Donald Trump was shocked to learn that child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had killed himself in jail while awaiting trial and believed conspiracy theories would inevitably follow, according to his former attorney general.
In newly released testimony with House investigators, Bill Barr, who was part of Trump’s first administration when Epstein died in 2019, recounted how he called the president to convey the news, warning him: “You better brace for this.”
“He had the same reaction I did, which was: ”How the hell did that happen, he’s in Federal custody?’,” said Barr.
“The last everyone knew, he was being carefully watched precisely for that reason. And I think I conveyed to him that it was appalling and that we were going to investigate it vigorously… and he had the same reaction I did, which is: this is going to certainly generate a lot of conspiracy theories.”
As the firestorm surrounding the Epstein files followed Trump to the U.K. on Tuesday with images of the pair projected onto Windsor Castle, the transcript of Barr’s deposition was released by the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, along with a number of documents from Epstein’s estate.
Among them were photocopied pages of a contact book Epstein kept. Listed were people such as Robert F Kennedy Jr, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and model Christy Turlington. Trump, as well as his daughter Ivanka, late brother Robert and ex-wife Ivana were also featured as contacts.
Also revealed in the latest tranche of documents were two additional pages from a book Ghislaine Maxwell compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.
One was labeled “Contents” which features some contributors to the book, including former President Bill Clinton, attorney Alan Dershowitz, and private equity investor Leon Black.
The other was a letter to Epstein from friend Coco Brown, who refers to herself as “Degenerate II” and to him as “Degenerate I”.
In part, it reads: “(so many girls, so little time)? And you there Jeffrey, always grinning like the mysterious mischievous lad you are.”
Barr, who led Trump’s Justice Department from February 2019 until December 2020, had been subpoenaed by the committee in August amid a growing outcry for more transparency related to Epstein’s case.
In his deposition, he recounted having two conversations with Trump about Epstein – the first was when he heard about the suicide; and the second was either around the time of his arrest or death when Epstein was in the news.
“And the president said something to the effect that he had broken off with Epstein long ago and that he had actually pushed him out of Mar-a-Lago,” Barr said.
The testimony is consistent with what Trump himself told reporters earlier this year: that he had fallen out with Epstein after his former friend “stole” girls who had worked at his Mar-a-Lago spa.
One of them was Virginia Giuffre, who was recruited by Maxwell as part of their depraved sex trafficking ring and would later accuse Prince Andrew of abusing her.
Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial, in what was meant to be a highly secure federal facility in Manhattan.
But due to the mishandling of his imprisonment, the malfunction of two cameras in front of his cell, and his connection to powerful figures, his death spawned numerous conspiracy theories that he was murdered as part of a cover up.
Six years later, his death continues to haunt Trump, who came to office fueling MAGA’s conspiracy theories while promising full transparency.
But Barr’s testimony affirmed that he had no direct knowledge of incriminating ties between Epstein and Trump.
During one line of questioning, Democrat Jasmine Crockett asked Barr if he recalled informing Trump that he was in the Epstein files at all.
“Well, I’m not sure what ‘Epstein files’ refer to these days,” he said. “But, no, I didn’t – I didn’t have that kind of conversation with him.”
She also asked if he had any knowledge of the various women who have claimed over the years “that they had encounters with the President through Epstein.”
“I never was told by the Southern District that they had evidence to support any claim like that,” he replied.
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