Norwegian authorities have formally charged Thorbjørn Jagland, the former chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee, with aggravated corruption following revelations contained within the recently released Jeffrey Epstein documents. The 75-year-old politician, who led the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 2009 to 2015, appears hundreds of times throughout the millions of pages of evidence released by the U.S. Justice Department last month.
Økokrim, Norway’s economic crime unit, confirmed that their investigation was directly prompted by information contained within the Epstein files. Police teams conducted simultaneous searches of Jagland’s Oslo residence along with two additional properties in the coastal town of Risør and western region of Rauland on Thursday. The investigation focuses on whether Jagland received gifts, travel accommodations, or loans in connection with his influential position.
While the documents contain no evidence of direct Nobel Prize lobbying, they reveal Epstein consistently leveraged his relationship with Jagland to impress elite contacts. The disgraced financier hosted Jagland at his properties in New York and Paris during the 2010s, frequently mentioning these connections in communications with high-profile figures including Richard Branson, Larry Summers, Bill Gates, and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
In one particularly revealing 2018 text exchange with Bannon, Epstein wrote: “Donald’s head would explode if he knew you were now buds with the guy who on Monday will decide the Nobel Peace Prize.” He followed with the cryptic message: “I told him next year it should be you when we settle China.”
The documents show Epstein extending invitations to various powerful figures to meet Jagland, describing the Nobel chairman as offering a “unique perspective” despite privately characterizing him as “not bright” in a 2012 email to former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
Jagland, through his attorneys at the Elden law firm in Norway, has denied all charges and was questioned by authorities on Thursday. The case has drawn increased scrutiny due to Jagland’s prestigious international positions, including his former role as Norwegian prime minister and head of the Council of Europe.
The investigation has also ensnared Terje Rød-Larsen, the Norwegian diplomat who helped broker the Oslo Peace Accords, and his wife, who face similar corruption charges related to their Epstein associations. During Jagland’s tenure as Nobel committee chair, the peace prize was awarded to Barack Obama in 2009 and the European Union in 2012.