[[{"content_id":414006,"content_number":0,"portal_id":2,"lang_id":"en","content_title":"Six top Trump administration officials appear in Epstein files","content_rtitr":"","content_short_title":null,"content_summary":"The release of more than 3 million pages of Jeffrey Epstein documents by the US Department of Justice has revealed that at least a half-dozen top officials in the current Trump administration have connections to Epstein.","content_summary_fill":1,"content_body":"The documents revealed a web of connections ranging from fleeting emails to extended social interactions with the dead American financier and convicted sex offender who reportedly worked for Israel.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAn exhaustive review by NBC News of the voluminous files uncovered links involving at least six top Trump administration officials.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe disclosures, which include emails, flight logs, and personal correspondence, have ignited bipartisan scrutiny, though no current or former officials have been accused of criminal wrongdoing tied to Epstein's sex-trafficking network.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nPresident Donald Trump himself dominates the documents, appearing in thousands of references that detail a once-close social relationship spanning the 1990s and early 2000s.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n The two men frequented the same elite circles in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, with Epstein once describing Trump as a "terrific guy" in a 2002 interview.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTrump has maintained that he severed ties with Epstein around 2004 after learning of his predatory behavior, calling him a "creep" and emphasizing that he banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago resort.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n"I've been 100% exonerated," Trump declared in a Thursday post on Truth Social, praising Attorney General Pam Bondi for her handling of an argumentative congressional hearing on the matter.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe files also highlight Epstein's co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTensions boiled over during Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, where Bondi faced pointed questions from Democrats about whether the Justice Department had interviewed any current officials regarding their Epstein links.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nRep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., pressed the attorney general on the department's transparency commitments, only for Bondi to retort, "I'm stunned that you want to continue talking about Epstein," before pivoting to criticisms of past Democratic administrations.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe exchange devolved into shouting matches, with Bondi accusing questioners of "grandstanding" and one Democrat labeling her responses "evasive."\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nBondi, a longtime Trump ally and former Florida attorney general, defended the DOJ's phased release of the files, which began in December 2025 amid accusations of redactions protecting powerful figures.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nCritics have decried the process as insufficient, noting that some survivors' identities remain identifiable despite promises of anonymity.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nTrump later commended Bondi on Truth Social, framing the files as vindication for his administration. A White House spokesperson echoed this, referring inquiries to the president's remarks.\r\n\r\n ","content_html":"

The documents revealed a web of connections ranging from fleeting emails to extended social interactions with the dead American financier and convicted sex offender who reportedly worked for Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

An exhaustive review by NBC News of the voluminous files uncovered links involving at least six top Trump administration officials.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The disclosures, which include emails, flight logs, and personal correspondence, have ignited bipartisan scrutiny, though no current or former officials have been accused of criminal wrongdoing tied to Epstein's sex-trafficking network.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

President Donald Trump himself dominates the documents, appearing in thousands of references that detail a once-close social relationship spanning the 1990s and early 2000s.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

 The two men frequented the same elite circles in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, with Epstein once describing Trump as a "terrific guy" in a 2002 interview.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Trump has maintained that he severed ties with Epstein around 2004 after learning of his predatory behavior, calling him a "creep" and emphasizing that he banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago resort.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

"I've been 100% exonerated," Trump declared in a Thursday post on Truth Social, praising Attorney General Pam Bondi for her handling of an argumentative congressional hearing on the matter.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The files also highlight Epstein's co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Tensions boiled over during Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, where Bondi faced pointed questions from Democrats about whether the Justice Department had interviewed any current officials regarding their Epstein links.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., pressed the attorney general on the department's transparency commitments, only for Bondi to retort, "I'm stunned that you want to continue talking about Epstein," before pivoting to criticisms of past Democratic administrations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The exchange devolved into shouting matches, with Bondi accusing questioners of "grandstanding" and one Democrat labeling her responses "evasive."<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Bondi, a longtime Trump ally and former Florida attorney general, defended the DOJ's phased release of the files, which began in December 2025 amid accusations of redactions protecting powerful figures.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Critics have decried the process as insufficient, noting that some survivors' identities remain identifiable despite promises of anonymity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Trump later commended Bondi on Truth Social, framing the files as vindication for his administration. A White House spokesperson echoed this, referring inquiries to the president's remarks.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>","content_source":"","content_url":"","content_date_start":"2026-02-16 10:23:52","content_date_event":"2026-02-16 10:23:52","content_date_event_start":null,"content_date_event_end":null,"content_show_title_slider":1,"content_date_last_edit":"2026-02-16 10:24:29","content_date_register":"2026-02-16 10:24:29","content_columns":0,"content_show_img":1,"content_show_details":0,"content_show_related_img":0,"content_show_slider":1,"content_comment":1,"content_score":0,"tag_id":0,"score_average":null,"score_count":null,"score_date_last":null,"uid":43,"eid":0,"attach_title":"Six top Trump administration officials appear in Epstein files","attaches":[{"sizes":{"150":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566058_2170059604_150_84.webp","300":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566058_2170059604_300_167.webp","400":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566058_2170059604_400_223.webp","600":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566058_2170059604_600_335.webp","900":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566058_2170059604_900_502.webp","1200":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566058_2170059604_1000_558.jpg"},"ext":"jpg","file_media":1,"token":2170059604,"files":{"original":{"url":".\/file\/2\/attach\/202602\/566058_2170059604.jpg","width":1000,"height":558,"size":0}}}]}]]