Donald Trump hits the ball. This is how he will take revenge on the Democrats for the Epstein case
In a post on Truth Social, Trump pressured Pam Bondi to target former President Bill Clinton, Democratic Party donor Reid Hoffman and former Harvard president Larry Summers — who held senior positions in both the Clinton and Obama administrations — along with JPMorgan Chase.
“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia scam in which all the arrows point to the Democrats. The documents show that these men and many others spent a large part of their lives with Epstein and on his 'island,'” he wrote. “Stay up to date!!!”
None of the Democrats mentioned by Trump have yet been charged with wrongdoing by prosecutors.
The Department of Justice in Donald Trump's service. “Thank you, Mr. President”
Bondi quickly appointed Manhattan prosecutor Jay Clayton, who headed the department that prosecuted Epstein and convicted Ghislaine Maxwell, his partner, to lead the investigation.
Press conference regarding allegations against Ghislaine Maxwell. New York, July 2, 2020EPA/JASON SZENES / PAP
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Bondi wrote back. “SDNY prosecutor [Południowego Okręgu Nowego Jorku — red.] Jay Clayton is one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country, and I asked him to take the lead. As with all matters, the Department will diligently and honestly pursue responses to the American people.”
In his efforts to further investigate Epstein's human trafficking operations, however, Clayton may be hitting a wall. In July, the Trump administration fired one of the last prosecutors in the Manhattan unit that worked on the Epstein and Maxwell cases: Maurene Comey.
Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, received no explanation for her firing and is suing the Trump administration over her firing.
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The White House spent much of the week struggling to contain the fallout after Democrats released emails on Wednesday in which Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls,” without providing further evidence. Trump and his allies have denied knowing about Epstein's crimes, a no evidence suggests Trump participated in Epstein's sex trafficking operation.
Epstein committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.
Administration officials argued that Democrats made the emails public to distract from Republicans' success in ending the record-long shutdown and that none of them incriminated the president.
Also this week, Congressmen Thomas Massie (Republican) and Ro Khanna (Democrat) managed to launch a petition for vote to release all Epstein files. Influential Republicans believe dozens of conservatives in the House could join Democrats in voting for the disclosure bill.
Uncomfortable relationship with Epstein. “We ended our relationship years before his arrest.”
Trump and Epstein were acquaintances, but the president has maintained for years that the two broke up decades ago and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
“Some weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and stupid,” Trump wrote in another Truth Social post Friday. “Epstein was a Democrat and is the Democrats' problem, not the Republicans' problem!”
Trish Wexler, director of policy and advocacy communications at JPMorgan Chase, wrote in an email Friday that “the government had compromising information about crimes [Epsteina] and did not share them with us or other banks.
“We regret every relationship we had with this man, but we did not help him commit his heinous acts,” she said. “We ended our relationship with him years before his arrest on human trafficking charges.”
When we asked the Justice Department for more information about any steps it was taking to comply with Trump's request, we were directed to Pam Bondi's post on Platform X. Representatives for Clinton and Summers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bill Clinton, US President, with candidate for Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. Washington, May 12, 1999STEPHEN JAFFE / AFP
Reid Hoffman denied having a relationship with Epstein beyond the donation requests revealed in emails leaked by Democrats and called on Trump to make public all records related to the Epstein investigation.
“I want this full disclosure because it will show that there are calls for baseless investigations into my case nothing more than political persecution and slander” wrote Hoffman on X.
At least one House Republican was critical of Trump's call for an investigation. Retiring Republican Don Bacon — who has signaled he will vote for legislation demanding the release of Epstein's records — said that doesn't think Trump's request is “appropriate”. He added that the Justice Department should not act on the cases because of pressure from the White House.
“We should leave the Justice Department and make it as independent as possible,” he told CNN on Friday. —When the president gives orders to Pam Bondi and our federal government law enforcement agencies, he undermines the credibility of our law enforcement agencies.
JPMorgan Chase, the country's largest bank, did business with Epstein for many years, including lending money to the financier and helping move his assets overseas. The bank ended its cooperation with Epstein in 2013, and in 2019, he filed a suspicious activity report regarding the transactions of Epstein and his associates. Senate Democrats recently opened a new line of inquiry into the bank over its ties to Epstein.
The bank previously expressed regret over its involvement with Epstein and stressed that it was unaware of his illegal activities. JPMorgan Chase settled lawsuits in 2023 with the Virgin Islands, where Epstein had his compound, and with some of Epstein's victims.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, was among Wall Street officials who met with the president for dinner earlier this week. He previously said he would comply with a subpoena for questioning in the Epstein case.
