Rep. Ted Lieu Says Trump Is in the Epstein Files More Than a Thousand Times, Alleging Child Rape and Death Threats

Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu of California has launched a blistering attack on President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice regarding the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents. The representative spoke claiming that Trump's name appears in the files 'thousands and thousands of times' and that the documents contain specific allegations of rape and death threats against children.

Allegations of Grave Crimes

Speaking to reporters, Rep. Lieu dismissed recent Republican efforts to focus on Bill and Hillary Clinton's connections to Epstein as a political distraction. He argued that these comparisons are being used to divert public attention from the volume of material related to Donald Trump found in the archive.

'In those files, there's highly disturbing allegations of Donald Trump raping children, of Donald Trump threatening to kill children,' Lieu stated. He urged the press to investigate these specific claims rather than allowing them to be buried under the massive amount of data currently being released. The Congressman's comments mark a significant escalation in the political fallout surrounding the Epstein files, moving beyond mere association to accusations of direct criminal participation.

Clash with the Department of Justice

Lieu reserved some of his harshest criticism for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. The dispute centres on the interpretation of federal sex trafficking laws. Earlier in the week, the Deputy Attorney General reportedly stated that attending parties hosted by Jeffrey Epstein was not, in itself, a criminal act.

Lieu, who served as a prosecutor in the United States Air Force, argued that this interpretation is legally incorrect. 'Deputy Attorney General [Blanche] just got the law wrong,' Lieu said. He explained that federal law criminalises 'patronising' a sex trafficking establishment.

'If Jeffrey Epstein was human trafficking minors for these sex parties and you show up and patronise the establishment at that party, yes, you're guilty,' Lieu asserted. He suggested that this misunderstanding of the law might explain why the Department of Justice has not opened investigations into several high-profile figures mentioned in the documents, including Donald Trump.

Privacy Violations and 'Botched' Release

The Congressman also called for the Deputy Attorney General's immediate resignation, citing what he described as a catastrophic failure in protecting the privacy of victims. The release of the files, mandated by a law passed by Congress in November, was intended to provide transparency. However, Lieu pointed out that the Department of Justice failed to properly redact sensitive images.

'They released a lot of pictures of minors unredacted [and] just violated the privacy of these girls,' Lieu said. He described the error as 'the biggest privacy violation in history' and 'uncalled for'. This criticism aligns with a statement released earlier by United Nations experts, who also condemned 'botched redactions' that have left survivors feeling exposed and retraumatised.

Preferential Treatment for Maxwell

In a further twist, Rep. Lieu accused the Department of Justice leadership of granting special treatment to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's long-time associate who is currently serving a prison sentence for sex trafficking. Lieu alleged that the Deputy Attorney General had personally met with Maxwell.

According to Lieu, following this meeting, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison and was even given a puppy. 'For all those reasons, he's just got to leave the Department of Justice,' Lieu concluded, referring to the Deputy Attorney General.