A declassified FBI memo from the Epstein files, released on Friday, includes incendiary allegations about US President Donald Trump.
The memo says that Trump was “compromised by Israel”, that convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein worked with Israeli intelligence, and that a Jewish religious group calling itself Chabad-Lubavitch sought to hijack his first term in office.
The memo, written in 2020, formed part of an FBI investigation into domestic or foreign influence over the US electoral process.
It draws on information from a confidential human source (CHS) and appears among a vast trove of Epstein-related files released by the US Justice Department.
“CHS advised Chabad is doing everything they can to co-opt the Trump presidency,” the memo states regarding his first term.
Chabad-Lubavitch, a hardline religious Jewish sect founded in Russia, has grown to an estimated 90,000 members. Its messianic, ultra-Orthodox ideology has repeatedly been linked to hardline settler colonial politics in Palestine.
The memo also cites Berel Lazar, a Chabad member and the former chief rabbi of Russia, describing him as a close adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Chabad is basically state-sanctioned Judaism. It is used by Putin to keep tabs on all the Russo-Jewish oligarchs,” the FBI memo adds.
It identifies Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a supporter of the group and a key force within Trump’s inner circle.
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“On the day Trump was elected President, Ivanka Trump and Jared [Kushner] were at the gravesite of Rabbi Schneerson [sic], who was the most powerful Rabbi in the Chabad network,” the memo states.
The source goes further, saying: “Trump has been compromised by Israel. And Kushner is the real brains behind his organization and his Presidency.”
The memo also says Epstein worked with US and foreign intelligence. “CHS became convinced Epstein was a co-opted Mossad Agent,” it says, pointing to prior FBI reporting.
“Epstein was close to the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, and trained as a spy under him,” the memo adds.