Donald Trump again sought to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein during a rally in Ohio after a protester confronted him about his past relationship with the late convicted sex offender. The US president responded by linking Epstein to the Democratic Party, according to EFE.
«Epstein was a friend of all the Democrats (…) I was completely exonerated,» Trump said during the event on Wednesday, October 28, two days after House Judiciary Democrats released a report containing new allegations against him.
Trump's statement that he had been exonerated reflects his own characterization. The EFE report does not identify a court ruling supporting that claim, nor does it present the allegations contained in the congressional document as proven facts.
The incident unfolded when a protester in the audience shouted that Trump had traveled aboard Epstein's private plane. Epstein died in federal custody in 2019. The president responded from the stage moments later.
Trump reiterated his claim that he had cut ties with Epstein more than 30 years ago, an account he has offered on previous occasions, according to EFE. His Republican supporters responded with applause.
The exchange brought renewed attention to Trump's past relationship with Epstein during a campaign event, as Democratic lawmakers continue pushing for investigations into the president's connections to the case.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released the report on Monday. The document, which runs more than 50 pages, compiles allegations concerning events said to have occurred during the 1990s.
According to EFE, the report alleges that Trump was an «active participant in Jeffrey Epstein's abuses of young women in the mid and late 1990s.»
The document is titled «'We Have Certain Things in Common, Jeffrey': The Case Against Donald Trump Emerging in the Epstein Files and DOJ's Desperate Efforts to Cover It Up.» The allegation of a Justice Department cover-up reflects the report's authors' claims.
The report includes accounts from five women who have accused Trump of rape or sexual assault in Epstein's company or presence. These accusations are allegations documented by Democratic lawmakers, not judicial findings.
Among the accounts is testimony containing allegations that, according to EFE, were made public for the first time. A woman alleges that Trump raped her during a beauty pageant held in November 1993 at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
The news agency notes that the account does not establish the alleged events as proven facts through independent evidence. The publication of the testimony must therefore be distinguished from a judicial determination.
The report was released during the final days of campaigning ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. According to polling cited by EFE, Democrats could regain control of the House of Representatives and compete for a Senate majority.
Voters will elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and approximately one-third of the Senate, along with numerous state and local officials.
