WASHINGTON (BN24) — President Trump on Friday asked the Justice Department and FBI to investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, and major financial institutions.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused Democrats of focusing on what he calls the “Epstein hoax” to deflect blame for the government shutdown, which ended Wednesday and was the longest in U.S. history.
“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,” the president wrote. “This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island.’ Stay tuned!!!”
Attorney General Pam Bondi soon said she had asked Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead the investigation. Clayton’s office covers matters from Manhattan and the Bronx, as well as the counties north of New York City.
“As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people,” she wrote on social media.
Trump’s announcement comes as the House is expected to vote next week on a bill that would force the Justice Department to release files from its investigation into Epstein. The president opposes the release of that material and has accused Republicans who backed the effort to force a vote on the proposal of being “soft and foolish.” GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia told “CBS Mornings” on Friday that she believes the president’s stance on the Epstein files is a “huge miscalculation.”
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is conducting its own investigation into the federal government’s handling of its probe into Epstein, released earlier this week more than 20,000 pages of material it obtained from Epstein’s estate.
Among the records are emails and messages exchanged with Epstein that mention Trump. In one email from Epstein to author Michael Wolff in January 2019, Epstein wrote, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop,” referencing Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein’s. It is unclear what Epstein was referring to.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in helping Epstein recruit, groom and abuse underage girls.
In another email from Epstein to Maxwell in April 2011, he wrote, “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump.. virginia spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.”
The president has not been accused of wrongdoing. While he and Epstein ran in the same social circles in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, from the late 1980s to early 2000s, Trump has said the two had a falling out around 2004 and had not spoken in the years leading up to Epstein’s 2019 death.
He died by suicide at a Manhattan correctional facility after he was indicted on federal sex-trafficking charges.
The latest release from the Oversight Committee also shows that Epstein corresponded regularly with Summers, who was treasury secretary during Clinton’s presidency and led the National Economic Council under former President Barack Obama.
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 on Epstein’s contacts with Summers. A spokesperson for Summers said at the time that he “deeply regrets being in contact with Epstein after his conviction.” Epstein was investigated by federal and state officials between 2005 and 2006. Under a deal reached with federal prosecutors in 2007, Epstein agreed to plead guilty to two state prostitution charges and serve an 18-month sentence to avoid federal charges. He served less than 13 months and was released in 2009.
As part of its review, the House Oversight panel issued a subpoena to Clinton in August for testimony because of his past ties to Epstein and Maxwell in the early 2000s.
A spokesperson for Clinton said in 2019 after Epstein was indicted that the former president took four trips on Epstein’s plane in 2002 and 2003, traveling to Europe, Asia and Africa. Angel Ureña, the spokesperson, said the trips included stops in connection with the Clinton Foundation, and staff, foundation supporters and Clinton’s Secret Service detail were on every leg of every trip. Clinton also had a meeting with Epstein in 2002 and made “one brief visit” to Epstein’s apartment with a staff member and his security detail, Ureña said.
Trish Wexler, a spokesperson for JPMorganChase, said Friday that the federal government “had damaging information” about Epstein’s crimes and failed to share it with JPMorganChase or other financial institutions.
“We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts,” she said. “We ended our relationship with him years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges.”
In 2023, JPMorgan agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by an unnamed victim of Epstein’s on behalf of herself and others that alleged the bank overlooked his sex trafficking and abuse in order to profit from its financial relationship with him. JPMorgan agreed to pay $290 million to the victims as part of the settlement.
Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn and a major Democratic donor, said in 2019 after Epstein’s arrest that he had some interactions with Epstein and regretted participating in fundraising activity with him, according to Axios. Hoffman said in an email to the news outlet that his last interaction with Epstein had been in 2015.
Still, during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in October, Bondi attacked Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, for accepting political contributions from Hoffman, who she claimed was “one of Epstein’s closest confidants.”
The Justice Department and FBI said in a July memo that they had conducted an “exhaustive review” of material related to Epstein and “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” They also wrote there was no “client list” or “credible evidence” that Epstein blackmailed prominent figures.
The Justice Department and FBI said that while they worked to provide the public with “maximum information” about Epstein, they determined “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
The conclusions from the Trump administration sparked immense backlash against Trump and Bondi from some of the president’s supporters, many of whom were skeptical of the Justice Department’s claim that there was nothing further to be released.
Meanwhile, the Oversight Committee has continued to release records as part of its investigation, including court filings, flight records, videos and messages. In September, the panel made public pages from a book compiled by Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, which includes a letter allegedly signed by Trump and a drawing that appears to be the outline of a woman’s body. The president has denied penning the message.
Documents released by the committee show Trump and Clinton’s names are listed under the “friends” subheading in the book’s table of contents. Clinton appears to have written a handwritten note that reads, in part, “It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing … and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.”
Trump’s directive to investigate Epstein’s Democratic connections comes amid a complex political landscape where both the president and Clinton appear in Epstein’s communications and records. The timing, following the end of the government shutdown, aligns with Trump’s characterization of scrutiny into his Epstein ties as a political distraction.
The appointment of Clayton to lead the investigation places responsibility with a U.S. attorney whose office has jurisdiction over Manhattan, where much of Epstein’s financial activity was centered. The Southern District of New York previously prosecuted Epstein on federal sex-trafficking charges before his death.
The tension between Trump’s call for investigation into Democrats’ Epstein ties and his opposition to releasing Justice Department files on Epstein creates a seemingly contradictory position. While demanding transparency regarding others’ connections to Epstein, the president has characterized efforts to release federal investigation materials as problematic.
Greene’s characterization of Trump’s opposition to file release as a “huge miscalculation” reflects division within the Republican Party on handling Epstein-related matters. Her comments suggest some GOP lawmakers believe transparency on all Epstein connections, regardless of political affiliation, would be politically advantageous.
The House Oversight Committee’s release of more than 20,000 pages of materials obtained from Epstein’s estate provides the documentary basis for much of the current controversy. The emails mentioning Trump, including Epstein’s references to the president knowing “about the girls” and Virginia Giuffre spending “hours” at Epstein’s house with Trump, have fueled questions about the extent of Trump’s awareness of Epstein’s activities.
The July Justice Department and FBI memo concluding there was no basis for investigating uncharged third parties or evidence of blackmail represented the administration’s initial position that further Epstein-related disclosures were unwarranted. The subsequent political backlash from Trump supporters and continued document releases by Congress have kept the issue prominent.
JPMorgan’s $290 million settlement with Epstein victims in 2023 acknowledged the bank’s financial relationship with the sex offender while the bank maintained it did not knowingly facilitate his crimes. The spokesperson’s statement that federal authorities failed to share information about Epstein’s activities with financial institutions attempts to deflect responsibility for the continued business relationship.
The various figures named by Trump in his call for investigation represent a mix of political and financial connections to Epstein spanning multiple Democratic administrations and major financial institutions. Summers’ role in both Clinton and Obama administrations, Hoffman’s status as a major Democratic donor, and the involvement of major banks like JPMorgan Chase encompass both political and financial dimensions of Epstein’s network.
Clinton’s documented interactions with Epstein, including multiple flights on his private plane and visits to his properties, make him a central figure in questions about prominent individuals’ relationships with the convicted sex offender. The Clinton spokesperson’s detailed accounting of these interactions in 2019 provided context but has not ended scrutiny of the former president’s connection to Epstein.
