Jack Lang, the veteran French politician and former culture minister, stepped down on February 7, 2026 as president of the Arab World Institute (Institut du Monde Arabe) after mounting pressure tied to revelations of his past contact with Jeffrey Epstein and the opening of a French financial investigation into him and his daughter. Lang’s resignation comes as prosecutors probe allegations of “aggravated tax fraud laundering” linked to financial interactions with Epstein, whose vast network of global contacts has reverberated across European public life.
France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) confirmed on February 7 that it has opened a preliminary investigation into Lang and his daughter, Caroline Lang, on suspicion of laundering proceeds from aggravated tax fraud.
The probe was triggered by the release on January 30, 2026, of internal documents from the U.S. Department of Justice tied to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in a U.S. jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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According to French media including Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Mediapart, these documents outline years of correspondence and possible financial links between Lang and Epstein from roughly 2012 to 2019. French prosecutors have not publicly detailed the evidence but said the investigation is meant to clarify financial conduct and compliance with tax law. Lang’s name appears more than 600 times in the Epstein files, based on a Reuters review of the documents — a statistic that has intensified political and media scrutiny despite it not constituting evidence of a crime on its own.
Under sustained public and political pressure, Lang offered his resignation in a letter to Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, whose ministry supervises the Arab World Institute and provides about half of its annual budget. Barrot has since initiated the process to appoint an interim president.
The decision followed escalating calls from politicians across the French political spectrum urging Lang to step aside. Within his own Socialist Party, members publicly stated that the controversy could undermine the credibility and mission of the cultural institution focused on Franco-Arab relations.
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In his resignation letter, Lang said he would formally relinquish the presidency at an extraordinary board meeting. According to reports, he wrote that he hoped the move would “bring clarity” and allow the institute to continue its mission without distraction. Lang has consistently denied any illegal conduct or moral culpability. On social platform X, he said he welcomed the investigation “with serenity and even relief,” stating that the accusations against him were “baseless” and asserting his intent to demonstrate the truth beyond what he called “media noise.”
His lawyer, Laurent Merlet, echoed that position in public comments to BFM TV, asserting Lang will show he was not involved in any “malpractice or criminal offence.” Merlet stressed that there has been no known movement of funds to or from Epstein in a way that would constitute illicit activity, but that judicial verification was reasonable given public interest.
Caroline Lang, a long-time media executive, resigned earlier in the week as head of France’s Independent Production Union after her own name appeared in the Epstein-linked files. She has similarly denied wrongdoing, telling French media she was unaware of the details of Epstein’s criminal convictions at the time of any interactions.
The high-profile nature of the Lang case stems in part from the broader fallout from the Epstein file release, which has implicated numerous global figures, including British and Norwegian public figures, in varying degrees of association with the convicted financier. European capitals have seen multiple inquiries and resignations tied to the cache of documents. While a mention in the Epstein files does not by itself prove criminality, it has prompted legal authorities in several countries to open investigations into possible tax, financial, or regulatory violations linked to Epstein’s complex web of relationships and offshore entities.
With Lang’s resignation effective and the preliminary investigation underway, French authorities are expected to conduct interviews and document reviews in the coming weeks to assess the tax and financial dimensions of the case. Lang is due to provide testimony and cooperate with officials as part of the inquiry.