US President Donald Trump said embarrassing financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “stolen” a young woman who worked at his Mar Lago resort.
One of the women was Virginia Giuffre, among Epstein’s most famous sex trafficking accusers.
Trump’s comments expanded to comments he made a day ago when he said he had banned Epstein from his private club in Florida 20 years ago because his former friend “stole people who worked for me.”
The president is increasingly rattling with questions about the pair’s relationship amid protests over the administration’s refusal to release more records of the government’s sexual intercourse investigation into Epstein after the promise of transparency.
Conspiracy theory exists among some of Trump’s Maga bases, and he attempted to downplay or bias the attention and questioning of the Epstein incident.
Trump has repeatedly called the issue a “hoologue” after expressing his frustration that people are still talking about it six years after Epstein committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial.
His latest comment was that attorneys for Epstein’s imprisoned ex-girlfriend, Gislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of helping a minor girl in sexual abuse — said he was willing to testify before Congress whether she was granted immunity or other protections.
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While talking to reporters in Air Force 1, Trump said he was angry that Epstein was “taking people who worked for me.” He said the woman was “taken out of the spa and hired by (Epstein) – in other words, it was gone.”
“I said, hear me, we don’t want you to take our people,” Trump said. When that happened again, the president said he banned Epstein from Mar Arago.
Last week, the White House said it had cut ties with his former friend because the president saw him as a “creep.”
Reporters asked if Giuffre was one of the employees poached by Epstein, but Trump hesitated, saying, “He stole her.”
Giuffre died of suicide earlier this year. She claimed that Maxwell discovered she worked as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 2000 when she was a teenager, and hired her as Massey of Epstein, leading to sexual abuse.
Giuffle’s allegations were not part of the criminal prosecution against Epstein, but she is at the heart of the conspiracy theory regarding the case. She accused Epstein of putting pressure on her to have sex with a powerful man.
Maxwell’s spotlight
Maxwell, who denied Gufre’s allegations, is serving a 20-year sentence in a federal prison in Florida for conspiring with Epstein to conspire with a minor minor girl.
Earlier this month, the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee summoned Maxwell on August 11 to testify before lawmakers.
A committee spokesperson said Tuesday that the panel would not consider granting the immunity it requested in exchange for her testimony.
The potential interview is part of a passionate and renewed interest in the Epstein Saga to not release any additional records from the investigation, following a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this month.
In an obvious U-turn, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondy has returned the notion that Epstein maintained an “client list” of elites who took part in human trafficking of minor girls.
The sudden announcement surprised online detectives, conspiracy theorists and elements of Trump’s political foundation who wanted to find evidence of government cover-up.
Since then, the Trump administration has been trying to present itself as a promotion of transparency, and the department has urged the court to establish a record of a large ju court from sex trafficking investigations. A Florida judge rejected the request last week, but a similar request is pending in New York.
Separately, Maxwell’s lawyers urged the U.S. Supreme Court to consider her conviction, saying she had not been tried in a fair manner.
They also say that one way she testifies that she is “openly and in public” is when a pardon by Trump occurs. The president told reporters that such a move is within his rights, but he was not asked to do so.
“She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and dispel many of the misconceptions and misconceptions that have plagued this case from the start,” her lawyer said.
Additional sources •AP
