President Donald Trump threatened to sue the estate of Jeffrey Epstein following the latest release of the Department of Justice‘s case files on the late sex trafficker.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said the documents revealed a conspiracy between Epstein and journalist Michael Wolff. He said he might sue Wolff as well, for taking part in a supposed plot aimed at derailing his presidential campaign.
“It looked like this guy Wolff, who’s a writer, was conspiring with Epstein to do harm to me,” he said. “I didn’t see it myself but I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it’s the opposite of what people were hoping, you know, the radical left.”
Trump called Wolff a “third-rate writer” and said the journalist intended to “hurt me, politically or otherwise.”
“So, we’ll probably sue Wolff, on that,” he said. “And maybe the Epstein estate, I guess. But we’re going to certainly sue Wolff.”
Trump added that Epstein was “conspiring with Wolff” to derail the president’s political goals.
“That’s not a friend,” he said.
Start your day with essential news from Salon.Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he and Epstein were not close. Epstein himself told Wolff that Trump was once one of his closest friends and a suggestive letter from the president was included in a book celebrating Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump and Epstein both resided in South Florida, but Trump has claimed they had a falling out over Epstein poaching employees from his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Read more
about this topic
