Donald Trump will investigate the sexual predator Jeffrey affair Epstein just not going. Next week, the House of Representatives is expected to demand the release of all files in the case.
How did the Epstein affair get rolling?
Financial advisor and millionaire Epstein was first charged with sex crimes in 2006. The parents of a 14-year-old reported him for abusing their daughter. However, a controversial deal with prosecutors meant he only had to go to prison for 13 months.
In July 2019, Epstein was arrested again and accused of illegally trafficking dozens of minors and paying them money for sexual acts. Epstein pleaded not guilty.
On August 10, 2019, he was found hanging in his New York prison cell. According to authorities, he committed suicide, but surveillance camera footage from the detention center is incomplete.
Almost a year later, Epstein’s confidant Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 as an accomplice in the abuse case. She reported in detail about Epstein’s relationships with political and social figures.
This includes the British Prince Andrew, who has now lost all royal honors. Andrew came under additional pressure following the memoirs of his alleged victim, Virginia Giuffre, in October. The US-Australian accused him of abusing her as a minor. She committed suicide in April at the age of 41, and her memories became public after her death.
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Why are conspiracy theories circulating about Epstein?
Many US citizens believe that the authorities want to protect rich and influential acquaintances and friends of Epstein, including Trump.
There are currently calls for more transparency primarily from the camp of the opposition Democrats. But many in Trump’s MAGA movement (Make America Great Again) are also demanding: “Publish the Epstein files!”
The main conspiracy theory revolves around an alleged list of celebrities who were implicated in the sex crimes alongside Epstein. Starting in January, the Trump administration initially suggested it wanted to publish the list. In July it was said that it didn’t exist.
What role does Donald Trump play in the Epstein case?
Trump, as a New York real estate tycoon and as a neighbor in Palm Beach, Florida, socialized with Epstein beginning in the 1990s. During the election campaign, he promised to release the files, but after his swearing in in January, only a few meaningful documents were released.
Emails from Epstein, which Democratic MPs published this week, are incriminating for the 79-year-old. “Of course he knew about the girls”Epstein wrote about Trump in January 2019. Trump also has “Hours” spent with one of the abuse victims, it said in an older email from April 2011.
This contradicts Trump’s statements that he had no close relationships with Epstein. The president had earlier revelations about a lewd birthday letter to Epstein in 2003 “Fake” designated. There is a joint sketch of a naked woman in the alleged Trump letter “Secret” the speech. Regarding the Epstein emails, Trump said he knew nothing about them.
Who else is being targeted?
On Friday, Trump initiated an investigation into former US President Bill Clinton (1993 to 2001). He also accused Clinton’s Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and investor and entrepreneur Reid Hoffman of “large parts of her life with Epstein” to have spent. Trump alluded to Epstein’s notorious private island Little Saint James in the Caribbean, where numerous victims are said to have been abused. However, according to the most recently published emails, Epstein himself had written that Clinton was “never” been on his island.
What’s next?
The pressure on Trump is likely to increase further next week: The House of Representatives wants to pass a bipartisan motion to force the government to release all Epstein files. The resolution requires 218 votes in the congressional chamber, which now coincide with the swearing in of a new Democratic representative.
However, the vote is unlikely to have any concrete consequences. The Senate, in which Trump’s Republicans have the majority, would also have to approve the request. Trump’s signature would then be required.
The president flatly rejects the move. Epstein was “the Democrats’ problem, not the Republicans'”he explained on Friday. “Don’t waste your time with Trump. I have to rule a country.”
