House Dem’s Wild Trump-Epstein Claim Debunked by Veteran Journo
Rep. Ted Lieu made the false claim about Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein while trying to deflect questions about President Joe Biden’s fitness for office.
Davidoff Studios/Getty and Nathan Howard/Getty
The veteran investigative reporter for the Miami Herald who has dominated the Epstein story has had enough of the wild speculation swirling around Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, including from a top House Democrat.
Julie K. Brown, who is also the author of the book Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to shut down all the rumors that social media users and a top House Democrat have been pushing.
“This is FALSE,” Brown wrote in response to an X user who berated the press for not covering the alleged connection between Trump and Epstein in Epstein trial documents released last week. “If there was evidence in a file made public, trust me, the media would be all over it,” Brown added. “These kinds of posts defy logic yet y’all are retweeting this propaganda.”
This is FALSE. The documents released last week provide no evidence that Trump was a co-conspirator of Epstein. (Which is why no major media has reported it). Folks, use your head. If there was evidence in a file made public, trust me, the media would be all over it). These kinds… https://t.co/i4EtmZJ1jD
— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) July 10, 2024
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), the vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, added fuel to the false fire in a weekly House press conference last Tuesday, deflecting criticism of President Joe Biden by insisting that the big political story of the week wasn’t Biden’s fitness for office but rather Trump’s alleged connection to Epstein.
“Donald Trump is sort of all over this,” Lieu said, despite none of the newly released records focusing on Trump’s friendship with Epstein. “Y’all might want to look at that, because it’s highly disturbing.”
Lieu: Something I’ve heard that doesn’t seem to be being covered are the Epstein files. These files were released. Donald Trump is sort of all over this. There are pictures of him with Epstein. He’s taken plane flights with Epstein. He’s in call logs with Epstein… pic.twitter.com/2wZ9HExkij
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 9, 2024
Lieu was likely attempting to attach the newly released trial documents to previously known knowledge that Epstein had connections to powerful people across the globe, from Prince Andrew to Trump, who did fly on Epstein’s private jet multiple times, according to flight logs from court proceedings.
Lieu told the press to do additional research on the internet and suggested that the trending X hashtag #TrumpPedoFiles, which he declined to specifically name in the “dignified setting” of the halls of Congress, was a good place to start.
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Brown offered a defeated response to the swirling rumors in a follow-up post Wednesday morning.
“I’ve come to believe that the American public won’t pay for the truth,” she wrote. “They would rather believe the lies they get for free on the internet.”
Lieu has not yet publicly corrected his false correlation between the newly released trial documents and Trump.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.