The U.S. Justice Department said Friday it will comply with President Donald Trump’s request to investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to former Democratic President Bill Clinton and JPMorgan, as Trump sought to shift focus from his relationship with the convicted sex offender.
The move comes two days after a congressional committee released thousands of documents that raised new questions about Trump’s relationship with the late financier, and marks the latest in a series of demands by Trump that federal authorities go after his alleged political enemies.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Jay Clayton, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, will lead the investigation.
The Epstein scandal has been a political thorn in Trump’s side for months, in part because it amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein among his own supporters. Many Trump voters believe Bondi and other Trump officials covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscured details about his death by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019.
Trump has leveraged the Justice Department to attack other alleged political enemies, notably former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who were indicted after Trump replaced the prosecutor leading the cases.
“It’s not how it’s supposed to work.”
Legal experts say Trump’s lawsuits could undermine criminal cases arising from those investigations, as judges can dismiss cases that are motivated by “revengeful prosecution,” which both Comey and James have raised, although the judges have not yet ruled on their requests to dismiss the cases.
Patrick J. Cotter, a former federal prosecutor, said it was “shockingly inappropriate” for Trump to order the department to investigate individual citizens, adding: “That’s not how it’s supposed to work.”
Along with Clinton, who socialized with Epstein in the early 2000s, Trump said he had asked the Justice Department to investigate former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn founder who is also a prominent Democratic donor. The three men were named in the 20,000 Epstein-related documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
“Epstein was a Democrat and he is the Democrats’ problem, not the Republicans’ problem!” Trump wrote on social media. “Everyone knows about him, don’t waste your time on Trump. I have a country to govern!”
JPMorgan said in a statement that the US bank regrets its past association with Epstein, who was a client between 1998 and 2013, and did not help him commit “heinous acts.”
Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Angel Urena, said on
In a post on
“I want this full release because it will show that calls for unfounded investigations into me are nothing more than political persecution and slander,” he said.
Summers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department’s decision to accede to Trump’s lawsuit came despite a July memo in which the department and the FBI said there was “no evidence that could support an investigation against unindicted third parties” in the Epstein case.
“This systematic review did not reveal any incriminating ‘client lists,'” the memo said. “Nor was any credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent people as part of his actions.”
Trump faces continued pressure over Epstein
Trump and Epstein were friends during the 1990s and 2000s, but Trump says he severed ties before Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Trump has consistently denied knowledge of the late financier’s abuse and sex trafficking of underage girls. Still, some of Trump’s most ardent supporters have accused his administration of a cover-up. Trump, who frequently interacts with reporters, has refused to answer questions in recent days as new revelations about Epstein became public.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on legislation that would force the Justice Department to release all material it has on Epstein, who was facing federal charges of sex trafficking of minors at the time of his suicide.
The measure is expected to pass, even after House Speaker Mike Johnson repeatedly maneuvered to try to block the vote. It would also require the Senate to pass similar legislation and Trump’s approval to force the Justice Department to act.
Only four in 10 Republicans in October ReutersThe /Ipsos poll said they approved of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files, far below the nine in 10 who approve of his overall performance in the White House.
Epstein socialized with well-known figures
JPMorgan paid $290 million in 2023 to some of Epstein’s victims to resolve allegations that it had turned a blind eye to their sex trafficking. The deal followed embarrassing revelations that JPMorgan had ignored internal warnings and red flags about a valued client. The bank did not admit irregularities in the agreement.
No credible evidence has emerged that Clinton, Summers or Hoffman were involved in Epstein’s sex trafficking. All have previously denied wrongdoing and expressed regret over their relationships with him.
Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet several times before the financier’s 2008 conviction, while Summers accepted philanthropic donations from Epstein while serving as president of Harvard University. Hoffman has acknowledged meeting Epstein several times in professional situations.
Before his conviction in 2008, Epstein worked and socialized with a long list of well-known figures, including former Prince Andrew of the United Kingdom, who was stripped of his royal title due in part to his association with Epstein.
Clayton, the prosecutor who will lead the investigation into Clinton, JPMorgan and other figures, is a political independent who chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term in the White House.
