New Delhi, July 16 -- WASHINGTON - In a nearly three-hour conversation with Joe Rogan released Wednesday, US Vice President JD Vance said Jeffrey Epstein had connections to the "highest levels" of both American and Israeli intelligence, becoming the first sitting member of a US administration to make such a claim publicly, while also acknowledging that the Trump White House "absolutely screwed up the comms" of the Epstein files release. The podcast drew more than one million views on YouTube within 24 hours.

a framing that simultaneously acknowledged a connection while directing blame toward opponents of the current Israeli government.

Vance offered no documentary basis for the claims. He told Rogan that evidence directly linking Epstei...