A newly unsealed Justice Department document indicates that President Donald Trump privately condemned convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell as early as 2006, according to statements made by a now-retired law enforcement official to the FBI.
The document, released Monday by the Department of Justice, summarizes an October 2019 FBI interview with the former Palm Beach police chief who oversaw the department’s investigation into Epstein. According to the FBI record, known as a 302, the official told agents that Trump was among the first people to contact law enforcement after news emerged that Epstein was under investigation.
CNBC reported that Trump personally called the Palm Beach police chief in 2006 to express support for the investigation, telling him, “thank goodness you are stopping [Epstein], everyone has known he’s been doing this,” according to the document.
The FBI summary states that Trump described Epstein as “disgusting” and urged law enforcement to focus on Maxwell, whom Trump allegedly referred to as Epstein’s procurer and characterized as “evil.” The document also indicates that Trump told the police chief he had distanced himself from Epstein years earlier.
According to the 302, Trump said he “got the hell out of there” upon encountering Epstein in the presence of teenagers. He also told the police chief that Epstein had been barred from Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach.
While the police chief’s name is redacted in the FBI document, the interview subject is identified as the individual who served as Palm Beach police chief during the Epstein investigation. CNBC and the Miami Herald reported that the official was Michael Reiter, who confirmed to the Herald that Trump contacted him in 2006 after the investigation became public.
The FBI summary further notes that Trump told Reiter that people in New York were aware of Epstein’s behavior long before his arrest.
The document was unsealed just hours after Maxwell’s attorney publicly called on Trump to grant her executive clemency, arguing that she should be allowed to speak “honestly” about what she knows. Earlier the same day, Maxwell declined to testify before a House committee.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein, stating that he severed ties with him decades ago. Trump has not been accused of any crimes by Epstein’s victims.
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We know who did it and who reported it.
It’s that simple.