A recently revealed FBI interview has brought into question US President Donald Trump’s claim of being unaware of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activities. Meanwhile, Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, faced intense scrutiny from legislators regarding his own connections to the financier on Tuesday.
These latest developments highlight the ongoing political challenges stemming from the Epstein scandal for the Trump administration, even as the Justice Department released millions of Epstein-related documents in response to a bipartisan directive. The released files have also caused international repercussions by exposing new information on Epstein’s associations with influential figures in politics, finance, business, and academia.
In July 2006, amid the public disclosure of Epstein’s initial sex crime charges, the police chief of Palm Beach, Florida, reportedly received a call from Trump, as per a 2019 FBI interview summary with the police chief included in the documents. The former police chief, Michael Reiter, recounted Trump expressing relief over efforts to stop Epstein, stating that it was widely known that Epstein had been engaged in such activities.
According to the document, Trump informed Reiter that individuals in New York were aware of Epstein and cautioned about Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate, characterizing her as “evil.” Trump also mentioned an instance where he found himself in the presence of teenagers around Epstein and promptly left the situation.
Reiter, who retired in 2009, verified the specifics of the FBI interview to the Miami Herald.