DOJ files reveal Trump reported Epstein's op to police in 2006, called Ghislaine Maxwell 'evil'

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Newly disclosed Department of Justice (DOJ) files include an FBI summary of a 2019 interview with former Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter detailing a July 2006 phone call from Donald Trump.

In the call, which was made shortly after the department's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein became public, Trump expressed support for the probe and pointed authorities to the disgraced financier's then-confidante Ghislaine Maxwell.

The account comes from an FD-302 form documenting Reiter's statements to FBI agents in October 2019.

It has surfaced as part of Epstein-related materials released by the DOJ.

Trump's 2006 phone about Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell

Reiter told investigators that Trump was among the first to contact him once details of the Epstein probe emerged. According to the FBI summary, the then-real estate mogul said that Epstein's activities with teenage girls were widely known in both Palm Beach and New York circles.

"Thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this," Trump told Reiter, per the document.

Trump added that "people in New York knew Epstein was disgusting."

He also informed Reiter that he had already banned Epstein from his Palm Beach club Mar-a-Lago and recounted one instance in which he was around Epstein when teenagers were present and he "got the hell out of there." 

The Palm Beach Police Department had opened its investigation in 2005 following a complaint from the mother of a 14-year-old girl who alleged she was molested at Epstein's El Brillo Way mansion.

Detectives uncovered what one investigator described as a pyramid scheme in which recruited high school girls brought in others for "massages" that often led to abuse. Surveillance and victim interviews documented dozens of underage girls visiting the property.

The case drew federal eyeballs, but Epstein ultimately secured a controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement that granted immunity to potential co-conspirators and allowed him to serve 13 months in jail with extensive work release.

Focus on the 'evil' operative Maxwell

Reiter's account to the FBI singled out Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate and later convicted trafficking accomplice. Trump described her as Epstein's "operative" and urged authorities to prioritize her.

"She is evil and to focus on her," Trump said, according to the summary. 

Maxwell recruited several victims including Virginia Giuffre from the Mar-a-Lago spa area, but was largely absent from Epstein's Palm Beach residence by the time of the 2006 investigation, according to police findings at the time. She was eventually convicted in 2021 on federal trafficking charges and is serving a 20-year sentence.

The new detail emerges as Maxwell appeared virtually before the House Oversight Committee on Monday and invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her attorney has publicly urged President Trump to consider clemency, arguing it would allow her to provide full cooperation and testimony.

Past ties and eventual fallout

Trump and Epstein socialized in New York and Palm Beach circles for years in the 1990s and early 2000s. 

In a 2002 New York Magazine profile, Trump described Epstein as a "terrific guy" who liked "beautiful women ... on the younger side." Their relationship eventuallysoured. Trump later said he had not spoken to Epstein in roughly 15 years by the time of Epstein's 2019 arrest.

The Mar-a-Lago ban reportedly followed an incident in which Epstein was accused of trying to recruit club employees, including underage girls. Trump has repeatedly said he was "not a fan" of Epstein and had no knowledge of the criminal conduct. 

The Reiter interview was conducted after the former chief discovered boxes of Epstein case files, including previously unseen materials from a laptop seized at Epstein's home. The 2019 FBI summary was included in batches of Epstein files released by the DOJ in recent weeks.

That said, no evidence has emerged linking Trump to Epstein's criminal acts, and law enforcement has not accused him of wrongdoing in connection with the case.