At the centre of the French storm stands Jack Lang, now 86: former socialist culture minister under François Mitterrand, architect of the Fête de la musique, and until this week president of the government-funded Institut du monde arabe. His name appears hundreds of times in the documents: dinners, messages, film projects, birthday parties and, above all, favours. In one 2017 message, Lang thanks Epstein for his “infinite generosity” and then asks if he might once again “abuse” him by borrowing a chauffeur-driven car to attend a birthday dinner hosted by the Aga Khan, 60km from Paris. It is the language of the court, not that of the Republic.