Epstein files: has Trump really been ‘absolved’? – The Latest

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:125 ,300 files that have some kind of Trump mention. You do wonder if the clock is ticking even on here. Not only does it absolve me, it's the opposite of what people were hoping, you know, the radical left. Association with the world of Epstein, to be in his orbit is damaging. whether it's a once royal prince or a sitting American president. Nothing in this absolves anyone. Another three million documents in the Epstein files have been released with serious questions for a number of public figures. So what next? From the Guardians today in Focus, this is The Latest with me, Lucy Hoff. Joining me is Jonathan Friedland, Guardian columnist and host of our sister podcast, Politics Weekly America.

0:57Thanks so much for being with us again, Johnny. So on Friday, we had this enormous and sensational release of three million files and documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Serious questions in those files, which are still being poured over as we speak for people like Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, Elon Musk, who probably needs no introduction, Donald Trump and a number of people here, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, and the Labour grandee, Lord Peter Mandelson. But let's talk about Donald Trump to start with. The US president says that as a result of these files, he has now been absolved.

1:34What is his justification for that? Why? That's because there is nothing in these documents that points to a direct accusation of sexual misconduct that has proven credible enough that the authorities felt compelled to investigate it. Now, I've chosen my words quite carefully there. That's because there are allegations in there, but they come in the form of a summary of tips that they received on a kind of tip line. And anyway, the FBI did not consider that they merited further investigation. And therefore, that gives Donald Trump enough room to say there's nothing there. This is something he's done before, by the way, in, for example, the Russia accusations of collusion.

2:21he came out straight away to say, I'm absolved, I'm exonerated. Even if the evidence doesn't quite do that, that's his first move. Nevertheless, it's uncomfortable for him in two ways. Firstly, by some measure, if you count not just Trump, but the Trump family, Mar-a-Lago, the companies, there are some 38 ,000 references to the wider Trump universe in these documents. And there There are 5 ,300 files that have some kind of Trump mention in there. And so he's tied to him. That's bad. The other thing is there are all kinds of people who will never be convinced there isn't some kind of conspiracy here.

3:00And those few pages summarizing the tips that came, the allegations that came, I think those will be fuel for those who are minded to see a plot here to say there is obviously some smoke here. and you don't get smoke without fire. Not least because there are still millions of documents and files that have been unreleased, right? There are reports of about 5 million. And to be clear, just because someone appears in name or in a photograph in the Epstein files or documents is not evidence in and of itself of wrongdoing. Todd Blanche, who is Deputy Attorney General and Trump's point person on the Epstein files, is saying effectively, case closed.

3:41This is all you're going to see and there's no further questions for the US president. But some Democrats are saying, well, of course this can't be case closed if Trump's administration and his Department of Justice are the ones selecting which files are released. Yeah, I think this is the key point that the people who believe there is some kind of nefarious conspiracy involving extremely powerful people who have continued to conspire to cover up the truth, they will not be pacified by this release because it's less than total. Now, as you say, it's millions of pages that have not been released.

4:22There are going to be questions saying why, why those not released. Even within the release documents, there are redactions, those famous bits that are blacked out. The other point to make is Trump says that he cut off from Epstein in the early or mid 2000s, that means their peak years of friendship were in the early 2000s, really, and before. These papers don't really go back that far. And so again, there'll be questions of what about the period that is not captured by this release of documents. So there's plenty there for people of a suspicious cast of mind to wonder about. And for those who, of course, want the many hundreds of victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, for those victims to have justice after so many decades.

5:12The headlines here have been dominated by the new photographs and emails relating to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly, of course, Prince Andrew. A very lurid and disturbing photo of the former prince kneeling over a woman, her face blacked out, as well as new emails that suggest he has repeatedly lied about his contact with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction and jail sentence in 2009. Yeah, it just gets worse and worse for Mountbatten-Windsor because his story was that he had cut in the famous notorious Newsnight BBC interview. He said that he visited New York in order to cut off ties. Yet these documents point to actually going there to be with Epstein and to continue sort of hanging out with him, parting with him.

6:05There's correspondence suggesting almost the delivery of a young woman to Andrew, a woman who then got a tour of the royal palace, the suggestion that they spent time together in a royal location. It just deepens and deepens. And as you say, that photograph is very unsettling just because of the posture there of Prince Andrew sort of over this woman. And, you know, I'm sure he would want to say it was a consensual, it was playful. But given the context of all this, it doesn't look good for him at all. And this is really the point. It's association with the world of Epstein, who is now a notorious trafficker of women, a paedophile, an abuser of underage women and girls, to be in his orbit is damaging.

6:57And so, for example, just on Donald Trump, the fact that there is evidence there from one woman saying that she was transported in a dark green car to Mar-a-Lago and Jeffrey Epstein introduces her to Trump and says to Trump, this is a good one, huh? It just takes you into a really dark world. And that is why I think, whether it's a once royal prince or a sitting American president, nothing in this absolves anyone. It just takes them into a web that is seen by most people around the world as heinous. And questions for the man who was chosen to be US ambassador in Washington, Lord Peter Mandelson, who was an architect of the New Labour movement and now sits in the House of Lords.

7:48Again, we've long known about the friendship between Mandelson and Epstein. And indeed, he was sacked from his role as ambassador last year when further detail of that relationship became public. But he's now facing further serious questions about his friendship. But more than that, a series of financial transactions, a new photograph. He says, you know, I was friends with him, but I you nothing about these crimes, as you say, but this is becoming a real political storm in the UK. It is, because it's now gone much bigger than what was known before. And in a way, it's got bigger than just the association, tainted and toxic though that is, with Jeffrey Epstein.

8:30If Peter Mandelson had been shown to have corresponded in the way that has now emerged with any Wall Street financier. That would be a scandal. What has emerged just in the last few hours or so, really, is at least one email that shows him passing on crucial, commercially sensitive government information to a Wall Street financier that could have benefited that financier and his clients. There is correspondence there that has Peter Mandelson essentially briefing the head of JP Morgan against the UK government while Mandelson was sitting in the UK government saying, here's how you can put pressure on the UK government.

9:19So it's a matter of betrayal to his colleagues, to the interests of the government and to the interests of the country. So I think Mandelson is now in a world of pain beyond the fact, and this was bad enough, that he was not just a friend of Jeffrey Epstein. He was in receipt of serious amounts of money from Jeffrey Epstein, three payments of$25 ,000. Which he would dispute. And he says he has no recollection of receiving those sorts of sums and disputes the credibility of the documents disclosed. But in both instances with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Mandelson, there are calls for them to be put before the US Congress to answer questions about their links with Epstein.

10:02Are there mechanisms, legal mechanisms to force them to do so? Lastly, Johnny? To force them to speak, to go to Congress, very difficult because they're here and Congress is there. And so I think that is difficult. I think it's political pressure, I would suspect, rather than legal pressure. The point about the Epstein phenomenon is from the grave, everything Epstein touches and touched turns toxic. It is ruining the reputations of people who were previously big public figures. so far only Donald Trump almost is coming out without there being, as it were, a smoking gun. But you do wonder if the clock is ticking even on him, because there is something about the reach of the Epstein legacy, even from beyond the grave, that seems corrosive or destructive of everyone who got inside his world.

10:56It certainly does. And much more to come, Johnny. Thank you so much for your time. Of course. that's it for today my huge thanks again to jonathan friedland do keep up with his columns over at theguardian.com and do listen to our sister podcast politics weekly america wherever you get your podcasts thanks for listening to this episode of the latest the new evening edition of today in focus will be in your feeds every weekday evening with what you need to know about the story everyone's talking about in around 10 minutes today in focus will be back in your feeds as usual tomorrow morning and we'll be back tomorrow night this episode was presented by me lucy half It was produced by Bryony Moore.

11:31The senior producer was Ryan Ramgobin. The lead producer was Zoe Hitch. We'll be back tomorrow.

11:41This is The Guardian.