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Norway’s parliament began public hearings into ties between Jeffrey Epstein and Norwegian diplomats and politicians, summoning 11 current and former ministers, including Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

Getting into it: Parliament is focusing on the foreign service, including about $13.5 million the Foreign Ministry gave between 1997 and 2018 to the International Peace Institute, a think tank run from 2005 to 2020 by Terje Rod-Larsen, who helped broker the 1993 Oslo Accords. During Rod-Larsen’s tenure, the institute also took about $650,000 in donations from Epstein-linked foundations that he did not disclose. The Epstein files exposed Rod-Larsen’s close relationship with Epstein, including a personal loan, and Epstein’s will left millions of dollars to Rod-Larsen’s children.

Rod-Larsen, his wife and fellow diplomat Mona Juul, and former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland are all under police investigation for corruption, which they deny. They are not part of the hearings, which carry no penalties.

Store, who was foreign minister from 2005 to 2012, said he never had any relationship with Epstein and that the problems came from a few individuals, not the ministry as a whole. He also said that, as far as he knew, Epstein had no influence on Norway’s foreign policy or aid decisions.

Former Foreign Minister Borge Brende, who resigned as head of the World Economic Forum in February over his ties to Epstein, apologized for lying to the newspaper Aftenposten last year when he said he had never met Epstein. “Had I known what I know today, I would never have been in contact with him, but I should have researched him more. I take responsibility for that,” Brende said, adding that the two had dinner only three times and otherwise kept in touch over email and text.

Parliament has also appointed an independent commission, only the ninth in 140 years, to dig through three decades of Norway’s diplomacy and deliver findings by January 2028.

The hearings follow the US Justice Department’s release in January of millions of Epstein-related documents, which revealed connections between the late sex offender and some of Norway’s most powerful figures, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who has since apologized for her friendship with Epstein.