The U.S. Department of Justice has published additional documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which include details of interviews with a woman accusing former President Donald Trump, who was once a friend of Epstein. These files were initially overlooked due to being mistakenly identified as duplicates. The Justice Department, under pressure from Congress, released the documents as required by the Epstein Transparency Act, a bipartisan effort by Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
One of the new records involves a woman who approached the FBI following Epstein’s arrest in 2019. She alleged that a man known as “Jeff” in Hilton Head, S.C., had sexually assaulted her in the 1980s when she was approximately 13 years old. She initially did not recognize the man but later identified him as Epstein from a photo sent by a friend. During multiple FBI interviews, she made various claims, including that Epstein orchestrated harm to her mother, physically assaulted her, arranged sexual encounters with others, and allegedly assaulted her in either New Jersey or New York in the mid-’80s, where she asserted she bit Trump to fend off a sexual advance.
The woman ceased cooperation with authorities and refused to answer additional questions. The White House dismissed her allegations as unfounded and lacking credible evidence. The Justice Department has cautioned that some of the documents contain unverified and sensational accusations against Trump.
While the exact timeline of the relationship between Epstein and Trump remains unclear, Trump stated in a 2002 interview that he had known Epstein for 15 years, with no indication of inappropriate conduct. Additionally, a former executive at a Trump-owned casino in Atlantic City from 1987 to 1990 reported observing Trump with Epstein on multiple occasions. Flight records show Trump flew on Epstein’s plane in the 1990s, a claim Trump denies, despite flight logs listing individuals like Marla Maples, Tiffany Trump, and Eric Trump.
Trump has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s illicit activities. However, an FBI document revealed Trump allegedly acknowledged Epstein’s misconduct to a local police chief in Palm Beach in 2006. Epstein was convicted in Florida in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor and died in prison in 2019 while awaiting a federal trial, ruled a suicide.
Democrats have accused the Trump administration of withholding records related to the President. The House oversight committee voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi for questioning on the handling of disclosures. Howard Lutnick, Trump’s commerce secretary, agreed to testify before the committee, with conflicting reports emerging about his past ties to Epstein following the release of additional Justice Department emails.
Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were questioned by the committee, with differing accounts regarding their interactions with Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to prison for facilitating Epstein’s crimes. The Clintons cited a relationship with Maxwell dating back to 2010, influenced by her connection to a tech executive close to the couple.
The investigations have not verified the existence of an Epstein residence in Hilton Head or elsewhere in South Carolina.
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