(LOOTPRESS) – President Donald Trump on Friday directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI to investigate links between Jeffrey Epstein and notable Democrats, the president’s latest attempt to deflect scrutiny over his connections to the disgraced financier by focusing on his political opponents.
In a social media post, Trump pushed Bondi to target former President Bill Clinton, Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman, and former Harvard President Larry Summers, who served in senior positions in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, along with the bank JPMorgan Chase.
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“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island,’” he wrote. “Stay tuned!!!”
The White House has spent much of the week struggling to contain the fallout after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails in which Epstein said Trump “knew about the girls” without providing further evidence.
Trump and his allies have denied that he knew about Epstein’s crimes, and neither the president nor any of the people he called for an investigation of have been implicated in Epstein’s criminal activities.
Administration officials have argued that Democrats released the emails to distract from Republicans’ success in ending a record-long government shutdown and that none of the emails incriminate the president.
Also this week, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) succeeded in triggering a discharge petition to force a House vote on the release of all Epstein files. Senior GOP officials believe dozens of House Republicans could join Democrats in supporting the disclosure bill.
Trump and Epstein were friends, but the president has maintained for years that the two had a falling out decades ago and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing associated with Epstein.
“Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish,” Trump wrote in another Truth Social post Friday. “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!”
JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, did business with Epstein for many years, including lending money to him and helping move his assets overseas. The bank ended its association with Epstein in 2013 and filed a suspicious activity report in 2019 regarding Epstein and his associates’ transactions.
Senate Democrats recently opened a new inquiry into the bank’s past dealings with Epstein.
The bank has expressed regret for its involvement with Epstein and emphasized that it did not have knowledge of his illegal activities.
JPMorgan Chase settled lawsuits in 2023 with the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a compound, and with some of Epstein’s victims. CEO Jamie Dimon, who met with Trump for dinner earlier this week, has said he would comply with an Epstein subpoena.
