DR ‹ › The situation has taken an unexpected turn. After dismissing any notion of resigning earlier this week, Jack Lang has now submitted his resignation as president of the Arab World Institute (IMA) on Saturday, February 7. This decision was conveyed in a letter to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. The former Minister of Culture's name appears over 600 times in U.S. judicial documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Despite Jack Lang's denials of any wrongdoing, pressure has been mounting, initially from civil society and then from the highest echelons of the government. By Thursday, both Emmanuel Macron and the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, had urged him to "consider the institution." Epstein Affair: Jack Lang Summoned to the Quai d'Orsay upon His Return from Marrakech The decisive factor appears to be the launch on Friday of an investigation by the national financial prosecutor's office into allegations of aggravated tax fraud laundering involving Jack Lang and his daughter, Caroline. She is named in Jeffrey Epstein's financial will, drafted two days before his death, which allocates $5 million to her. Additionally, she co-founded an offshore company with Epstein in 2016 in the Virgin Islands. Amid the controversy, Caroline Lang has stepped down from her role as president of a cinema producers' union. Summoned on Sunday to the Quai d'Orsay as head of a state-supervised institution, Jack Lang ultimately took the initiative. In his letter to Jean-Noël Barrot, he condemned a "toxic climate" filled with "personal attacks, suspicions, and conflations," while maintaining his innocence. His summons was canceled by Saturday evening. An extraordinary board meeting is anticipated in the coming days to formally accept his resignation and arrange the interim period. The selection of a successor, which requires approval from the Arab countries represented on the board, may take several weeks.
