In the months before he ran for president, Donald Trump was in conversation with
National Enquirer owner David Pecker about his old acquaintance, Jeffrey Epstein, and how his sexual abuse scandal might affect the Clintons. “Trump said that Pecker had told him that the pictures of Clinton that Epstein had from his island were worse,” recalls a former Trump Organization employee.
Perhaps the most revealing commentary
Donald Trump has offered on
Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who pleaded not guilty this week to sex trafficking and conspiracy, occurred in late February 2015, onstage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Trump, then flirting with a presidential run, was fielding softballs from Fox News host
Sean Hannity when a lightning round of questions turned to a favorite topic:
Bill Clinton. “Nice guy, Trump said. “Got a lot of problems coming up, in my opinion, with the famous island with Jeffrey Epstein,” he added, seemingly veering off topic. “Lot of problems.”
In fact, Epstein was then very much top of mind for Trump, who had his own history with the registered sex offender. Over the previous several weeks, the
National Enquirer had published a string of stories about Epstein, including a “world exclusive” interview with one of his accusers,
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who said in court documents that Epstein
forced her to have sex with him at his Upper East Side home. She
told the tabloid that Epstein paid her to have sex with Britain’s
Prince Andrew, one of an expansive retinue of high-flying elites who enjoyed Epstein’s company and took advantage of his private jet. (Buckingham Palace has denied the allegations.) Another was Clinton, who the
Enquirer reported had traveled with Epstein’s assistant on his plane, and was at Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean. (Clinton
denies ever traveling to Little St. James Island, but has confirmed that he traveled with Epstein several times in 2002 and 2003, including trips to Africa in connection with the Clinton Foundation. In
her interview with the
Enquirer, Giuffre said she had seen Clinton around, but that she never saw him involved with women.)
Trump had been following the story closely. In the week or so leading up to his CPAC speech,
David Pecker, who owned the
Enquirer until it was
sold in ruin earlier this year, visited Trump on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, bringing along an issue with a Prince Andrew and Epstein-related cover, according to people familiar with the meeting. Pecker, of course, was in the business of protecting Trump. An early supporter of his presidential campaign, Pecker has helped “
catch and kill” at least two stories involving the real estate mogul and women who claimed to have had affairs with him. (Trump has denied the affairs.)
Trump’s lawyer,
Michael Cohen, who would
later go to prison in part for his role in these hush money schemes, was in the room when Pecker sat down. Pecker, he later told me, used to send him articles and issues before they were published so that he and Trump could read them. After the meeting Trump called in
Sam Nunberg, then a Trump Organization employee, who saw Pecker leaving Trump’s office. “Michael was sitting in there when I came in, and the issue of the
National Enquirer with the pictures of Prince Andrew was on his desk,” Nunberg recalled. “He said not to tell anyone, but that Pecker had just been there and had brought the issue with him. Trump said that Pecker had told him that the pictures of Clinton that Epstein had from his island were worse.” (Cohen, speaking by phone from the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, corroborated Nunberg’s version of the events, though he declined to add any additional information about the meeting.)
During the meeting with Pecker, Trump went on about how Epstein was known for this behavior, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Trump, after all, used to be friendly with Epstein, and had at least an inkling about his sexual predilections. In a
2002 interview with
New York magazine, Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” who was “a lot of fun to be with.” He added: “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” (The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
Trump isn’t known to have gone on any trips with Epstein, which would have been out of character. “I don’t think Trump would go to someone else’s property or someone else’s island or villa,” Nunberg said. “He doesn’t even play golf at anyone else’s clubs.” But Trump did host Epstein as a guest at Mar-a-Lago, where he appears in photos in
1997 and 2000. Epstein’s personal little black book, which was
leaked by an employee in 2009, contained 14 phone numbers for Trump, his wife,
Melania, and several people who worked for him.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, President Trump dismissed his past appearances with Epstein, describing him as a “fixture in Palm Beach” in those years. “I had a falling out with him a long time ago,” he added, though he declined to elaborate. “I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years.”
Other individuals who had found themselves in Epstein’s orbit over the years, from Clinton to Prince Andrew, have been similarly eager to distance themselves from the scandal. (“President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York,” a spokesperson said in a statement.) In the meantime, journalists following the Epstein case are eagerly awaiting other documents that could shed light on Epstein’s powerful friends, including Trump and famed attorney
Alan Dershowitz. (Giuffre, who is
suing Dershowitz for defamation, claims she had sex with him as part of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation—a claim Dershowitz vehemently denies.) A federal prosecutor said in court that officials did not expect any “imminent” additional charges, but added that more are “possible down the road.”
Democrats may soon have an opportunity to question Pecker about his relationship with Trump. Later this week, the House Judiciary Committee will
vote to authorize a subpoena for Pecker, among people involved in the Mueller report, as they investigate possible obstruction of justice.
