On November 13, President Donald Trump spoke at an event (AP)
President Donald Trump has asked the Department of Justice to investigate the relationship between his Democratic predecessor, Bill Clinton, and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
But not long ago, a batch of newly released emails raised questions about Trump's own relationship with Epstein.
Last Friday, Trump again posted on social media in an attempt to shift attention away from these emails. He compared these emails to the investigation into the relationship between Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and his campaign.
Trump wrote, "This is another 'Russia, Russia, Russia' scam, all pointing to the Democrats," and described these emails as a "scam."
He also tried to shift scrutiny of his actions onto Democrats and financial institutions, claiming they had closer ties to Epstein than he did.
Trump wrote, "Epstein was a Democrat, it's a Democrat problem, not a Republican one!" He then added, "Don't waste time on Trump. I have to run the country!"
In the second of two long posts, Trump stated that he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate former President Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Larry Summers during the Clinton administration, venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, and JPMorgan Chase.
Bondi responded within hours. She thanked Trump for his request on the social media platform X and explained that she had assigned U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to lead the investigation.
She added, "The Department of Justice will pursue this with a high sense of urgency and integrity, providing answers for the American people."
White House: The Epstein emails "prove nothing" [English video]
Newly Released Emails
During Trump's second term, the Epstein scandal has remained an ongoing problem for him. He has faced pressure from both parties to release all documents related to the case and explain whether he was involved himself.
Epstein was a wealthy financier who had close connections with influential figures including Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince who had his royal titles stripped last month for being involved in the case.
These relationships have long raised questions about how Epstein managed to escape legal consequences.
Hundreds of women came forward to accuse Epstein of sexual assault and human trafficking. In 2008, Epstein was convicted in Florida of sexually assaulting minors and soliciting prostitution, but critics argued his plea deal was too lenient.
Epstein died by suicide while in custody in 2019, facing federal charges of sex trafficking. His death and his prominent social circle have fueled various conspiracy theories, leading some to believe there was a cover-up. Some believe there was a cover-up.
With the longest government shutdown in U.S. history ending on Wednesday, Trump's relationship with Epstein once again became the focus of public attention.
The House, which had been shut down for 54 days, convened for the first time to vote on a funding bill aimed at ending the 42-day government shutdown.
But on the same day, Democratic members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released excerpts of three emails between Epstein, his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, and author Michael Wolff, all of which mentioned Trump. These emails seemed to suggest that Trump knew about Epstein's sexual relationships.
In one email, Epstein wrote, "I want you to understand that the dog that didn't bark is Trump... (the victim) spent several hours with him at my house."
In another email, Epstein told Wolff, "He certainly knew about the girls, because he told Ghislaine to stop."
The third email from Wolff implied that Trump had visited Epstein's residence and taken his plane, and discussed how Trump might respond to these visits during an interview with CNN.
The Trump administration quickly launched a crisis PR campaign, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calling the release of the emails a selective edit and a "smear" campaign by Democrats.
However, later that evening, the Republican leadership of the House Oversight Committee released 20,000 emails from the Epstein case, including more conversations about Trump.
For example, in an email written in 2017 to Summers, Epstein wrote, "I've met some really bad people, but none were worse than Trump. He doesn't have a single decent cell... So yes - dangerous."
House Democrats release emails implying Trump knew about Epstein's crimes [English video]
Ongoing Controversy
In his emails on Friday, Trump argued that these emails were intended to divert attention from the prolonged government shutdown. During this period, Democrats failed to reach an agreement on protecting measures for health insurance subsidies that were set to expire at the end of the year.
Trump said, "Despite the Department of Justice having already released 50,000 pages of documents, Democrats are still trying to hype up the Epstein scam again to divert attention from their terrible policies and failures, especially the embarrassment caused by the government shutdown."
He also condemned Republicans who supported releasing more Epstein files, claiming they were taking sides with Democrats rather than with him.
He wrote, "Some weak Republicans have fallen into their trap because they are narrow-minded and extremely foolish."
This is not the first time Trump's administration has been embroiled in controversy over the Epstein scandal. For example, in February this year, Attorney General Bondi told Fox News that she had a "client list" of Epstein: "It's right here on my desk, waiting for me to look at it."
The existence of the so-called "client list" has been a key element of conspiracy theories that portray Epstein as a shadowy figure who extorted powerful individuals and made them work for him. Some of Trump's officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel, had previously promoted such conspiracy theories before becoming president.
However, in July, the Department of Justice and the FBI jointly issued a memo denying the existence of the so-called "client list," which triggered strong backlash from Trump supporters. Bondi insisted that she had made a mistake when she spoke to Fox News in February.
Late that month, media reports surfaced that Bondi had also informed Trump that his name appeared in the unreleased full archive of Epstein.
That month, Trump himself also spoke about his relationship with Epstein, claiming he cut ties with the financier because Epstein had lured young female employees from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
"When I heard about it, I told him, 'Listen, we don't want you to take our people,' " Trump told reporters, "and not long after, he did it again. I said, 'Get out.'"
Statues of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein appear in the U.S. capital [English video]
Clinton's Relationship with the Bank Under Scrutiny
Clinton, too, has come under scrutiny for his relationship with Epstein: the financier visited the White House to meet Clinton before his conviction, and Clinton admitted to having flown on Epstein's private jet.
Although Clinton has not yet commented on Trump's threat to launch an investigation, he has previously denied knowing about Epstein's crimes.
Clinton's spokesperson, Angel Urrea, posted on social media in 2019 that "President Clinton had no knowledge of the terrible crimes that Jeffrey Epstein committed years ago in Florida, nor of the charges he recently faced in New York."
Financial institutions are also under pressure to explain their involvement in the Epstein case.
For example, in 2023, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million in settlements to survivors of Epstein's sexual abuse cases. Previously, a plaintiff had accused the institution of profiting from Epstein's sex trafficking scheme and failing to issue warnings about unusual behavior.
Later that year, JPMorgan also reached a settlement with Epstein's victims, agreeing to pay $290 million in damages.
The bank stated in a statement at the time, "If we believed he used our bank in any way to assist in committing heinous crimes, we would never have continued doing business with him."
Since then, similar lawsuits have followed, including lawsuits against Bank of America and BNY Mellon last month. At this week's hearing, the two banks tried to dismiss these lawsuits.
Despite this, the Trump administration continues to face significant pressure, especially after the House reconvened.
With the House back in session, a new member of Congress was sworn in: Democrat Adelita Grijalva. She provided the critical 218th signature on a petition urging the House to release all government Epstein records.
This bill was a bipartisan effort led by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a staunch supporter of Trump, confirmed plans to hold a vote next week, despite the uncertain prospects of the bill passing in the Senate. Johnson has repeatedly downplayed the importance of the bill.
"It's completely pointless. It's meaningless now. We might as well just pass it," Johnson said Wednesday while speaking with reporters, "I mean, they've already collected 218 signatures. No problem. Let's do it."
Sources: Al Jazeera
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