A newly released trove of government files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation includes an unverified allegation that US President Donald Trump raped a woman decades ago. However, US Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected the claim and called it as “untrue and sensationalist”.The documents were released by DOJ on Tuesday. The disclosure is a part of a larger release in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law passed this year requiring federal authorities to disclose records connected to the late pedophile’s criminal case. Trump signed the legislation last month despite previously resisting releasing the files.Among nearly 30,000 pages of material is now available on the official Justice Department website.An FBI intake report dated October 27, 2020, records a tip from a former limousine driver. According to that report, the driver described a disturbing phone conversation he claimed he overheard in 1995 involving Trump and Epstein. The document alleges that an unnamed woman present at the time told the driver “he raped me”, referring to Trump alongside Epstein, according to the People. The driver’s account says the woman later told him she had contacted police about what had occurred, and was then found dead in January 2000 by suicide. The details in the file are heavily redacted, and the authorities have made little to no determination about the allegations’ credibility.In an accompanying statement on X on Tuesday, DOJ addressed the claims. It said some documents contain “untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election.”The authotrity described the allegations as lacking any credible basis. “To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponised against President Trump already,” the department said. The DOJ reitarated its commitment to transparency and the legal requirement to release the records, but also said that the inclusion of such claims in the files does not make them factual.Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. In public statements this week, the MAGA chief called the focus on the Epstein case as a distraction by Democrats, asserting that he “cut ties” with Epstein long before the pedophile’s arrest in 2019.The release covers a range of material, not just the unverified rape allegation. Internal emails in the files show Trump was recorded as having travelled on Epstein’s private jet in the 1990s more times than previously known — at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996. Trump’s association with Epstein in the 1990s is well documented, but inclusion in flight logs or social records is not itself an accusation of illegal behaviour.DOJ is constantly being pressured by Democrats for not releasing the full bulk of files. Supporters of the Transparency Act say the public has a right to see government records, even if they contain unverified claims.The latest release follows criticism of an earlier batch of Epstein records, some of which were temporarily removed from the DOJ’s online portal amid concerns about protecting victims’ identities. Authorities later restored those files after determining no victims were shown in the disputed photos.
