Donald Trump said the public release of files linked to Jeffrey Epstein is politically motivated and risks harming people, including Bill Clinton, who had only incidental contact with the disgraced financier.
US President Donald Trump Monday has said the release of investigative files linked to Jeffrey Epstein could unfairly damage the reputations of people who had only incidental contact with the disgraced financier. Speaking as the Justice Department began making the files public, Trump described the controversy as a diversion from what he called his party’s achievements.
In his first remarks since the documents were released on Friday, Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence that the renewed focus on Epstein was politically motivated.
“This whole thing with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has,” he said.
Reaction to Epstein files and Clinton photos
Asked about the appearance of former president Bill Clinton in photographs included in the initial batch of material released by the Justice Department, Trump said he felt uneasy about the images being made public.
“I like Bill Clinton. I’ve always gotten along with Bill Clinton. I hate to see photos come out of him,” he said.
Trump noted that he also appeared in photographs with Epstein.
“There’s photos of me too,” he said. “Everybody was friendly with this guy (Epstein).”
He added that he did not support the release of such images, describing it as a “terrible thing”.
“Bill Clinton’s a big boy, he can handle it,” Trump said.
“But you probably have pictures being exposed of other people that innocently met Jeffrey Epstein years ago, many years ago, and they’re highly respected bankers and lawyers and others.”
Trump said many people were upset about photographs being published of individuals who, in his view, had no real connection to Epstein’s crimes.
“A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein,” he said.
“But they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party and you ruin a reputation of somebody.”
Epstein, a wealthy financier with high-level social connections, died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
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