U.S. Justice Department releases Epstein files with uncorroborated Trump allegations
Documents include three FBI interview reports from 2019 involving a woman who alleged that Trump attempted to force her to perform oral sex in the 1980s
Washington,
D.C. — The U.S. Justice Department released additional files Thursday related
to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including previously withheld FBI interview
summaries containing uncorroborated allegations that U.S. President Donald
Trump sexually assaulted a minor decades ago.
The newly
published documents include three FBI interview reports from 2019 involving a
woman who claimed that Epstein introduced her to Trump in the 1980s when she
was between 13 and 15 years old.
According to
the interview summaries — known as FBI 302 reports — the woman alleged that
Trump attempted to force her to perform oral sex during an encounter arranged
by Epstein.
She told
investigators she bit Trump during the incident and that he struck her before
ordering her removed from the room.
The
documents do not indicate whether investigators found her account credible, and
Trump has denied wrongdoing.
Epstein, who
died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges
involving minors, had long-standing ties to political and business elites.
His case has
remained politically charged, with continuing disputes over the release of
investigative records and the extent of his network.
The files
are part of a broader effort mandated by Congress to make public millions of
pages of records related to Epstein.
Justice
Department (DoJ) officials said the documents were initially withheld from a
massive release of Epstein-related records this year after being mistakenly
coded as duplicates during the review process.
The
additional material includes summaries of four FBI interviews conducted with
the woman between July and October 2019 — after Epstein’s arrest.
She alleged
that Epstein had sexually abused her multiple times and arranged encounters
with other men.
In a later interview, agents pressed her for
more detail about the alleged interaction with Trump, but she declined to
elaborate and eventually broke off contact with investigators.
The DoJ has warned that the Epstein files
contain “untrue and sensationalist claims” submitted by members of the public,
particularly in the period after the disgraced financier’s arrest.
“These are completely baseless accusations,
backed by zero credible evidence, from a sadly disturbed woman who has an
extensive criminal history,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said
in a statement.
“The total baselessness of these accusations
is also supported by the obvious fact that Joe Biden’s department of justice
knew about them for four years and did nothing with them — because they knew
President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong.”
The new disclosures come amid continued
scrutiny of the government’s handling of Epstein records. Critics have accused
the DoJ of withholding documents or improperly redacting information during
earlier releases.
Democrats on
the House Oversight Committee have opened an inquiry, arguing that key records
may have been improperly withheld.
This week,
the committee voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify about the
department’s handling of the Epstein files, in a rare show of bipartisan
frustration that included support from several Republicans.
The panel’s
top Democrat, Robert Garcia, noted that the DoJ announced its latest release a
day after the Bondi vote.
“This is
after they took down 50k files with no explanation,” he posted on X. “We are
going to end this White House cover-up.”
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