Washington, United States. A senior US lawmaker publicly linked Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chairman and chief executive of DP World, to a 2009 email exchange with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein contained in newly released justice department files. US officials said that appearance in the Epstein files is not indicative of criminal wrongdoing.
Email recipient identified in newly released files
Kentucky Republican congressman Thomas Massie identified bin Sulayem as the recipient of a 2009 email in which Epstein wrote that he “loved the torture video.”
The email was released as part of millions of documents under the Epstein files transparency act and had previously redacted the recipient’s name.
Deputy attorney-general comments on redactions
Deputy US attorney-general Todd Blanche later confirmed that an unredacted reference within the same file identified “Sultan Bin Sulayem,” and said that redactions applied only to personally identifiable information such as email addresses.
“You know it’s an email address that was redacted,” Blanche told Massie publicly. “The Sultan’s name is available unredacted in the files.”
No criminal allegation and unknown content referenced
The nature of the alleged “torture video” remains unknown, and no criminal allegation has been made against bin Sulayem.
US officials have stressed that appearance in the Epstein files “is not indicative of criminal wrongdoing”.
Business ties to Cyprus and separate email tranche
Bin Sulayem has business ties to Cyprus through Dubai Ports World, which operates Limassol port under a concession agreement with the Cypriot government.
In a separate tranche of emails released last week, bin Sulayem was shown to have written to Epstein in 2015 describing a personal relationship with a young Cypriot woman, recommending her to the disgraced financier in explicit terms.
What do you make of US officials’ statement that appearing in the Epstein files is not indicative of criminal wrongdoing?
