The latest development in U.S President Donald Trump’s account of how his closely watched connection ended years ago was his claim on Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein “stole” young ladies who worked for the Mar-a-Lago spa.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent sex trafficking accusations, was one of the women, he admitted.
Trump’s claims built on his statements the day before, when he claimed that Epstein “stole people that worked for me” and that he had barred him from his private club in Florida twenty years prior.
Trump has attempted to tamp down questions about the case, expressing annoyance that people are still talking about it six years after Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial, even though some of his own allies have promoted conspiracy theories about it.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend, was recently interviewed inside a Florida courthouse by the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, though officials have not publicly disclosed what she said.
Her lawyers indicated Tuesday that she would be willing to answer additional questions from Congress provided she is granted immunity from future prosecution for her testimony and legislators agree to other conditions.
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Asked if Giuffre was one of the employees poached by Epstein, he demurred but then said “he stole her.” The White House originally said Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago because he was acting like a “creep.” Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year. She claimed that Maxwell spotted her working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, when she was a teenager, and hired her as Epstein’s masseuse, which led to sexual abuse.
Although Giuffre’s allegations did not become part of criminal prosecutions against Epstein, she is central to conspiracy theories about the case. She accused Epstein of pressuring her into having sex with powerful men.
Maxwell, who has rejected Giuffre’s charges, is serving a 20-year sentence in a Florida federal prison for collaborating with Epstein to sexually assault minors.
A representative for the House Oversight Committee, which sought the interview with Maxwell, stated that the panel would not consider granting her the requested immunity.
The potential interview is part of a flurry of renewed interest in the Epstein case following the Justice Department’s announcement earlier this month that no additional records from the investigation would be released, an abrupt announcement that stunned online sleuths, conspiracy theorists, and elements of Trump’s political base who had been hoping to find evidence of a government cover-up.
