In a bizarre new interview, JD Vance slammed a number of societal 'elites' for their prior association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while simultaneously defending Donald Trump over his.
Speaking to press on Wednesday (4 February), the US Vice President reflected on the Justice Department's latest release of files relating to the crimes of the late sex offender.
For those who missed it, millions more photos and email exchanges from the federal case were released on Friday (30 Jan) in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed back in November.
"Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time.
Advert
A number of documents either explicitly feature or briefly mentioning a number of celebrities and high-profile figures, including the likes of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Sarah Ferguson, Lord Peter Mandelson, and Elon Musk. Richard Branson is also mentioned several times, alongside Steve Bannon, Norway's Crowned Princess Mette Marit, Larry Summers, Bill Gates and, of course, President Trump.
Despite the Republican continuously denying any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein's crimes, the pair were reportedly once close associates. As evidenced by hordes of images and emails, the super-rich duo socialised together on numerous occasions in the late 90s/early 00s, having run largely in the same celebrity circles.
According to Trump, 79, he and Epstein fell out long before the disgraced media mogul's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
In his latest denouncement, Trump told attendees to a White House press conference: "I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. And, in fact, if you look at the DOJ, they announced, you know, they released three million pages.
"It’s like this is all they’re supposed to be doing. And, frankly, the DOJ, I think should just say, 'We have other things to do.'"
One man firmly standing beside Trump as he faces fresh sex scandal speculation from all angles is his right-hand man, JD Vance. The 41-year-old VP responded to the latest file release this week, claiming that though Trump has some things in common with other individuals mentioned in the damning exposé, he is 'very much outside of the social circle'.
"He knows a lot of these people," Vance told the Daily Mail. "He certainly has similar wealth and power. But he never really was friendly with Epstein in a way that a lot of these other people were."
Within the same breath, the father-of-three accused the federal documents of demonstrating 'an incestuous nature to America's elite', which he subsequently labelled as 'pretty gross'.
"And, a lot of people, I think, it reflects very poorly on them," Vance continued.
The politician's remarks came hours after Microsoft boss Bill Gates told the Australian Open he regrets 'ever knowing' the Epstein after a series of embarrassing emails between the pair came to light.
In one from 2013, the paedophile wrote him: "To add insult to the injury you them [sic] implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to [wife] Melinda and the description of your penis."
In another, Epstein penned: "From helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women, to being asked to provide Adderall fro [sic] bridge tournamnts [sic]."
Responding to these, Gates told Nine: "The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health. You know, in retrospect that was a dead end and I was foolish to spend time with him.
"I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him."
The 70-year-old added: "Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is, you know, false. I don't know what his thinking was there. Every minute I spent with him, I regret and I apologise that I did that.
"I was only at dinners... I never went to the island, I never met any women, and so, you know, the more that comes out, the more clear it'll be, that although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behaviour."
Topics: Donald Trump, JD Vance, Jeffrey Epstein, Politics, US News, Celebrity
Rhianna Benson