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BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Trump says Epstein 'stole' young women from his Mar-a-Lago spa
US President Donald Trump has said he fell out with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after he "stole" young women who worked at his Mar-a-Lago beach club president made the remarks as he returned from Scotland, where he faced more questions over his relationship with the disgraced financier."He took people, I say 'don't do it anymore', you know they work for me... beyond that, he took some others," Trump said. "Once he did that, that was the end of him."It comes as the legal team for Epstein's conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, indicated she would only testify before Congress on what she knows about the case if she is granted strict legal protections. Amid public pressure for more disclosures in the Epstein case, a House of Representatives committee subpoenaed Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, to testify before lawmakers on 11 a letter obtained by the BBC's US partner CBS, her legal team said she would only do so if granted immunity or pardoned, and provided with questions in about Trump's relationship with Epstein followed him on to Air Force One on Tuesday, where he was asked to expand on comments he made the previous day in Scotland where he said: "He [Epstein] stole people that worked for me."Asked if the employees were young women, Trump responded: "the answer is yes", and added that they were hired "out of the spa" he said that one of them was Virginia Giuffre, who had said she began working at Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2000, when she was to court documents unsealed in 2019, Giuffre alleged she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to give massages to Epstein while she was working at the accused Prince Andrew and Epstein of sexual abuse, allegations they both denied. She died by suicide earlier this year in the Epstein case looms large in MAGA worldVirginia Giuffre's death leaves unanswered questionsTrump remark's aboard Air Force One are his latest on how he and Epstein's relationship week, the White House said Trump kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club "for being a creep".Pressed on whether there was a discrepancy between the reasons, Trump said: "You know, it's sort of a little bit of the same thing." Trump and Epstein fell out in the early 2000s, after having been friends for more than a also comes amid mounting pressure on Trump officials to release files related to Epstein and growing frustration with the administration's handling of the issue, including its failure to deliver a rumoured "client list". Trump had promised to release such files about the well-connected sex offender while campaigning for the presidency last year. But in a memo earlier this month, the justice department and FBI said there was no "incriminating" week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump during a May briefing that his name was among hundreds that appeared in justice department documents related to Epstein. Being named in such files is no confirmation of two were spotted together at parties throughout their friendship. At least two women who had attended those events later came forward with sexual assault allegations against Trump. One of them was Jill Harth, who accused Trump in a 1997 lawsuit of forcibly kissing her and fondling her at a Mar-a-Lago event for young women where Epstein was also in attendance, the New York Times reported. Trump denied the allegations and the lawsuit was woman, model Stacey Williams, accused Trump of groping her after she was brought to Trump Tower in Manhattan by Epstein to greet Trump. The president has also denied her week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had written a "bawdy" letter to Epstein in 2003 for his birthday. It reportedly contained a joking reference that "enigmas never age" and allegedly ended with the words: "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret."Trump has dismissed the article as "fake" and has sued the publication for defamation. Trump and Epstein reportedly fell out in 2004 over a sought-after Palm Beach oceanfront property that had fallen into foreclosure. Trump ultimately outbid Epstein for the 2006, Epstein was indicted in Florida for solicitation of prostitution and later pleaded guilty to the charges. He was then arrested in 2019 over federal charges of sex trafficking, and died by suicide in prison before his trial. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was found guilty of helping Epstein sexually exploit and abuse young girls over the course of a was subpoenaed by House Oversight chairman James Comer last week to testify before Congress. Her lawyers made an appeal for clemency from President Trump, writing that if she "were to receive clemency, she would be willing - and eager - to testify openly and honestly". Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Comer said the Kentucky congressman "will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony".Comer told CNN last week that there were not "many Republicans that want to give immunity to someone that may have been sex trafficking children".Asked whether he would give clemency to Maxwell, Trump told reporters last week that doing so was within his powers, but that he had "not thought" about it.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Russian soldiers scammed and robbed of war cash on return from Ukraine
Russia's President Vladimir Putin promised Russian soldiers a hero's welcome when they return from Ukraine, but the BBC has found cases of servicemen robbed and scammed for their salaries and pay-offs by government the invasion began in February 2022, President Putin has trebled the size of the Russian army, relying on financial incentives to attract thousands of Russians, 39-year old Nikita Khursa went to fight in Ukraine for the on the region, a recruit can get up to 5.2m roubles (£47,000) in the first year of service, plus up to 4m roubles for can amount to 600% of the average national many, hailing from Russia's poorer regions, it is irresistible despite the risk of not coming back.A welder originally from a town in Rostov region, close to Ukraine, Nikita Khursa only spent a couple of months on the front in the summer of 2024, before being wounded and sent back home to recover. That injury earned him a hefty bonus, which he and his wife Oksana had planned to spend on buying a after falling out with her one night over his drinking, he stormed out, drunk, upset and barefoot - with a plastic bag containing their savings in his drunken state, Khursa decided to drive to Rostov and buy an apartment there instead."If my wife had been wiser, she would have told me to sleep over it and decide in the morning", he laments to the got into his car but didn't drive very far before being stopped by the traffic police who noticed the bag and demanded a told the two officers he had recently returned from Ukraine."Let's not do this, he's just come back from the war," he recalls one police officer suggesting. But the other one, seeing the cash, said: "Shut up, do you know how much money that is?"They took almost everything - 2.66m roubles (£24,000).The officers had no regard for Vladimir Putin's promises that those who decided to join Russia's war against Ukraine should be treated as heroes and "the new elite" upon their return. In another case, several police officers who worked at a Moscow airport are suspected of tipping off taxi drivers about servicemen returning from the drivers would offer a reasonable fare, and then, after completing the ride, they would demand up to 15 times who resisted were threatened; some were allegedly drugged or intoxicated while the thieves used their bank believe the gang took at least 1.5m roubles from returning more: School-leavers losing their lives for Russia in Putin's warSometimes salaries are stolen before the servicemen have even seen the October 2024, police arrested three staff members of a recruitment centre in Vladimir region for stealing more than 11m roubles from suspects got access to their salary accounts by keeping for themselves the sim cards that had been issued to the new recruits and were tied to the another case, a local official from Belgorod region is suspected of stealing more than a million roubles from new recruits by linking their bank accounts to his own phone soldiers have been robbed by their own serviceman told the BBC his unit was denied access to shops and ordered to hand over their bank cards and PIN numbers to a sergeant officer allegedly ended up with 50 salary cards, many belonging to soldiers now listed as missing in to the soldier we spoke to, he fled with the money . Some cards reportedly had up to 2m roubles on them. Nikita Khursa reported the two officers who took his money to the were charged with robbery and abuse of power, but the case never reached officers signed up to join the army and went to Ukraine, avoiding prosecution under a new law that allows criminal suspects to fight instead of facing charges."At first I was angry," Khursa told the BBC from a hospital near Saint Petersburg. "Then I thought, if there is a God, maybe this is how it should be."He never got his money back and is now awaiting a military doctor's decision on whether he must return to the front, as contract soldiers have to stay in the fight until the end of the says he has shrapnel near his heart, but does not see a civilian future for and Oksana have now split up: he said he didn't want to keep his wife tied down while he was in the military."If I'm not here, I'll end up on the street", he says. "Only the army saves you, puts a roof over your head."
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
Rotherham survivors say they were also abused by police officers
Survivors of sexual exploitation in Rotherham have 'no faith' in the police force investigating allegations its own officers took part in abuse in the town, according to solicitors. The police watchdog has said there is no conflict of interest surrounding South Yorkshire Police (SYP) investigating its own staff after victims of the Rotherham abuse scandal said they were abused by serving officers. Five women have told the BBC how they were exploited by grooming gangs in the town when they were children and also sexually abused by officers. According to a special report by the BBC, one girl was raped from the age of 12 in a marked police car and the officer threatened to hand her back to the groomers if she did not do as he said. SYP is carrying out inquiries into these allegations under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). So far, three former officers who worked for the force have been arrested. The law firm Switalskis, which represents survivors of abuse in Rotherham, said it had hoped that alleged abuse by officers would have been unearthed following Operation Linden – a long-running, IOPC investigation into how police responded to child sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. The firm said in a statement: 'That never came. For years SYP resisted our requests for an investigation into the alleged criminality of police officers, despite us providing them with the accounts of survivors. 'Those that have suffered abuse in Rotherham have no faith that SYP will do a thorough job of investigating alleged abuse by their own officers. 'In addition, dealing with SYP is retraumatising for them. Many of our clients refuse to report offences to SYP because they do not think they will be believed and because they were treated so badly in the past. 'This investigation must be handed over to an independent police force to ensure that survivors feel confident enough to come forward. 'The accounts we have heard, which we expect are only a fraction of the full scale of abuse, are utterly harrowing.' According to the BBC report, Prof Alexis Jay who led an independent report into sexual abuse in Rotherham, was 'shocked' that SYP was investigating its former officers and felt that another organisation should be leading. An IOPC spokesman said: 'We first became aware of complaints from victim-survivors relating to child sexual abuse allegations involving former SYP officers when we received a referral from SYP in October 2024 and instructed the force to carry out an investigation under our direction and control. 'This means that the IOPC is responsible for the investigation and all of the key decisions. 'Since the investigation began, three former SYP officers have been arrested.' He added: 'We have been in contact with solicitors representing some of the victim-survivors regarding further reports of offending to ensure that any new complaints are investigated. The investigation has since widened to involve complaints from six women. 'We want victim-survivors to feel confident that all complaints will be treated extremely seriously and sensitively. We encourage any victim-survivors or any witnesses to come forward if they have not already done so.' The spokesman said: 'We were assured by the force that none of the investigating officers had either worked with any of the former officers under investigation or were themselves investigated as part of Op Linden. 'We are satisfied that there is no conflict of interest but, as a matter of course, we keep these matters regularly under review during directed investigations.' SYP Assistant Chief Constable Hayley Barnett said a dedicated team of officers was working on the continuing inquiries. She said: 'We know how hard it must be for a victim or survivor who has been so badly let down in the past, to put their faith into the South Yorkshire Police of today. 'We honour that trust with the utmost respect and care. 'Victims and survivors have been and continue to be at the heart of this investigation and all of our actions continue to be made in their best interests.' Ms Barnett said that the force is also working with Operation Stovewood – the National Crime Agency's huge investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. She said this was to 'help us ensure we leave no stone unturned'. In 2022, Operation Linden concluded that SYP fundamentally failed in its duty to protect vulnerable children and young people during the period under investigation. Operation Stovewood has identified more than 1,100 children involved in the exploitation in Rotherham.
