The US justice department has confirmed it will investigate paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged links to major banks and several prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton.
US President Donald Trump said he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI to look into Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with Clinton and others.
Bondi said the department “will pursue this with urgency and integrity”.
Trump’s request came days after thousands of Epstein’s emails were released by the US Congress – which include mentions of the US president. Democrats have accused Trump of trying to deflect from questions about his relationship with Epstein.
The emails, released by the US House Oversight Committee, include many high-profile figures. A review by the Wall Street Journal found that Trump was mentioned in more than 1,600 or the 2,324 email threads.
Robert Garcia, the leading Democrat on the committee, said Trump was attempting to “deflect from serious new questions we have about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein”.
In addition to Clinton, Trump said he asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate banks JP Morgan and Chase, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who is also a prominent Democratic donor.
“Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!” he wrote on social media.
“They all know about him, don’t waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!”
Clinton has strongly denied he had any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase said the firm regrets “any association” they had with Epstein, and added that the firm “did not help him commit his heinous acts”.
It is unclear whether Trump made a formal request or issued a directive to the justice department, or if Bondi was responding to his post on his Truth Social platform.
Bondi said she appointed US Attorney Jay Clayton to lead an investigation into the ties with Epstein.
Trump’s request comes ahead of the House of Representatives’ vote next week on whether the justice department should release all its files related to the investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.
Democrat Adelita Grijalva’s swearing in to the chamber on Wednesday triggered the move, after she immediately signed a discharge petition from calling for the release of the files.
Her signature was the 218th – the final signing needed to trigger a floor vote. Four Republicans joined with Democrats to call for the vote.
Interest in Epstein’s relationships was renewed this week after US lawmakers released more than 20,000 pages of documents from his estate, including many mentioning Trump.
Documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday appeared to show correspondence between Epstein and the former US Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers from October 2017.
In one email, Summers gives Epstein his opinion of Trump early in his presidency, writing: “DJT is world s luckiest guy in terms of opposition, economy etc. still think his world will collapse”.
A representative for Summers told the Wall Street Journal in 2023 that the former treasury official and past president of Harvard University “deeply regrets being in contact with Epstein after his conviction”.
The documents also included email exchanges between Epstein and his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
In one email, sent in 2011, Epstein writes to Maxwell: “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him.”
Trump was a friend of Epstein’s for years, but the president has said they fell out in the early 2000s, two years before Epstein was first arrested. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. While he was discussed in some of the messages released this week, he did not send or receive them.
Traditionally, presidents do not direct the justice department to investigate individuals and companies and have often brought in special counsels – independent attorneys from outside the administration – to carry out investigations.
It is also rare for an administration to seek an investigation of a predecessor. However, the Biden administration started investigations tied to allegations that Trump tried to interfere with the 2020 election, which were then referred to a special counsel. The cases were dropped when Trump returned to the White House.
In a letter addressed to Congress, Epstein survivors and the family of Virginia Giuffre – a prominent accuser of his – called for US lawmakers to vote in favour of releasing the files.
“As you gather with your family this season, remember that your primary duty is to your constituents. Look into the eyes of your children, your sisters, your mothers, and your aunts,” the letter reads.
“Imagine if they had been preyed upon. Imagine if you yourself were a survivor. What would you want for them? What would you want for yourself? When you vote, we will remember your decision at the ballot box.”
On Friday, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said it would be “huge miscalculation” for Trump to oppose the release of material related to Epstein.
Greene was among the four other House Republicans – Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, Thomas Massie – who joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition calling for the release of the files.
“I truly just stand with the women, and I think they deserve to be the ones that we’re fighting for,” she told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
On Friday night, Trump announced that he had withdrawn his support for Greene, calling his formerly close ally “wacky” and “a ranting lunatic”, and offering to back her Republican challenger in next year’s midterm elections.
“That’s too bad she’s lost a wonderful conservative reputation,” he told reporters.
