The lawyer who represented disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has responded to Elon Musk's claims about Donald Trump.
What started as a small policy disagreement between the US President and his former DOGE advisor rapidly spiralled out of control last night (5 June) when Musk took to X to claim that Trump was blocking the release of unsealed files from the Jeffrey Epstein case because his name was included.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public," the Tesla owner wrote on the platform, adding: "Have a nice day, DJT!"
Musk then doubled down on his claim in a follow-up tweet, adding: "Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out."
Advert
Trump being named in the files does not implicate any wrongdoing, it must be noted.
While the President is yet to respond publicly to the allegations, a US attorney who represented Epstein before he died by suicide in police custody in 2019 has since come forward to address the scandal.
Taking to X, lawyer David Schoen said he could 'unequivocally and definitively' say that he personally never saw any information which would be damaging to the 78-year-old US leader.
"I was hired to lead Jeffrey Epstein’s defence as his criminal lawyer 9 days before he died," Schoen wrote. "He sought my advice for months before that. I can say authoritatively, unequivocally, and definitively that he had no information to hurt President Trump.
"I specifically asked him!"
Specialising in federal criminal defence and US civil rights, Schoen was notably one of the lawyers who successfully represented Trump during his second impeachment trial by the US Senate.
He previously claimed that Epstein didn't commit suicide, telling Fox News in 2020 that the 66-year-old was 'upbeat' and that they had 'mapped out a strategy going forward'.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and faced federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He was previously convicted of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute in 2008 – receiving a 18-month prison sentence via plea bargain.
He was later found dead in his prison cell on 10 August 2019, with his cause of death being ruled as suicide.
What are the 'Epstein files'?
At the centre of the current row between Musk and Trump are the so-called 'Epstein files', which refer to a collection of court documents regarding Epstein's criminal cases.
The files allegedly contain information that Epstein had acquired underage girls as prostitutes for a number of high profile names, as per ABC News, leading conspiracy theorists to claim they were being intentionally withheld.
Trump promised to release the files during his second presidency, with the first batch being released earlier this year – however, many people were disappointed by the contents.
Topics: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, US News, Politics, Jeffrey Epstein
Brenna Cooper