(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump has directed an inquiry into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s connections with leading Democrats, including Bill Clinton.

The directive follows the publication of 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate by the US House Oversight Committee this week. The release sparked responses from some Democrats, who pointed to Trump’s previous association with the disgraced financier.

In a Friday post on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated he had instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice to examine “Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship” with former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and JPMorgan Chase bank.

He contended that Democrats were leveraging “the Epstein Hoax” to divert attention from the government shutdown “and all of their other failures.”

Bondi confirmed that she has appointed US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton to oversee the investigation.

Epstein, who allegedly took his own life in a prison cell in 2019, was known for his associations with numerous wealthy and high-profile individuals. Clinton stated in his 2024 memoirs that he “had no inkling” of Epstein’s criminal activities and ended ties with him following his first arrest in 2006.

Trump similarly maintained that he was unaware of Epstein’s offenses and severed connections in the early 2000s.

In 2023, JPMorgan, one of the largest banks in the United States, reached a settlement with the US Virgin Islands over claims that it continued to value Epstein as a client even after his 2006 arrest and profited from sex trafficking.

JPMorgan spokeswoman Trish Wexler commented on Friday that authorities had not provided the bank with “damning information” about Epstein.

“We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts,” she said.

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