Independent journalist Michael Tracey accused congressional Democrats of taking emails from files related to registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein out of context to paint President Donald Trump as complicit in Epstein’s activities.
House Democrats released emails from Epstein on Wednesday in which he claimed Trump was aware of his conduct, the same day the House Oversight Committee unveiled 20,000 pages of documents regarding the disgraced financier, who committed suicide in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial after he was arrested in 2019. Tracey said on his podcast that the Democrats on the committee were pulling out “incendiary” items, like a book of birthday wishes to Epstein that includes a bawdy letter allegedly written by Trump.
“So people aren’t aware. I mean, I see people referring to these as leaked emails or somehow the Epstein files have been heroically uncovered,” Tracey said. “No, the House Oversight Committee is currently controlled by Republicans. Okay. James Comer, he’s the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. I’ve spoken to him… they’ve issued subpoenas to a variety of entities and individuals to do this sort of like renewed Epstein investigation of which, of course, they have to do, right? Um, and… I’m fine with that. Get out all the information.”
WATCH:
Trump was told in May that his name was one of many in files tied to Epstein, who pleaded guilty to sex charges in 2008, the BBC reported. A discharge petition for a resolution calling on the Trump administration to release files connected to Epstein reached the threshold to force a vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday when Democratic Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva signed on immediately after being sworn in.
“And they’ve done the same thing with this, meaning they take out these decontextualized three emails from 20,000 or something, which I’ve gone through some of them and okay, they’re interesting enough like I’m interested in the story,” Tracey said. “So, I, yeah, I want to read want to read them to the, for the people.”
“So, the Democrats strategically isolate or sort of present or amplify these Trump related excerpts and then what the Republicans do, and I think it’s actually much more laudable, which is that immediately afterwards to counter the Democrats, they actually release everything,” Tracey added. “But… the average news consumer is none the wiser.”
Emails from Michael Wolff reportedly advised Epstein on how to blackmail Trump to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.
Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of Epstein, did not accuse Trump of misconduct in her posthumous memoir released on Oct. 21, roughly six months after she committed suicide. Giuffre’s ghostwriter told “People” that she was a huge fan of Trump.
Victims of Epstein told NBC News reporter Hallie Jackson during a Sept. 3 panel that they had no knowledge of any wrongdoing by Trump. The attorney who represented some of Epstein’s victims, Bradley Edwards, described Trump as someone who aided his efforts in a 2018 video.
“The only thing that I can say about President Trump is that he is the only person who in 2009, when I served a lot of subpoenas against a lot of people … he is the only person that picked up the phone and said, ‘let’s just talk, I’ll give ya as much time as you want, I’ll tell ya what you need to know,’” Edwards said in the 2018 video.
“And [Trump] was very helpful in the information that he gave, and gave no indication whatsoever that he was involved in anything untoward whatsoever,” Edwards continued.
Epstein had extensive ties to celebrities, politicians, and executives, even after he was a convicted sex offender. Among those who were known to have been close were L Brands founder Lex Wexner, director Woody Allen, and Prince Andrew.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
