US President Donald Trump criticized the recent release of Jeffrey Epstein files as “a terrible thing.” He defended several political figures, including Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, and Lord Mandelson, who were featured in the thousands of photographs published online. Trump, also mentioned in the files, claimed that many celebrities had innocently crossed paths with Epstein over the years, despite Epstein’s history as a convicted child sex offender.
In response to the release, Trump expressed his displeasure with the focus on other individuals in the photos, accusing it of being a distraction from the Republican Party’s success. He spoke positively about his relationship with Bill Clinton and suggested that innocent encounters with Epstein might have occurred years ago.
According to reports, Trump blamed Congressional Democrats for pushing the release of the files. He acknowledged Epstein’s widespread connections in the 1990s and 2000s. The data dump was prompted by the US Department of Justice’s obligation to make all Epstein investigation files public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The release of documents followed Epstein’s death in a Manhattan jail in 2019, ruled as a suicide. The investigation revealed that the guards assigned to monitor Epstein had fallen asleep and falsified records, while the surveillance cameras in the area were malfunctioning or broken.