(Washington, D.C.) The U.S. Department of Justice announced that, at the direction of President Trump, it has formed a special task force to investigate Democrats connected to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump posted on social media on Friday (November 14) that he had asked the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate Epstein's relationships with former President Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Summers, LinkedIn co-founder Jonathan Hoffman, JPMorgan Chase, and other individuals and organizations.
Trump wrote on social media: "Epstein is a Democrat. He's a Democratic problem, not a Republican problem!"
Attorney General Bondi said she has appointed former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Chris Clayton, to lead the investigation.
JPMorgan Chase issued a statement in response, saying the bank regrets its past association with Epstein but emphasized that it did not assist him in committing "those heinous crimes." Epstein was a JPMorgan Chase client from 1998 to 2013.
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Clinton had previously denied knowing about Epstein's crimes, though he had associated with Epstein in the early 2000s. Democratic donor Hoffman stated that his interactions with Epstein were limited to fundraising events. Summers did not respond.
On Friday, Trump, aboard Air Force One, responded to Epstein's suggestion that Trump seemed to know about the allegations, saying, "I know nothing about it. He (Epstein) just wrote himself a few memos."
He also expressed dissatisfaction that the incident was diverting public attention from his record. "They (Democrats) want to waste people's time, and some of the dumber Republicans like that too."
The House Oversight Committee released 20,000 Epstein-related documents on Wednesday (12th), in which Epstein suggested that Trump knew about his sexual assaults and even spent several hours at his home with one of the victims.
The US government's earlier refusal to release all Epstein-related investigation files angered some Republican supporters and sparked debate about the Justice Department being used as a political tool.
On Wednesday, a petition led by House Democrats demanding the full release of the Epstein files, with support from some Republicans, officially garnered the necessary votes. House Speaker Johnson, a Republican, pledged to vote on the matter in the full House next week.
Epstein, who had close ties with numerous prominent figures in American politics and business, died in prison in August 2019 after being arrested on suspicion of sex crimes; his death was ruled a suicide. It is widely believed that the contents of the Epstein papers could become a Achilles' heel for the remainder of Trump's term and for the Republican Party in next year's midterm elections.
Democratic strategist and partner at the political consulting firm SKDK, Caruso Caruso, pointed out that if further revelations continue to emerge, the Epstein scandal could negatively impact Republican voter turnout in next year's midterm elections.
