The US Justice Department has confirmed it will investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged connections to several prominent Democrats and major financial institutions, after President Donald Trump publicly urged the department to examine Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with former President Bill Clinton and others.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the department “will pursue this with urgency and integrity,” though it remains unclear whether Trump made a formal directive to the department or was responding to his own public statements posted on his Truth Social platform. Bondi announced that US Attorney Jay Clayton has been appointed to lead the inquiry.
Trump’s call for an expanded investigation comes days after the US House Oversight Committee released thousands of emails from Epstein’s estate, renewing scrutiny of the disgraced financier’s relationships with political, business, and academic figures. The trove includes over 20,000 pages of documents, among them 2,324 email threads. A review by the Wall Street Journal found Trump’s name referenced in more than 1,600 of them, though he did not send or receive the messages in question.
Democrats immediately criticized the president’s request, arguing it amounted to an attempt to deflect attention from the recently released documents. Representative Robert Garcia, the committee’s top Democrat, said Trump was trying to “deflect from serious new questions we have about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Among those Trump said he asked the Justice Department to scrutinize were Bill Clinton, JPMorgan Chase, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman. “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!” Trump wrote online. Clinton has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase said the bank “regrets any association” it had with Epstein and emphasized that the institution “did not help him commit his heinous acts.” The bank previously faced lawsuits related to its historical ties to Epstein, ultimately settling with Epstein’s victims and the US Virgin Islands government without admitting wrongdoing.
Interest in Epstein’s connections surged again this week as newly released documents revealed additional correspondence with public figures, including Summers. One 2017 email appears to show Summers offering his view of Trump’s political fortunes early in his presidency. A representative for Summers reiterated that he “deeply regrets” maintaining any contact with Epstein after the financier’s 2008 conviction.
The documents also included exchanges between Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate now serving a 20-year federal sentence for sex trafficking. In a 2011 email, Epstein appeared to reference Trump in a message to Maxwell, though the meaning and context of the remark are unclear. Trump has said he cut ties with Epstein in the early 2000s and has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Though he was mentioned in several documents, none of the newly released emails were authored by him.
The Justice Department announcement comes at a politically sensitive moment, as the House of Representatives prepares to vote next week on releasing all remaining DOJ files related to Epstein. The vote was triggered after Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn into office and immediately signed a discharge petition calling for the files’ release. Her signature provided the 218th vote—just enough to bring the measure to the floor. Four Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the petition.
Pressure from Epstein survivors and their families has intensified. In an open letter to Congress this week, survivors urged lawmakers to support the release of all remaining records. “Imagine if your own family had been preyed upon,” the letter read. “When you vote, we will remember your decision at the ballot box.”
Some Republicans have also broken with Trump on the issue. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said it would be a “huge miscalculation” for the president to oppose the release of Epstein-related files. Greene, along with representatives Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, and Thomas Massie, joined Democrats in signing the petition. “I truly just stand with the women, and I think they deserve to be the ones that we’re fighting for,” Greene said.
Trump responded sharply, announcing he was withdrawing support for Greene and offering to back her primary challenger. He called the congresswoman—formerly a close ally—“wacky” and “a ranting lunatic.” “That’s too bad she’s lost a wonderful conservative reputation,” he told reporters Friday night.
Traditionally, presidents avoid directing the Justice Department to investigate specific individuals or private entities, a practice meant to preserve the department’s independence. Such requests are even more unusual when they involve political rivals or predecessors. While the Biden administration oversaw investigations into Trump’s alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 election, those cases were handed to a special counsel and later dropped when Trump returned to office.
The renewed focus on Epstein—who died in federal custody in 2019—shows no sign of waning. With Congress preparing for a critical vote and the Justice Department opening a new inquiry, the political and legal reverberations surrounding Epstein’s sprawling network of associates continue to shake Washington.
