Trump orders investigation into Epstein's ties to Democrats, claiming 'Epstein Hoax'

Washington, DC [US], November 15 (ANI): US President Donald Trump said on Friday (local time) that he will ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's ties to many other high-profile figures, in an extraordinary step that comes just days after Democrats released emails from the late Epstein that mention him.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Democrats were using the 'Epstein Hoax' to deflect people's attention from the shutdown.

"Thank you, Mr. President," she wrote in a post on X that included a screenshot of Trump's request.

Bondi later on Friday confirmed she would launch the investigation on Trump's orders, assigning Jay Clayton, the top prosecutor in New York's southern district, to lead the federal probe, CNN reported.

For years, Trump has sought to downplay his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender who for years moved in the same social circles as Trump in Palm Beach and Manhattan, as per CNN.

Trump has alternately called Epstein a "terrific guy" in 2002 and later insisted he was "not a fan," saying the two men had a falling out long before Epstein faced his most serious legal troubles.

But a new batch of emails from Epstein's estate, released this week by the House Oversight Committee, adds fresh detail to a relationship that has long been scrutinised.

Earlier this year, after Bondi ordered the FBI to review Epstein files for release, Justice and FBI officials conducted another assessment and determined there were no additional prosecutions that could be brought based on the evidence at hand, according to law enforcement officials, as per CNN.

The newly released messages do not highlight any new angle into Trump-Epstein relations, but bring to the fore new angles.

Epstein's claim that Trump "spent hours" with a trafficking and rape victim inside his home, who House Republicans on Wednesday identified as the late Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most prominent victims. Giuffre died by suicide in April. She never implicated Trump in any wrongdoing in her book or public comments. Epstein was referring to Trump in the 2011 email with his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking after Epstein's 2019 death.

Epstein's assertion that Trump "knew about the girls" - seemingly in reference to Trump's claim that he kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club for poaching young women who worked there.

Epstein's blunt private assessments of Trump during his first term as President.

"I told everyone from day one. evil beyond belief, mad," Epstein wrote of Trump in March 2018. "he feels alone. and is nuts!!!" (ANI)

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