Camilla Jessen
Newly released FBI notes raise questions about Trump and Epstein.
A newly released FBI document has raised fresh questions about what Donald Trump may have known about Jeffrey Epstein years before the financier’s first federal arrest.
The summary, made public by the US Justice Department as part of the latest disclosure in the Epstein case, outlines claims from a former Florida police chief.
Alleged 2006 call
The document recounts a 2019 FBI interview with the former Palm Beach police chief, whose name is redacted. He is identified as the department’s chief at the time Epstein was investigated in 2006.
According to the summary, the officer said Trump called him that year after learning the police had opened an investigation into Epstein.
During the call, Trump allegedly said: “Thank God you stopped him, everyone knew he was doing this.”
Michael Reiter, who served as Palm Beach police chief at the time, told the Miami Herald he was the individual referenced in the document.
Contradiction with public stance
Trump has repeatedly denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. When asked in 2019 after Epstein’s arrest whether he had suspicions, Trump said: “No, I had no idea. I had no idea. I haven’t spoken to him in many, many years.”
The FBI summary states that Reiter claimed Trump said in 2006 that he had banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club and that “the people of New York knew he was disgusting.”
Reiter also told investigators that Trump described Ghislaine Maxwell as Epstein’s “operative” and said “she’s evil and you need to focus on her.”
White House response
In a statement to the BBC, a Justice Department official said: “We are not aware of any evidence to confirm that the president contacted authorities 20 years ago.”
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing that the call “may or may not have taken place in 2006. I don’t know the answer.”
“If it did happen, it confirms exactly what President Trump has said all along,” she added, reiterating that Trump has long said he expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.
Background to investigation
Palm Beach police began investigating Epstein in 2006 over allegations of sexual exploitation of minors. Federal prosecutors later negotiated a controversial plea deal in 2008 that shielded him from more serious charges.
The latest document release comes after Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence, appeared virtually before the House Oversight Committee. According to committee chairman James Comer, she invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer questions.
Trump has said he has not considered pardoning Maxwell.
Ongoing scrutiny
Photos and reports show Trump and Epstein socialized in the 1990s, though the White House maintains the two cut ties around 2004.
The newly released FBI summary does not include independent confirmation of the alleged call. It adds another layer to continuing scrutiny of relationships surrounding Epstein’s past activities.
Sources: BBC, Miami Herald, US Justice Department, Digi24
