Epstein audio alleges ex-UK PM Tony Blair earned “gigantic” consultancy payments

An audio recording of a conversation between the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has alleged that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair received “gigantic” sums of money for his consultancy work, according to Al Jazeera.

The recording, released last week by the US Justice Department as part of a new batch of Epstein-related documents, captures Epstein and Barak discussing how former political leaders could profit after leaving office. During the exchange, Epstein claimed that Blair earned substantial payments for advisory work, while some of the funds were reportedly directed to other parties.

At one point, Barak asked about a “business model” for generating income through contracts with governments. He said that Blair “is doing some probably $11 million per year from the Kazakhstan government just to give them advice, to help them with lobbying in some NGO or UN organisation.”

Epstein responded by stressing that he did not know exactly what Blair was earning or whether all of the money went directly to him, saying: “Tony has turned funny.”

“I hear gigantic numbers given to Tony – $5 million here, $10 million here, $5 million there. Tony’s not making $30 million a year,” Epstein said, adding: “He’s making $10 million a year.”

Barak then suggested that Blair “probably” passed some of the payments on to other service providers.

Although the US Justice Department has not confirmed when the recording was made, it is reported to have taken place in early 2013.

“None of these people have any idea about what he did or didn’t earn, and the figures given are rubbish,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that Blair never discussed his earnings with Epstein or Barak and clarified that payments linked to work in Kazakhstan were “not paid to Blair but to his organisation, which hired a team of people for the purpose of that work, which was about reform in Kazakhstan and completely in line with what other international institutions were working on.”

“It was not related to communications or lobbying, which further demonstrates that none of the people concerned knew what they were talking about,” the spokesperson added.

The latest set of documents released by the US Justice Department last week references a number of high-profile individuals in connection with Epstein.

Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in New York City in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. In 2008, he pleaded guilty in a Florida court and was convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution, though critics have described the outcome as a “sweetheart deal” due to its relatively light sentence.

Several of Epstein’s victims have alleged that he ran a wide-ranging sex trafficking operation used by wealthy and politically powerful figures.