President Donald Trump said on Monday that any incriminating evidence against him in the files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein would have already been released by former President Joe Biden’s administration.
A reporter asked Trump during his visit to Turnberry, Scotland, if he had been informed about whether his name is in the Epstein files, prompting the president to reply that the former administration’s handling of the files is a “hoax.” The president further noted that those files would have been used to benefit Biden or former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
“Those files were run by the worst scum on Earth. They were run by [former FBI Director James] Comey, they were run by [former Attorney General Merrick] Garland, they were run by Biden and all of the people who actually ran the government, including the autopen,” Trump said. “Those files were run for four years by those people. If they had anything, I assume they would’ve released it. The whole thing is a hoax. They ran the files, I was running against somebody who ran the files. If they had something, they would’ve released [them] … Those files were run by these people, they were run by my enemy. If there was anything in there, they would’ve used them for the election.”
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has come under immense pressure to release all of the files after the agency, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), concluded in a July 6 report that Epstein committed suicide in August 2019 and that he did not possess a so-called “client list.” Trump has defended Attorney General Pam Bondi against the widespread criticism she has received over her handling of the files, particularly after she alluded to having the client list on her desk during a Fox News interview in February.
The president stated in a Truth Social post from July 17 that he asked Bondi to release “all pertinent grand jury testimony” that is subject to court approval.
Trump has acknowledged his previous friendship with Epstein, though he said they cut off contact after a “falling out” over a Palm Beach property in 2004, according to The New York Times. Two years later, authorities arrested Epstein for the first time and charged him with felony solicitation of prostitution.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) alleged in a July 17 story that Trump wrote a suggestive letter to Epstein in honor of his 50th birthday in 2003, which included a drawing of a “naked woman.” The president, who has denied the accusation, sued The WSJ, Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones & Company Inc., News Corporation and the two WSJ reporters who authored the piece over the allegation.
On the night of Epstein’s death, correctional officers Tova Noel and Michael Thomas did not perform the required 12:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. counts and completed a form falsely saying that they did. After they initially faced charges, the DOJ let them off the hook in May 2021 after prosecutors argued they had upheld their deferred prosecution agreement.
Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist hired by Epstein’s brother, told “Fox & Friends” in October 2019 that Epstein’s autopsy was more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicidal hanging.
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