Nicolai Haugsted
Trump faces mounting questions about his Epstein connections following a report containing serious allegations.
Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes continue to cast a long shadow over American politics, years after the disgraced financier’s death. Questions about his powerful acquaintances, the treatment of his victims and the handling of evidence have repeatedly brought his former social circle under scrutiny.
Donald Trump’s past association with Epstein has been a particularly contentious subject, with the president insisting that their relationship ended long before the financier’s crimes became widely known.
Now, according RadarOnline, Democratic lawmakers have put forward a series of serious allegations that challenge Trump’s account of his relationship with Epstein.
A new report from Democratic staff on the House Judiciary Committee details accusations involving 11 women, including five whom lawmakers say have accused Trump of sexual assault.
The allegations are not findings of criminal guilt, and the report does not establish that Trump committed the alleged acts.
Democrats present allegations involving 11 women
The report focuses on accusations connected to Trump, Epstein and their social circles during the 1990s, particularly in New York and Palm Beach.
Representative Jamie Raskin, the committee’s senior Democrat, argues that the accounts warrant a fresh investigation.
“Donald Trump says he knew Jeffrey Epstein ‘just like everybody in Palm Beach knew him.’ Not exactly,” Raskin said.
“Evidence involving 11 women tells a completely different and far more damning story about their relationship and the abuse of young women and girls that took place in their network.”
Raskin went further, outlining the allegations against the president.
“Five women have directly accused Trump of sexual assault in Epstein’s company or presence; others have indicated that Epstein or [Ghislaine] Maxwell attempted to traffic them to Trump.”
The distinction matters: lawmakers are describing allegations made by women, not announcing that investigators or a court have substantiated those allegations.
The report also comes from the committee’s Democratic staff rather than representing an agreed finding by the full House Judiciary Committee.
Former model describes alleged encounter at a New York hotel
Among the accounts highlighted in the report is an allegation made by former model and beauty queen Beatrice Keul.
Keul claims Trump sexually assaulted her inside a suite at New York’s Plaza Hotel during the American Dream Pageant in November 1993.
According to her account, Trump had offered to help her secure admission to New York University.
The report also revisits allegations from Stacey Williams, who has previously accused Trump of touching her sexually without consent during a visit to Trump Tower.
Williams alleges that Epstein was present during the encounter and that the two men appeared amused while Trump touched her.
Her account places Epstein directly alongside Trump during the alleged incident.
Both accusations are serious, but their inclusion in a congressional staff report does not independently prove that the incidents occurred as described.
Allegations involving minors raise further questions
Some of the most disturbing material concerns allegations made by women who say they were underage at the time of the alleged abuse.
One account involves a woman identified publicly by the pseudonym Katie Johnson.
She alleged that Trump and Epstein sexually assaulted her at Epstein’s New York residence in 1994, when she was 13 years old.
Raskin described one particularly troubling element of her account.
“She said the men argued over who would take her virginity.”
The allegation has not been established in court, and it should not be treated as a verified account of Trump’s conduct.
The report’s inclusion of such claims underscores the gravity of the investigation Democrats are seeking, but it does not resolve questions about the allegations’ credibility or the evidence supporting them.
Raskin demands an independent investigation
Democrats are now calling for a comprehensive investigation into the allegations and the handling of information connected to Epstein’s associates.
Raskin wants an independent special counsel appointed to examine potential criminal wrongdoing and determine whether anyone else participated in Epstein’s abuse and trafficking activities.
He has also accused the Justice Department of failing to pursue relevant evidence.
“These women have spoken to investigators and, in some cases, testified under oath, yet Trump’s Justice Department has shut down investigations, deliberately withheld evidence and, through Todd Blanche, prevented Ghislaine Maxwell from discussing a survivor whose account implicated Trump,” Raskin alleged.
He added that the department had maintained there was no basis for investigating Epstein’s possible accomplices.
“Trump’s Justice Department appears to be covering up these crimes to protect the President.”
Those are allegations made by Raskin, not established findings of a Justice Department cover-up.
The report calls for further scrutiny, but the existence of an accusation does not by itself demonstrate that prosecutors deliberately suppressed evidence.
Trump has offered a different account of his relationship with Epstein
Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from Epstein and has denied wrongdoing in connection with the financier.
He has maintained that the two men fell out after Epstein recruited employees from the spa at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Speaking to reporters last year, Trump described how he became frustrated with Epstein’s behavior.
“People were taken out of the spa, hired by him. In other words, gone. And other people would come and complain, ‘This guy is taking people from the spa.’ I didn’t know that,” Trump said.
He then described confronting Epstein about the situation.
“And then when I heard about it, I told him. I said, ‘Listen, we don’t want you taking our people.’ Whether it was spa or not spa, I don’t want him taking people. And he was fine. Then, not too long after that, he did it again, and I said, ‘Out of here.'”
Trump’s explanation presents the end of their association as a dispute over employees rather than a confrontation over sexual misconduct.
The new Democratic report challenges the broader picture of their relationship, although it does not independently establish that Trump participated in Epstein’s crimes.
