A victim of Jeffrey Epstein testified during Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 trial that she was once a contestant in President Donald Trump’s teen beauty pageant.
The woman, identified by the pseudonym “Jane,” testified that she met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club when Epstein took her there in the 1990s when she was 14. She did not describe any inappropriate behavior by Trump during her testimony.
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.
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Why It Matters
It comes as Trump’s personal relationship with Epstein has come under renewed scrutiny after the Department of Justice announced earlier this month that it would not release any more files related to the Epstein investigation, despite promises that claimed otherwise from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The department also said that an Epstein client list does not exist.
Authorities have said Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a federal jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The decision to not release any more files angered parts of Trump’s base of supporters and the case continues to garner attention and conspiracy theories because of Epstein’s ties to many prominent people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including Trump. Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he had cut off their relationship long ago.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Bondi told Trump that his name was in the files during a May briefing. Trump has never been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and the inclusion of someone’s name in files from the investigation does not imply otherwise.
What To Know
Jane testified that she took part in the Miss Teen USA pageant in 1998, NBC News reported at the time. However, it was not clear if that was before or after she said she visited Mar-a-Lago.
Trump owned the pageant from 1996 until 2015, and four women who competed in the pageant in 1997 told BuzzFeed in 2016 that Trump had walked into their dressing room while they were changing.
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During her testimony, Jane said she was sexually abused by Epstein after meeting at a summer arts camp in Michigan in 1994. She said that Maxwell—who is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls—would sometimes be in the room when she was abused.
The White House last week denied that Trump had met an Epstein accuser in Epstein’s offices in 1995.
White House communications director Steven Cheung told Newsweek it was “recycled, old fake news” and that Trump had kicked Epstein out of his club “for being a creep.”
However, Trump offered a different explanation for his falling out with Epstein, saying it came after Epstein “stole” young women who worked for a spa at Mar-a-Lago, including Virginia Giuffre.
Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most well-known accusers who died by suicide in April, said that she was hired as Epstein’s masseuse after Maxwell spotted her working at Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2000.
But those remarks have come under scrutiny, given Trump continued to associate with Epstein for several years afterward.
He was quoted as saying Epstein was a “terrific guy” in a 2002 profile of Epstein in New York magazine, and The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump sent Epstein a sexually suggestive letter that was included in a 2003 album for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump has denied writing the letter and is suing the newspaper for defamation.
Epstein also remained on the membership rolls of Mar-a-Lago until October 2007, according to The Grifter’s Club, a book by Sarah Blaskey, an investigative reporter for the Miami Herald, that was published in 2020. Epstein was banned from Mar-a-Lago after hitting on the teenage daughter of another club member, the book reported.
What People Are Saying
Trump said on Monday: “For years I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn’t talk because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help, and I said don’t ever do that again. He stole people that worked for me. I said don’t ever do that again. He did it again, and I threw him out of the place, persona non grata, I threw him out and that was it. I’m glad I did if you want to know the truth.”
Asked if any of the workers were young women, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday: “The answer is yes, they were … people that worked in the spa.”
He confirmed that Giuffre was among them saying: “I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people, yeah. He stole her. And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know. None whatsoever.”
The Democrats’ X account posted on Tuesday: “It’s telling that Trump seems more upset about the staff Epstein “stole” from his business than the fact that a minor who had worked at his resort was trafficked, groomed, and raped by Epstein.”
The Republicans against Trump account on X posted on Tuesday: “Trump just casually admits Epstein was recruiting girls from his spa, and we’re all supposed to move on? Release the files!”
What’s Next
Last week, Maxwell sat for interviews with Department of Justice officials in Florida. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said she was interviewed because of trump’s directive to gather and release any credible evidence about others who may have committed crimes. Blanche said the additional information about what was learned would be released “at the appropriate time.”
Maxwell has been subpoenaed to testify before the House Oversight Committee in August 11. The committee on Tuesday rejected Maxwell’s request for immunity from future prosecution as a condition for testifying.
