Trump knew about Epstein's abuse, FBI interview with police chief claims
Former Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter made the claim in an interview with the FBI in 2019, according to newly unearthed Epstein files.
Donald Trump knew about Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of young girls and called police to thank them for 'stopping' him, newly released files have suggested.
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Donald Trump knew about Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of young girls and called police to thank them for 'stopping' him, newly released files have suggested. The President phoned Palm Beach's police department in 2006 to congratulate them on the charges they had secured against Epstein, according to a transcript of an interview given by former police chief Michael Reiter to the FBI in 2019.A transcript of Mr Reiter's testimony has been released as part of the so-called "Epstein Files" by Trump's Department of Justice.According to the files, Mr Reiter told the FBI that Mr Trump told him: “Thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this."Read More: Ex-Royal Family fan Seamus has completely lost his faith over Andrew's ties to EpsteinRead More: Epstein survivors and Democrats introduce 'Virginia's Law' to remove time limits for sex crime victims to sue abusers
The President allegedly phoned Palm Beach's police department in 2006 to congratulate them on the charges they had secured against Epstein (pictured).
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The phone call is said to have come shortly after the first charges were brought against Epstein, which culminated in his 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution.Mr Reiter also said that Trump, a decade before he was first elected as President, tipped the force off about Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.Trump is also said to have told police to “focus” on Maxwell, who he said was “evil” and Epstein’s “operative”.Maxwell is currently serving 20 years for her crimes, and refused to answer Congressional questions about Epstein earlier this week.Mr Reiter became Palm Beach's police chief in 2001 and retired in 2009.According to Mr Reiter, Mr Trump told him he was around Epstein once when teenagers were present and “got the hell out of there”.He added that people in New York knew Epstein was “disgusting”.The release clashes with an earlier insistence from the President that he did not know about the financier's abuse of young women and girls.But the call does support separate statements from the Trump administration that he had kicked Mr Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach for "being a creep" and that the paedophile had "stolen" young female employees including chief accuser Virginia Giuffre.The reported phone call was first reported by the Miami Herald, which also claims that Mr Reiter struggled to convince more senior law enforcement to take the allegations against Epstein seriously.
The release clashes with an earlier insistence from the President that he did not know about the financier's abuse of young women and girls.
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Trump has also claimed he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago over the financier being a "creep".
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Alamy
A four-page summary of the former chief's interview, found among three million documents released by the Department of Justice, details that the Palm Beach PD began watching Epstein's mansion in the luxury enclave in 2003.After receiving a tip about attractive young women entering and exiting his home, police stopped two but found them to be adult employees.Afterwards, Epstein is alleged to have donated $130,000 (£95,000) to the police department for the purchase of a fingerprint machine and a device to review security camera footage.Epstein also reportedly donated to the police's scholarship fund for children, Mr Reiter said.An FBI spokesperson told The Telegraph they were not "aware of any corroborating evidence that the President contacted law enforcement 20 years ago".Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told The Telegraph that he had kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for being a “creep,” adding: “This call, if it did happen, corroborates exactly what President Trump has said from the beginning.”
