President Donald Trump bemoaned Monday the potential reputational damage inflicted on people who appear in photos released as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files, which he insisted were only made public because of an effort to distract from his accomplishments.The comments mark the first time Trump has addressed the files since his Justice Department released hundreds of thousands of them on Friday pursuant to a new law compelling them to do so. The measure cleared both the House and Senate with support from all but one Republican and Trump signed it into law; his administration had previously said it did not plan to release any more Epstein materials after a thorough review.
"A lot of people are very angry that pictures are being released of other people that really had nothing to do with Epstein. But they’re in a picture with him because he was at a party, and you ruined a reputation of somebody," Trump said during an event in the library at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach club that he claims to have ejected Epstein from in the early 2000s.
"A lot of people are very angry that this continues. A lot of Republicans," he said, claiming the issue was meant to "deflect against a tremendous success."
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Newly-released and heavily-redacted documents from Jeffrey Epstein are seen on December 19.
What to know so far about the Justice Department’s release of Epstein files — and what questions remain
Trump has long sought to downplay his own connection to Epstein – noting, as he did Monday, mine exchange the two had a falling out years ago – and he has previously warned that releasing files might be unfairly damaging to those referenced in them. He notably said at Mar-a-Lago he even "hated" to see so many photos of former President Bill Clinton contained in the latest batch of documents released by the Justice Department. Clinton has never been charged with any crimes or accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein; one of the most publicized images in the DOJ release last week was a picture of Clinton in a hot tub with his arms folded behind his head. Beside him is a person whose faced is redacted.
"I think Bill Clinton’s a big boy. He can handle it," Trump said.
A representative of Clinton, meanwhile, shared a statement Monday before Trump’s remarks calling on the Justice Department to "immediately release any remaining materials referring to, mentioning, or containing a photograph of Bill Clinton."
"Refusal to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the Department of Justice’s actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation – using selective releases to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have already been repeatedly cleared by the very same Department of Justice, over many years, under Presidents and Attorneys General of both parties," said the spokesperson, Angel Ureña, in a statement posted on X.