Epstein Data Wiki

Kjell Magne Bondevik

Properties2
tagsperson, norway, oslo-center, international-peace-institute, philanthropy
aliasesKjell Bondevik

20 min read

Described in the released files as”former Prime Minister of Norway, President of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights”1
Signs himself”President of the Oslocenter / Former Prime Minister of Norway”; “President / The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights”23
Direct correspondence with Epstein and his officeSeptember 2013 – October 201543 (his name and the Oslo Center recur earlier still, in messages forwarded to Epstein’s own address in December 2012 and January 20135)
Meetings in the documentsA dinner the evening before September 24, 2013, described in the message of that date;4 a breakfast appointment at 9 East 71st Street for the morning of Friday, October 4, 2013, confirmed by him the night before and carried on that day’s schedule;67 a breakfast at the same address on the morning of Monday, September 28, 2015, confirmed from the office within hours of the arrangement being fixed and afterwards thanked Epstein for by Bondevik893
Also recorded asA member of the Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board, joining its inaugural meeting at Davos by telephone on January 24, 20141
Outcome of each approachOctober 25, 2013: “we for the time being do not go forward on the possible cooperation”;10 October 5, 2015: “we will try to get the necessary funding for the Oslocenter without applying to you this year”3

Kjell Magne Bondevik is a Norwegian politician who is described in the released files as a former Prime Minister of Norway and as president of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, and who signs his own emails in those terms.123 Emails released by the Justice Department under the Epstein Files Transparency Act record correspondence between him, Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein’s office between September 2013 and October 2015, two breakfast appointments at Epstein’s Manhattan house, and a place on an advisory board to the President of Mongolia on which Epstein also sat.431

The record set out below is of an approach, on both sides, that twice reached the point of a decision and twice ended in the Oslo Center declining to proceed. On October 25, 2013 Bondevik wrote that “after serious considerations , and due to questions I discussed with Jeffrey, we have come to the conclusion that we for the time being do not go forward on the possible cooperation , included your stay at the Oslocenter.”10 On October 5, 2015, after a second breakfast, he wrote that “we have come to the conclusion that we will try to get the necessary funding for the Oslocenter without applying to you this year.”3 What the 2013 “possible cooperation” would have consisted of is not set out in any document cited here.

September and October 2013: direct correspondence begins

Before any direct correspondence, Bondevik’s name and the Oslo Center recur in messages forwarded to Epstein’s own address in December 2012 and January 2013, discussing him as a possible contact in an unrelated matter involving a client referred to as “FAH”: “I have been informed that Mr Bondevik, of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights and the Ex Prime Minister of Norway, has had communications with, and perhaps even met, [redacted]”; “please see the details below of getting in contact with Mr Bondevik and Mr Einar of the Oslo Centre.”5

The earliest message cited here that is addressed to Bondevik himself was sent on September 24, 2013 at 18:41 by a correspondent whose name and address are blacked out, to Bondevik, under the subject “Jeffrey Epstein”. It opens: “Dear Mr. Bondevik, / It was a pleasure for Mr Epstein to meet you at dinner last night. I am his personal assistant and am in charge of coordinating his meetings. Mr Epstein has asked me to give you my contact details.”4 The sender’s own words are the only source for that role; the page does not identify the sender.

Bondevik replied on October 1, 2013 at 4:21 a.m. AST, keeping the Norwegian subject prefix: “Thank you for this information. / I am going back from Norway to US tomorrow, and will be in NY Friday. / Is Mr. Epstein there, and could it be possible for me to meet him?”4 The message was forwarded on to Epstein’s own address the same morning.4

On the evening of October 3, 2013 Lesley Groff, writing over the sign-off “Assistant to Jeffrey Epstein”, wrote to Bondevik: “Hello Mr. Bondevik. / I wanted to reconfirm you will be coming to see Jeffrey tomorrow for breakfast at 8:30am at his home, 9 East 71st Street between 5th and Madison.”6 Bondevik answered: “Hello Lesley, / Thank you. / Yes, I will come. / Kjell Magne”, and Groff wrote back the following morning, “Great. thank you.”6 The schedule for that day, sent to Epstein’s own address at 6:45 a.m. that Friday under the heading “Fri. Oct. 4, 2013 NY”, carries “8:30am Breakfast w/Kjell Magne Bondevik” and, an hour later, “9:30am Appt w/Boris Nikolic”.7

October 2013: the questions, and the first refusal

On October 21, 2013 at 10:52 a.m. Bondevik replied to a message asking him for a decision, sent from a redacted address earlier the same day. His answer reads in full: “Before we make our decision, I have to talk to Jeffrey about some questions. / On what telephone number can I reach him ?”11 The message he was answering had read: “Dear Mr Bondevik, / Hope you well. Looking forward to hearing back from you regarding your decision. Thank you!”11

Epstein himself answered, replying directly to the same forwarded chain with a ten-digit telephone number and the word “now”; the number itself is not reproduced here.12 Bondevik’s question was sent at 10:52 a.m. Eastern time and reached Epstein when it was forwarded on an hour later at 11:52 a.m.; Epstein’s reply carries the unlabelled 15:53 stamp that this document family records in UTC, which is 11:53 a.m. Eastern, about a minute after the forwarded message arrived.12 That evening a separate, redacted correspondent asked Epstein, “Shall I give bondevik some other number he could reach you in New York? Lesley’s office Nb 1113?”, and Epstein replied “Yes”.13 A message timed 01:57 on October 22 went to Bondevik giving him a number at which to reach Epstein the following day; the number itself is blacked out.2 Later on October 22 Groff wrote to Epstein: “Mr. Bondevik from Norway called for you…he is in and out of meetings and going to a dinner..he said he will call you in about 3 or 4 hours. / Would you like me to put him through to you when he calls?”14

The answer came on Friday, October 25, 2013. Writing to a redacted addressee and copying Tore Torstad of the Oslo Center, Bondevik wrote:

I have to inform you that after serious considerations , and due to questions I discussed with Jeffrey, we have come to the conclusion that we for the time being do not go forward on the possible cooperation , included your stay at the Oslocenter. I assume that you will inform Jeff.

Thank you so much for your offer. May be we meet at later occasions.10

The message reached Epstein’s address at 9:39 that morning, and at 13:57 Epstein forwarded it to Terje Rød-Larsen under the subject “Fwd: Jeffrey Epstein”, with no covering words.10

January 2014: the Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board

A document headed “Notes from Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board meeting / Davos, 24 January 2014” records the board’s inaugural meeting. It lists as taking part in person Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia, his national security and foreign policy adviser Lundeg Purevsuren, Larry Summers and Terje Roed-Larsen, and as joining by telephone Ehud Barak, “Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Prime Minister of Norway, President of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights”, “Jeffrey Epstein, Financier” and Kevin Rudd. The board was supported by a secretariat drawn from the International Peace Institute.1 The notes record Bondevik speaking to the “Scandinavian welfare model” and to Norway’s sovereign fund saving North Sea revenue for future generations.1 A separate email setting out the meeting’s agenda and speaking assignments, signed by Rød-Larsen, assigns Bondevik a role on the second of five agenda items (“On the second item Kjell Magne might sketch some possibilities based on the Norwegian model”) and assigns Epstein a role, together with Larry Summers, on the third; it closes with a participants list giving the same membership as above.15

The institute’s own arrangements for that board, including the honorarium set for its members, are on Terje Rød-Larsen and International Peace Institute. Nothing cited here records what, if anything, Bondevik was paid.

May to October 2015: the second approach, and the second refusal

On Saturday, May 16, 2015 Bondevik wrote again to a redacted correspondent, under the subject “Another phone number”, reminding the recipient that they had been in contact in 2014, that he had visited Epstein at his office or residence and that they had had a follow-up telephone conversation. He continued: “I hope that it is possible to renew it now.” He said he planned to go to New York for the Clinton Global Initiative conference in September and hoped it might be possible to see Epstein again, and asked, “Can you give me a response if this is possible?” He signed the message “President of the Oslocenter / Former Prime Minister of Norway”.2 The message was forwarded to Epstein with the question “Shall I give Lesley’s number?”2 No document cited on this page records a 2014 visit by Bondevik to Epstein’s office or residence, or the follow-up telephone conversation he describes here; the only 2014 contact established here is his participation by telephone in the Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board meeting of January 24, 2014.1

On May 27, 2015 Epstein wrote to Terje Rød-Larsen: “got a call from bondevik asking to come for breakfast . in sept. ( must need funding).”16

The exchange that fixed the meeting ran on the evening of September 18, 2015. Epstein wrote, “are you still coning to new york?”; Bondevik answered, “Yes, I am.”; Epstein asked, “if you want to meet? whats convenient?”; and Bondevik replied: “Dear Jeffrey, I have noted that we agreed to meet in your recidence at 9. East, 71.Str. on Monday September 28 at 8. 30 a.m. Is that still ok for you?” Epstein answered, “Yes”.1718 Groff confirmed it from the office within hours: “Hello Kjell. You are confirmed to come see Jeffrey at his home, 9 East 71st Street (between 5th and Madison) on Mon. Sept. 28th at 8:30am. Could you please forward me your cell number?” She added the office’s own telephone number, which is not reproduced here.8 Bondevik sent his cell number later that morning.8 On September 19 Groff wrote to Epstein and his household staff under the subject “Kjell Bondevik”: “Kjell [B]ondevik is confirmed to come see you on Monday Sept 28th at [8]:30am”, with the day’s entry reading “8:30am Appt w/Kjell Magne Bondevik”.9 A calendar record recovered from Epstein’s own device and catalogued in a forensic examination report carries a “breakfast” event at 8:30am and a “bondevik” event at 9:00am that Monday, each paired with an “Alarm notification” entry.19 On September 27 Groff wrote to Bondevik, “Hello Kjell. Reconfirming you will come see Jeffrey tomorrow at 8:30am. He will be serving breakfast,” and he answered, “Good. I look forward to come. Best, Kjell Magne”.20

A week later, on Monday, October 5, 2015 at 7:12 a.m., Bondevik wrote:

Dear Jeffrey,

I want to thank you so much for receiving me for the breakfast last week, and for a good and open discussion.

After having considered, we have come to the conclusion that we will try to get the necessary funding for the Oslocenter without applying to you this year.3

He signed the message “Kjell Magne Bondevik / President / The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights”. Epstein replied within the hour: “i wish you great luck . always good to see you”.3

February 2017

On February 3, 2017 Terje Rød-Larsen forwarded to Epstein a news report, itself forwarded on from a colleague, headed “Former Norway PM Detained At Dulles Airport Over 2014 Iran Visit”. The report describes Bondevik being held for 40 minutes and then questioned for a further 20 by border officers at Washington Dulles International Airport, after officials noticed a stamp from his 2014 visit to Iran, made to speak at a human-rights conference. It quotes him telling WJLA that his diplomatic passport and former premiership “should be enough… to understand that I don’t represent any problem or threat”, and telling Norway’s TV2 that he feared “the authoritarian leaders we see controlling other major countries.” It also reports that Dulles officials told Bondevik the stop was not because of President Trump’s recently signed travel order but a 2015 law restricting travelers who had visited certain countries, and that his own office had cleared the trip with the U.S. embassy in Norway beforehand. Epstein’s reply, sent at 01:05 on February 4, 2017, reads in its entirety: “he deserves it”.21 No institution’s decision about Bondevik or the Oslo Center is recorded in this exchange; it is included here as the last contact between the two men found in the documents cited on this page, and nothing cited here records any further contact.

Limits of this page

These documents record who wrote to whom, on what dates, what was said in the messages quoted, and the decision the Oslo Center reached on each of the two occasions it was asked for one. They do not establish what Epstein’s 2013 offer was, what was discussed at either breakfast beyond Bondevik’s own description of “a good and open discussion”, what the “questions” he raised with Epstein were, or whether any money ever passed in either direction.

The correspondents on Epstein’s side of the September and October 2013 messages and of the May 2015 message are blacked out in the copies cited, and no attempt is made here to identify them or to connect them to the members of Epstein’s office who are named in the clear on other messages in the same sequence. Telephone numbers appear in these documents, including an office business line in one confirmation email; none is reproduced here.8

Two of the messages quoted above carry transmission damage in the print itself rather than in the machine reading of the page, so that a character is missing from a word. Where a missing character has been supplied it is shown in square brackets, and nothing else in any quotation has been altered.

Terje Rød-Larsen; International Peace Institute; Lesley Groff; Boris Nikolic; 9 East 71st Street; Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Footnotes

  1. “Notes from Mongolia Presidential Advisory Board meeting / Davos, 24 January 2014”, pp.1-2, listing those taking part in person and by telephone and recording Bondevik’s contribution on the Scandinavian welfare model and Norway’s sovereign fund. Read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01188067 pp.1-2 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. Email, Kjell Magne Bondevik to a redacted addressee, Saturday, May 16, 2015, subject “Another phone number”, forwarded to Epstein at 3:23 p.m. the same day with the covering line “Shall I give Lesley’s number?”, and quoting beneath it a message timed 01:57 on October 22, 2013 in which a number for Epstein, blacked out on the page, was given to Bondevik. Read from the page image. This document carries transmission damage in the print. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02391095 p.1 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. Email thread, Kjell Magne Bondevik and Jeffrey Epstein, Monday, October 5, 2015, carrying Bondevik’s message at 7:12 a.m. with his Oslo Center signature block and Epstein’s reply at 12:01:27 UTC. Read from the page image; the telephone number in the signature block is not reproduced. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00844316 p.1 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  4. Email, Kjell Magne Bondevik to a redacted addressee, October 1, 2013 at 4:21:12 a.m. AST, subject “SV: Jeffrey Epstein”, forwarded on to Epstein’s address at 7:26 a.m. the same day, and quoting beneath it the message of September 24, 2013 at 18:41 to which it replies. Read from the page images; the name appears unredacted in the From line, in the sign-off and in the Norwegian Til: line. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01755266 pp.1-2. A further copy of the same thread, in which the forwarding message is Epstein’s own, is at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00675673 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  5. Three emails forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein’s own address, December 12, 2012 (two) and January 9, 2013, in an unrelated matter concerning a client referred to as “FAH”: “I have been informed that Mr Bondevik, of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights and the Ex Prime Minister of Norway, has had communications with, and perhaps even met, [redacted] and there seems to be some latitude and some room to manoeuvre…”; “please see the details below of getting in contact with Mr Bondevik and Mr Einar of the Oslo Centre. As was agreed, this strategy will be thrashed out in the meeting in Paris…”; “I proposed that after we have provided them with the above, they may wish to communicate with the Norwegian through Bondevik and Einaar who have been involved in this from the beginning.” Read from the page images. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01911309 p.1; https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00950268 p.1; https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00951885 pp.1-2 ↩ ↩2

  6. Email thread, Lesley Groff and Kjell Magne Bondevik, October 3 and 4, 2013, subject “Re: Jeffrey Epstein”, carrying Groff’s message timed 22:57 on 3 October in the quoted Norwegian header, Bondevik’s reply timed 9:35 p.m. that day in the message that quotes it, and Groff’s answer of 4 October at 10:41 UTC. Read from the page image; the staff telephone number named in Groff’s message is blacked out. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00381827 p.1 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Schedule email to Jeffrey Epstein’s own address, “Schedule Fri. Oct. 4”, sent Friday, October 4, 2013; the sender’s name is blacked out. The copy read here prints “Sent: … 10:45:53 AM” with no time zone stated; a duplicate copy of the same message carries a full Internet date header reading “Fri, 4 Oct 2013 06:45:53 -0400”, which this page uses. Read from the page image; the parenthetical beside each entry is a blacked-out telephone number. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01753768 p.1; duplicate carrying the dated header at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02126264 p.2 ↩ ↩2

  8. Email, Lesley Groff to Kjell Magne Bondevik, Saturday, September 19, 2015 (the header reads “Date: … 00:09:57 +0000”), subject “Jeffrey Epstein”: “Hello Kjell. You are confirmed to come see Jeffrey at his home, 9 East 71st Street (between 5th and Madison) on Mon. Sept. 28th at 8:30am. Could you please forward me your cell number?” The message closes with the office’s own business telephone number, which is not reproduced here. The sender’s name is blacked out on this copy; Bondevik’s reply the same morning, forwarding his cell number, quotes this message under the header “Fra: Lesley Groff”, naming her in the clear. Read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00339830 p.1; the quoting reply naming Groff is at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02071578 p.1 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. Email, Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein and household staff, Saturday, September 19, 2015, subject “Kjell Bondevik”. The header reads “Sent: … 11:59 AM” with no time zone stated; a same-day reply from Epstein’s own account quotes this message as received “at 7:58 AM”, indicating the header time is UTC and the message reached Epstein’s account at about that hour, New York time (https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02071624 p.1). Read from the page image; the page carries transmission damage in the print, and the two characters supplied in the body text above are shown there in square brackets. The telephone number beside the appointment entry is blacked out. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02344234 p.1 ↩ ↩2

  10. Email, Kjell Magne Bondevik to a redacted addressee, copied to Tore Torstad of the Oslo Center, Friday, October 25, 2013, subject “Jeffrey Epstein”; forwarded to Epstein’s address at 9:39 a.m. and forwarded on by Epstein to Terje Rød-Larsen at 13:57:42 UTC the same day. Read from the page image, including the spacing of “considerations ,” and “cooperation ,” as printed. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00974920 p.1 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. Email, Kjell Magne Bondevik to a redacted addressee, October 21, 2013 at 10:52:23 a.m. EDT, subject “SV: Jeffrey Epstein”, forwarded to Epstein at 15:52 UTC, and quoting beneath it the message timed 15:25 the same day to which it replies, itself sent from a redacted address. Read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00973896 p.1 ↩ ↩2

  12. Email, Jeffrey Epstein to a redacted addressee, Monday, October 21, 2013, subject “Re: SV: Jeffrey Epstein”, replying to the same forwarded chain as the message above with a ten-digit telephone number in the body; the printed “Sent” field reads 3:53:24 p.m., with no time zone stated. Read from the page image; the number is not reproduced here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01953539 p.1 ↩ ↩2

  13. Email thread, Epstein and a redacted correspondent, October 21, 2013 at 11:11 p.m., subject “Re: Bondevik”: “Shall I give bondevik some other number he could reach you in New York? Lesley’s office Nb 1113?” — “Yes.” Read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01957908 p.1 ↩

  14. Email, Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein, Tuesday, October 22, 2013, subject “Mr. Bondevik”. The header reads “Sent: … 1:46:01 PM” with no time zone stated; as with the schedule email above, this document’s header format is unlabelled UTC, which would put the message at approximately 9:46 a.m. New York time. Read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01756774 p.1 ↩

  15. Email from Camilla Reksten-Monsen, Friday, January 24, 2014, subject “Mongolia Advisory Board meeting - Today, 6pm (Davos time)”, setting out the meeting’s five agenda items and, signed by Terje Rød-Larsen, assigning each a speaking role; it closes with a list of participants naming “Kjell Magne Bondevik, President, the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights”. Read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01936914 pp.1-2 ↩

  16. Email, Jeffrey Epstein to Terje Rød-Larsen, Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 14:10:20 UTC. Read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00856052 p.1 ↩

  17. Email thread, Jeffrey Epstein and Kjell Magne Bondevik, Friday, September 18, 2015, running from Epstein’s message at 22:36 Norwegian time through Bondevik’s replies at 5:08 p.m. and 5:39 p.m. New York time; forwarded on by Epstein at 22:32:57 UTC. Read from the page image, where Epstein’s message prints coning and Bondevik’s prints recidence. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00845761 p.1 ↩

  18. Email, Jeffrey Epstein to Kjell Magne Bondevik, Friday, September 18, 2015 at 22:31:47 UTC, carrying his one-word answer to Bondevik’s message of 5:39 p.m. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00845759 p.1 ↩

  19. Calendar items extracted from Jeffrey Epstein’s own device and catalogued in a forensic examination report of that device, under the heading Case Data: Calendar Items: an entry titled “breakfast” for September 28, 2015 at 08:30 (America/New_York), and a further entry titled “bondevik” for 09:00 the same day, each paired with an “Alarm notification” entry at the same time. Read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01065003 p.8 ↩

  20. Email thread, Lesley Groff and Kjell Magne Bondevik, Sunday, September 27, 2015, carrying Groff’s message at 14:16:27 UTC, Bondevik’s reply at 14:37:48 UTC and Groff’s answer at 14:48:07 UTC. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00338703 p.1 Groff’s message as sent is at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00338698 and her answer at https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00338704 ↩

  21. Email, Jeffrey Epstein to Terje Rød-Larsen, Saturday, February 4, 2017 at 01:05:02 UTC, subject “Re: Former Norway PM Detained At Dulles Airport Over 2014 Iran Visit”, replying to Rød-Larsen’s forward of February 3, 2017 at 7:34 p.m., which itself forwards a news report circulated to him earlier that day. Read from the page image; the report as reproduced does not name the outlet that published it, and cites WJLA-TV and Norway’s TV2 for the quotations it carries. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01055263 pp.1-2 ↩

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