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President Donald Trump said Friday he would ask the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into the connections between the now-dead pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and JPMorgan Chase, as well as several of his perceived political enemies.
On Truth Social, Trump compared the Epstein scandal to the “Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats.”
“I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him,” he wrote.
Representatives for the Justice Department, Reid Hoffman, Bill Clinton, and Larry Summers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for JPMorgan said the bank regrets doing business with Epstein, a relationship that ended in 2013.
“We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts,” JPMorgan spokeswoman Patricia Wexler said.
Trump’s directive comes on the heels of the House Oversight Committee releasing a cache of over 20,000 emails it obtained from Epstein’s estate, some of which included references to Trump. The two were friends in the 1980s and 1990s, and ran in the same wealthy Manhattan and Palm Beach social circles, before falling out in the mid-2000s.
The Trump administration had not yet fulfilled Trump’s campaign promise to release the Epstein files held within the Justice Department, which has led to some public backlash.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan brought sex-trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019. He killed himself in jail while awaiting trial. The same set of prosecutors brought charges against Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Epstein maintained a relationship with JPMorgan Chase for years, and helped Jes Staley, then the head of JPMorgan Chase’s private banking division, with career advice. JPMorgan Chase cut ties with Epstein in 2013, in part because Epstein frequently withdrew large sums of cash without explanation. Epstein had registered as a sex offender after pleading to a sex crime in 2008.
“The government had damning information about his crimes and failed to share it with us or other banks,” JPMorgan spokeswoman Patricia Wexler said.
The bank has already paid at least $365 million in settlements in civil lawsuits related to Epstein. It agreed to pay $290 million to settle a class-action lawsuit from Epstein’s victims who alleged it facilitated his sex-trafficking operation, and another $75 million to settle a similar lawsuit from the US Virgin Islands government.
Following Epstein’s 2019 suicide, Hoffman, the billionaire cofounder of LinkedIn, apologized for inviting him to a dinner party in 2015 with other tech giants. Hoffman later expressed regret for not doing his own research into Epstein.
Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet for international trips he took in his post-presidency, and Epstein visited the White House several times while Clinton was in office.
The emails released from the House Oversight Committee show Epstein corresponding with Larry Summers, the Clinton-era Treasury Secretary, including jokes about women.
Trump’s name cropped up frequently in the cache of emails released by the House Oversight Committee this week. Epstein discussed Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and his first administration with acquaintances, including Kathryn Ruemmler, who is now the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs. And he formed a relationship with Steve Bannon, who served as White House Advisor early in the Trump administration.
Epstein — who advised wealthy people on tax issues — also frequently discussed Trump’s tax returns with his top accountant, Richard Kahn.
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