A former prosecutor says there is reason to suspect President Donald Trump knew convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was recruiting victims out of his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade made her claim after a bombshell The Wall Street Journalreport suggested Trump ignored allegations involving a teenage spa worker and a broader pattern of recruitment and abuse linked to Ghislaine Maxwell, the infamous groomer of young women for deceased child predator Jeffrey Epstein.
The Journal's report lays additional suspicion on the long-scrutinized relationship between Trump and his Mar-a-Lago resort’s connections to Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring. The paper reported that a spa employee reportedly disclosed the house call and Epstein’s abuse to Mar-a-Lago human resources, but that it wasn't reported to police in Palm Beach at the time of the accusation.
“What information was provided to the human resources department at Mar-a-Lago? What did they decide to do with that information? And who participated in that decision about whether it should go any further?”McQuade said Friday on MS NOW. “You know, Donald Trump likes to portray himself as a very hands-on manager. Was he made aware of this allegation? Did he have anything to do with declining to share that information with the police?”
“Because if so, of course it could be that he is responsible for additional abuse that was done at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein when there had been an opportunity to nip it in the bud,” McQuade added.
The Journal’s account is buttressed by interviews with former Mar-a-Lago employees and contemporaneous records suggesting Epstein and Maxwell’s overtures with Mar-A-Lago staff produced “years” of internal unease, staff warnings — even going so far as to prompt warnings from Trump’s then-wife Marla Maples. According to the Journal, Mar-a-Lago’s spa routinely sent “young women” to Epstein’s nearby Palm Beach mansion for massages, manicures, and various “services,” with former employees claiming the house calls went on for years.
Even though Epstein was not a dues-paying member of the club, Trump instructed staff to treat him as a member in good standing who could book house calls.
The Journal reports Epstein cultivated a reputation among Mar-a-Lago spa workers for sexual misconduct during those calls.
Watch McQuade's segment below: