New emails about Jeffrey Epstein have Donald Trump under pressure. The president rejected the accusations and called for investigations into prominent Democrats. The US Department of Justice complied with the request. However, resistance to the US President’s policies is also increasing within his own party.
US President Donald Trump, under pressure over new revelations about Epstein, turned his attention to the Democratic Party and called for investigations into leading figures in the party. Trump on Friday asked the Justice Department to investigate late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged ties to former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, a prominent Democratic donor. “Epstein is a Democrat, and he is a Democratic Party problem, not a Republican Party problem,” Republican Trump wrote on the social media platform.
The Ministry of Justice announced on Friday that it would comply with the request. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Jay Clayton, the chief prosecutor in Manhattan, will lead the investigation. Legal experts criticized the instructions as “grossly inappropriate.” They warned that Trump’s prosecution could undermine criminal cases resulting from the investigation, as judges could dismiss cases motivated by revenge.
The Justice Department’s decision also contradicts a July memo that said the department and the FBI said there was no “evidence to justify an investigation of an unindicted third party.” To date, there is no credible evidence to suggest that Clinton, Summers or Hoffman were involved in Epstein’s scheme. All have denied any wrongdoing in the past and regret their contact with him.
Epstein himself wrote that former President Clinton had “never” visited his island. This emerged from an email from a sex offender. An email from Epstein in January 2015 said that Clinton’s story was “completely made up, she was never there.” Clinton spokesman Angel Urena said the emails would prove “that Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing.”
The Republican president previously accused opposition Democrats of doing everything they could to push Epstein’s fraud again given their diminishing power. Republican lawmakers who supported Democratic efforts to release the Epstein documents blasted Trump as “soft and stupid.”
Trump’s push to investigate prominent Democrats comes after House Democrats released emails on Wednesday that raised new questions about his ties to Epstein. Influential conservative voices defended Trump and described the revelations as a hoax orchestrated by the Democratic Party. Trump himself canceled press events and avoided questions from journalists on the topic.
“President Trump has done nothing wrong”
In one of his messages, Epstein wrote that Trump knew about underage girls. The White House rejects this. “These emails prove nothing beyond the fact that President Trump has done nothing wrong,” said spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. Republicans, for their part, released 20,000 documents and accused Democrats of cherry-picking stories to spread a false narrative. Epstein had sexually abused underage girls for years and referred them to other men. He committed suicide in prison in 2019.
The affair also created tensions within the Republican Party. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote next week on whether the Justice Department should release all unclassified files on Epstein. A related bill would then have to pass the Senate and be signed by Trump.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to abandon the vote but was blocked by Democrats. However, this initiative goes back to Republican Representative Thomas Massie and is supported by several of his party colleagues. “I think most of my colleagues followed their orders, and they came from the upper ranks,” said Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who advocated for the tapes’ release.
On Friday evening (local time) it was announced that Trump was withdrawing his support from longtime supporter Greene. The US President justified the action because Greene had repeatedly criticized his policies. However, Greene herself linked the move to her efforts to force the government to release the Epstein case files. Trump is trying to intimidate other Republicans ahead of a crucial vote on the release of the documents next week, Greene wrote in Platform
Trump, meanwhile, wrote that all he saw from Greene was “complaining, complaining, complaining.” He announced that he would support one of his opponents in next year’s midterm elections.
Reuters/AFP/ceb/dp
