WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump says he didn’t know at the time why disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein poached workers from his Mar-a-Lago resort’s spa.
“No, I didn’t know,” Trump told reporters on July 31 when asked if he knew why Epstein was taking his workers more than two decades ago. “I said, if he’s taking anybody from Mar-a-Lago ‒ if he’s hiring, or whatever he’s doing ‒ I didn’t like it. And we threw him out.”
Trump earlier this week said he cut ties with Epstein, a longtime friend of Trump during the 1990s and early 2000s, because he “stole people that worked for me.”
More: Trump says poached Mar-a-Lago spa staff included Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre
He later confirmed on July 29 that the poached workers included Virginia Giuffre, an outspoken Epstein victim who has said Epstein’s procurer and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell recruited her into Epstein’s circle she was a 16-year-old Mar-a-Lago locker room assistant. Giuffre died by suicide in April of this year.
In a July 30 statement, Giuffre’s family demanded answers over why Trump said Epstein “stole” Giuffre from his Mar-a-Lago spa. The family also called for Maxwell to remain in prison as her attorney pushes Trump for a pardon.
“It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey ‘likes women on the younger side,” the family’ statement provided to USA TODAY reads. “We and the public are asking for answers; survivors deserve this.”
More: Epstein accuser’s family wants answers from Trump after recent comments
The family’s statement comes as Trump has faced a weeks-long backlash over his administration’s refusal to release all documents in the government’s investigation of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in a federal prison.
Trump did not say when his split with Epstein began. His account contradicts a recent statement from the White House claiming that Trump “kicked (Epstein) out of his club for being a creep.”
Epstein was first indicted in 2006 on state of Florida solicitation of prostitution charges. Two years later, prosecutors in Florida agreed in 2008 to a controversial plea deal with Epstein that allowed him to avoid federal prosecution on sex trafficking charges despite a draft indictment outlining 60 criminal counts against Epstein. Epstein was arrested again in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges one month before his death.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he ‘didn’t know’ why Epstein was poached Mar-a-Lago workers
