JD Vance Entertains Epstein-Mossad Theory on Joe Rogan's Podcast

US Vice President JD Vance has thrown himself into one of the right’s most radioactive conspiracy theories, publicly entertaining the idea that Jeffrey Epstein had ties to the “highest levels” of Israeli intelligence.

The remarks came during a sprawling, nearly three-hour appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where Rogan raised a claim that has long circulated on the fringes of conservative media: that Epstein’s money and his efforts to shape elite American institutions were backed by Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service.

“Most people think he was Mossad,” Rogan said on the episode released Wednesday.

Vance did not push back.

“Yeah, Mossad or CIA, or some other deep state, whether in America or Israel or another country,” the vice president replied, before going further himself. “He clearly had connections to the upper — the highest — levels of American intelligence. He clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence.”

Those lines, reported by The New York Times, jolted Washington and set off alarms among Republicans already uneasy with Vance’s posture on Israel and antisemitism.

Leaning into a theory with no proof

Epstein, a convicted sex offender who moved comfortably among political, financial and academic elites, did have a documented relationship with one former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak. But the millions of pages of files the US government has released on Epstein have produced no conclusive evidence that he worked as an agent or asset for Mossad or any other intelligence service.

Vance acknowledged as much on Rogan’s show.

“I’ve asked, were there like, were there documents connecting Jeffrey Epstein directly to our intelligence agencies or anybody else’s, and the answer is no,” he said. Then he added a dark twist: “But if that existed, it wouldn’t exist in 2026.”

With that, the vice president managed to both concede the lack of proof and still feed the suspicion that something had been hidden or scrubbed — a familiar pattern in the ecosystem where Epstein theories thrive.

The Israeli prime minister’s office, which oversees Mossad, did not immediately comment on Vance’s remarks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously rejected suggestions that Epstein worked for Israel.

Backlash from the right

The reaction from parts of Vance’s own party was swift and cutting.

Former Representative Peter T. King, a New York Republican and staunch Israel supporter, called the comments a “dog whistle” to a faction of the GOP he described as “antisemitic, is anti-Israel, is conspiratorial and is unhinged.”

“It’s not like you’re a junior congressman,” King said in an interview Saturday. “You’re the vice president of the United States. Unless you know what you’re talking about, unless you have absolute facts to back it up, before you undermine an ally — before you undermine your own intelligence agencies — you better know what you’re talking about.”

Some Republicans had already been pressing Vance to be more forceful in denouncing antisemitism and more emphatic in his support for Israel. His latest foray into Epstein speculation only deepened those worries.

Ben Shapiro, the conservative commentator who is Jewish and a vocal defender of Israel, said Vance’s performance on Rogan’s podcast left him “concerned.” On his own show, Shapiro called the vice president’s commentary “unworthy of the office” and said it cut against fundamental conservative principles.

“Conservatives, generally, are not in favor of baseless conspiracy theorizing,” Shapiro said, “because that undermines the idea that you have capacity in the world to act.”

The Jewish-focused online magazine Tablet published a blistering column by journalist Lee Smith under the headline “JD Vance’s Big Crashout,” accusing the vice president of attacking Jews and spreading “baseless rumors, for which he admits to having zero evidence, about some kind of dark plot involving Jeffrey Epstein.”

The White House digs in

Confronted with the uproar, Vance’s team did not retreat.

Asked for comment, his office released a statement attributed to an unnamed White House official, insisting that everything the vice president said was true and branding any suggestion otherwise as “in bad faith, stupidity, or both.” Aides declined to clarify or soften Vance’s remarks.

The posture underscored how comfortable Vance has become operating in a media environment where floating provocative theories can energize segments of the conservative base, even as it alarms traditional Republicans and foreign allies.

Rogan, whose podcast reaches millions and who has often amplified fringe or conspiratorial claims, framed the Epstein-Mossad idea as a widely held perception. Vance seized on that opening, and then layered his own reading of Epstein’s ties to Israel’s political world.

“Epstein seemed to be connected to the elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center,” Vance told Rogan. “I’ve always found that fascinating.”

Epstein, Barak and a long shadow

The facts of Epstein’s connection to Israel’s political elite are less shadowy than the theories built around them.

Epstein cultivated a yearslong friendship and business relationship with Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister from the center-left. Barak has said Shimon Peres first introduced him to Epstein in 2002. He has acknowledged attending lunches and dinners at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and receiving about $2.3 million in payments from a foundation linked to Epstein. Epstein also reportedly invested $1 million in a limited partnership Barak set up in 2015.

Barak has said he neither witnessed nor took part in any sexual abuse and has expressed remorse over the relationship. “I now deeply regret having any association with him,” he said.

Those ties have long fueled speculation. What they have not produced, at least in the public record, is proof of the sweeping intelligence conspiracy Vance was willing to entertain from one of the most powerful offices in the United States.

In a Republican Party split between traditional hawks and a newer, angrier populist wing, Vance has chosen his side. The question now is how far a sitting vice president can go down the conspiracy rabbit hole before the cost — at home and with key allies abroad — becomes too high.