Donald Trump said he intends to ask Attorney General Pam Bondi and the US Department of Justice, together with the FBI, to examine possible ties between Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan Chase, and other people and organizations.
In a Truth Social post, Trump described the controversy around the “Epstein files” as a hoax and accused Democrats of using it to distract from a shutdown and other failures. According to the US president, records allegedly show close connections between those figures and Epstein and his island. Bondi later wrote on X that she had instructed the chief federal prosecutor to handle the matter. It remains unclear whether any formal directive was issued or what specific possible crimes Trump wants investigated.
As NPR noted, none of the men named by Trump has been accused by Epstein’s victims of sexual abuse. Trump himself has long faced scrutiny over his past closeness to Epstein, although no such accusations have been made against him either.
The dispute is unfolding as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on whether to release the Epstein files. Republican leaders and Trump oppose full disclosure. Even if the bill passes, it would still need approval from the Senate and the president.
Earlier, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a new batch of emails involving Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell that mention Trump. The White House rejected claims that he knew about Epstein’s crimes. The committee also published another 20,000 pages of documents obtained from Epstein’s heirs. Victims and their supporters continue to call for the full release of all case materials.