tonight
[10:11]um to tell us exactly how Yeah. It's being seen in Poland. It's an important part of this story. We appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you.