"Unfounded", "sensationalized" New Epstein files published - Trump appears in them
The US judiciary has published thousands more documents from the investigation against Jeffrey Epstein. There are numerous references to Donald Trump in the files - but no specific accusations against the president have been made.
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- The US Department of Justice has made another extensive tranche of Epstein documents public.
- The documents contain numerous references to President Donald Trump, mainly from media reports and internal memos.
- The Department of Justice emphasizes that they include "unsubstantiated or false allegations".
The U.S. Department of Justice has once again released thousands of documents from the investigation into the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The files were released late Monday night and include emails from prosecutors, tips to investigators and documents surrounding Epstein's death in a Manhattan jail in 2019.
It is the latest release in a series of records declassifications that began last week. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had announced that the documents would be made public in stages over the coming weeks. The US Congress had set a deadline for this by the end of last week.
An analysis of the documents by the "New York Times" shows: There are hundreds of references to Donald Trump in the files. In most cases, these are mentions in media articles or accompanying materials that became part of the files. However, individual passages deal explicitly with the president.
Trump is said to have traveled a lot with Epstein's plane
An internal email from January 2020 received particular attention, in which an unnamed federal prosecutor from Manhattan wrote that flight logs showed that Trump had traveled "significantly more frequently than previously known" on Epstein's private jet. According to this email, Trump is said to have been registered as a passenger on eight flights between 1993 and 1996.
Possible witnesses in the criminal proceedings against Ghislaine Maxwell were on board two of these flights. Maxwell was convicted of human trafficking and other offenses in New York in 2021. Another passage mentions a flight on which only a 20-year-old person was on board alongside Epstein and Trump.
Other flights are said to have been taken by Trump together with his then wife Marla Maples and his children Tiffany and Eric. The names of possible witnesses as well as the sender and recipient of the email have been redacted. Trump was never criminally charged in connection with Epstein or Maxwell.
A statement from the White House was not initially available. However, Trump himself tried to publicly relativize the issue. During an appearance at his Mar-a-Lago estate, he spoke of a political diversion. "This whole Epstein thing is an attempt to distract from the tremendous success of the Republican Party," said Trump.
At the same time, he warned that the publication of pictures and names could harm innocent people. "Many people are angry because photos are being published of people who had nothing to do with Epstein," said Trump. The mere presence at an event could destroy a person's reputation.
The new files also reveal that federal prosecutors seized documents from Mar-a-Lago in 2021. Specifically, these were employment documents relating to the proceedings against Maxwell.
The documents also contain redacted Maxwell's tax records, tips to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and internal communications from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, where Epstein was found dead in his cell.
Justice Department speaks of "untrue allegations"
Previously published files from the past few days included photos of former President Bill Clinton with Epstein and statements from secret jury sessions. Trump stated that he regretted the publication of the Clinton pictures - although he himself had previously ordered that possible connections between Clinton and Epstein be investigated.
The Department of Justice clarified on Tuesday that the released documents included "untrue or sensationalized allegations" made against Trump before the 2020 election. These allegations were "baseless and false", the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Epstein's victims and their lawyers reacted with disappointment. The first release of the files had already been heavily redacted and provided hardly any new information.
