White House says reports Donald Trump was told his name is in the Epstein files is 'fake news'

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5 days ago

Donald Trump was allegedly told his name was in the Epstein files multiple times, according to senior administration officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.
In response to the report, the White House said this was a continuation of "fake news stories" against the US president and rejected the claim he had been told he was in the report.
"This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media," White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in an emailed statement.
US Attorney-General Pam Bondi and her deputy told the president during a meeting in May that his name was in the files, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Justice Department concluded in early July that there was not a basis to continue the Epstein probe, triggering a backlash among Trump's political base, who demanded more information about wealthy and powerful people who had interacted with Epstein.
"Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution, and we have filed a motion in court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts," Ms Bondi and Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche said in a statement on Wednesday, local time.
"As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings."
Mr Trump is not facing any allegations of wrongdoing related to Epstein.
The newspaper noted that Mr Trump was also told that many other high-profile figures were named, and that the department did not plan to release any more documents related to the investigation.
Reportedly, Mr Trump said at the meeting in May that he would defer to the Justice Department's decision to not release any further files, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A US judge has denied a Trump administration bid to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in South Florida — the first ruling in a series of attempts to reveal more information about the case.
The request stemmed from federal investigations into Epstein in 2005 and 2007, according to court documents.
The Justice Department has pending requests to unseal transcripts in Manhattan federal court related to a later indictment brought against Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
On Wednesday, US District Judge Robin Rosenberg found that the Justice Department's request in Florida did not fall into any of the exceptions to rules requiring grand jury material be kept secret.
The grand jury transcripts in Florida related to the first federal sex trafficking probe of Epstein, which was run by the US attorney's office in Miami.
In 2008, Epstein cut a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida that allowed him to escape more severe federal charges and instead plead guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution.
The wealthy financier was later arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. His former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was charged with helping him abuse teenage girls.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in New York City about a month after he was arrested. Investigators concluded he killed himself.
Maxwell was later convicted at trial and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer on Wednesday issued a subpoena to Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on August 11.
"The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr Epstein's cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny," Mr Comer wrote in a statement on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, House Democrats launched a bid on Wednesday, local time, to subpoena the Justice Department for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein.
Democrats on a subcommittee of the powerful House Committee on Oversight made a motion for the subpoena just hours before the House was scheduled to end its July work session and depart Washington for a month-long break.
The subcommittee's Republican chair, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, postponed a vote on the matter until the end of the meeting.
During a brief break in the meeting, Mr Higgins told reporters he expected the motion for the subpoena to pass with some changes.
"If the Republican Party, if our colleagues on this committee don't join us in this vote, then what they're essentially doing is joining President Donald Trump in complicity," Summer Lee, the Pennsylvania Democrat who made the motion for the subpoena, said.
Democratic leaders are hoping to make the issue about much more than just Epstein.
"Why haven't Republicans released the Epstein files to the American people?" asked House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
"It's reasonable to conclude that Republicans are continuing to protect the lifestyles of the rich and the shameless, even if that includes paedophiles."
Reuters/AP