Was Jeffrey Epstein murdered? Donald Trump has questioned it

While many are focusing on Donald Trump’s Axios interview for the discussion about his handling of the coronavirus crisis, part of the interview did focus on Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Asked once again about Maxwell, Trump said she wishes her well and hopes nothing bad happens to her based on Epstein’s death.

But the way Trump phrases his discussion of Jeffrey Epstein’s death is interesting. “Her friend or boyfriend was either killed or committed suicide in jail,” Trump responded. “She’s now in jail. Yeah, I wish her well. I’d wish you well. I’d wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty.”

That’s not the way someone who believes Epstein killed himself would address it. When asked a follow up question about his statement, Trump continued. “Her boyfriend died in jail. And people are still trying to figure out how it happened. Was it suicide? Was he killed? And I do wish her well. I’m not looking for anything bad for her.”

Does Trump think Epstein was murdered? 

A long time friend of Epstein in the 90s and early 00s, Trump eventually distanced himself and fell out of touch with the mogul when he was being investigated for sexual misconduct. As the years went on, Trump would comment on Epstein every once in a while, as well as his connection to Bill Clinton. 

But when Epstein killed himself Trump surprisingly didn’t issue any official comment on it for a while. Of course, he later tweeted a video implying that the Clintons were the ones who ordered the kill on Epstein while he was in prison. But outside of that incident, Trump really hasn’t commented on if he thinks Epstein was murdered or seriously killed himself. 

One thing’s for sure though: Trump has made his feelings about Epstein clear. About a year ago in July 2019, Trump told reporters “You watched people yesterday saying that I threw him out of a club. I didn’t want anything to do with him. That was many, many years ago. It shows you one thing: that I have good taste. OK?

Trump also has spoken about what went down on Little St. James, remarking “That island was really a cesspool. There’s no question about it. Just ask Prince Andrew. He’ll tell you about it.” He’s far from Epstein’s biggest fan, but it seems like he wants Epstein’s victims to get proper justice.

The Trump administration is full of Epstein friends

Of course, what Trump thinks and what his administration thinks are two different situations. Famously, attorney general William Barr was good friends with Epstein in their youth, and Barr’s father even got Epstein a job teaching at the Dalton School in NYC. Barr has gone on record to state that Epstein’s death was a tragic suicide, but just a suicide. 

Barr also has gone on record saying he’s glad they caught Ghislaine Maxwell, and they want to go after Prince Andrew if possible. “As you will recall, after [Jeffrey Epstein] committed suicide, I said that I was confident that we would continue to pursue this case vigorously and pursue anyone who’s complicit in it. And so, I’m very happy that we were able to get Miss Maxwell.”

Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz, the two attorneys who represented Trump during his impeachment hearings, also represented Epstein during his 2007 trial that had that controversial plea deal. Both Alan and Ken have gone on record to support the idea Epstein killed himself, and Dershowitz has also denied that he had any involvement in his sex trafficking activities. 

What’s the truth

It’s hard to call the autopsy report and the NYC medical examiner’s office “concrete proof” as it’s fairly easy to fake certain injuries, as well as even easier to pay someone off to say what you want them to. There hasn’t been an independent autopsy of Epstein’s body done, so we don’t know for certain what happened to Epstein. 

The reality is, Epstein had some big names he could bring down, as we’re seeing with the release of documents in relation to Ghislaine Maxwell’s case. His powerful voice was a danger to those who were involved in his criminal activities, so it’s a possibility someone tried to take him down.

It’s also just as much a possibility that Epstein refused to go to prison and go down for his crimes, so he paid the guards to let him kill himself so he didn’t have to deal with the consequences of his actions. There’s enough proof to support either action, and even Trump probably doesn’t know the concrete truth. 

So he’s just like the rest of us: Hoping someday, we’ll find out the truth behind Epstein’s death, and more importantly, that the victims of Epstein and Maxwell’s get the justice they so rightfully deserve.