As Elon Musk and Donald Trump traded barbs publicly on Thursday, an unlikely name emerged, putting the US President on a spot. The name was Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender. The Tesla CEO alleged the files pertaining to the case were never made public since Trump's name was there.
The former advisor-turned-foe, who is at loggerheads with Trump over his "Big Beautiful Bill," left the US administration last month to focus more on his business that suffered while he spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
On Thursday, Trump and Musk were locked in a verbal duel when the Tesla CEO dropped a "big bomb."
"Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!" Musk wrote on his X platform.
He further asked his followers to mark this post for the future when "truth will come out."
What are the Epstein files?
For the past few months, the Trump administration has been urged to release the Epstein files. This involves the remaining investigative documents related to the case of Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in a New York-based federal jail in 2019.
It's a collection of evidence the investigators working on the multiple criminal cases against Epstein and his associates gathered over a period of time. Some of the files were released in the past.
After Donald Trump took charge of the White House in January this year, the US Justice Department released additional files related to the case in February. It stated that these were largely documents “previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the US government”.
On Wednesday, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told Fox News that the department would release more documents in the coming weeks.
Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump's friendship
The Trump-Epstein friendship dates back to the 1990s. A 1992 clip showing Trump hosting a “calendar girl” competition at the Mar-a-Lago estate was shared on X by Elon Musk. It shows them pointing out women on the dance floor.
Trump is also believed to have flown on Epstein's private jet a lot of times in the 1990s, majorly between Florida and New York, as per the documents released in the case related to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's heiress, currently serving 20 years in prison for helping him target and sexually abuse young girls and women.
The two of them were photographed several times at Trump's private golf club during the 1990s as well as in the early 2000s.
In an interview with New York magazine in 2002, Trump said he had known Epstein for 15 years and called him a "terrific guy". He added that Epstein was 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," Trump said.
The US President distanced himself from Epstein when he was arrested again in 2019. At the time, he said that he knew Epstein "like everybody in Palm Beach knew him". "I don't think I have spoken to him for 15 years. I was not a fan," he added.
According to reports, the two had a fallout in 2004 following competition over a Florida real estate. Thereafter, Trump said he barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago, claiming he attempted to recruit a woman who worked at the club.
Who was Jeffrey Epstein?
The multi-millionaire was famous for his association with celebrities and politicians. He was initially taken into custody in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2005 on charges of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex.
Similar sexual abuse cases were later described by dozens of underage girls. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to procuring a child for prostitution. He served 13 months in a jail work-release program.
He was arrested again in July 2019 and charged with serious federal crimes. The following month, he allegedly died by suicide in a jail cell while awaiting trial on those charges.
These documents are part of a lawsuit filed against Maxwell in 2015 by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims, according to The Guardian. She is among dozens of young girls and women who earlier sued Epstein for abusing them at his houses in Florida, New York, and New Mexico.
In 2019, nearly 2,000 pages were unsealed in connection with the case. Similar documents were released in 2020, 2021 and 2022 as well.
