FBI Document Details Trump's 2006 Call About Epstein, Adding to Timeline Inconsistencies
A recently disclosed FBI report has brought to light a 2006 phone conversation between Donald Trump and the Palm Beach Police chief regarding Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, further complicating the former president's evolving explanations about when and why he severed ties with the convicted sex traffickers.
White House Claims Contradicted by FBI Findings
During a press briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt inaccurately asserted that the Justice Department document, released under a new disclosure law, supports Trump's version of events. "Look, it was a phone call that may or may not have happened in 2006," she stated. "What President Trump has always said is that he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club because Jeffrey Epstein was a creep and that remains true. And this call, if it did happen, corroborates exactly what President Trump has said from the beginning."
In reality, the FBI report, initially uncovered by The Miami Herald among millions of released documents, presents another conflicting data point in Trump's various accounts over the years regarding his decision to end his longstanding social relationship with Epstein.
Details of the 2006 Police Call Emerge
According to a 2018 FBI interview with then-Palm Beach Police chief Michael Reiter, Trump told him, "Thank goodness you're stopping him, everyone has known he's been doing this." Reiter, who has since retired, informed investigators that Trump was among the first to contact him in 2006 after news of the Epstein investigation spread through Palm Beach, where both men were neighbors.
Reiter added that Trump directed him to focus on Maxwell, describing her as Epstein's "operative" and "evil." This early intervention contrasts with Trump's later claims of limited knowledge about Epstein's activities.
Epstein's Legal Troubles and Trump's Changing Narratives
Epstein was originally arrested in 2008, three years after Palm Beach Police received a complaint about him molesting a young girl hired for a massage. That arrest resulted from an agreement that allowed him to plead guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution in exchange for immunity from more serious sex trafficking charges.
After The Miami Herald exposed this arrangement in 2018, federal prosecutors in New York launched their own investigation, leading to Epstein's indictment and arrest in the summer of 2019. During this second probe, agents interviewed Reiter.
At that time, Trump, then serving as president, claimed he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing by Epstein. "No, I had no idea. I had no idea," he stated.
New Explanations Emerge Under Public Pressure
Facing mounting public pressure last year to release investigative files on Epstein as promised during his campaign, Trump introduced a new explanation. He asserted that he had cut ties and expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after discovering Epstein was poaching young female staff members.
"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,'" Trump told reporters during a visit to one of his golf courses in Scotland. "He did it again. And I threw him out of the place. Persona non grata."
Timeline Discrepancies and Historical Praise
This account, however, conflicts with established dates. The poaching of Trump's staff began no later than 2000, when Virginia Giuffre, then 16 years old, was recruited by Maxwell for Epstein. Yet Epstein remained a member at Mar-a-Lago until 2007.
When questioned about this seven-year delay, Trump claimed he did not understand the inquiry. Furthermore, two years after Epstein started recruiting Trump's employees, Trump continued to praise him publicly.
In a 2002 interview with New York magazine, Trump said, "I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
Ongoing Revelations and Pardon Speculation
On Monday, U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, revealed that unredacted emails he reviewed at a Justice Department office indicated Epstein was still visiting Mar-a-Lago in 2009 and had never been instructed to stay away. This information had been blacked out from public view by Trump's Department of Justice.
Epstein died by apparent suicide in 2019, one month after his arrest on child sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was arrested the following year, convicted in late 2021, and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2022.
Last summer, she was transferred to a minimum-security prison camp after meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as one of Trump's criminal defense lawyers.
Despite numerous opportunities, Trump has refused to rule out a pardon for Maxwell. On Tuesday, Leavitt again left the possibility open, stating, "I haven't spoken with him recently. Last time we did speak about it, he said it's not something he's considering or thinking about."
