Court Papers: Trump Ate At Jeffrey Epstein’s House
Donald Trump at a recent event in Ohio. Ty Wright / Getty Images
But he apparently ate at the servants’ table. Trump’s associates this year have downplayed the relationship between him and Epstein, the financier who was accused of sexually abusing minors in the 2000s.
by Alex Campbell posted on Nov. 25, 2015, at 4:52 p.m., updated on Nov. 26, 2015, at 3:55 p.m.
This February, as Donald Trump cleared his throat for a presidential run, he threw some innuendo in the direction of Bill Clinton.
But court papers — in one case previously unreported — suggest that the Republican frontrunner for president had a closer relationship with Epstein than he has recently let on, dining at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion and riding on his private jet.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Mark Epstein declined to comment beyond what was in his deposition. A call to Juan Alessi was answered by a man identifying himself as his son John, who said that Juan did not want to talk about the Epstein case.
In 2002, before those allegations surfaced, Trump told New York magazine [ http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/n_7912/ ] that Epstein was a “terrific guy” who he had known for 15 years. “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. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
In response to a message left seeking the Trump campaign’s comment on this article, on Thursday Trump’s general counsel Alan Garten emailed threatening legal action against BuzzFeed News. “Mr. Trump’s only connection with Mr. Epstein was that Mr. Epstein was one of thousands of people who has visited Mar-a-Lago. That’s it. Mr. Trump has NEVER been accused of having any involvement or even having any knowledge of any of Mr. Epstein’s conduct by anyone,” Garten wrote.
“As a result, I have no idea what the purpose of your article could possibly be other than to try and intentionally and with actual malice defame my client’s name and reputation by mentioning him in the same article as Mr. Epstein. In other words, suggest guilt by association. This is the very definition of irresponsible and reckless journalism and to publish such a story would be highly unethical - even by buzzfeed’s standards.”