Trump Calls for Investigation Into Democrats Named in Epstein Emails
The president said he would ask the Justice Department and FBI to probe Epstein’s relationships with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers and Reid Hoffman
WASHINGTON—President Trump said he would ask the Justice Department and the FBI to launch an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with former President Bill Clinton and other Democrats.
In a Friday morning social-media post, Trump accused Democrats of focusing on his ties to the disgraced financier to distract from their own political vulnerabilities. In addition to Clinton, he said he would ask the Justice Department and FBI to probe the deceased sex offender’s relationships with economist Larry Summers, a former Obama administration official, and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, a prominent Democratic donor.
The president also said the investigation should examine JPMorgan Chase. Epstein had dozens of accounts at JPMorgan’s private bank and communicated often with bank executives, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported. JPMorgan, which cut ties with Epstein in 2013, filed what is known as a suspicious activity report to federal law enforcement beginning as early as 2002. The bank has paid a total of $365 million in civil settlements in connection with litigation over Epstein.
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Clinton, Summers and Hoffman didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The government had damning information about his crimes and failed to share it with us or other banks,” JPMorgan Chase spokeswoman Patricia Wexler said in a statement. “We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts.”
Trump’s Friday social-media post comes as Democrats have sought to highlight ties between Trump and Epstein, and as a bipartisan group of lawmakers push for the release of Justice Department investigative files into Epstein. A House vote is scheduled for next week. Trump has been critical of Republicans who have called for the release of the documents, saying in a separate social-media post Friday they were “soft and foolish” for following Democrats.
More than 20,000 emails from Epstein were made public by lawmakers on Wednesday, including messages that reference Trump. The tranche of emails included exchanges with a broad network of rich and powerful people, including Democratic figures such as Clinton and Summers. They also reference people who have been affiliated with Trump, such as his former political strategist Steve Bannon.
Being mentioned in the files isn’t an indication of wrongdoing.
The White House has accused Democrats of selectively releasing emails from Epstein’s estate in an effort to smear Trump. The president and his advisers have pushed Republicans to block a discharge petition to compel the Justice Department to release Epstein-related files.
Trump has said he cut off ties long before Epstein was first arrested in 2006. Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. Trump and Epstein socialized together in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump took several trips on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s, according to flight logs, and told New York magazine in 2002 that “he’s a lot of fun to be with.”
In one exchange included in the newly released emails, Summers told Epstein after the president’s 2017 visit to Saudi Arabia that officials viewed Trump “as a clown, increasingly dangerous on foreign policy.” Summers has previously said he regrets associating with Epstein.
Clinton, who socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and traveled on Epstein’s jet, was also mentioned in the collection of emails released this week. In one exchange, Epstein was asked by a reporter if Clinton had ever been to his private island. Epstein responded, “clinton was NEVER EVER there, never.” A Clinton spokesman said earlier this week that the former president had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn co-founder, visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island for a weekend, according to previously reported emails and schedules. Hoffman has said he met with Epstein to raise funds for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hoffman said he regrets his interactions with Epstein and MIT has said that it was a mistake to accept gifts from Epstein.
Several emails released this week put a spotlight on Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
In an April 2, 2011, email to his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein referred to Trump as “that dog that hasn’t barked,” and said a young woman had “spent hours at my house with him.”
The White House and House Republicans said the redacted name was Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, died by suicide earlier this year. Giuffre alleged that Maxwell recruited her as a teenager working at the Mar-a-Lago spa in 2000 and that Epstein trafficked her to other men. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking.
Giuffre said in a 2016 deposition that she never saw Trump participate in any abuse and didn’t accuse Trump of any wrongdoing in her memoir, “Nobody’s Girl,” published this year.
Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com and Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com