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Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump appear in the files.
Keystone/blue News Bildmontage
The US Department of Justice has released further documents from the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. US President Donald Trump is also mentioned in the newly released FBI files.
The US Department of Justice has released further documents from the investigation into the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The documents were released on Thursday (local time) and include transcripts of FBI interviews.
In them, a witness describes how she was abused as a minor by both Epstein and Donald Trump. According to an investigation transcript, she testified that Epstein took her to New York or New Jersey between the ages of 13 and 15 and introduced her to Trump there.
In her statement, the woman reported that Trump had tried to force her to have oral sex. She resisted and bit him in the process. According to the FBI documents, she also stated that she and her entourage had received threatening phone calls over the years to keep quiet about the incidents.
The US Department of Justice explained that the documents had previously been part of the investigation files, but had been mistakenly marked as duplicates. That is why they have only now been made public.
The publication of the Epstein documents is politically controversial. US President Donald Trump had opposed the release of the files for months last year. The US Congress finally pushed through the publication with votes from Trump's Republicans.
Photos and other documents that had previously been published show that Epstein and Trump had personal contact in the past. However, Trump repeatedly stated that he had already broken off contact with Epstein before his conviction in 2008.
So far, the President has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein investigation.
However, Democratic politicians accuse the government of withholding information from the investigation that could be politically sensitive. A committee of the House of Representatives therefore decided on Wednesday to summon Justice Minister Pam Bondi. She is to answer questions about the Ministry's handling of the Epstein files.
According to investigators, Jeffrey Epstein allegedly abused more than a thousand minors and young women over many years. In some cases, he is said to have placed victims with influential personalities.
The financial investor was convicted in 2008 of soliciting the prostitution of a minor and spent around 13 months in prison following a controversial settlement with the public prosecutor's office.
Epstein was arrested again in 2019. Shortly afterwards, he was found dead in his prison cell in New York. According to official reports, he took his own life there.
