Former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002) denied any relationship with the crimes committed by American pederast Jeffrey Epstein and questioned a collective of journalists who, he said, have called his conduct into question following the appearance of his name in declassified documents from the case. 'To my wife, daughters, and grandchildren, as well as the public, I have always made it clear that I never had any knowledge or relationship with the horrible crimes that are today rightly a cause for worldwide scandal,' the former head of state assured in a message on X. Pastrana added that a collective of journalists has 'recklessly called into question' his life and conduct by finding his explanations about the case unacceptable. On January 30, the U.S. Department of Justice released nearly three million documents, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images linked to the Epstein case, who died in 2019 in a New York jail while facing charges for sex trafficking of minors. Pastrana appears in at least 37 of those declassified files. Senator Iván Cepeda, a presidential candidate from the ruling Historical Pact, announced this month that he will file a criminal complaint against Pastrana to investigate possible behaviors in which he may have been involved, after these documents became known. Among them is an email exchange from 2003 and 2004 between the former Colombian leader and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's girlfriend, sentenced to 20 years in prison for her participation in the sex trafficking scheme. In previously released documents, Pastrana appears in a photograph with Maxwell, hugging and both dressed in Colombian Air Force (FAC) pilot uniforms, and the new files also mention communications in which they were coordinating trips and meetings in New York. 'The helicopter ride for about seven minutes in Tolemaida is not a state secret,' Pastrana said about the photo with Maxwell, apparently taken at that military base in central Colombia. In one of the revealed emails, the former Colombian leader has a conversation with Maxwell about a supposed trip to New York on a Continental Airlines flight. 'Once again, thank you very much and let me know (about the preparations),' the former leader says in a message sent on March 19, 2004. Two days later, Maxwell replied to Pastrana: 'I have received your email. The driver will be in the baggage claim area with a sign with your name.'
