OSLO/STOCKHOLM, Feb 10 - Norway's Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs voted unanimously on Tuesday to commission an external inquiry into potential ties between the foreign ministry and Jeffrey Epstein, a development that marks an escalation of scrutiny after the publication of a new batch of files from the United States.
The recently released documents have broadened the scope of known connections between Epstein and politicians, members of royal families and wealthy individuals across Europe. In Norway, the disclosures have prompted both parliamentary action and separate criminal investigations.
Norway's national unit for investigating financial and white-collar crime has opened a probe into Thorbjoern Jagland - a former prime minister, ex-foreign minister and former chair of the Nobel Peace Prize committee - on suspicion of aggravated corruption. On Monday, police also announced that Mona Juul, who resigned on Sunday from her post as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq, is being investigated for corruption. Her husband, former cabinet minister Terje Roed-Larsen, is suspected of complicity in the alleged wrongdoing.
Lawyers for Jagland, Juul and Roed-Larsen have said their clients will cooperate with the investigations and that they see no merit in the accusations.
Political reaction and public scrutiny
The unfolding enquiries have intensified calls for public transparency in a country where high standards of official conduct are expected. After the committee meeting, Labour Party lawmaker Sverre Myrli told reporters: "If only half of what we have learned in the last few weeks is true, then this is terrible."
The new files include specific communications and planning details. They show that in 2014 Jagland and aides of Epstein discussed travel arrangements for Jagland, his wife, two children and his son's girlfriend to visit Epstein at his Palm Beach residence and on a Caribbean island he owned. Jagland has denied ever visiting Epstein's private island.
Other documents cited in the files include a 2014 email in which Jagland asked Epstein for assistance in financing an apartment in Oslo. Emails from 2018 show Epstein requesting that Jagland arrange a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and indicating he had insights to share with President Vladimir Putin. Jagland's response, according to the files, was to say he would raise the matter with Lavrov's assistant.
Roed-Larsen and Juul: past ties and continued scrutiny
Terje Roed-Larsen's association with Epstein first became public in 2019. He has publicly apologised for the relationship on multiple occasions and stepped down in 2020 as CEO of the International Peace Institute, a New York-based think tank.
The files imply that Juul and Roed-Larsen planned a family visit to Epstein's private island in 2011 with their two children, though they do not establish whether such a trip actually took place. In a 2017 message, Roed-Larsen is recorded as describing Epstein as a "thoroughly good human being." The documents also show that in 2018 the couple received Epstein's assistance in negotiating the purchase of an Oslo apartment, which is now part of the police investigation.
According to a will signed two days before Epstein's death by suicide in custody in 2019, he left $5 million to each of the two children of Juul and Roed-Larsen.
Broader royal connections
The fallout has also touched the Norwegian royal family. Norway's crown princess, Mette-Marit, issued an apology last week to the king and queen for a friendship with Epstein that she said lasted between 2011 and 2014 - a period that extended beyond Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor.
Next steps
The parliamentary committee's decision to appoint an external inquiry adds an additional investigative track to the ongoing police probes. The scope and timetable for the outside inquiry were not detailed in the committee announcement. The police investigations into Jagland, Juul and Roed-Larsen remain active, and all three have stated they will cooperate with inquiries and dispute the allegations against them.