At a county GOP meeting, Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, a MAGA lawmaker, admitted he believes Donald Trump’s name is in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Epstein was a convicted sex offender who died by suicide in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Collins explained why he thought Trump was in the files: “He’s the one that was telling the FBI about it. He’s the one that kicked [Epstein] out of Mar-a-Lago and then called the FBI. Yeah, yeah he’s in there.”
A constituent asked Collins if he would vote to release the files. Collins replied, “Oh, we need to release them. I have no problem releasing it, but you’ve got to go through the judicial.” He added, “I’m not a lawyer and I’m not a judge, but it is more complicated than just saying, ‘boom, here’s the files.’”
Collins’ campaign defended him. A spokesman told the Washington Examiner: “Mike’s words speak for themselves: President Trump was right about everything, kicked Epstein to the curb, and did nothing wrong. This ‘story’ is a massive nothingburger from never-Trump consultants using DNC talking points. They won’t stop Mike’s momentum delivering results for the America First agenda. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Trump and Epstein were once friendly, but the president says they fell out in 2004. The White House has denied reports saying Trump was told in May that his name appeared in Epstein files.
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The Wall Street Journal added more details, reporting that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump during a briefing that his name appeared in the files. The newspaper noted this did not indicate any wrongdoing. The White House dismissed the report as “fake news.”
Even Elon Musk weighed in. In June, he wrote on X that Trump “is in the Epstein files” and suggested that is why the files have not been made public. Musk added, “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”
Trump brushed off the claims in an NBC News interview. “That’s called ‘old news.’ That’s been old news. That has been talked about for years. Even Epstein’s lawyer said I had nothing to do with it. It’s old news,” he said.
Officials in Trump’s first administration said Epstein’s death was a suicide, but conspiracy theories continue about high-profile people being protected. The Trump administration declassified some Epstein files in February, but they were heavily redacted. A July FBI memo said a “systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.’”
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
