Donald Trump has tried to distance himself from fallout over his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, but nearly half of Americans believe the President was “involved in crimes” allegedly committed by the disgraced financier, a new poll finds.
Trump has repeatedly denied reports about his connections to the late sex offender. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi told the President in May that his name appeared in the so-called “Epstein Files,” shortly after Trump told reporters that his name didn’t appear in any of the documents.
Being named in the files does not suggest any wrongdoing and Trump has not been accused, or charged with any crime related to the Epstein case. The White House also dubbed the WSJ report “fake news.”
But it appears that nearly half of the American public doesn’t buy it. Some 46 percent saying they believe Trump “was involved in crimes allegedly committed” by Epstein, according to a poll by The Economist and YouGov this month. That’s compared to 32 percent who say they don’t think the president was criminally linked to Epstein and 23 percent who said they’re not sure.
Democrats in particular think Trump was an Epstein accomplice, with 80 percent saying they think he was involved in the disgraced financier’s alleged crimes compared to just 5 percent who don’t think he was involved.
Just 11 percent of Republicans think he was involved with Epstein’s alleged crimes while 68 percent believe Trump wasn’t.
The poll also asked respondents about the government’s handling of the case. Most respondents — 82 percent — believe the Trump administration should release “all” documents related to the Epstein case, the poll found. Similarly, 67 percent say the government is “covering up” evidence related to the case.
Meanwhile, only 21 percent of poll-takers approved of the way Trump is handling investigations into Epstein, compared to 61 percent who disapprove. Trump’s overall job approval as president sits at 40 percent, the poll found.
In a separate poll this week by the Washington Post, 58 percent of respondents said they were not happy with the way Trump was responding to issues related to the Epstein files.
Chaos has plagued the Trump administration since early July when the Justice Department released a memo stating no further disclosures in the Epstein case were necessary. The memo said there was no evidence to support the existence of a “client list” of high-profile associates linked to Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme, and confirmed the official finding that he had died by suicide, pouring cold water on years of conspiracy theories.
The memo marked an abrupt end to months of anticipation about the high-profile case. In February, Bondi released a tranche of documents dubbed “Phase 1” of the Epstein files - which mostly contained publicly available information - but insinuated the client list was sitting on her desk.
Since the July 6 memo, Trump’s MAGA followers and members of his own party have called for increased transparency around the case.
Scrutiny intensified after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump wrote a 50th birthday card to Epstein that allegedly contained a sexually suggestive drawing and indicated both men shared “secrets.” The president has denied writing the card and has sued the Journal and its owners for $10 billion for defamation.
In response to the mounting backlash, Trump asked Bondi to release any "pertinent" grand jury transcripts related to Epstein.
The attorney general requested that the courts release grand jury transcripts relating to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend, who was jailed for 20 years for her role in the scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple girls. The judges have so far denied the Justice Department’s requests on legal grounds.
The House Oversight Committee also approved a subpoena for Maxwell. Her attorneys said in the letter Tuesday that she would cooperate with the subpoena if certain conditions were met, like a grant of formal immunity, CNN first reported.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell and her attorneys for two days last week.
“She was asked about maybe about 100 different people. She answered questions about everybody and she didn't hold anything back,” her attorney David Oscar Markus told reporters Friday. “She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question. So we’re very proud of her.”
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