Trump mentioned 1,000+ times in Epstein files he tried to keep hidden, but says docs clear his name

President Trump appears more than 1,000 times in three million documents about Jeffrey Epstein that were released last Friday. The files became public after Congress passed a law forcing the Justice Department to release them, even though the president first tried to stop it from happening.

According to CNN, some mentions are just news articles or basic comments, but others are more serious. The files include a list of assault claims against President Trump that FBI officials put together last year. There are also FBI notes from interviews with Epstein’s victims, including one woman who said Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s partner, once “presented her” to President Trump at a New York party.

The Justice Department says these claims are not believable. They stated the documents have “untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election.” Officials said the claims are false and pointed out that if they had “a shred of credibility,” they would have been used against President Trump by now.

The massive document release shows Trump’s long connection to Epstein

President Trump talked about the release on Saturday, saying he was told the files clear his name completely. “I didn’t see it myself, but I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it’s the opposite of what people were hoping,” the president said.

The huge amount of documents shows President Trump’s decades-long connection to Epstein, a convicted sex offender, and Maxwell, who is in prison for sex trafficking. Searching for “Donald Trump” on the Justice Department’s Epstein website showed more than 1,800 results on Friday. Many of these are just news articles about the president that Epstein shared with others, or general talks with people like Steve Bannon.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the White House did not get involved in reviewing the documents. “Let me just be clear, they had nothing to do with this review,” Blanche said. “They did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what to not redact.” This follows a pattern where the president has been making controversial public statements recently.

The files include new details from interviews with Epstein’s victims. One FBI memo had claims that Maxwell brought a victim to President Trump at a party and later told the young woman, “Oh I think he likes you. Aren’t you lucky. This is great.” The woman told federal investigators that “nothing happened” between her and the president.

Another section brought back old claims from an anonymous person called Jane Doe, who filed and dropped lawsuits against President Trump, including one right before the 2016 election. The FBI documents detail her claims of abuse by the president, including rape. The files also show Epstein’s private thoughts about President Trump after the election. 

In December 2018, Epstein asked author Michael Wolff for advice, writing “Im thinking what would trump do.” Wolff replied by describing the president’s style, saying “He never tries to explain. He denies, blames media, denigrates someone else.” The president has recently been targeting Democratic representatives on social media, continuing his pattern of deflecting criticism.