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White House junks report claiming Trump was told he was named in Epstein files
A WSJ report claimed Donald Trump was told in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein Files. However, the White House has denied the report as “fake news”.
US President Donald Trump was informed in May that his name appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein filed, and the information was given to him by Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Wall Street Journal report said on Thursday.
However, the White House has denied the report as "fake news", blaming the Democrats and liberal media for fabricating it.
"This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media," White House spokesman Steven Cheung was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
What did the WSJ report say?
The publication has claimed that Pam Bondi reviewed files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and found Trump's mention in it "multiple times". Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche then informed Trump of the development, the publication further reported.
The WSJ report also claimed that besides Trump, the Epstein files named many other high-profile figures. However, WSJ also said that "being mentioned in the records isn’t a sign of wrongdoing".
While the White House was quick to dismiss the report, Bondi and her deputy also issued a statement, without directly addressing the WSJ report.
"Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution, and we have filed a motion in court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts," the officials were quoted as saying by Reuters. "As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings."
The report also claimed that the officials told Trump in May itself that there were no plans to release documents related to the probe as "the material contained child pornography and victims’ personal information."
Trump-Epstein ties and the files
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were once friends but their ties are now under scrutiny, amid a growing demand for the release of all government files on the sex offender's alleged crimes.
The duo shared a good camaraderie in the 1990s but had a falling out in 2004 over eyeing the same property at Palm Beach. In 2019, Trump said that they had a "falling out" and hadn't spoken in 15 years.
While there was a period when the two shared a friendship, there is no evidence linking Trump to the sex offender's crimes.
The Jeffrey Epstein files contain important information, like flight logs, contact lists, clients list, court records etc., linked to the sex offender and his activities.
While some parts of the files have been released, large portions of it still remain sealed and there are growing demands to release them.
