Latest news with #VirginiaGiuffre
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Jeffrey Epstein 'stole' Virginia Giuffre, other employees from Mar-a-Lago spa: Trump
President Donald Trump doubled down on his explanation for kicking Jeffrey Epstein out of his Florida home after revealing the disgraced financier "did something that was inappropriate" years before his arrest. Speaking to reporters while onboard Air Force 1 in Scotland on Tuesday, the president further elaborated on his revelation that Epstein "stole" workers employed at his Mar-a-Lago estate years ago, ultimately leading to the pair's eventual fallout. "He took people," Trump said. "I said, 'Don't do that anymore,' you know, they work for me. And he took beyond that. He took some others. And once he did that, that was the end of him." Epstein was then banned from Mar-a-Lago, Trump said. The two men reportedly stopped speaking in 2004 after Trump outbid Epstein in a bankruptcy auction for a coastal Florida estate, according to The Palm Beach Post. Epstein was arrested by the Palm Beach Police Department two years later after a grand jury indicted him on a single charge of soliciting prostitution. Trump explained Epstein poached several young women employed at his estate's spa, including high-profile Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre. "I think she worked at the spa," Trump told reporters. "He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever." The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Giuffre, who died by suicide in March, was a key figure in advocating for Epstein's arrest. She had said she was recruited to be Epstein's masseuse by Ghislaine Maxwell while she was employed at Mar-a-Lago. While Giuffre was not involved in Epstein's criminal prosecutions, she remained central to the case. Trump's statements came one day after he told reporters he "never had the privilege of going to [Epstein's] island." "I did turn it down, but a lot of people in Palm Beach were invited to his island," Trump said during a Monday meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. "In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island." Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and convicted accomplice, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in procuring young girls for the disgraced financier. Last week, Maxwell was subpoenaed to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee regarding the scope of Epstein's crimes. Maxwell's legal team has since said she will only speak if granted immunity, which the panel rejected. "The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell's attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony," a spokesperson said. Just days later, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche traveled to Florida to meet with Maxwell at a federal courthouse, where she answered questions regarding Epstein, according to her attorney. Additionally, Maxwell's legal team filed a brief on Monday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of her 2021 conviction. Her attorneys claim she should have been included in a 2007 non-prosecution deal Epstein made with authorities that spared him from facing federal charges in Florida. The Department of Justice has asserted that the agreement did not encompass Maxwell. The Supreme Court is scheduled to discuss taking up Maxwell's appeal on Sept. 29. Maxwell's legal team has also said she would "openly and honestly, in public," if granted a pardon by Trump — a move the president acknowledged is within his rights to consider but added that he has not been asked to do so yet. "She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning," Maxwell's lawyers previously said.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The president snapped at CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House twice.
President Donald Trump snapped at CNN senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday after she pressed him about a new claim he made on Air Force One. On the flight back from his Scotland sojourn, Trump claimed that Virginia Giuffre—one of Jeffrey Epstein's victims—was among the women the disgraced financier had 'stolen' from the spa at Mar‑a‑Lago. After landing in Washington, Collins asked the president whether the alleged theft 'raised alarm bells' for him at the time.
CBS News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Trump claims Epstein "stole" young women worked at Mar-a-Lago
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein "stole" young women who worked for the spa at Mar-a-Lago, the latest evolution in his description of how their highly scrutinized relationship ended years ago. One of the women, he acknowledged, was Virginia Giuffre, who was among Epstein's most well-known sex trafficking accusers. Trump's comments expanded on remarks he had made a day earlier, when he said he had banned Epstein from his private club in Florida two decades ago because his one-time friend "stole people that worked for me." At the time, he did not make clear who those workers were. The Republican president has faced an outcry over his administration's refusal to release more records about Epstein after promises of transparency, a rare example of strain within Trump's tightly controlled political coalition. Trump has attempted to tamp down questions about the case, expressing annoyance that people are still talking about it six years after Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial, even though some of his own allies have promoted conspiracy theories about it. Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's imprisoned former girlfriend, was recently interviewed inside a Florida courthouse by the Justice Department's No. 2 official, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, though officials have not publicly disclosed what she said. Her lawyers said Tuesday that she's willing to answer more questions from Congress if she is granted immunity from future prosecution for her testimony and if lawmakers agree to satisfy other conditions. Aboard Air Force One while returning from Scotland, Trump said he was upset that Epstein was "taking people who worked for me." The women, he said, were "taken out of the spa, hired by him — in other words, gone." "I said, listen, we don't want you taking our people," Trump said. When it happened again, Trump said he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. Asked if Giuffre was one of the employees poached by Epstein, he demurred but then said "he stole her." The White House originally said Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago because he was acting like a "creep." Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year. She claimed that Maxwell spotted her working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, when she was a teenager, and hired her as Epstein's masseuse, which led to sexual abuse. Although Giuffre's allegations did not become part of criminal prosecutions against Epstein, she is central to conspiracy theories about the case. She accused Epstein of pressuring her into having sex with powerful men. Maxwell, who has denied Giuffre's allegations, is serving a 20-year-prison sentence in a Florida federal prison for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls. A spokeswoman for the House Oversight Committee, which requested the interview with Maxwell, said the panel would not consider granting the immunity she requested. The potential interview is part of a frenzied, renewed interest in the Epstein saga following the Justice Department's statement earlier this month that it would not be releasing any additional records from the investigation, an abrupt announcement that stunned online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and elements of Trump's political base who had been hoping to find proof of a government coverup. Since then, the Trump administration has sought to present itself as promoting transparency, with the department urging courts to unseal grand jury transcripts from the sex-trafficking investigations. A judge in Florida last week rejected the request, though similar requests are pending in New York. In a letter Tuesday, Maxwell's attorneys said that though their initial instinct was for Maxwell to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, they are open to having her cooperate provided that lawmakers satisfy their request for immunity and other conditions. But the Oversight Committee seemed to reject that offer outright. "The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell's attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony," a spokesperson said. Separately, Maxwell's attorneys have urged the Supreme Court to review her conviction, saying she did not receive a fair trial. They also say that one way she would testify "openly and honestly, in public," is in the event of a pardon by Trump, who has told reporters that such a move is within his rights but that he has not been not asked to do it. "She welcomes the opportunity to share the truth and to dispel the many misconceptions and misstatements that have plagued this case from the beginning," the lawyers said.
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump claims Epstein 'stole' Virginia Giuffre and Mar-a-Lago staff
President Donald Trump on Tuesday charged that Jeffrey Epstein 'stole' Virginia Giuffre and several other young female workers at Mar-a-Lago's spa, leading to their falling out. 'She worked at the spa,' Trump noted of Giuffre. And he added of Epstein: 'He stole her.' Trump told Daily Mail on Monday that he fell out with Epstein because the financer poached many of his Mar-a-Lago staff. But he's now offered more details about what happened between the two men. 'Everyone knows the people that were taken,' he told reporters on Air Force One on his way back from a five-day trip to Scotland. 'People were taken out of the spa hired by him.' Trump went on to say: 'I didn't know that. And then when I heard about it, I told him, I said, Listen, we don't want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa. I don't want to taking people. And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, out of here.' Giuffre (pictured) said she was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell to Epstein's ring in 2000, when she was 16 years old and working as a locker room attendant at the spa at Mar-a-Lago. Before her death earlier this year, Giuffre was one of the most prominent and vocal accusers of Epstein and Maxwell. Trump noted Giuffre had nothing bad to say about her time working for his Palm Beach Club. 'She had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever,' he pointed out. Trump banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago Club in 2004 but, before that time, both Epstein and Maxwell were photographed partying at the Palm Beach social club including with Trump's then girlfriend Melania Trump. The president has offered a variety of reasons for his disassociation with Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on trafficking charges. He previously said he cut off contact with Epstein because he was a 'creep.' Other reports say the two men fell out over an oceanfront Palm Beach property that was being sold out of bankruptcy that each man wanted. Giuffre, who claimed she was passed around as a teenager to rich and powerful predators, died in April by suicide, according to a statement by the family. But conspiracy theories continue to swirl around both her and Epstein's deaths. Trump's MAGA loyalists have questioned if the deaths were [self-murder] or murder in order to keep them silenced. Additionally, the MAGA grew have long believed there is a list of rich and powerful people for whom Epstein is alleged to have trafficked young girls and it's fueled their feverish calls for the Department of Justice to release files around the case. The lack of new information has been a source of frustration for both them and the president, who cannot escape questions on the matter. Questions about Epstein and queries about his relationship with the notorious financer followed Trump from the United States to his trip to Scotland. The queries come as Maxwell met with Justice Department officials last week to discuss the case. She is also scheduled to testify before Congress on August 11th but her lawyer asked for immunity in exchange for her testimony.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump says Epstein ‘stole' Virginia Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago staff role
Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender he socialized with for more than a decade, 'stole' Virginia Giuffre and other young female staffers whom he hired away from the president's Mar-a-Lago country club. Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Scotland, Trump was asked to elaborate on his earlier comments about falling out with Epstein because he took employees from his business. The president said on Monday that he had kicked Epstein out of his club 'because he did something that was inappropriate' – specifically, that 'he stole people that worked for me'. Senior White House aides have repeatedly suggested in recent weeks that Trump broke with Epstein in about 2004 and expelled him from the Mar-a-Lago club for inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature. In a statement last week, spokesperson Steven Cheung said Trump 'kicked him out of his club for being a creep'. The president's account of the break being motivated by pique at having his employees poached by his friend cast the break in a different light. On Tuesday, a reporter asked Trump: 'The workers that were taken from you – were some of them young women?' Trump replied: 'The answer is yes, they were. People that worked in the spa.' Another reporter then asked Trump if one of the people he was referring to was Giuffre, one of Epstein's most prominent accusers who said in a lawsuit that she was hired away from the Mar-a-Lago spa by Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000, when she was 16. Giuffre, who died this year, alleged in her complaint that she was first abused by Epstein and Maxwell together, and then 'lent out to other powerful men', including Prince Andrew. 'I think she worked at the spa,' Trump replied. 'I think so. I think that was one of the people, yeah. He stole her. And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know. None whatsoever.' The president and his administration are working desperately to change the subject away from Epstein – an issue that has lately roiled his base. But his latest claim that one of those employees was the 16-year-old Giuffre also complicates the timeline. Giuffre was hired away from Mar-a-Lago in 2000, but two years later, Trump spoke highly of Epstein to a reporter. 'I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,' Trump told New York magazine in late 2002. '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.' Sarah Blaskey, a Miami Herald investigative reporter, also pointed out in her 2020 book on Mar-a-Lago that Epstein remained on the membership rolls of Mar-a-Lago until October 2007, more than a year after he was first arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution from a minor. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually traffic minors, has offered to testify before Congress but has asked lawmakers to give her immunity, along with other major conditions, according to a list of demands sent to the House oversight committee by her attorneys, seen by CNN. Lauren Gambino contributed reporting
