One of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims told the FBI how Ghislaine Maxwell effectively tried to pimp her out to Donald Trump and his party pals, making it clear that she was “available” for them.
But the names of the men involved in the victim’s testimony, other than the president’s, have been hidden by the Justice Department, prompting claims of another attempted cover-up.
About 3.5 million fresh documents were published by the department on Friday, featuring bombshell new references to Trump, uncorroborated FBI tips about alleged abuse or ties to Epstein and Maxwell, and interviews with Epstein’s victims.
In one particular interview conducted by the FBI in September 2021, a woman, whose name has been redacted, told authorities that Maxwell took her to a party in New York, where she “seemed very excited that there would be a lot of great men for (redacted) to meet.”
At the party, the victim was “presented” to Trump by Maxwell, who also gave him “a rundown” of her accolades.
“MAXWELL presented (redacted) to TRUMP and they had a conversation for approximately 20 minutes. (Redacted) was invited to MAR-A-LAGO where she was given a tour by TRUMP with EPSTEIN and MAXWELL present,” the file said.
“Nothing happened between (redacted) and TRUMP,” the file added, but “by the things that MAXWELL said, it was made clear that (redacted) was available. MAXWELL said things like, ‘Oh I think he likes you. Aren’t you lucky. This is great’… MAXWELL said things like, ‘Oh he’ll like that. He doesn’t like that.’ It was set up very much like how MAXWELL introduced (redacted) to EPSTEIN.”
The information is contained in a so-called 302 report, which FBI agents use to summarize an investigative interview that could be used as testimony.
It is not clear when the introductions were made, but the details have raised fresh questions about Trump’s links to Epstein and Maxwell, and how much he knew about their heinous crimes.
Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the pair and previously claimed that he cut ties with Epstein in the mid-2000s, although files released last year suggest otherwise.
Last year, the president also expressed dismay that the reputations of people who “innocently” met the disgraced financier years ago could be damaged due to the release of the files.
On Friday, the White House referred the Daily Beast to a statement issued by the Justice Department, which stated that the new trove of files “may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act.”
“To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” the statement added.
But the administration has once again come under fire for redacting the names of men who could have been involved in Epstein’s sex trafficking operations, undercutting the push for accountability.
In the FBI’s 302 report, for instance, agents wrote that Maxwell also introduced the victim to other men, not just Trump, including one who was contacted by government officials and another man who was “much older” than the victim.
But their names and details remain hidden in the heavily redacted filing.
Asked if the public would learn the identities of the men who abused girls and young women as part of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday: “If we learn about information and evidence that allows us to prosecute them, you better believe we will. But I don’t think the public is going to uncover men within the Epstein files that abused women, unfortunately.”
However, Blanche added that the department had complied with the law and had the right to hold back any information that could jeopardize ongoing investigations, breach attorney-client privilege, identify victims, or show child pornography.
“We didn’t protect or not protect anybody,” he told reporters on Friday.
But Democrats and Epstein’s victims have hit out at the department for the redactions–and the fact that about half of the files in the DOJ’s possession have not been released.
“The DOJ said it identified over 6 million potentially responsive pages but is releasing only about 3.5 million after review and redactions,” said Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who helped spearhead the Epstein Transparency Act alongside GOP Rep. Thomas Massie.
“This raises questions as to why the rest are being withheld… Failing to release these files only shields the powerful individuals who were involved and hurts the public’s trust in our institutions.”
In a statement released after the latest batch of files was released, survivors said: “This is not over. We will not stop until the truth is fully revealed and every perpetrator is finally held accountable. As we have always said, this is not about politics. We hope Democrats and Republicans will stand with survivors in continuing to demand the full release of the Epstein files.”
