(AP)
The Justice Department’s largest disclosure yet includes FBI interviews, victim accounts, emails involving Ghislaine Maxwell, and flight record allegations linked to Donald Trump.The US Department of Justice on Tuesday released nearly 30,000 pages of documents, photographs, and investigative material related to Jeffrey Epstein, marking the biggest tranche of files disclosed so far.
Alongside the release, the DOJ warned that the records include “untrue and sensationalist claims” involving President Donald Trump, though it did not specify which allegations it was referring to.Also read |Epstein files: Trump’s name appears in latest file drop; listed as passenger on 8 private jet flightsTrump addressed the partial release of the Epstein files for the first time at a press conference on Monday. He warned that the disclosure process could “ruin” reputations and said it was overshadowing his policy agenda.With the latest batch representing the most extensive release to date, the newly disclosed records show several key findings.
Epstein’s preferences: 23 was “too old”
Among the newly released documents is a grand jury interview with an unnamed FBI agent from May 2007. The agent described an allegation that Epstein recruited a 15-year-old girl to give him a topless massage.The agent said a witness had recruited other girls from among their peer group, adding: “Epstein liked girls like her, which is thin and blonde and attractive,” as quoted by the Independent. Another witness quoted in the files described Epstein as selective and highly focused on the age of the girls he allowed to work for him, adding that Epstein rejected some girls he “didn’t really like” and once dismissed a potential masseur as “too old” at 23.A handwritten note from a May 2019 interview states the financier was “asking for ID to girl, wanted make sure under 18 b/c he wasn’t believing them b/c [redacted] messed up by bringing more older girls.”
Trump referenced in alleged note
A letter allegedly written by Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who was convicted of sexual abuse, was also found.In the letter, postmarked August 13, 2019, three days after Epstein’s death in a Manhattan jail cell, Epstein allegedly wrote: “As you know by now, I have taken the ‘short route’ home.”“We shared one thing, our love and caring for young ladies and the hope they’d reach their full potential,” he added.Epstein reportedly mentioned President Donald Trump, writing, “Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by he loved to ‘grab snatch,’ whereas we ended up snatching grub in the mess halls of the system.”“Life is unfair,” and signed: “Yours, J. Epstein
Maxwell’s ‘lack of remorse for her central role in procuring victims for Epstein’
A December 2020 email included in the files contains a statement from one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims prepared for a court bail hearing involving Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and associate.In the statement, the victim described Maxwell’s background and behavior, saying she had “lived a life of privilege” and abused her position of power. The statement added that fleeing the country “would fit with her long history of anti-social behavior.”“I believe that she is a psychopath… She has demonstrated a complete failure to accept responsibility in any way for her actions and demonstrated a complete lack of remorse for her central role in procuring victims for Epstein.”The victim also described Maxwell’s role in the grooming process, stating that she was “both charming and manipulative with me during the grooming process.”
Victim described lasting trauma
A February 1, 2008 email written by an assistant US attorney in Florida following interviews with Epstein’s victims.“We just finished interviewing three of the girls. I wish you could have been there to see how much this has affected them,” the email reads. “One girl broke down sobbing so that we had to stop the interview twice within a 20 minute span… she said that she was having nightmares about Epstein coming after her.”
Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet 8 times
A document released is a January 7, 2020 email discussing Epstein flight records.The email states that “Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware).”The sender and recipient are redacted, but the email is attributed to an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York.According to the email, Trump was “listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996,” including four flights on which Maxwell was also present. The email also states Trump traveled with Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric.It further claims that one 1993 flight listed only Epstein and Trump as passengers, while another listed Epstein, Trump, and a then-20-year-old individual whose name is redacted.
Alleged fake video of Epstein’s death
The newly released documents reportedly include a 12-second video sent to the FBI that claimed to show Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in his New York jail cell in August 2019. The video appears to have been submitted by a member of the public who had seen it circulating online and contacted the FBI to ask whether it was authentic.Also read |DOJ releases video of Epstein committing suicide, turns out it is AI-generated
Emails link Maxwell to ‘Balmoral Summer Camp’
Newly released documents also show email correspondence involving Ghislaine Maxwell from August 2001.In one message, a person identified as “A” or “The Invisible Man” wrote: “I am up here at Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family.” The email references “new inappropriate friends.”Maxwell replied: “So sorry to dissappoint [sic] you, however the truth must be told. I have only been able to find appropriate friends.”“A” later responded: “Distraught!”Jeffrey Epstein entered a plea deal with prosecutors in 2008 after the parents of a 14-year-old girl reported to Florida police that he had molested their daughter.Investigators found photographs of girls throughout his residence, and Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor. The plea agreement allowed him to avoid a lengthy prison sentence.More than a decade later, he was charged again, accused of operating a network that exploited underage girls for sex. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial, and his death was ruled a suicide. Go to Source
