Jeffrey Epstein asked convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to “remove Trump” from a list of high-profile figures in an email exchange in 2006, according to a bombshell report from Bloomberg published Thursday.
Trump has been under renewed scrutiny in recent months for his past ties with Epstein, who died in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, following the publication of a bawdy letter Trump had allegedly sent the disgraced financier in 2003. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, calling theories around Epstein a “hoax.”
However, according to a batch of 18,000 emails obtained by Bloomberg, Epstein had mentioned Trump multiple times in private emails in the mid-2000s, including in a request to have him removed from a list of powerful figures.
“Please review list and add or remove peeps,” wrote Maxwell in an email to Epstein dated Sept. 14, 2006, alongside a list of 51 powerful figures that included lawmakers and business executives.
“Remove Trump,” Epstein responded, according to Bloomberg, which exclusively obtained the emails and thoroughly vetted and reviewed them with four independent experts.
The purpose of the list of powerful figures was unclear, Bloomberg wrote, given that the email had no subject line or additional context that would give clues as to why Epstein was compiling a list of names.
The email exchange took place just two months after Epstein was first charged in Florida for prostitution, a charge that, despite the FBI having identified at least 40 potential minor victims, saw Epstein given a plea deal that saw him serve just 18 months in prison, and be allowed to leave on work release for up to 12 hours a day.
That plea deal was offered by then federal prosecutor Alexander Acosta, Trump’s Labor secretary during his first term, who said he offered Epstein the generous plea deal because he was told to “leave it alone,” that the matter was “above his paygrade” and that Epstein “belonged to intelligence.”
Another mention of Trump came from an email dated Aug. 23, 2007, this time just one month before Epstein agreed to his plea deal that also granted immunity to any of Epstein’s potential co-conspirators.
“You have to assume they went to Donald Trump then, Gossman, the docs in [West Palm Beach], Paschow etc.,” Maxwell wrote in an email to Epstein.
Bloomberg reporters’ analysis of the email speculate that Maxwell was referring to members of the press contacting those in Epstein’s circle following the charges filed against him; Abe Gosman, a real estate investor who sold Trump a Palm Beach mansion in 2004; and Joel Pashcow, another real estate developer who sent Epstein a photo of the disgraced financier holding a novelty check, apparently signed by Trump, suggesting Epstein sold him a woman for $22,500.
Trump continues to face mounting pressure over his past ties with Epstein, with Democratic lawmakers – along with a few dissenting Republicans – continuing their push to unseal additional documents on Epstein currently held by the Justice Department.
