President Donald Trump has said he knows “nothing” about comments recently released in which disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein alleged that Trump “knew about the girls.”
Why It Matters
Democrats in the House of Representatives released emails this week that show Epstein discussing Trump. Epstein wrote that President Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims and allegedly “knew about the girls.”
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email outside of regular working hours.
Trump has responded by asking the Department of Justice (DoJ) and FBI to investigate Democrats over alleged links to Epstein.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Newsweek: “These emails prove literally nothing. Democrats and the mainstream media are desperately trying to use this hoax as a distraction to talk about anything other than Democrats getting utterly defeated by President Trump in the shutdown fight. We won’t be distracted, and the entire Administration will continue fulfilling the promises the President was elected on, including cutting the Biden-era price hikes.”
Trump had been friends with Epstein for years, but has said they parted ways in the early 2000s, before Epstein’s first arrest in 2006. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.
What To Know
In the files released this week, an email from Epstein to journalist Michael Wolff reads: “mara lago.. trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine [Maxwell] to stop.” Wolff is a journalist and author who has written several books about Trump.
Asked by reporters on November 14 aboard Air Force One what Epstein meant by the comment, Trump responded: “I know nothing about that.”
“Jeffrey Epstein and I had a very bad relationship for many years,” Trump added. “But he also saw strength because I was president.”
“You’ve got to find out what did he know, with respect to Bill Clinton, with respect to the head of Harvard, with respect to all of those people he knew, including JP Morgan Chase.”
Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013. Spokesperson Patricia Wexler said the bank regretted any association with Epstein but stressed it “did not help him commit his heinous acts.”
Trump then urged the Justice Department and FBI to investigate Democrats with ties to Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton. Attorney General Pam Bondi has confirmed an investigation has been launched, writing on X: “As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people.”
Jay Clayton, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, will lead the investigation.
Who Is Trump Investigating?
Clinton is the most prominent person Trump wants investigated for links to Epstein.
Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet several times before the financier’s 2008 conviction. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has denied he was aware of Epstein’s crimes.
Angel Urena, deputy chief of staff for Clinton, said on X this week: “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing. The rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.”
Trump also asked the Justice Department to investigate former treasury secretary and former Harvard University president Larry Summers. Summers accepted philanthropic gifts from Epstein while serving as president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006.
Summers appeared in the Epstein-related documents released on Wednesday, though he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Summers said in a recently released statement: “As I have said before, my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgement.”
In a Truth Social post this week, Trump said: “Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures, I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him.”
Epstein died in a federal jail in New York City in 2019. His 2019 federal indictment claimed he “sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes” in Manhattan and Palm Beach.
Prosecutors said he also paid some victims to bring him additional underage girls. He faced a potential 45-year sentence at the time of his death. His associate Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
What Happens Next
House Speaker Mike Johnson has said representatives will vote next week on a bill that would compel the Justice Department to release all files related to the investigation into Epstein and his associates.
