President Donald Trump has ordered Pam Bondi to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s links to Bill Clinton and other Democratic enemies as he struggles to contain the fallout over the convicted sex offender.
But there is one prominent name he has missed off his list of DOJ targets—himself.
After avoiding questions about Epstein for the third consecutive day, Trump took to social media on Friday to direct his Attorney General to investigate the disgraced financier’s connection to the former president, as well as former Harvard president Larry Summers, mega-donor Reid Hoffman and JP Morgan Chase.
“Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures, I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him,” he wrote.
“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his “Island.” Stay tuned!!!”
Trump’s Friday morning post is not the first time he has ordered Bondi to go after his enemies.
So far this year, his retribution campaign has targeted former FBI director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton, and Democrat Senator Adam Schiff.
And once again, Bondi - who had promised to release the Epstein files but has since come come under fire for her handling of the issue - quickly adhered to his demand.
Within hours she had appointed Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to take the lead.
“As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people,” Bondi said.
The push to probe Clinton and other high-profile figures in Epstein’s orbit comes as the president braces for several Republicans to break ranks next week and support a bipartisan bill calling for the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.
The issue exploded to the fore again on Wednesday when explosive emails released revealed Trump may have known more about Epstein’s conduct than he has acknowledged.
One email claimed Trump “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with one of his victims, who has since been identified as the late Virginia Giuffre.
In another, Epstein explicitly stated Trump “knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop”—a reference to Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who recruited victims as part of his sex trafficking operation.
But as the president’s frustration over the Epstein files grows, he has now sought to turn the blowtorch on others, declaring earlier on Friday: “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!”
Epstein and Clinton moved in overlapping social and political circles, but the former president has long insisted he knew nothing about the child sex trafficker’s crimes.
According to flight records, Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet—sometimes referred to as the Lolita Express—for what he has said were trips related to his charitable foundation.
As reported earlier this year, Clinton also contributed to a 50th birthday book for Epstein decades ago, just as Trump did, in which he described the “childlike curiosity” of the then-financier.
A spokesperson for Clinton told the Daily Beast: “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing. The rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.”
Epstein’s emails also feature correspondence with Summers, a former Treasury Secretary and a prominent economist who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations.
In one email, Summers tells Epstein about a 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia, including a quip that the “general view” among Saudi officials was that “Donald is a clown, increasingly dangerous on foreign policy.”
In another email, Epstein describes himself as a “good wing man” as they discuss Summers’ attempts to attract women.
Hoffman was also linked to Epstein, but has previously said his “few interactions” involved fundraising for the MIT Media Lab.
The venture capitalist and LinkedIn founder once invited Epstein to an August 2015 dinner in Palo Alto with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and JD Vance’s top donor, Peter Thiel.
In a statement on X, Hoffman called for all the files to be released.
“I refuse to bend the knee to Donald Trump and is slanderous lies,” he added.
The men, along with JB Chase, who was one of Epstein’s former clients, are among many people named in the latest trove of emails.
The emails, released by the House Oversight Committee, also name Trump multiple times over 15 years as well as allies such as Steve Bannon and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack.
But Trump has ordered Bondi to probe the group anyway, while at the same time describing the Epstein files as a “hoax” designed to distract from his achievements.
“Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!” he said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Summers.
