Trump told in May that his name appears in Epstein files: report
The Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal reported Attorney-General Pam Bondi and her deputy informed the president his name was in the documents during a meeting at the White House in May, citing officials familiar with the exchange.
Trump was told many other high-profile figures were also named, according to the Journal 's story. The meeting was reportedly a routine briefing and Trump's appearance in the files was not the focus.
Being named in the files is not necessarily an accusation of wrongdoing. Trump was friends with Epstein in the 1990s, and they mixed in the same New York social circles, before falling out in the 2000s, according to Trump.
But the report of Trump's appearance in the documents will intensify speculation about why the administration has refused to release the files – something Trump indicated he would do – and fuel anger in the president's MAGA base.
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In a statement to this masthead, White House communications director Steven Cheung did not explicitly deny The Wall Street Journal story, but said it was a continuation of 'fake news' stories aimed at attacking Trump.
'The fact is that the president kicked [Epstein] out of his club for being a creep,' Cheung said, referring to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
'This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russia-gate scandal, which President Trump was right about.'
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