Epstein affair | Donald Trump counterattacks and targets Bill Clinton

(Washington) Donald Trump counterattacked Friday by calling for an investigation into the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and certain Democratic figures including Bill Clinton, at a time when his own links with the sex offender are the subject of new questions.

The American president announced on his Truth Social network that he would ask the Department of Justice and the federal police (FBI) to investigate several Democratic figures.

In addition to the former president, who occupied the White House from 1993 to 2001, he cites Larry Summers, who served as Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary, the investor and entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, the JPMorgan Chase bank as well as “many other people and institutions.”

“The records show that these men, and many others, spent a lot of time with Epstein,” he says, without providing evidence.

Trump once again accused his Democratic opponents of promoting the “Epstein hoax” and criticized Republicans who are calling for more transparency, as parliamentarians must vote next week on the publication of documents related to this affair.

Epstein, who like the American president was a figure in New York social life, “was a Democrat, he is the Democrats’ problem, not the Republicans’ problem,” said the 79-year-old billionaire, still on Truth Social.

“Soft and stupid”

“Some weak Republicans have fallen into the clutches (of the Democrats) because they are soft and stupid,” he attacked.

Trump is referring to figures in his party who are insisting that the Justice Department release documents in its possession regarding this very sensitive political-judicial matter.

It was relaunched this week by the publication of emails from the New York financier, with a particularly well-filled address book.

Trump “knew about the girls” abused by the American sex offender and even “spent several hours” with one of them, say Epstein’s emails, revealed by Democratic parliamentarians.

Among these emails are exchanges with Larry Summers, who was also an economic advisor to Barack Obama and president of the prestigious Harvard University.

“How’s the wealthy and dissolute life going?” », Summers wrote on October 27, 2017 to Epstein, who replied: “When we see each other, I will try to fascinate you with crazy stories about Washington! ! ! “.

Bill Clinton, for his part, frequented the New York financier in the 1990s and 2000s.

Accused of having facilitated the actions of Jeffrey Epstein by allowing him to finance his activities, the JPMorgan Chase bank agreed to pay $290 million to alleged victims, under an agreement announced in June 2023 and which avoided a media trial.

Vote

Donald Trump had promised major revelations during his campaign on this scandal, which considerably agitated his base.

Since his return to power in January, he has repeated that this affair, which he helped fuel, was in reality fabricated to harm him.

The House of Representatives, which with the Senate makes up the American Congress, could vote as early as next week on a bill calling for the publication of the “Epstein files” of the Department of Justice.

Currently, the American press estimates that a large number of Republicans could vote for it, despite the reluctance of the White House.

With his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell as a tout, Epstein brought minors to his residences, particularly in New York and Florida, to sexually assault them under the pretext of massages.

His death in prison in 2019 and the delays in making investigative documents concerning him public have fueled speculation with conspiratorial overtones.

The financier committed suicide in his cell before his scheduled trial, according to US authorities. Ghislaine Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sexual exploitation.

Some Americans and figures of the radical right believe that Epstein was in fact assassinated to prevent him from implicating prominent figures who would have benefited from his sexual exploitation network.