Any suggestion that Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was inappropriate has been “thoroughly debunked” by the revelation of the first batch of new evidence, his campaign said Thursday.
The former president is named in the explosive 1,000 pages of documents released Wednesday in a defamation lawsuit filed by plaintiff Virginia Giuffre against his wife Ghislaine Maxwell.
But while his name appears, the material does not implicate him in the pedophile financier's debauchery or crimes.
Trump and Epstein were friends in the 1990s. He flew on Epstein's plane, mentioned the 'Lolita Express' at least four times and called him a 'great guy'
A recently revealed statement from Johanna Sjoberg, an Epstein “victim” who was allegedly recruited to work as a massage therapist, recalled meeting Trump during her visit to Atlantic City.
Any suggestion that Donald Trump had an inappropriate relationship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein has been “thoroughly debunked,” his campaign said Thursday after the release of a trove of new evidence. The former president is pictured with Epstein, Maxwell and then-girlfriend Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000
She discussed a visit to a Trump Atlantic City Casino after a storm prevented Epstein's plane from landing in New York. It was her first time aboard Epstein's plane.
But her interview contained no suggestion that Trump did anything inappropriate or visited Epstein's private island, Little Saint James, where numerous orgies are said to have taken place.
Sjoberg even states that she did not give Trump a massage when asked.
“We took off from Palm Beach and landed in Atlantic City for a few hours because there was a storm in New York, and then got back on the plane a few hours later and landed in Teterboro,” said Sjoberg, 42.
“Jeffrey said, 'Great, we're calling Trump and we're going to' — I don't remember the name of the casino, but — 'we're going to the casino,'” Sjoberg said in her statement, taken at a Florida law office in 2016 She spoke amid Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against Epstein's jailed accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a prison sentence for sex trafficking.
She said Giuffre (formerly Roberts), who was traveling with them, was unable to enter the casino.
'She was underage. I didn't know how old you had to be to gamble legally. All I knew was that she couldn't get in because of an ID problem. So she and I didn't gamble.'
They ended up walking through the casino because Giuffre “had no ID or she was too young.”
She was also asked if she had ever massaged Trump, and she replied, “No.”
It came in the same statement in which the alleged victim claimed Prince Andrew groped her breast with a doll.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung gave only a brief comment Newsweek after its release, and the Trump camp responded to requests for further comment from DailyMail.com.
Johanna Sjoberg's unsealed affidavit mentions trip to Trump's casino in Atlantic City after flying on Epstein's plane
Sjoberg also described a meeting with Prince Andrew (center) during Trump's visit to Westminster Abbey
Sjoberg answered 'no' when asked if Trump had asked her for sexual favors or if she had ever massaged him
Donald Trump and Epstein are pictured together at Mar-a-Lago in 1997
Epstein's infamous Palm Beach villa was just 1.5 miles from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
The two men were friends in the 1990s, and Trump flew on Epstein's plane, dubbed the “Lolita Express,” at least four times.
He was also quoted speaking positively about Epstein in 2002 New York Magazine profile of Epstein that attempted to take stock of the high-flying money manager who traveled in the highest social circles and ran his business from a private island in the Caribbean.
'I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Great guy,” Trump told the magazine. 'It's a lot of fun to hang out with him. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. There's no doubt about it: Jeffrey enjoys his social life.'
Trump also commented on Epstein from the Oval Office in 2019, when the financier was indicted for sexual abuse.
“Well, I knew him, like everyone in Palm Beach knew him,” Trump said.
The people in Palm Beach knew him. He was a fixture in Palm Beach,” Trump continued. “I had a falling out with him a long time ago,” Trump said. “I don't think I've spoken to him in fifteen years.”
“I wasn't a fan… I wasn't a fan of his, I can tell you that,” Trump added, without directly answering a question about the reason for the argument.