A newly unearthed document in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) latest release of Jeffrey Epstein-related investigative materials suggests President Donald Trump was fully aware of the scope of the crimes both Epstein and his chief accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, committed in Palm Beach, Florida.
In a Monday post to her Substack account, Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown reported that Trump apparently called Palm Beach Police Department chief Michael Reiter in 2005 to alert him that Epstein — his longtime friend and Mar-a-Lago member — was preying on young girls. Brown discovered Reiter's 302 form (an FBI agent's summary of a witness interview) in the DOJ's newest batch of Epstein files, containing notes from a 2019 interview with the FBI.
"Thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this," Reiter recalled Trump telling him.
According to Reiter's statement, Trump said he had been in Epstein's mansion (which was roughly a mile away from Mar-a-Lago) while teenage girls were present, and that as soon as he discovered what was happening, he left. Trump also told police to keep a close eye on Maxwell.
"Trump said Maxwell was Epstein's operative, 'she is evil and to focus on her,'" the FBI agent's 302 form read. "Trump told [redacted] that he was around Epstein once when teenagers were present and Trump 'got the hell out of there.' Trump was one of the very first people to call when people found out that they were investigating Epstein."
According to Brown, Reiter was chief when a 14 year-old girl's stepmother called to report that Epstein assaulted her teenage stepdaughter. Soon, dozens of additional girls — many of whom were students at Royal Palm Beach High School — filed police reports alleging that Epstein lured them to his home.
Brown's report suggests that Trump may have extensive knowledge of Epstein and Maxwell's crimes. And because former President Bill Clinton has been called to testify before the House Oversight Committee, some Democrats on the committee have suggested that Trump may be subpoenaed to talk about Epstein should Democrats retake the House of Representatives after November's midterm elections.
Ghislaine Maxwell has suggested that she knows additional details about men who may have committed crimes with Epstein, though she repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment right during a Monday hearing when asked to share those details. She has said that she would cooperate with the House Oversight Committee if Trump agrees to grant her clemency. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Epstein's sex trafficking operation.