Donald Trump Jr.'s comments on social media about Jeffery Epstein raised questions as his father, former President Donald Trump, was left off the post.
A U.S. District Court in New York ruled Wednesday for the release of names of former associates, employees, friends and victims of deceased sex offender Epstein. The names, which included Trump, were unsealed from a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre, an alleged trafficking victim, against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend. Maxwell, 61, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was convicted in December 2021 of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse underage girls.
The release was the first of what's expected to be several rounds of disclosed documents and names included in the filings. Many of those whose names appear in the documents aren't accused of wrongdoing or have been mentioned previously in legal proceedings or news accounts.
On Monday, the son of the former president took to X, formerly Twitter, to express his thoughts on information in the documents: "This seems like a big deal and if true why has nothing been done about it? Breaking News: Court documents allege Jeffrey Epstein recorded sex tapes of Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, and Sir Richard Branson," Trump Jr. wrote on X.
Trump, Prince Andrew, Clinton and Branson have all denied any wrongdoing.
The document contains emails that were sent by Sarah Ransome, who had accused Epstein of sexual assault, to columnist Maureen Callahan, regarding incidents that involved Epstein and others, including Trump.
"[A]nother friend...was one of the many girls that had sexual relations with Donald Trump...She confided in me about her casual 'friendship' with Donald. Mr. Trump definitely seemed to have a thing for her and she told me how he kept going on about how he liked her 'pert nipples,'" the document said.
Ransome later retracted all of her claims made about Epstein and others. Trump has not been charged with any crimes relating to Epstein, who was convicted of sexual abuse and later found dead in his Manhattan jail cell.
In response to Monday's release of the documents, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, told Newsweek: "These baseless accusations have been fully retracted because they are simply false and have no merit."
A spokesperson for Branson's Virgin Group said: "We categorically reject all allegations made by Sarah Ransome. The allegations are baseless and unfounded.
"The actions of Jeffrey Epstein were abhorrent and we support the right to justice for the many victims impacted by his abuse."
In response to Trump Jr.'s post, many have taken to X to criticize how he left out his father's name from the post as Trump's name was included in a new court document on Monday relating to Epstein.
Among the critics is Trump's estranged niece, Mary Trump, who wrote on X: "Hmm. Looks like you missed a name there, Donny."
X user KC said: "Of course you leave your daddy out #TrumpIsARapist."
User Nate questioned Trump Jr., saying: "What name did you leave out Jr?"
In addition to Monday's documents, as part of 40 previously redacted documents in the settled case that were released, a deposition from Johanna Sjoberg claims she traveled from Florida to Atlantic City with Epstein and went to one of Trump's casinos.
"Jeffrey said, 'Great, we'll call up Trump and we'll go to'—I don't recall the name of the casino, but—'we'll go to the casino,'" Sjoberg said, according to her testimony.
Later, when asked if she ever massaged Trump, Sjoberg twice responded that she never had.
Trump has not been linked to any offenses committed by Epstein or Maxwell.
Since the release of court documents, criticism has continued as Trump and Epstein had a reported friendship, with Trump telling New York Magazine in 2002 that he'd known Epstein for 15 years and that he was a "terrific guy." He also flew on his jet a number of times, though he later distanced himself from his comments following Epstein's arrest and said they had not spoken in years.
Update 01/22/24 1:24 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
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Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more
