Jeffrey Epstein is sowing division among MAGA. What to know about the late sex offender
- Disagreements have arisen within the Republican party concerning the handling of Jeffrey Epstein's case files.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi stated there is no "client list" associated with Jeffrey Epstein and no further information needs to be released.
- Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution.
- Trump's name and phone number appeared on a message pad seized by police, but there is no further implication of Trump's involvement.
Questions about supposed files on Jeffrey Epstein have created a rare moment of division within the Republican party.
Epstein was a financier and convicted sex offender who died while awaiting trial in 2019. President Donald Trump had long accused the Biden administration of hiding a list of Epstein clients. In March, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had a "truckload" of Epstein files to review and potentially release. On July 7, Bondi's Justice Department said there was no "client list" and no further disclosure was needed.
Trump brushed it off like old news, but long-time Trump loyalists, including daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson have called for more transparency. Democrats have also hopped on the moment, pushing for legislative action to release some of the documents. Trump lashed out at his own supporters over the saga.
"(Democrats') new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this “bulls***,” hook, line, and sinker," Trump said in a July 16 Truth Social post. "They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will."
So how did we end up here? Here is what to know about the origins of the Epstein case:
What was Epstein convicted of?
Epstein never sat for trial, but he pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution in 2008 in Florida. He was also a registered sex offender.
He died in 2019, before he could be tried for sex trafficking charges in New York. He was found hanged in a Manhattan jail cell, and the medical examiner ruled it a suicide.
When was Epstein caught and first charged?
A police investigation into Epstein began in March 2005 after a woman from the Palm Beach area in Florida said her 14-year-old step-daughter had been molested by a wealthy man.
In July 2006, Epstein was indicted by a grand jury on a felony charge of soliciting prostitution, which did not address the 14-year-old victim's age. He was arrested and spent one night in Palm Beach County jail, released the next day on $3,000 bond.
Epstein signed a non-prosecution agreement that was called the "deal of the century." He pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail, where he was allowed work leave privileges six days a week/12 hours a day over the 13 months he served.
When he was released from jail, he spent a year on house arrest but was allowed to travel anywhere so long as he returned in 24 hours.
Where is Epstein Island located?
Epstein owned a private island in the U.S Virgin Islands.
Is Donald Trump in the Epstein files?
Trump has already appeared in legal documents concerning Epstein's crimes but never in a way that implicates him.
In the 1990s, Trump rode on aircraft owned by Epstein, according to flight logs released in two lawsuits. But that was 30-plus years ago.
In Palm Beach County state attorney documents, an image of a message pad communication seized in a Palm Beach police search appeared, but there is nothing more than Trump's name and a phone number.
(This story has been updated to correct the time Epstein spent in jail.)
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, Paste BN
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the Paste BN Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.