Epstein files source who alleged Mossad links is identified as Holocaust denier

An FBI source who claimed Jeffery Epstein was a Mossad agent in a document released last month was a fraudster and Holocaust denier, highlighting how the so-called Epstein files have fed into Israel-related conspiracies based on unreliable information.

The document, dated 2020, based the allegations of Mossad links on the source’s relationship with the prominent pro-Israel lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

The source told the FBI that he witnessed Dershowitz communicate with the Israeli spy agency, and “became convinced that Epstein was a co-opted Mossad agent.”

The source also said that Epstein “trained as a spy” under former prime minister and IDF chief Ehud Barak. He accused the Chabad Hasidic movement of “doing everything they can to co-opt the Trump presidency,” said that “Trump has been compromised by Israel,” claimed Dershowitz himself was a Mossad agent, and called for an investigation into the Kushner family.

The source, like others alleging Mossad links in the Epstein files, was not named and did not provide evidence. The document also framed the allegations as suspicions, indicating a lack of actual evidence.

On Tuesday, Dershowitz said that the informant was Charles Johnson, an online provocateur and fraudster with a history of Holocaust denial.

“The source is Charles Johnson. He is a Holocaust denier. He was sentenced to prison. The FBI concluded that nothing he said should be credited. Yes, he’s a confidential FBI source, but a discredited one,” Dershowitz told The Times of Israel.

Johnson interned for Dershowitz while Johnson was a high school student, but the two have not been in contact for more than 10 years, Dershowitz said.

Dershowitz is one of the many high-profile figures linked to the convicted sex offender, having provided Epstein with legal representation. There is no evidence of criminality by Dershowitz and he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Johnson is a conservative media personality and online provocateur who was found liable in court for falsely claiming to be a government agent.

Johnson has also denied that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust, and stated that he agrees with a statement about “the gas chambers not being real.” He also founded a crowdfunding website that raised more than $150,000 for neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Last year, a Texas court found Johnson liable for running a fraud and extortion scheme in which he falsely presented himself as an intelligence asset for US government agencies to pressure and threaten companies into business relationships.

Johnson had previously served as an FBI informant, but continued to present himself as a “federal operative” after he ceased providing information to the intelligence agency, the lawsuit said. It was unclear why the FBI worked with Johnson.

Johnson was ordered to pay an estimated total of $71 million for racketeering, fraud and defamation. He has filed an appeal.

The document released in the Epstein files last week does not include the source’s name and other details are redacted. The news outlet Semafor connected the unnamed source to Johnson, based on a separate document in the files that used the same ID number for the confidential source.

Johnson has acknowledged that he was the source in the previous document, while denying some of the statements attributed to him. He has also written that he worked for Dershowitz when Dershowitz represented Epstein and confirmed he was a confidential informant.

The document was widely cited as evidence of Epstein’s ties to Israeli intelligence by prominent critics of Israel, including Glenn Greenwald, Dave Smith and Hasan Piker, illustrating how the Epstein files have fueled anti-Israel conspiracy theories. Those claims have been viewed more than 10 million times online.

The Times, the prominent British newspaper, cited the document as evidence of Epstein’s connection to Mossad. So did Middle East-focused outlets that are critical of Israel, including Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, The Palestine Chronicle, the Middle East Monitor and Iranian state media. None of the reports mentioned Johnson.

The author of the report for The Times also shared a fake, AI-generated photo of Epstein with President Isaac Herzog and later apologized.

“I mistakenly posted a photo of president Herzog, without checking the source and I am sorry for that, wrote Gabrielle Sivia Weiniger. “The photograph nor the president were not mentioned in my article.”

Johnson did not respond to a request for comment sent via email. Semafor reported that Johnson was recently released from jail and had said in a statement that he did not have access to email or phone.

After publication, Johnson forwarded The Times of Israel a post on Substack by the writer Arthur Bloom that acknowledged he was the FBI source, but disputed Dershowitz’s claims, including that they hadn’t met in 10 years, sharing a photo the post said was from 2020.

The post said that Johnson hadn’t denied the Holocaust since 2019, and that Dershowitz had exonerated him since then as a “provocateur,” but not an antisemite. The post also said that Johnson had not been “sentenced to prison because he has convicted of a crime.” Johnson was recently released from jail — not prison — for civil contempt.

The tranche of files released this week sparked a wave of antisemitic conspiracy theories. There are millions of files, many unrelated to sex trafficking, that are largely shorn of context and partially redacted.

Investigators record tips they receive, whether they are accurate or not, and the veracity of many claims in the files is impossible to verify. The vast trove of information makes the files fertile ground for conspiracists, who can cherry-pick scraps of information to propagate false narratives.

Previous Epstein file releases have also sparked widespread anti-Israel conspiracy theories.

Dershowitz said he was told “by several people” that the source in this case was Johnson, and that “it fits everything,” based on his previous relationship with Johnson. The document cited details of the source’s work with Dershowitz.

“It fits his profile and all the evidence points to him. I don’t think he’s denied it. I think he’s proud of it,” Dershowitz said.

“He has made up stories about a great many people and he made up this story. There’s no truth to it,” Dershowitz said. “I never was an agent of the Mossad. I never introduced Epstein to anybody in the Mossad. All of it’s completely false.”