Three days after the publication of thousands of investigation files into the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, US President Donald Trump made a lengthy statement about it for the first time. Asked by a journalist whether he was surprised by the numerous photos in the investigation files, Trump said: “I don’t like pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don’t like pictures of other people being shown. That’s a terrible thing.”
Trump had promised to release the Epstein files during his election campaign, but vehemently opposed it as president. Unusually unaggressive, he did not use the partial publication of the files, which included photos of former Democratic President Bill Clinton, to launch further attacks. Instead, he defended Clinton. Trump said he thought Clinton could handle it; he always got along well with him.
Trump also complained that people who had nothing to do with Epstein were shown in photos because he was at the same party. This is how you destroy people’s reputations. But that’s exactly what the Democrats and a few “bad” Republicans demanded. He complained that the publication of some of the files would make his government’s “successes” forgotten.
After pressure from the public and a corresponding law from the US Congress, the US Department of Justice uploaded thousands of files to its website, and more are to follow. The release came on the last day of a deadline imposed on the ministry. However, contrary to requirements, the ministry did not publish all files. There is criticism of this, MPs from both parties want to force publication. A photo showing Trump was temporarily deleted and then published again.
This article will continue to be updated.
