Trump Supporters Stirred by Controversy Surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's "List" | Vanity Fair

By Bess Levin

Court documents set to be released soon related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, are apparently of immense concern to supporters of Donald Trump, who seem to be girding themselves over the prospect of his name showing up.

While social media posts—and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers—have been speculating that the forthcoming information will be a “list” of clients or Epstein accomplices, as the Associated Press notes, “There is no such list, and the truth is less scandalous.” Rather, the documents set for release stem from a defamation lawsuit filed by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence. The AP reports:

Some records have been released, either in part or in full, in other court cases. Much of the rest involve topics and people who have been exhaustively covered in nearly two decades’ worth of newspaper stories, TV documentaries, interviews, books, and testimony at Maxwell’s criminal trial.

The people named in the records include many of Epstein’s accusers, members of his staff who told their stories to tabloid newspapers, people who served as witnesses at Maxwell’s trial, people who were mentioned in passing during depositions but aren’t accused of anything salacious, and people who investigated Epstein, including prosecutors, a journalist, and a detective.

There are also boldface names of public figures known to have associated with Epstein over the years, but whose relationships with him have already been well-documented elsewhere, the judge said.

Nevertheless, supporters of the ex-president have been contorting themselves to preemptively explain away why his name might appear in the documents. As The New Republic noted on Wednesday, one X user told his followers: “High chance that the Epstein filings will include Donald Trump’s name. Out of context, the legacy media and TDS sufferers will pretend this isn’t because he gave willing testimony against Epstein when queried and will make believe that it makes him a pervert.” Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren suggested “they” are going to go after Trump for something “to bury the Epstein document dump and all the pedophiles on it,” writing, “Every time they want to cover their tracks, they go after Trump.” Meanwhile, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones insisted Trump would never go to “Epstein Island,” where many of Epstein’s crimes are said to have occurred, because he’s such a monogamist and a gentleman. “He gets devoted to one woman at a time, gets totally obsessed with them, totally nice to them,” Jones claimed, not mentioning that Trump is literally set to stand trial for allegedly paying a porn star hush money to keep quiet about an affair they had.*

Trump has previously spoken of his affection for Epstein,tellingNew York in 2002,“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” According to TheNew York Times,a decade prior, TrumpdirectedFlorida businessmanGeorge Houraneyto organize a “calendar girl” competition at Mar-a-Lago, and, after 28 female contestants were secured, revealed that the other guests were just “him and Epstein.” Video footage from that same yearshowsthe two men partying together at the Palm Beach resort with cheerleaders for the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. The friendly relationship continued for more than 10 years after that, with the two menreportedlydining at Epstein’s mansion and attendingmanyof the same dinner parties; according to Epstein’s brother,Mark,Trump would comp Epstein’s mother and aunt at one of his Atlantic City casino hotels, andflewon Epstein’s private jet “numerous times.” One person who observed both men told TheWashington Postthat “they were tight” and that “they were each other’s wingmen.” Later, they reportedly had a falling out over a real estate deal. In 2019, Trump told reporters from the Oval Office that he hadn’t spoken to Epstein in about 15 years, adding: “I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you.”