White House says claims Trump in Epstein files 'fake news' - as judge blocks bid to unseal court documents - video Dailymotion

Evening Standard

The White House has dismissed claims that Donald Trump is among hundreds of names mentioned in justice department documents related to late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein as “fake news”.The Wall Street Journal reported the US president was informed of the fact in May by Attorney General Pam Bondi during a routine briefing, noting that his name appearing in the documents did not indicate any wrongdoing. One official told the news outlet that hundreds of names are in the documents.

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00:00Grand jury requests, accusations from Elon Musk and birthday book drawings, it's the scandal the

00:06U.S. president can't seem to escape. Trump's constant attempts to distance himself from sex

00:11offender Jeffrey Epstein have yet to be successful, with a U.S. judge rejecting a Trump administration

00:16request to unseal transcripts from previous grand jury investigations into Epstein. This request

00:22followed reports in May that the U.S. president was told by an attorney general that he was

00:27amongst the hundreds of names in documents connected to the late convicted pedophile. Trump then denied

00:32the conversation happened, the White House called it a fake news story, and a memo from the Justice

00:36Department and FBI said there was no such list. This led to Trump directing the attorney general to

00:42seek release of all grand jury materials. However, on Wednesday, a federal judge in Florida said the

00:48court's hands are tied when it comes to releasing transcripts from Epstein's initial investigation

00:52in 2005. The wealthy financer pled guilty to state charges of procuring a person under 18 for

00:59prostitution and solicitation of prostitution in 2008 after cutting a deal with prosecutors in Florida

01:05that allowed him to escape more severe federal charges. He was later arrested in 2019 on federal

01:12sex trafficking charges before he was found dead in his cell at a jail in New York City about a month

01:17after he was arrested. The U.S. president's previous ties to Epstein have caused mounting pressure for

01:23his administration, with Trump promising to release such files about the well-connected sex offender.

01:28Although it's been clarified that being named in the documents is not evidence of any wrongdoing,

01:32the Trump administration were hoping this would shut down conspiracies, which believe there are

01:36concealed videos of crimes that were committed and that Epstein's clients are being protected.

01:41The Department of Justice's request to release these files were declined, as it did not meet any of

01:46the extraordinary exceptions under U.S. law that can make them public.

White House says claims Trump in Epstein files 'fake news' - as judge blocks bid to unseal court documents

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