FBI should conduct threat assessment of Epstein files: Schumer
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) called on the FBI Tuesday to conduct a counterintelligence threat assessment of files connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in order to determine whether a foreign actor could use them against President Trump or other prominent Americans.
“Whatever may be in the Epstein files is clearly troubling enough that Donald Trump doesn’t want to touch this issue with a ten-foot pole,” Schumer said on the floor.
“So it’s natural to ask: what happens if America’s adversaries use cyber-attacks or other means to access investigative materials into Jeffrey Epstein that are embarrassing – or worse – for President Trump and the people around him?” Schumer said
“What happens if Epstein materials end up in the hands of the Chinese government, or Russia, or North Korea?” he asked.
Schumer argued that unless the Epstein files are released and made fully transparent to the public, they could become compromising material that foreign adversaries could use to “blackmail someone like the president” or other senior leaders in government.
Schumer wants the FBI to assess what risk would be posed if a foreign adversary were to gain access to information in the Epstein files.
He is asking the FBI to determine if foreign intelligence agencies could gain access to the information in the files through “cyber intrusion.”
He also wants the FBI to identify any vulnerabilities that could be exploited by foreign intelligence, such as “being able to gain leverage over Donald Trump, his family or other senior government officials.”
And he’s asking the nation’s top law enforcement agency to “publicly show they are developing mitigation strategies to counter these threats and safeguard our national security.”
Trump said Monday at a press conference in Scotland that he ended his friendship with Epstein more than 20 years ago after “he did something that was inappropriate.”
The president said Epstein stole employees who were working for him at Mar-a-Lago.
“He hired help and I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again,’” Trump told reporters. “He stole people that worked for me. I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again, and I threw him out of the place, persona non grata.”
“I threw him out and that was it. I’m glad I did, if you want to know the truth,” he said.
Trump also said Monday that he turned down an invitation from Epstein to visit his private Caribbean Island.
“I never went to the island and Bill Clinton went there supposedly” several times, Trump said in Scotland.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said last week that Trump “kicked” Epstein out of his club years ago for “being a creep.”