What Virginia Giuffre has said about Trump and Jeffrey Epstein
Virginia Giuffre is the most high-profile victim of Jeffrey Epstein, and her name emerged Wednesday in connection with an explosive series of emails from Epstein about President Trump.
In a 2011 email chain between Epstein and his convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell, released by Democrats on the House Oversight community, Epstein told Maxwell that “virginia spent hours at my house” with Trump, who Epstein referred to as a “dog that hasn’t barked.”
Trump has blamed Democrats for sparking controversy around the Epstein files, calling them a "hoax" and the White House blasted House Democrats for "selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative." Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the emails "prove absolutely nothing" and reiterated that Trump "did nothing wrong."
Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, was quoted in a 2011 Mail on Sunday story as saying she had encountered Trump during her time with Epstein. Years later, she withdrew that claim in a sworn deposition and said she could not recall ever seeing Epstein and Trump at the same time or seeing Trump at one of Epstein’s homes.
The email released by the Oversight Committee is dated April 2, 2011, about one month after the Mail had published a series of articles based on Giuffre’s accounts about Epstein, Maxwell and their powerful associates.
One of those articles featured the now-infamous photo of Giuffre with then-Prince Andrew and Maxwell. Another article, published on March 5, 2011 carried the headline: “Teenage girl recruited by paedophile Jeffrey Epstein reveals how she twice met Bill Clinton” and included claims made by Giuffre of her allegedly meeting the ex-president and other famous associates, including former Sen. George Mitchell, model Naomi Campbell and Donald Trump.
Clinton and Mitchell have denied any wrongdoing and Mitchell claims he never met Giuffre. Clinton says he was never on Epstein's island.
The article quotes Giuffre as saying: “Donald Trump was also a good friend of Jeffrey’s. He didn’t partake in sex with any of us but he flirted with me, He’d laugh and tell Jeffrey, ‘You’ve Got the life.’”
Years later, while being questioned by lawyers for Maxwell (who Giuffre sued in 2015 for defamation) – Giuffre said the quote about Trump attributed to her was not accurate. She also said that she had met Trump when she worked at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, but said she did not recall ever seeing Trump at Epstein’s homes or seeing Trump and Epstein together in the same place. She also said Trump never flirted with her.
In a November 2016 deposition, Giuffre was asked by an attorney for Maxwell what was inaccurate about the Trump quote in the 2011 article.
Giuffre replied:
“Donald Trump was also a good friend of Jeffrey’s.” That part is true. “He didn’t partake in any sex with any of us but he flirted with me.” It’s true that he didn't partake in any sex with us, and - but it's not true that he flirted with me. Donald Trump never flirted with me. Then the next sentence is, "He'd laugh and tell Jeffrey, 'you've got the life.'" I never said that to her.
Q: When you say, "he didn't partake in any sex with any of us," who is "us"?
Giuffre: Girls. Just --
Q: How do you know who Donald Trump – Trump had sex with?
Giuffre: Oh, I didn't physically see him have sex with any of the girls, so I can't say who he had sex with in his whole life or not, but I just know it wasn't with me when I was with other girls.
Q: And who were the other girls that you were with in Donald Trump's presence?
Giuffre: None. There -- I worked for Donald Trump, and I've met him probably a few times.
Q: When have you met him?
Giuffre: At Mar-a-Lago. My dad and him, I wouldn't say they were friends, but my dad knew him and they would talk all the time -- well, not all the time but when they saw each other.
Q: Have you ever been in Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein's presence with one another?
Giuffre: No.
Q: What is the basis for your statement that Donald Trump is a good friend of Jeffrey's?
Giuffre: Jeffrey told me that Donald Trump is a good friend of his.
Q: But you never observed them together?
Giuffre: No, not that I can actually remember. I mean, not off the top of my head, no.
Q: When did Donald Trump flirt with you?
Giuffre: He didn't. That's what's inaccurate.
Q: Did you ever see Donald Trump at Jeffrey's home?
Giuffre: Not that I can remember.
Q: On his island?
Giuffre: No, not that I can remember.
Q: In New Mexico?
Giuffre: No, not that I can remember.
Q: In New York?
Giuffre: Not that I can remember.
Giuffre’s posthumous memoir “Nobody’s Girl” contains a claim that Giuffre was introduced to Trump by her father, who was a maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago. The book contains no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of Trump, nor does it contain any claims that Giuffre was at Epstein’s home while Trump was there.
According to the book, Trump asked Giuffre, who was 16 or 17 at the time, if she babysat. Giuffre said Trump "couldn't have been friendlier."
