A former Florida police chief said he received a call from Donald Trump in 2006 in which the now-president told him 'everyone' knows about the disgraced financier's behaviour, according to an FBI document released in the latest batch of Epstein files. The document is a written record of a 2019 FBI interview with the former Palm Beach police chief, who alleges Trump called him after the department launched an investigation into Epstein and said: 'Thank goodness you're stopping him, everyone has known he's been doing this.' The officer's name is redacted, but the document identifies the interview subject as the Palm Beach police chief at the time of its Epstein investigation. That was Michael Reiter, who told the Miami Herald that he received the call from Trump.
The president has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and has said he did not know about his crimes. The alleged call, however, is likely to raise further questions about what Trump knew and when. Asked by reporters in 2019 - when Epstein was arrested by federal agents for sex trafficking - if he had 'any suspicions' about the disgraced financier, Trump said: 'No, I had no idea. I had no idea. I haven't spoken to him in many, many years.'
According to the FBI summary of the interview, Reiter said Trump told him in a July 2006 call that he had thrown Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club and 'people in New York knew he was disgusting.' Reiter also claims Trump told him Ghislaine Maxwell was Epstein's 'operative, and she is evil and to focus on her.'
Reiter also told the FBI that Trump said he was around Epstein when he was with teenagers and that he 'got the hell out of there.' According to the document, he stated that Trump was one of the 'very first people to call' Florida police when he heard they were investigating Epstein. In 2006, Palm Beach police were investigating the disgraced financier for the alleged sexual exploitation of underage girls. The case was later turned over to federal prosecutors, who in 2008 made a controversial plea deal with Epstein that included a non-prosecution agreement that protected him from more serious charges.
In a statement to the BBC, a justice department official said: 'We are not aware of any corroborating evidence that the president contacted law enforcement 20 years ago.' At the White House briefing on Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the reported call, and she stated it 'may or may not have happened in 2006. I don't know the answer.'
Reports of the alleged call came after Maxwell - who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. During the closed-door deposition, Maxwell refused to answer questions and pleaded the Fifth Amendment, invoking her right to remain silent. Maxwell's lawyer claimed she was 'prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.' Trump has said he has not thought about giving a pardon to Maxwell.
The president has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and has said he did not know about his crimes. The alleged call, however, is likely to raise further questions about what Trump knew and when. Asked by reporters in 2019 - when Epstein was arrested by federal agents for sex trafficking - if he had 'any suspicions' about the disgraced financier, Trump said: 'No, I had no idea. I had no idea. I haven't spoken to him in many, many years.'
According to the FBI summary of the interview, Reiter said Trump told him in a July 2006 call that he had thrown Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club and 'people in New York knew he was disgusting.' Reiter also claims Trump told him Ghislaine Maxwell was Epstein's 'operative, and she is evil and to focus on her.'
Reiter also told the FBI that Trump said he was around Epstein when he was with teenagers and that he 'got the hell out of there.' According to the document, he stated that Trump was one of the 'very first people to call' Florida police when he heard they were investigating Epstein. In 2006, Palm Beach police were investigating the disgraced financier for the alleged sexual exploitation of underage girls. The case was later turned over to federal prosecutors, who in 2008 made a controversial plea deal with Epstein that included a non-prosecution agreement that protected him from more serious charges.
In a statement to the BBC, a justice department official said: 'We are not aware of any corroborating evidence that the president contacted law enforcement 20 years ago.' At the White House briefing on Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the reported call, and she stated it 'may or may not have happened in 2006. I don't know the answer.'
Reports of the alleged call came after Maxwell - who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. During the closed-door deposition, Maxwell refused to answer questions and pleaded the Fifth Amendment, invoking her right to remain silent. Maxwell's lawyer claimed she was 'prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.' Trump has said he has not thought about giving a pardon to Maxwell.
