The news in France over the weekend was dominated by the resignation of Jack Lang as head of the prestigious Arab World Institute in Paris. In more ways than one, Lang is France’s answer to Peter Mandelson, a figurehead for the bourgeois left and a figure of loathing for those on the other side of the political spectrum.

The fall of Jack Lang raises some uncomfortable questions for the Elysee

Lang resigned after his name appeared 673 times in the Epstein files in correspondence between 2012 and 2019. Also made public was a video of Lang and Epstein in front of the Louvre pyramid in March 2019, more than a decade after the American’s conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Lang says he was unaware of Epstein’s conviction.

The name of Lang’s daughter, Caroline, also cropped up, the files revealing that she had launched an offshore company with Epstein in 2016 to invest in the work of young artists. Lang said that she resigned from that offshore company when further allegations were made against Epstein in 2019.

She was also cited as a €5 million (£4.4 million) beneficiary in Epstein’s will, although in an interview last week she denied knowledge of this........

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