Newly released documents from the U.S. House Oversight Committee, along with a fresh batch of about 18,000 emails linked to Jeffrey Epstein, have revealed an unexpected 2017 email exchange involving Indian businessman Anil Ambani. These files were first reported by Drop Site News, which received the emails from a whistleblower group that had obtained a full copy. The Wire (India) later confirmed that an email account linked to Ambani appears in the communication records.
According to the documents, on March 30, 2017, Ambani’s email account sent Epstein a news article from Business Standard titled “After Trump phone call, govt weighs if Modi should visit US early.” The message reportedly included a brief note addressed to Epstein. Epstein replied with, “India Israel Key – not for email,” according to the outlet.
The documents do not make any accusation of wrongdoing against Ambani. They simply show that the two exchanged messages discussing a publicly available news article related to diplomatic matters involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump.
Public Attention Rises as More Details Emerge
The email exchange came just months before India-Israel relations reached a major turning point. In July 2017, Prime Minister Modi became the first Indian leader to visit Israel. Reports at the time noted that India was the largest buyer of Israeli weapons that year, with purchases worth $715 million, according to an international research institute.
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Drop Site News also reported that, during the same period, one of Anil Ambani’s companies had entered into a joint venture with a state-owned Israeli defense firm. The outlet did not specify the company involved.
Public attention around the email grew after activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan posted about the exchange on social media. He shared screenshots claiming to show multiple communications between Ambani and Epstein. However, only the March 2017 email has been independently verified.
The newly released documents also revealed other India-related links in Epstein’s schedules. His private calendars listed several planned meetings with Hardeep Singh Puri, who later became a minister in India. According to The Wire, Puri’s name appeared in at least five scheduled appointments between June 2014 and January 2017, a period when he was based in New York while working with an international peace institute.
Drop Site News further reported that in mid-2019, Epstein attempted to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Modi and former White House strategist Steve Bannon. The recipient of Epstein’s messages was redacted in the released files, but other details matched Bannon’s reported location in Kazakhstan at the time. In one message, Epstein wrote: “modi on board.” Neither Bannon nor the prime minister’s office responded to requests for comment, according to the outlet.
Context of Releases and Other Investigations
These revelations surfaced as the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed in the United States, requiring the Department of Justice to release its Epstein-related records within 30 days. Reports stated that nearly 50,000 pages had already been shared with Congress. The House Oversight Committee also released more than 20,000 pages from the Epstein estate in November 2025 and over 33,000 pages from the Department of Justice earlier.
Anil Ambani has not responded to requests for comment. The documents do not suggest he had any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities.
Separately, Ambani is facing investigations in India. Reports earlier in November said he missed two summonses issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a Foreign Exchange Management Act probe. The case involves the Jaipur-Reengus highway project, in which officials allege that about Rs 40 crore was moved abroad through shell companies connected to a larger hawala network estimated at over Rs 600 crore.
The documents released so far show only that an email exchange occurred in 2017 between Anil Ambani and Jeffrey Epstein regarding India-Israel matters and the Indian prime minister’s planned U.S. visit.