Newspaper corroborates some details in woman’s story about Epstein and Trump
The Department of Justice has released previously withheld documents alleging that President Donald Trump raped a girl decades ago. The release preceded a report by the Post and Courier, a South Carolina newspaper, that detailed and corroborated some of the woman’s 2019 allegations.
The White House has categorically denied the accusations.
The woman alleged that she met Jeffrey Epstein in the ‘80s in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, when she was 13. Her mother, a real estate broker, advertised in a flyer that her daughter was looking for work as a babysitter. Epstein allegedly responded to the ad, using it as a kind of trap to invite her to his nearby home. The alleged abuse began shortly after.
Epstein was personally connected to the victim and her family. He had rented a property from the victim’s mother and was an associate of the mother’s boss, whom she also dated. While the Post and Courier doesn’t identify him, it does say Epstein’s associate lived in Cincinnati and commuted to the island. The woman described him as having “big ears.” The publication did confirm the associate was connected to a Cincinnati-based college.
The boss also abused the victim, similar to Epstein, which she described as rape, sexual abuse and physical abuse, like hair pulling and beatings. She said that drugs and alcohol almost always accompanied the abuse.
How does this connect to Trump?
In the files recently released by the FBI, agents spoke to the victim, who said Epstein took her to gatherings and parties where she said there were “fat” older men. He often pressured her to find other girls to “come party” with him and his friends.
She told the FBI that she wasn’t able to remember any other men Epstein had trafficked her to, except for two: Trump and a man named Jim Atkins, who she believes was connected to an Ohio university. Many of the details she gave were vague.
When she was around 13 to 15, she said Epstein took her to either New York or New Jersey and brought her to a “very tall building with huge rooms.” She noted that this was around the same time Trump was building his casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Epstein introduced her to Trump at the building, and Politico noted that Trump said he didn’t like that she was a “boy-girl,” which likely meant tomboy. Trump then asked the few people in the room to leave before he allegedly raped and assaulted the victim. The Post and Courier noted that the victim’s recollection of the allegations is notably less detailed than her allegations from South Carolina.
Are her allegations corroborated?
In its recent article, the Post and Courier corroborated several aspects of the victim’s allegations, including minor details such as her mother’s property and employment records. Both lined up with what she told the FBI in 2019.
The victim told the FBI that her mother became aware that Epstein was in possession of naked photographs of her daughter. After she made the discovery, Epstein allegedly extorted the mother, saying he would release them unless she paid him. The mother allegedly stole money from her job, and her boss helped her cover it up with a company accountant.
However, the boss eventually sought charges against the mother. The Post and Courier confirmed the crimes and the punishments but did not confirm the reason she stole was to protect her daughter. It also didn’t confirm if Epstein actually possessed nude photos of the victim.
The victim told federal agents that she only met Epstein one time, when abuse did not take place. She said it was during a Rick James concert in Savannah, Georgia. The publication confirmed, through newspaper records, that Rick James performed regularly in the area during that time.
The Post and Courier could not confirm if Epstein actually rented property in Hilton Head Island during this time. The publication also couldn’t corroborate whether the interaction with Trump actually happened. It also stated the woman did not return messages asking for an interview, and her attorney declined to comment.
How has the White House responded?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said they were “completely baseless accusations, backed by zero credible evidence,” according to Politico.
She also described the victim as “a sadly disturbed woman who has an extensive criminal history.” The victim did have a criminal history later in life, specifically domestic and drug crimes. She was convicted of filing false claims for food stamp applications, according to the Post and Courier. She also began a relationship with a terminally ill man who had saved money for his funeral. The publication stated that she spent a year in jail for stealing an envelope of money from him.
As for the allegations from Democrats that DOJ hid the files they recently released, DOJ officials responded, asking them to stop accusing the Justice Department of wrongdoing.
“Stop misleading the public while manufacturing outrage from their radical anti-Trump base,” the DOJ stated, according to Politico.
Trump has never been charged with any crime in connection with the Epstein allegations.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
