U.S. officials made new disclosures from the Epstein files on Monday, naming who they believe was the recipient behind a disturbing email sent by the deceased financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, in which he referenced a supposed “torture video.”

That name is Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, one of the Emirates’ most powerful business figures, who, for years, maintained a relationship with Epstein, with the communications often including explicit content, according to documents recently released by the U.S. Justice Department.

The latest revelation comes after Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. reviewed unredacted documents at the Justice Department on Monday.

Massie posted a screenshot of the email on the social media platform X. In the email, Epstein wrote to a redacted recipient: “where are you? Are you ok, I loved the torture video.”  The reply stated: “I am in china I will be in the US 2nd week of May.”

Alongside the screenshot, Massie wrote that, “a sultan seems to have sent this,” and called on the DOJ to make the information public.

That caught the attention of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who responded to Massie on X, stating the redaction protected personally identifiable information in an email address. He added that Sulayem’s name appeared unredacted elsewhere in the released files and linked to a document containing his name.

Massie later said Blanche had “tacitly admitted that Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was the sender of the torture video.”

CNBC sought comment from Sulayem through DP World, where he serves as chairman and CEO, but did not receive a response. Sulayem has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing. It is also unclear exactly what the referenced “torture video” was, and whether it had actually been sent from Sulayem to Epstein.

Authorities have stressed that a mention in the Epstein files does not indicate evidence of wrongdoing nor prove that the name was part of a purported client list or blackmail scheme.

However, the email adds yet another thread to a tapestry of years of communications between Sulayem and Epstein, which referenced everything from business deals, politics to sex.

His prominent leadership roles made him an important representative of Dubai’s economy amongst both the leadership in the UAE and the international community. Sulayem appeared regularly in international forums, including the World Economic Forum in Davos, often rubbing shoulders with politicians and giving speaking engagements.

However, emails released by the DOJ suggest that Epstein saw a very different side of the Sultan — and in him, a friend and confidant, trusted enough to engage in high-stakes discussions of business and sex.

A search of the name “Sulayem” on the DOJ’s Epstein library yields thousands of results, many of which appear to be email exchanges between the two from around 2007 through 2019, long after the financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.

The DOJ’s file release shows that Epstein once referred to Sulayem as a “close personal friend” he had known for 8 years. He also described Sulayem as one of his most trusted friends in other writings. 

In the world of Epstein, being a trusted friend appeared to have come with intimate communications regarding topics including but not limited to: arrangements with masseuses; sexual encounters with women; escort and prostitution services; lewd comments and jokes; and pornography.

The two often appeared to be discussing in-person meetings. On several occasions, Sulayem corresponded with Epstein about Little St. James, Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which prosecutors allege was used as a base for sex trafficking.

In one 2014 email, Epstein appeared to invite former Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson to join a board of Sulayem’s, writing: “sultan [sic] has asked me to encourage you to join his board.”

The files also appear to show Epstein connecting former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Sulayem via email in 2015. That comes after a report from Drop Site News in January suggested that Epstein had brokered several meetings between Ehud Barak and Sulayem, citing previously released emails.

Ehud Barak has previously defended his business with Epstein, explaining that at the time, he believed the businessman had paid his debt to society, and that he himself hadn’t been accused of wrongdoing. 

According to Bloomberg’s viewing of the public files and others obtained by the outlet last summer, Epstein also tried to help connect Sulayem to figures such as an aide to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy; Les Wexner, the retail billionaire and longtime Epstein patron behind Victoria’s Secret; and Jes Staley, who in the late 2000s was a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Sarkozy has not publicly addressed alleged ties to Epstein. Wexner said in 2019 that he had previously employed Epstein but was unaware of the illegal conduct for which Epstein was later indicted. In June, Staley failed to overturn a decision by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority that found he had “recklessly” misled regulators in 2019 about the nature of his relationship with Epstein.

CNBC also confirmed that the latest DOJ files include a 2010 email from Epstein to Sulayem, asking him if he wanted to meet Thomas Pritzker, executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels. A representative of Pritzker declined to comment.

In the wake of the global financial crisis in 2009, Epstein sent an email addressing an unidentified “sultan” regarding an apparent investment deal and a payment to be made to Epstein. “Your people should talk to Pritsker,” Epstein wrote, adding that “Hyatt is the =erfect answer to MGM. not Barrrack.”

Epstein may’ve been referring to casino operator MGM Mirage, which Epstein and Sulayem had exchanged articles about. In 2009, Sulayem’s Dubai World had reportedly filed a lawsuit against the MGM Mirage for massive cost overruns.

Epstein also appeared to refer the “sultan” to Pritzker’s Hyatt over “Barrrack.” It is unclear who he was referring to, but private equity real estate investor Thomas Barrack appeared in other Epstein’s emails with Sulayem. 

In a December 2009 email, Epstein sent a couple of emails to Staley regarding investments and a potential meeting, also with an unspecified “sultan.”

Epstein and Sulaymen also shared details of their separate meetings with other prominent figures, notably U.S. President Donald Trump and people within his circle.

The Epstein files indicate Sulayem was invited to Trump’s first presidential inauguration by Thomas Barrack, a U.S. diplomat currently serving as U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria. “Should I accept the invitation,” Sulayem asked Epstein in a January 2017 email.  

Epstein, according to files, was also linked to Steve Bannon, Trump’s former senior adviser and a key architect of his 2016 election victory. 

“We have become friends you will like him,” Epstein said of Bannon to Sulayem in an email in February 2018. “Trump doesn’t like him,” Sulayem replied. “dont belive the press,” responded Epstein.

Bannon has said little publicly about his relationship with Epstein, though he has called for the release of the Epstein files.

The release of further Epstein files last week triggered a series of events that left U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer fighting for his political life, despite the fact that he never knew the late financier and sex offender.

Starmer is under pressure over his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador, despite knowledge of Mandelson’s connections to Epstein. The latest document release by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed more messages between Mandelson and Epstein, including after Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida to a state charge of felony solicitation of prostitution, a case that involved an underage girl.

Starmer, who is facing calls to step down, has apologized to the victims of Epstein for believing Mandelson’s “lies.”

Starmer held a pivotal meeting with Labour members of parliament afterwards, in which he reportedly said he was “not prepared to walk away.”

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office was not immediately available for comment.

Known as a behind-the-scenes fixer and nicknamed the “Prince of Darkness,” Mandelson was a Labour member of parliament from 1992 to 2004 and served in Blair’s cabinet.

He left parliament to become a European Commissioner before returning to Britain in 2008 to work with then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, having been appointed to parliament’s unelected House of Lords.

After becoming prime minister in July 2024, Starmer appointed Mandelson as ambassador in Washington that December, a role he described at the time as “a great honor.” The appointment was controversial as Mandelson had twice previously resigned — in 1998 and 2001 — over scandals: one about not declaring a loan and another about allegedly influencing a passport application.

Starmer fired Mandelson from the ambassadorship in September, after Downing Street said new information had come to light about the extent of his association with Epstein.

The subsequent release of millions of files from the U.S. Department of Justice last week showed further links between Mandelson and Epstein. They prompted accusations that Mandelson had sent market-sensitive government information to Epstein following the 2008 global financial crisis.

One exchange appeared to show Mandelson giving Epstein advance notice of an impending 500 billion euro bailout for banks in 2010.

In a statement to U.K. broadcaster Sky News last month, Mandelson apologized for remaining friends with Epstein following his 2008 conviction.

“I was not culpable, I was not knowledgeable for what he was doing, and I regret, and will regret to my dying day, the fact that powerless women were not given the protection they were entitled to expect,” he said.

U.K. government borrowing costs jumped on Monday, amid growing pressure on Starmer.

By Tuesday, after many Cabinet ministers rallied around the prime minister, yields on U.K. government bonds, known as gilts, were moving lower.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt was 3 basis points lower at 4.496%, while the 30-year gilt yield also fell by 4 basis points to settle at 5.309%.

Among the potential candidates to replace Starmer are left-leaning Angela Rayner, who resigned as deputy prime minister last autumn after a tax scandal, the current health minister, Wes Streeting, and former party leader Ed Miliband.

Andy Burnham, the current mayor of Greater Manchester, was recently blocked from standing in a special election that could have seen him return to parliament — paving the way for a potential leadership challenge.

Despite Burnham’s popularity, investors are wary of a pivot away from efforts by Starmer and his finance minister, Rachel Reeves, to shore up the U.K.’s public finances.

Kallum Pickering, chief economist at Peel Hunt, said in a note on Tuesday that Burnham “polls strongly” but “whether his successful regional economic policies translate into successful national policies is an open question — his past snipes that the U.K. is ‘in hock to the bond markets’ have alarmed investors.”

Pickering said the fact that Rayner remained under investigation for her tax affairs “hurts her chances — and risks the narrative of replacing one scandalised PM with another.” But he added: “Her popularity within the party suggests she may be able to consolidate the left with the moderates.”