Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California called on members of the press Tuesday to investigate allegations of sexual assault against President Donald Trump revealed in the recently released Epstein files.
The fallout from the release of the documents continues to put Republicans under the microscope for their attempts to cover up the details of the investigation.
“[Republicans] are trying to distract from the fact that Donald Trump is in the Epstein files thousands and thousands of times,” Lieu said. “In those files there’s highly disturbing allegations of Donald Trump raping children. Of Donald Trump threatening to kill children. So I encourage your press to go look at these allegations.”
A New York Times review of the Epstein files found more than 5,300 files that reference Trump and related search terms. Among those files are several unverified tips submitted to the FBI alleging criminal conduct by Trump.
Trump claimed on Saturday that the Epstein files “absolved me” of wrongdoing, but as Lieu made clear, the opposite is true.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s response to Trump’s prominence in the Epstein files? “It’s not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”
The renewed scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein comes as the White House attempts to pivot away from Trump’s stance on the files when he was campaigning, during which he called for full accountability and regularly insinuated that the Epstein files would implicate Democrats and other figures loathed by the right.
But in an appearance on Fox News on Monday night, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that “it’s not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein” and “it’s not a crime to email with Mr. Epstein.”
Not coincidentally, the latest Epstein files drop includes emails between top Trump donor Elon Musk and Epstein, with Musk making arrangements to travel to Epstein’s island for the ”wildest party.”
While the assault allegations against Trump are currently unverified, it’s a matter of public record that Trump is a self-admitted sexual assailant. Similarly, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll.
The behavior described in the documents echoes Trump’s pattern of behavior toward women, adding another dimension to his recent opposition to releasing the files.
