Trump Demands Investigation into Epstein, Clinton Ties After Email Release

U.S. President Donald Trump has called for an investigation into ties between Jeffrey Epstein and former President Bill Clinton, fueled by the recent release of new emails related to Epstein. Trump urged the Department of Justice and the FBI to scrutinize the banking giant JPMorgan Chase and former Harvard president Larry Summers, who served as Clinton’s Treasury Secretary.

The demand comes as pressure mounts following a significant tranche of Epstein’s emails that surfaced recently. In these emails, Epstein indicated that Trump had “knowledge of the girls” and suggested he spent time with one of Epstein’s alleged victims at his residence. Trump has strongly denied any wrongdoing, but his longstanding connections with Epstein have raised persistent questions since he returned to the White House in January.

Epstein, who died in prison in April 2019, was awaiting trial on federal sex charges at the time of his death, ruled a suicide by authorities. His alleged orchestration of a sex trafficking operation involving underage girls has intensified scrutiny on powerful figures associated with him.

On September 29, 2023, Trump took to Truth Social, stating he would be asking Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s connections with Clinton, Summers, and others, including JPMorgan Chase. Trump claimed, “Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island.'”

In response, Bondi indicated that the Justice Department would pursue the matter with “urgency and integrity,” appointing senior New York prosecutor Jay Clayton to lead the investigation. This announcement arrives despite a memo from the FBI and Justice Department released in July, which stated they had not found evidence warranting an investigation of uncharged third parties. This memo was met with backlash from Trump’s supporters, particularly as it stated that a “client list” Bondi claimed to have been reviewing did not exist.

Clinton has faced scrutiny for his ties to Epstein, including flights on Epstein’s private jet, though he has not been accused of wrongdoing in this context. Emails from 2011, which are part of the latest release, show Epstein asserting that Clinton had “never ever” visited his Caribbean island, a claim that remains unverified.

Currently, there has been no immediate comment from Clinton, Summers, or Reid Hoffman, the founder of the professional networking platform LinkedIn. Furthermore, JPMorgan Chase, which agreed to pay $290 million in a settlement related to Epstein’s victim claims in 2023, dismissed Trump’s allegations, stating, “The government had damning information about his crimes and failed to share it with us or other banks.”

Trump’s recent comments come after two days of silence regarding the unfolding scandal, which has overshadowed his recent political activities. He has yet to address on camera the email exchanges that reference his alleged hours spent with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s principal accusers, who passed away by suicide in April. The White House maintains that Giuffre cleared Trump of any involvement, describing him as “couldn’t have been friendlier.”

Trump and some of his allies had previously indicated intentions to pursue the release of all evidence against Epstein, with the U.S. House of Representatives poised to vote soon on demanding the White House release related files. However, Trump has since expressed his disinterest in the efforts, stating, “Don’t waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!”