It has been two weeks since the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released its final set of documents in connection with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and new disclosures are still emerging, including evidence that US President Donald Trump once contacted a Florida police official probing the sex-trafficking case in the mid-2000s.
According to the document, the former police chief of Palm Beach (Florida), Michael Reiter, in an interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), noted that he received a call from Trump to say, “thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this.”
The latest revelation brings focus back on Trump, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing despite his name being mentioned in the released files. He has repeatedly said that he cut off contact with Epstein more than two decades ago from Mar-a-Lago, after he discovered that Epstein poached employees from the club’s spa.
What did Trump say?
The document dated 23 April 2020, contains details of what Trump told the ex-official, who was interviewed by the federal agency. Trump further stated that people in New York knew Epstein was disgusting and that Maxwell was EPSTEIN’s operative, “she is evil and to focus on her”, the document reads.
The ex-Palm Beach police chief goes on to say that Trump was one of the very first people to call the police when he found out that they were investigating Epstein. According to the document, the official added that Trump even said back then that once, he was around Epstein when teenagers were present, and added that he “got the hell out of there.”
An ABC News report citing sources stated that the alleged call from Trump occurred in July 2006, around the same time that the details of the police investigation became public.
Maxwell seeks clemency
The document, which was first reviewed by the Miami Herald, has come to light hours after Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s girlfriend and associate, sought clemency from Trump during her closed-door deposition on Monday (local time).
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence at a Texas prison for her involvement in sex trafficking. During the congressional hearing, Maxwell invoked the Fifth Amendment and remained silent throughout.
In a social media post, Maxwell’s lawyer said that she was ready to speak “honestly and completely”, given that Trump grants her clemency. Clemency is a type of pardon, a power that the President has under the US Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1).
In a statement to the Republican House Oversight Committee, her lawyer said that both Trump and former President Bill Clinton “are innocent of any wrongdoing”, but that can only be explained by Maxwell.
Jeffrey Epstein case
The case against late wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein stemmed from a complaint made in 2006 by the parents of a 14-year-old girl, who was reportedly molested by Epstein at his Florida residence. While Epstein pleaded not guilty, later in 2008, he pleaded guilty to two felony charges, including soliciting a minor for prostitution. With Epstein pleading guilty, he was able to avoid federal prosecution and served a reduced sentence in a county jail.
Years later, in 2019, Epstein was arrested in New York on charges of sex trafficking of minors. On 10 August 2019, he was found dead in his prison cell, reportedly by suicide. However, with the recent release of documents and images, the reason behind his death is surfacing again, with many people pointing to lapses in the released documents.
