Fact Check: Sonia Gandhi with Jeffrey Epstein? No, image is AI-generated

Hyderabad: The US Department of Justice released a trove of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein in late December 2025, mentioning several prominent global figures, including some from India.

Amid this backdrop, a photograph has been widely circulated on social media claiming to show Sonia Gandhi shaking hands with Epstein.

An X user shared the image with the caption, “NATION WANT TO KNOW On which land did this meeting take place and in which file is its entry made?.” (Translated from Hindi)(Archive)

A similar post can be seen here.(Archive)

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. There is no evidence that Sonia Gandhi ever met Epstein, and the viral photograph is AI-generated.

Reports on the Epstein document releases noted references to emails involving Indian figures such as Anil Ambani and Hardeep Singh Puri. However, none of the documents mention Sonia Gandhi meeting Epstein.

Major media coverage of the files likewise contains no reference to such a photograph or interaction. There is also no confirmation from official US or Indian sources that any such meeting occurred, indicating the image is not based on a real event.

A close examination of the photo shows typical indicators of AI-generated visuals, including unnatural lighting, inconsistent shadows, and mismatched detailing on the background banner.

To verify further, NewsMeter analysed the image using Hive Moderation, which returned a 99.9 per cent probability of the image being AI-generated. Google’s SynthID tool also flagged the image with a high-confidence AI detection score.