Trump Orders Investigation into Epstein-Clinton Connections amid Personal Scrutiny

President Trump has directed law enforcement officials to investigate potential connections between Jeffrey Epstein and former President Bill Clinton.

On Friday, President Donald Trump instructed law enforcement leadership to examine the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and former president Bill Clinton, in an apparent effort to redirect attention from questions about his own historical ties to the alleged sex trafficker.

Facing increasing scrutiny following the release of a new collection of Epstein emails, Trump also called on the Justice Department and FBI to investigate JPMorgan Chase and former Harvard president Larry Summers, who served as Treasury Secretary under Clinton.

The 79-year-old Republican president claimed Democrats were promoting an "Epstein hoax" after emails surfaced suggesting Trump "knew about the girls" and allegedly spent hours with one of the victims at his residence.

While Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing, questions regarding his lengthy friendship with Epstein have persisted since his return to the White House in January.

Epstein died in prison in 2019 – officially ruled a suicide – before facing trial on federal sex trafficking charges. However, questions surrounding his alleged operation of a sex ring providing underage girls to powerful men have only intensified.

On Truth Social, Trump stated he would be "asking" Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI "to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions."

"Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his 'Island.'"

Bondi responded that the Justice Department would "pursue this with urgency and integrity" and appointed senior New York prosecutor Jay Clayton to "take the lead" on Trump's request.

This directive comes despite the FBI and Justice Department stating in a July memo that they had not discovered evidence warranting an investigation of uncharged third parties.

That same memo created significant backlash within Trump's MAGA movement after revealing that a "client list" Bondi claimed to be reviewing did not actually exist.

Democratic former president Clinton has long faced scrutiny regarding his connections to Epstein and his travels on Epstein's private aircraft, though Clinton has never been accused of wrongdoing in the scandal.

According to several emails from the latest collection dated 2011 and reviewed by AFP, Epstein stated that Clinton had "never ever" visited his notorious private Caribbean island.

Clinton, Summers, and Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) have not immediately responded to requests for comment.

JPMorgan Chase – which agreed to pay $290 million in 2023 to settle a class action lawsuit filed by Epstein's victims – rejected Trump's allegations.

"The government had damning information about his crimes and failed to share it with us or other banks," the company stated to AFP. "We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts."

Trump's statement broke two days of silence regarding the scandal, which has overshadowed his celebration following Democrats' agreement to end the longest government shutdown in US history.

He has yet to comment on camera about email exchanges between Epstein and associates claiming Trump spent "hours" with Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims and primary accuser.

The White House noted that Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, had exonerated Trump of any wrongdoing and had stated that Trump "couldn't have been friendlier."

Trump's attempts to contain the scandal have repeatedly proven unsuccessful, partly due to the existence of photos and videos showing him interacting with Epstein decades ago.

Another complication is that Trump and close allies – including his FBI chief Kash Patel – had previously promised his right-wing supporters they would pursue the release of all evidence against Epstein.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as next week on demanding the White House release these files, after a rebellion by several MAGA lawmakers provided sufficient votes for the measure.

On Friday, Trump clearly indicated he does not support this effort, stating on social media: "Don't waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!"