[[Saudi Arabia]] | [[Jeffrey Epstein]] | [[Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud]] | [[2010s]] | [[2020s]] ## The Man in the Room **Raafat Abdullah Saad Al-Sabbagh** is a senior adviser at the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia, appointed in May 2016 — right at the moment MBS (Mohammed bin Salman) was consolidating his rise to power. His role is essentially that of a trusted inner-circle operator: he traveled with MBS on official delegations to the US, sat in on meetings with the Atlantic Council chairman, and was present at royal audiences with foreign heads of state like Malaysia's PM Najib Razak. In Saudi power structures, being a Royal Court adviser isn't ceremonial. It means you're a gatekeeper — managing access, intelligence, and sensitive conversations that can't go through official diplomatic channels. --- ## Where It Gets Explosive: The Epstein Connection From 2016 onward, emails released by the US Department of Justice show Epstein frequently communicated with Al-Sabbagh about Aramco and the future of Saudi Arabia's economy. [New Arab](https://www.newarab.com/news/epstein-strongly-advised-saudi-against-2018-aramco-wall-st-ipo) And the timing is _everything_. MBS had just announced **Vision 2030** in April 2016 — his grand plan to drag Saudi Arabia out of oil dependency. One of its centerpieces? An IPO for **Saudi Aramco**, the most valuable company on Earth. Epstein described the IPO as "silly," arguing a public listing would make Aramco's valuation volatile, and instead suggested selling options to China. [New Arab](https://www.newarab.com/news/epstein-strongly-advised-saudi-against-2018-aramco-wall-st-ipo) He was, in effect, lobbying a Royal Court adviser against a Wall Street listing — and he was right. The Aramco IPO saga became one of the messiest financial sagas of the decade, eventually landing on the Saudi exchange rather than New York. Al-Sabbagh was visiting Epstein's Manhattan townhouse the same month he was appointed to the Royal Court. [Insecurities](https://www.dugganusa.com/post/the-gulf-state-pipeline-epstein-s-direct-line-to-the-saudi-royal-court-1) That's not a coincidence — that's access being established. --- ## The Deeper Geopolitical Subtext Here's what makes this remarkable: Epstein wasn't just a predator with a black book. By 2016, he was a **convicted sex offender** — yet he had a direct channel to the adviser of the future king of Saudi Arabia. Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney who gave Epstein his 2008 sweetheart deal, allegedly told the Trump transition team that Epstein "belonged to intelligence" and to leave it alone. [Insecurities](https://www.dugganusa.com/post/the-gulf-state-pipeline-epstein-s-direct-line-to-the-saudi-royal-court-1) The Saudi angle fits that pattern perfectly. Intelligence services — whether American, Israeli, or others — have long used figures like Epstein as **back-channel brokers**: people who can have conversations that governments officially can't. Epstein was tracking MBS's travel itinerary and sharing news articles about his US visit agenda with Al-Sabbagh. A convicted sex offender was tracking the movements of the future Saudi Crown Prince and sharing intelligence with a Royal Court adviser. [Insecurities](https://www.dugganusa.com/post/the-gulf-state-pipeline-epstein-s-direct-line-to-the-saudi-royal-court-1) --- ## The Bottom Line Al-Sabbagh sits at the intersection of **three massive stories**: the Epstein network, the rise of MBS, and the Aramco financial saga. He's not a headline name — but that's often exactly the point. In geopolitics, the most consequential figures are frequently the ones whose names you've never heard. What angle do you want to dig into further — the Aramco financial maneuvering, Epstein's intelligence connections, or MBS's consolidation of power?