At Trump’s urging, Bondi says US will investigate Epstein’s ties to Clinton and other political foes

By MICHAEL R SISAK and JESSE BEDAYN NEW YORK AP Acceding to President Donald Trump s demands U S Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that she has ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate sex offender Jeffrey Epstein s ties to Trump political foes including former President Bill Clinton Related Articles Business groups ask Supreme Court to pause California situation reporting laws in exigency appeal Postmaster general says US Postal Arrangement demands revenue increase not just cuts Trump to welcome the Saudi crown prince with arrival ceremony deal signings and lavish dinner As physical condition companies get bigger so do the bills It s unclear if Trump s organization will intervene Can federal immigration agents go in schools Here s what to know Bondi posted on X that she was assigning Manhattan U S Attorney Jay Clayton to lead the probe capping an eventful week in which congressional Republicans published nearly pages of documents from Epstein s estate and House Democrats seized on emails mentioning Trump Trump who was friends with Epstein for years didn t explain what supposed crimes he requested the Justice Department to investigate None of the men he mentioned in a social media post demanding the probe has been accused of sexual misconduct by any of Epstein s casualties Hours before Bondi s announcement Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would ask her the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Epstein s involvement and relationship with Clinton and others including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman Trump calling the matter the Epstein Hoax involving Democrats not Republicans noted the research should also include financial giant JPMorgan Chase which provided banking services to Epstein and various other people and institutions This is another Russia Russia Russia Scam with all arrows pointing to the Democrats the Republican president wrote referring to special counsel Robert Mueller s review of alleged Russian interference in Trump s poll domination over Bill Clinton s wife former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Big names in Epstein s emails Trump Bill Clinton Summers and Hoffman were all mentioned in the documents published this week a collection of emails Epstein exchanged with friends and business associates news articles book excerpts legal papers and other material Protest art representing President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein sits outside Busboys and Poets restaurant in the U Street neighborhood of Washington Thursday Nov AP Photo Pablo Martinez Monsivais Epstein kept in touch with Summers and Hoffman via email according to the documents and wrote to other people about Trump and Clinton being in his company at various times over the years though nothing in the messages suggested any wrongdoing on the men s part Clinton has acknowledged traveling on Epstein s private jet but has stated through a spokesperson that he had no knowledge of the late financier s crimes Neither Clinton nor Trump have been accused of wrongdoing by any of the women who say Epstein abused them Summers who served in Clinton s cabinet and is a former Harvard University president previously announced in a report that he has great regrets in my life and that my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgement Message seeking comment were left for Hoffman through his resources firm Greylock and with a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase After Epstein s sex trafficking arrest in Hoffman commented he d only had a scant interactions with Epstein all related to his fundraising for MIT s Media Lab He nevertheless apologized saying that by agreeing to participate in any fundraising activity where Epstein was present I helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice None of Epstein s casualties have accused Hoffman of misconduct Bondi in her post praised Clayton as one of the majority capable and trusted prosecutors in the country and explained the Justice Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people Clayton the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump s first term took over in April as U S attorney for the Southern District of New York the same office that indicted Epstein and won a sex trafficking conviction against Epstein s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell in Trump changes curriculum on Epstein files Trump has raised questions about Epstein s death in jail a month after his arrest and suggested while campaigning last year that he d seek to open up the establishment s matter files FILE This photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein March New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP File But Trump has changed unit in modern months blaming Democrats and painting the matter as a hoax amid questions about his own friendship with Epstein and what knowledge he may have had about Epstein s yearslong exploitation of underage girls On Wednesday Democrats on the House Oversight Committee distributed three Epstein email exchanges that referenced Trump including one from in which Epstein revealed the president knew about the girls and another from in which he reported Trump had spent hours at his house with a sex trafficking victim The emails did not say what Trump knew and did not give any details of what Trump did while at Epstein s house White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of having selectively leaked emails to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump Soon after Republicans on the committee disclosed what they declared was an additional pages of documents from Epstein s estate Among them were emails Epstein wrote including countless where he commented often unfavorably on Trump s rise in politics and corresponded with journalists Other emails show Epstein keeping up friendly relationships with academic and business leaders including Summers and Hoffman well after he pleaded guilty in and served months in jail for procuring a person under for prostitution Epstein and Summers discussed politics arranged calls with each other and spoke on more intimate matters according to the emails including about a woman Summers had interactions with Epstein s advice to him You care very much for this person you might want to demonstrate that Epstein exchanged just a sparse emails with Hoffman who later bankrolled writer E Jean Carroll s sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against Trump In one exchange in Epstein notified the billionaire heyy it looks like your diet venture has worked Hoffman replied slow progress planning to see you in August Hope your well Bedayn stated from Denver