No messages from Carney in recent Epstein release
- Published on February 6, 2026 at 22:27
- 2 min read
- By Gwen Roley, AFP Canada
Mark Carney's name appears multiple times in the US Justice Department's (DOJ) latest release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, but social media posts implying this proves his involvement in the late convicted sex offender's alleged crimes distort the mentions of the current Canadian prime minister. Most appearances are references to news articles mentioning Carney while he was governor of the Bank of England and none contain correspondence between the prime minister and Epstein.
"Epstein Files got released today and guess whose name pops up on 69 Documents," a January 30, 2026 Facebook post asks. "You guessed it Mark Carney can't wait for this to get swapped under the rug."
The post includes an apparent screenshot from the Epstein file release on the DOJ website where the Canadian prime minister's name is highlighted.
Various posts on Facebook and X spread the same visuals and implied the appearance of Carney's name pointed to his involvement with Epstein. The claims also appeared in French.
A fresh cache of files released on January 30 related to the investigation into Epstein contains documents referring to numerous high-profile figures. Public officials and European royalty have resigned or put out apologies after documents revealed friendly relations with the deceased American financier.
Carney's roles in central banking and photos of him at the same 2013 event as Epstein associate and convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell were previously a launchpad for claims theorizing about the prime minister's involvement in illicit activities (archived here). His team denied wrongdoing or affiliation with the pair at the height of the conspiracy theories' popularity during the 2025 Canadian elections.
While some figures, such as the crown princess of Norway and billionaires Elon Musk and Bill Gates, have had to explain their relationships with Epstein, an AFP analysis of the released DOJ documents did not reveal any messages between Carney and the financier or discussions about them meeting.
Most of the mentions relate to news items from Carney's time as governor of the Bank of England which landed in Epstein's inbox. For example, 38 of the 69 mentions are from roundups of "key events" referencing Carney's takeover of the central bank on July 1, 2013 (archived here, here and here).
Epstein subscribed to multiple email newsletters, so several public figures appear in the released files purely for that reason. A majority of the other mentions of Carney fall into this category of news articles included either in newsletters or market summaries (archived here, here and here).
There is one message from a third party which inquires about an invitation to a 2018 luncheon where Carney was scheduled to speak (archived here).
The other outlier is an email forwarded to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation with allegations about Epstein's British connections (archived here). It claims Carney was "being investigated for the LC&F scandal," a Ponzi scheme carried out by London Capital & Finance, but AFP could not find credible reporting linking the current Canadian prime minister to the case.
AFP reached out to Carney's office for comment but a response was not forthcoming.
Carney's appearance in the files was also exaggerated by a fabricated Truth Social post purportedly from US President Donald Trump previously debunked by AFP.
The photos of Carney at the event with Maxwell also preceded a series of AI-generated images falsely tying him to Epstein.
Made-up connections between public figures, such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and the investigation of Epstein were also pushed using artificial intelligence.
Read of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
