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New Epstein files revive scrutiny of Trump ties, as justice department disputes ‘love of young, nubile girls’ letter
The new batch of Jeffrey Epstein files documents intensify scrutiny over Donald Trump's long acknowledged past association with the notorious sex offender.
Multiple references to Donald Trump drove the headlines in a newly released tranche of documents linked to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, intensifying attention on the US President's social association with Epstein in the 1990s.
The documents include records of Epstein’s private jet flights and social contacts from that period, in which Trump’s name is cited among several public figures. One document circulating online contains a letter purportedly signed by Epstein that makes a crude reference to a shared interest in young women, apparently in connection with Trump.
However, the US Department of Justice has rejected the letter’s authenticity, describing it as fabricated.
The release is part of a broader, ongoing disclosure of Epstein-related material, much of it consisting of previously known contacts rather than new allegations. While the files have reignited public scrutiny of Epstein’s social network, they do not establish wrongdoing by those named, including Trump.
Trump has previously acknowledged knowing Epstein socially but has denied any involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
Here are some of the references to Trump in the new Epstein files:
Private jet trips
The new files feature an internal email from 2020 in which a New York public prosecutor has mentioned Donald Trump's trips on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet, which were more than what investigators were aware of at the time, news agency Reuters said in a report.
The President flew on Epstein's private jet eight times between 1993 and 1996, and was accompanied by Ghislaine Maxwell, who trafficked young girls for Epstein, on four of them, the email says.
One of the flights carried only Epstein, Trump and an unidentified 20-year-old individual whose name was redacted, while two other flights included women described as potential witnesses in the Maxwell case, the email reportedly said.
‘President shares love of young, nubile girls'
The newly released files also feature a note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar, the former US gymnastics doctor who is serving a life sentence over rampant abuse of female athletes.
The seemingly handwritten note doesn't directly mention Donald Trump, but shows Epstein complaining to Nassar that they are incarcerated while the "president shares our love of young, nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by he loved to 'grab snatch.'"
The note is undersigned ‘J. Epstein’ and was allegedly written by the sex offender while he was in jail and sent in August 2019, the month he died by suicide.
However, the US Department of Justice has rubbished the letter as ‘fake’, arguing that the writing didn't appear to match Epstein's, it was postmarked three days after his death and there was no inmate number on it.
"This fake letter serves as a reminder that just because a document is released by the Department of Justice does not make the allegations or claims within the document factual. Nevertheless, the DOJ will continue to release all material required by law," the department said in a statement, quoted by Reuters.
Subpoena to Trump's Florida beach club
The new files reportedly also show that a subpoena was issued to Mar-a-lago, Donald Trump's famous beach club in south Florida, in 2021. The prosecutors were seeking records relevant to the government's case against Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now serving a 20-year sentence after being accused of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse minor girls.
According to an AFP report, the subpoena does not imply wrongdoing by its recipient but shows the investigators sought information from Trump's beach club in Maxwell's case.
Another revelation in the files linked Trump and Maxwell as their image was found as someone reviewed data obtained from close Trump ally Steve Bannon's cellphone.
It has long been established that Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein once shared a close friendship but authorities have never directly accused the President of any criminal wrongdoing over it.
Trump has also tried to distance himself from the sex offender and once called him a “creep". According to a CNN report, Trump has also claimed in the past that the two stopped speaking years before Epstein's death.
