WTF? How could Trump possibly think this helps him with his child sex problem?
This is the key exchange:
Q: Mr. President, Epstein has a certain reputation,
obviously, but just curious, were some of the workers that were taken from you,
were some of them young women?…
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say, but everyone knows the
people that were taken, and it was the concept of taking people that work for
me is bad, but that story has been pretty well out there, and the answer is
yes, they were. Yeah.
Q: Yes, they were young women? What did they do? Like, what
were their jobs?
TRUMP: In the spa.
Q: In the spa?
 |
| Here is Virginia Giuffre, 17, a year after Jeffrey Epstein recruited her from Trump's Mar-A-Lago spa. Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (shown, right) pimped her out to Prince Andrew leading to his ouster from the Royal Family. (Photo courtesy of Giuffre via Courthouse News) |
And other people would come and
complain this guy is taking people from the spa. 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 them taking
people, and he was fine, and then not too long after that, he did it again, and
I said, out of here.
Q: Mr. President, did one of those stolen persons, did that
include Virginia Giuffre?
TRUMP: I don't know. I think she worked at the spa. 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.
Giuffre was sexually trafficked and abused by Epstein over a
two-year period from 2000 to 2002. During that period, she frequently traveled
with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. It was Maxwell, Epstein's former
girlfriend, who was also convicted of sex trafficking, who personally recruited
Giuffre. In 2002, after attending a massage school in Thailand, Giuffre
escaped.
So if it was Epstein's poaching of Giuffre that prompted the
end of Trump's relationship with Epstein (or someone else “not too long after
that”), the rift would have occurred around 2000.
In an October 2002 New York Magazine profile, Trump called Jeffrey Epstein "a terrific guy" who is "a lot of fun to be with."
Trump added that Epstein
"likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the
younger side." Trump would have made these comments about two years after Epstein
allegedly "stole" Giuffre from the Mar-a-Lago spa.
In 2003, according to a Wall Street Journal report, Trump
wrote Epstein a birthday message calling him his "pal" and concluded,
"may
every day be another wonderful secret."
Message pads obtained by investigators from Epstein's Palm Beach mansion and published by Vice News in 2016 indicate that Trump called Epstein at least twice in November 2004.
That month, four years after
Giuffre's recruitment, they squared off against each other to purchase
a Palm Beach mansion, The Maison de l’Amitie. Trump secured the property
with a bid of $41.35 million.
In July 2019, after Epstein was charged a second time, Trump said he "had a falling out" with Epstein and "haven’t spoken to him in 15 years." At the time, Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten told the Washington Post that Trump did not ban Epstein from Mar-a-Lago until 2007.
According to the Washington
Post, Garten said the ban was "a reaction to criminal charges that had
been filed against Epstein" in July 2006. According to a 2020 book, The
Grifter’s Club, Epstein was a
member of Mar-a-Lago until October 2007. Neither Garten nor Trump mentioned
any issues concerning Epstein's hiring of Mar-a-Lago staff.
Trump did not raise the issue of Epstein poaching his staff
at a
Monday press conference. He added the information about Giuffre's
involvement on Tuesday. Earlier this month, White House Press Secretary
Karoline Leavitt said that Trump kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for "being
a creep."
The contradictory accounts raise a number of important
questions: What occurred at the Mar-a-Lago spa, and what did Trump know about
it? What actions did Trump actually take after learning Epstein had
"stolen" underage girls from his club? Why has Trump offered several
inconsistent accounts of his relationship with Epstein? What information might
Maxwell, who Trump may pardon, have about all of these topics?
