Indian BJP politician, current Union Minister for Housing and Petroleum, and former Ambassador to Italy, Sweden, and the United Nations. DOJ-released EFTA files document 62 email exchanges with Epstein between June 2014 and June 2017, along with at least 14 documented meetings during that period. Nine of those meetings occurred in the five-month span of June through October 2014 alone.
At least three meetings took place at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse. Puri initially told reporters he had exchanged only one or two emails with Epstein and met him only three or four times, claims contradicted by the documentary record. The emails show Puri coordinating with Epstein to arrange meetings with Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder, as part of efforts to attract Silicon Valley investment to India's Digital India initiative.
Indian opposition leader Mahua Moitra and the Congress party called for Puri's resignation, citing the discrepancy between his public statements and the file evidence. Puri acknowledged the emails but maintained the relationship was purely professional.