Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats on Wednesday said they are attempting to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files through a little-known, decades-old law.

All seven Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee invoked a law that requires federal agencies provide information about “any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee” if at least five members request it.

“This letter demands that the Justice Department produce documents that Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have publicly already confirmed they have in their possession,” Sen. Gary Peters, the panel’s top Democrat, said at a press conference.

“We all know in fact that the attorney general said, quote, she said they’re sitting on her desk. It should be pretty easy to turn over documents that are sitting on the attorney general’s desk,” Peters added.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Peters was joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Richard Blumenthal at the press conference, during which they touted their move as a turning point in their quest for transparency over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein matter.

“Today’s letter matters. It’s not a stunt, it’s not symbolic, it’s a formal exercise of congressional power under federal law, and we expect an answer from DOJ by August the 15, that’s what accountability looks like,” Schumer said. “This is what oversight looks like, and this is what keeping your promises to the American people look like.”

Blumenthal agreed that this measure was invoked as a powerful oversight tool.

“This letter has some force of law,” Blumenthal said. “This letter invokes a statute that has been little used because it has been unnecessary in the past to enforce transparency. It’s necessary now because this administration is stonewalling and stalling and concealing, and the American people are rightly asking where they have to hide. What’s at stake here is not just the president’s promises.”

The Democrats, who said their urging of a release of the Epstein files was also done as a way of seeking justice for Epstein’s victims, were asked at the news conference whether Democratic senators would be comfortable with redactions in their release.

Schumer said lawmakers “wouldn’t force any agreements that have been broken,” but added that he believes “almost everything can come out.”

Schumer also said that they’ve been “talking” to their Republican colleagues to get these files public but would eventually seek “recourse in the courts” if cooperation isn’t achieved.

“We have talked to some of our lawyers, and we will — this can be challenged in the courts, yes,” Schumer said.

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(WASHINGTON) — A top aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is berating independent auditors at the Pentagon for their ongoing review into the secretary’s use of the Signal messaging app, calling the assessment “a political witch hunt” and a “sham.”

The statement by Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s chief spokesman, suggests the defense secretary is preparing to challenge the upcoming findings by the Defense Department Office of the Inspector General, which is expected to be released in coming weeks.

Parnell’s use of the term “sham” to describe the IG’s work also raises questions about the fate of the independent watchdog office under President Donald Trump.

During his first week in office, Trump fired the Pentagon’s inspector general at the time, Robert Storch, along with more than a dozen other agency IGs. With Storch fired by Trump, the review is being led by acting Inspector General Steve Stebbins, who spent much of his career in the Army before becoming a career civil servant.

Mollie Halpern, a spokesperson for the IG office, declined to comment.

“Consistent with the long-standing policy of the DoD OIG, we do not comment on ongoing oversight project,” Halpern wrote in an emailed statement.

In his statement provided to reporters late Tuesday, Parnell said the IG evaluation “is clearly a political witch hunt” by “Biden administration holdovers.”

“The Secretary has provided a statement to the IG — which points out why this entire exercise is a sham, conducted in bad faith and with extreme bias,” he added.

Parnell initially released his statement to the The New York Times, which first reported Tuesday that Hegseth now requires general officers nominated for a fourth star to meet with Trump in advance of their nominations being finalized. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the new process is in place.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said Trump “wants to ensure our military is the greatest and most lethal fighting force in history, which is why he meets with four-star-general nominees directly to ensure they are war fighters first — not bureaucrats.”

Under consideration by the IG is whether Hegseth violated Pentagon policies last March when the secretary used the commercial messaging app Signal to relay details about a military strike in Yemen.

According to texts released by The Atlantic, which the White House confirmed as authentic, Hegseth detailed in an unclassified chat group with other officials how a strike would unfold and when, including the use of F-18 fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles.

“THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP,” Hegseth wrote at one point referencing Yemen and noting the military time of 1415 (2:15 p.m.) ahead of the March 15 strike.

Hegseth also shared details about the imminent attack in a second group chat that included his wife, his brother and his personal lawyer, two sources familiar with the contents of the chat told ABC News. Sources say the details on the strike originated from a classified document and that among the questions being asked by the IG is whether Hegseth personally wrote the texts or if another staffer typed out the details.

Hegseth has insisted repeatedly that the information was never classified in the first place. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, also testified that the chat did not include classified information.

Stebbins, as acting IG, agreed to conduct an “evaluation” of the Pentagon’s Signal use at the request from Congress, which included Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the panel, also requested the review.

“The information as published recently appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified,” Wicker said following the report by The Atlantic.

In a statement to reporters, Reed said it was wrong for Parnell to criticize the IG office.

“The civilian leadership of the Department of Defense is not above the law,” Reed said. “To suggest that the nonpartisan Inspector General is doing anything other than their impartial duties is simply wrong. Taxpayers and military personnel deserve to know the truth, and the Inspector General’s office has a responsibility to follow all evidence and report its independent findings.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris will not run for California governor in 2026, after months of considering the prospect of being the chief executive of her home state.

“In recent months, I have given serious thought to asking the people of California for the privilege to serve as their Governor. I love this state, its people, and its promise. It is my home. But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for Governor in this election,” she said in a statement released Wednesday.

The decision could give Harris greater leeway for a presidential run in 2028, an option she has yet to rule out. Harris said she would share “more details in the months ahead” about her plans.

“I have extraordinary admiration and respect for those who dedicate their lives to public service—service to their communities and to our nation. At the same time, we must recognize that our politics, our government, and our institutions have too often failed the American people, culminating in this moment of crisis,” Harris said. “As we look ahead, we must be willing to pursue change through new methods and fresh thinking — committed to our same values and principles, but not bound by the same playbook.”

Harris announced this decision after months of reflecting how to best contribute to the Democratic Party after her presidential election loss, she said.

“I am a devout public servant, and from the earliest days of my career, I have believed that the best way I could make a difference in people’s lives and fight for a better future was to improve the system from within. And it has been a profound honor to do that work and serve the people of California and our nation — as a prosecutor, Attorney General, United States Senator, and Vice President,” said Harris.

Over the past several months Harris has waded back into politics, appearing virtually at a young voters summit earlier this month and an abortion rights advocacy group in June. Her joint fundraising committee with the Democratic National Committee, the Harris Victory Fund, has begun fundraising on behalf of former North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s new Senate bid as well.

Harris said despite not running for governor, she was finding other ways to “remain in that fight” for “freedom, opportunity, fairness, and the dignity of all.”

“I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plans,” Harris said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The pilots of a Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet near Washington Reagan National Airport in January never heard an air traffic controller’s instruction to pass behind the jet, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a hearing Wednesday on its investigation into the crash that killed 67 people.

Roughly 15 seconds before the collision, the controller asked the Black Hawk if it had the jet in sight as it was on approach to land. Three seconds later, the controller instructed the helicopter to pass behind the airliner, but the helicopter crew had keyed its microphone at the same time as the controller and never heard the instruction, according to the Black Hawk’s flight recorder.

The new details were part of new evidence and details of the six-month probe reveaed Wednesday. The NTSB released thousands of pages of documents — including new video from the end of the runway showing the crash — about its investigation into the January collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and the copter that was on a training flight.

The crash killed 64 passengers and crew on the airliner and all three crew on the helicopter.

Families of the victims of the crash sat in the audience of the hearing, some of whom wore pictures of their loved ones around their necks or on buttons. They broke down in tears as officials played the video with newly released surveillance footage of the incident.

During the three-day hearings, the NTSB is expected to question the Army, Federal Aviation Administration officials and others, and present its finding on the crash investigation. The NTSB will focus on a variety of topics in the hearings.

“We’re going to focus on [air traffic control], so air traffic control and training, guidance, procedures, what was going on in the air that night, and again, that is within FAA’s purview,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters on Tuesday.

The NTSB will also discuss collision avoidance systems on aircraft as well as any safety data that was available and unavailable and how safety management systems can be implemented and improved.

The probe findings indicated that the jet and the helicopter were on different frequencies and could not hear each other. The flight data recorder shows that the captain of the American Airlines flight pulled up one to two seconds before the collision, presumably in an effort to avoid the Black Hawk.

More information was also revealed about one of the Black Hawk pilots, Capt. Rebecca Lobach.

In February 2022, Lobach failed a night vision goggle annual examination, but passed other night vision goggle examinations since then, according to investigators.

She had flown 56.7 hours in the last year, an average of 4.7 hours per month. Lobach also had a temporary medical suspension from flight duty in 2024, according to investigators.

On the eve of the investigative hearings, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz introduced legislation called “The Rotor Act,” which would require all aircraft, including military, to transmit ADSB location when flying — a system that allows aircraft to transmit its location to other aircraft as well as to air traffic controllers.

All aircraft flying above 18,000 feet are required to have ADSB, but certain aircraft, including military aircraft, are exempt from transmitting ADSB location for security reasons.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the NTSB recommended to the FAA to require ADSB on all aircraft nearly two decades ago.

“ADSB, and I can’t stress this enough, is a game-changer, a game-changer when it comes to safety and will provide, as we said in 2008 immediate and substantial contribution to safety. This will save lives. This legislation will save lives,” Homendy said.

In its preliminary report, the NTSB said there is no indication the Black Hawk crew could tell it was on a collision course with Flight 5342, which was landing at the same time the helicopter was passing the end of the runway.

The helicopter crew might have had bad information from their altimeter, which measures height, as the pilots had differing altitudes in the seconds before the crash, the NTSB said in its preliminary report in February.

“We are looking at the possibility of there may be bad data,” Homendy said at the time.

The crew of the helicopter might not have heard a transmission from the tower that instructed them to go behind the airliner because the pilot may have keyed her radio at the same second and stepped on the transmission from ATC, the NTSB preliminary report findings showed.

One helicopter pilot thought they were at 400 feet and the other thought they were at 300 feet. The NTSB said it was not prepared to say exactly how high the helicopter was at impact.

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(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board began its three days of investigative hearings on Wednesday into January’s midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington’s Reagan National Airport.

On Wednesday morning, the NTSB released thousands of pages of evidence from the crash and the subsequent investigation — including new video from the end of the runway showing the crash that killed 67 people.

Families of the victims of the crash sat in the audience of the hearing, some of whom wore pictures of their loved ones around their necks or on buttons. They broke down in tears as officials played the video with newly released surveillance footage of the incident.

The crash involved a regional jet that was flying from Wichita, Kansas, into Washington and collided with an Army helicopter on a training flight, killing all 64 passengers and crew on the jet and the three crew members in the helicopter.

During the three-day hearings, the NTSB is expected to question the Army, Federal Aviation Administration officials and others, and present its finding on the crash investigation. The NTSB will focus on a variety of topics in the hearings. The first day will focus on the helicopter’s altimeters and data systems as well as the design and use of the airspace around the airport.

“We’re going to focus on [air traffic control], so air traffic control and training, guidance, procedures, what was going on in the air that night, and again, that is within FAA’s purview,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters on Tuesday.

The NTSB will also discuss collision avoidance systems on aircraft as well as any safety data that was available and unavailable and how safety management systems can be implemented and improved.

Witnesses who are testifying at the hearings include personnel from the Army, American Airlines and the FAA.

On the eve of the investigative hearings, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz introduced legislation called “The Rotor Act,” which would require all aircraft, including military, to transmit ADSB location when flying — a system that allows aircraft to transmit its location to other aircraft as well as to air traffic controllers. All aircraft flying above 18,000 feet are required to have ADSB, but certain aircraft, including military aircraft, are exempt from transmitting ADSB location for security reasons.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the NTSB recommended to the FAA to require ADSB on all aircraft nearly two decades ago.

“ADSB, and I can’t stress this enough, is a game-changer, a game-changer when it comes to safety and will provide, as we said in 2008 immediate and substantial contribution to safety. This will save lives. This legislation will save lives,” Homendy said.

In its preliminary report, the NTSB said there is no indication the Black Hawk crew could tell it was on a collision course with Flight 5342, which was landing at the same time the helicopter was passing the end of the runway.

The helicopter crew might have had bad information from their altimeter, which measures height, as the pilots had differing altitudes in the seconds before the crash, the NTSB said in its preliminary report in February.

“We are looking at the possibility of there may be bad data,” Homendy said at the time.

The crew of the helicopter might not have heard a transmission from the tower that instructed them to go behind the airliner because the pilot may have keyed her radio at the same second and stepped on the transmission from ATC, the NTSB preliminary report findings showed.

One helicopter pilot thought they were at 400 feet and the other thought they were at 300 feet. The NTSB said it was not prepared to say exactly how high the helicopter was at impact.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board began its three days of investigative hearings on Wednesday into January’s midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington’s Reagan National Airport.

On Wednesday morning, the NTSB released thousands of pages of evidence from the crash and the subsequent investigation — including new video from the end of the runway showing the crash that killed 67 people.

Families of the victims of the crash sat in the audience of the hearing, some of whom wore pictures of their loved ones around their necks or on buttons. They broke down in tears as officials played the video with newly released surveillance footage of the incident.

The crash involved a regional jet that was flying from Wichita, Kansas, into Washington and collided with an Army helicopter on a training flight, killing all 64 passengers and crew on the jet and the three crew members in the helicopter.

During the three-day hearings, the NTSB is expected to question the Army, Federal Aviation Administration officials and others, and present its finding on the crash investigation. The NTSB will focus on a variety of topics in the hearings. The first day will focus on the helicopter’s altimeters and data systems as well as the design and use of the airspace around the airport.

“We’re going to focus on [air traffic control], so air traffic control and training, guidance, procedures, what was going on in the air that night, and again, that is within FAA’s purview,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters on Tuesday.

The NTSB will also discuss collision avoidance systems on aircraft as well as any safety data that was available and unavailable and how safety management systems can be implemented and improved.

Witnesses who are testifying at the hearings include personnel from the Army, American Airlines and the FAA.

On the eve of the investigative hearings, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz introduced legislation called “The Rotor Act,” which would require all aircraft, including military, to transmit ADSB location when flying — a system that allows aircraft to transmit its location to other aircraft as well as to air traffic controllers. All aircraft flying above 18,000 feet are required to have ADSB, but certain aircraft, including military aircraft, are exempt from transmitting ADSB location for security reasons.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the NTSB recommended to the FAA to require ADSB on all aircraft nearly two decades ago.

“ADSB, and I can’t stress this enough, is a game-changer, a game-changer when it comes to safety and will provide, as we said in 2008 immediate and substantial contribution to safety. This will save lives. This legislation will save lives,” Homendy said.

In its preliminary report, the NTSB said there is no indication the Black Hawk crew could tell it was on a collision course with Flight 5342, which was landing at the same time the helicopter was passing the end of the runway.

The helicopter crew might have had bad information from their altimeter, which measures height, as the pilots had differing altitudes in the seconds before the crash, the NTSB said in its preliminary report in February.

“We are looking at the possibility of there may be bad data,” Homendy said at the time.

The crew of the helicopter might not have heard a transmission from the tower that instructed them to go behind the airliner because the pilot may have keyed her radio at the same second and stepped on the transmission from ATC, the NTSB preliminary report findings showed.

One helicopter pilot thought they were at 400 feet and the other thought they were at 300 feet. The NTSB said it was not prepared to say exactly how high the helicopter was at impact.

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(WASHINGTON) — Steve Ricchetti, who served as a counselor to former President Joe Biden, is set to appear for a closed-door interview with the Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Wednesday as its chairman, Republican Rep. James Comer, continues his investigation into the former president’s mental fitness while in office.

Ricchetti is likely to appear voluntarily. The committee did not issue a subpoena for his testimony.

The House panel has requested interviews with several former Biden officials as part of their probe into the former president’s mental capacity while in office. Ricchetti is the latest of several former Biden administration officials who have appeared before the committee.

Last week, former Chief of Staff Ron Klain cooperated with the committee for several hours.

However, several other aides have not been willing to engage with the committee and invoked the Fifth Amendment, including Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the former physician to Joe Biden, and Annie Tomasini, who served as the deputy chief of staff to Biden.

Biden himself rejected reports of cognitive decline during an appearance on ABC’s “The View” in early May.

“They are wrong. There’s nothing to sustain that,” Biden said at the time.

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(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche Monday morning seeking a public commitment that the DOJ will not advocate for a pardon or commutation for Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for her cooperation.

The letter comes after Blanche met with Maxwell privately for nine hours over two days last week, and after ABC News first reported that Maxwell was granted limited immunity during her meetings with Blanche.

In the letter, the senators call the “purpose and timing” of Blanche’s meeting with Maxwell “perplexing.”

“It is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for the Deputy Attorney General to conduct such an interview, rather than line prosecutors who are familiar with the details of the case and can more readily determine if the witness is lying. In light of troves of corroborating evidence collected through multiple investigations, a federal jury conviction, and Ms. Maxwell’s history and willingness to lie under oath, as it relates to her dealings with Jeffrey Epstein, why would DOJ depart from long-standing precedent and now seek her cooperation?” Durbin and Whitehouse wrote.

The letter is a follow up to a letter Durbin wrote earlier this month to Attorney General Pam Bondi inquiring about alleged discrepancies in Bondi’s public comments about Epstein.

Blanche’s meeting, the senators allege, appears to be an effort to distract from Bondi’s past comments.

“It seems likely this meeting is another tactic to distract from DOJ’s failure to fulfill Attorney General Bondi’s commitment that the American people would see “the full Epstein files,” especially in light of credible reports that FBI officials were told to “flag” any Epstein files in which President Trump was mentioned and that Attorney General Bondi told the President that his name appeared in the files,” the senators wrote.

The lawmakers cite Maxwell’s “documented record of lying and her desire to secure early release” as cause or concern that she “may provide false information or selectively withhold information in return for a pardon or sentence commutation.”

When asked Monday if he would rule out a pardon for Maxwell, Trump responded by saying he has the power to give her a pardon but that he has not been asked about it yet.

“Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon, but nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it,” Trump said.

Trump told reporters on Friday that it was “inappropriate” to discuss a pardon then.

In addition to commitments to not advocate for a pardon or commutation for Maxwell, the senators also asked Blanche to commit that the DOJ will provide transparency to the victims and survivors of Epstein and Maxwell with respect to decisions the department makes regarding Maxwell’s appeal to the Supreme Court, which seeks to overturn her conviction.

And they called for a release of the Epstein files.

“Rather than engaging in this elaborate ruse, DOJ should simply release the Epstein files, as Attorney General Bondi promised to do,” they write.

The senators posed a list of questions to Blanche, seeking an explanation for why Blanche believes Maxwell would now be truthful and asking what information the department believes she has that was not learned during her prosecution.

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(CANTON, Ohio) — Speaking in Canton, Ohio, on Monday, Vice President JD Vance was asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files and took an opportunity to defend President Donald Trump and his handling of the ongoing saga, which has caused controversy among his base.

Vance went straight to Trump’s defense, saying the president has been transparent about the situation.

“First of all, the president has been very clear. We’re not shielding anything,” Vance said. “The president has directed the attorney general to release all credible information and, frankly, to go and find additional credible information related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. He’s been incredibly transparent about that stuff, but some of that stuff takes time.”

Vance went on to say that Attorney General Pam Bondi is currently working on the request she received from Trump, asking her to release all credible information related to the case.

“The attorney general is hard at work on that issue right now,” Vance said of Bondi, adding that the task takes time.

“You’ve got to assemble that stuff, you’ve got to compile that stuff, you’ve got to redact some victims names so that you protect the victims,” he said.

Vance continued, claiming that the Justice Departments under former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush went “easy” on Epstein and that they didn’t thoroughly investigate the case.

Vance has been a fierce defender of the president since the fallout of the Epstein files and attacked the Wall Street Journal for its reporting that Trump allegedly wrote a “bawdy” letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday as part of a book of messages, which the president has denied.

“Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump,” Vance wrote on X in July.

Trump continues to navigate the fallout of the Epstein files. During his bilateral meeting Monday with British Prime Minister Kier Starmer in Scotland, Trump told reporters he has not been interested in anything related to the Epstein files, again, baselessly calling it “a hoax.”

“Well, I haven’t been overly interested in it. You know, it’s something. It’s a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion,” Trump said.

Trump continued, claiming without showing evidence that the Epstein files were handled by people who he said were his enemies.

“But think of it, those files were run by these people. They were run by my enemy. If there was anything in there, they would have used them for the election,” Trump said.

Epstein was charged with sex trafficking and died by suicide in jail in 2019.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday gave more details about why his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein went south, and told reporters he hasn’t been asked for a Ghislaine Maxwell pardon.

Trump continues to face questions on Epstein, and his administration’s handling of files related to the deceased financier and convicted sex offender accused of sex trafficking minors, even overseas during a working visit to Scotland.

In a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump’s golf property in Turnberry, Trump was pressed if a pardon for Maxwell was something he would consider and continued not to rule it out.

“Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon,” Trump said. “But nobody’s approached me with it, nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news, that — that aspect of it. But right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.”

Maxwell, a longtime Epstein associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, sat down for two meetings last week with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. ABC News reported that sources say it was Maxwell who initiated the talks, and that she was granted limited immunity.

Blanche has not revealed what the Justice Department learned from the some nine-hour interview, only saying he would share additional information at the “appropriate time.” Maxwell’s attorney has said she was asked about 100 different people during their conversations.

Trump was also asked on Monday about parts of his relationship with Epstein, particularly their falling out.

“But for years, I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t talk because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help, and I said, ‘don’t ever do that again.’ He stole people that worked for me. I said, ‘don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again. And I threw him out of the place persona non-grata.”

“I threw him out and that was it. I’m glad I did, if you want to know the truth,” Trump continued.

Trump did not offer any specifics, but as ABC News has previously reported, Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein accuser who died by suicide in April, had accused Maxwell of recruiting her while she was working as a locker-room attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 2000 and bringing her to Epstein’s home for a massage.

Trump went on to say he never went to Epstein’s island, and instead listed other high-profile individuals he claimed went to the island, including former President Bill Clinton. Clinton has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

“I never had the privilege of going to his island,” Trump said, “and I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down, I didn’t want to go to his island.”

The president repeated his denial of a Wall Street Journal report that he allegedly sent Epstein a letter that included a drawing of a naked woman in 2003 for Epstein’s 50th birthday, which the Journal reported was included in a birthday book made for Epstein that contained letters from numerous Epstein associates.

Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and claims the letter does not exist. Dow Jones, the owner of the Journal, has said it has “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting” and will defend against the lawsuit.

“I don’t do drawings. I’m not a drawing person,” Trump said on Monday. “I don’t do drawings. Sometimes you would say, would you draw a building? And I’ll draw four lines and a little roof, you know, for a charity stuff. But I’m not a drawing person. I don’t do drawings of women, that I can tell you.”

Meanwhile, House Democrats are requesting a copy of the alleged “birthday book” and an attorney who has represented hundreds of Epstein’s victims said that the estate was in possession of the book. ABC News has not confirmed the existence of the letter Trump allegedly sent to Epstein for the book.

Trump on Monday also continued to say, without providing evidence, that the controversy was a “hoax” perpetrated by his political enemies, including former President Joe Biden and former FBI Director James Comey.

“Well, I haven’t been overly interested in it,” Trump said of the Epstein files. “You know, it’s something, it’s a hoax that’s been built up way beyond proportion.”

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