DISINFO: The coup in Ukraine should provide many opportunities, Jeffrey Epstein said
SUMMARY
New files released in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contain an exchange of messages with, allegedly, Ariane de Rothschild, a representative of the banking dynasty, dated March 2014. "The coup in Ukraine should provide lots of opportunities, lots," the text of Epstein's message read.
RESPONSE
This is a deliberate manipulation of the original document found in the Epstein Files released by the FBI, in order to advance a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Maidan protests as a Western-backed coup d’etat. Contrary to what this disinformation story claims, former billionaire and notorious criminal Jeffrey Epstein did not refer to the situation in Ukraine in 2014 as a “coup”. His actual message, as it appears in the original document, stated: “Ukraine upheaval should provide many opportunities, many”.
The allegation that the Maidan protests were actually a coup orchestrated by the US is one of the most recurring narratives of pro-Kremlin disinformation. See here for a full debunk.
Quoting original sources while distorting their content to introduce a pro-Kremlin message as if it were part of the original story is a frequent pro-Kremlin manipulative technique.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the coup in 2013-2014 is the root cause of the war and other problems in Ukraine, that CIA trained spies and terrorists acted during the Maidan, that the conflict in Ukraine began in 2014 with a coup and a military crackdown on the Russian-speaking population, or that revelations about secret CIA bases in Ukraine show Putin was right all along.