Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed that President Donald Trump showed resistance in outing potential conspirators of late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, allegedly telling her, “My friends will get hurt,” in an exclusive profile by the New York Times on her fallout with the president.
Greene, 51, a longtime ally of Trump said she had small disagreements with the president throughout the year but ultimately “it was Epstein” that ultimately divided them permanently, adding, “Epstein was everything.”
“The Epstein files represent everything wrong with Washington,” Greene told the New York Times for her profile released on Monday (December 29), which was based on multiple interviews. “Rich, powerful elites doing horrible things and getting away with it. And the women are the victims.”
Greene spoke directly to Epstein survivors during a closed-door House Oversight hearing, at which point she told reporters that she’d work with the victims to reveal the names of Epstein’s associates responsible for sexual abuse against women and girls, which she claims resulted in a hostile phone call from Trump serving as their last proper conversation. The New York Times, which heard the call through both Greene and members of her staff, reports that Trump voiced his frustration over her public advocacy, at which point he said, “My friends will get hurt” when she expressed confusion.
Trump also allegedly said that they Epstein survivors hadn’t done anything to earn such an honor when Greene suggested they be invited to the Oval Office to share their stories publicly. The White House publicly denied Greene’s claims to the New York Times as “petty bitterness.”
“President Trump remains the undisputed leader of the greatest and fastest growing political movement in American history — the MAGA movement,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement. “On the other hand, Congresswoman Greene is quitting on her constituents in the middle of her term and abandoning the consequential fight we’re in — we don’t have time for her petty bitterness.
Greene had previously discussed her final call with Trump during a recent 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl in which she claimed “he was extremely angry at me that I had signed the discharge petition to release the files” and claimed he “said it was going to hurt people.”
Greene’s bipartisan support helped the House pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act in a 427-1 vote on November 18, which as later unanimously approved by the Senate and signed into law by Trump the following day. The law gave the federal government 30 days to release all remaining Epstein files, however, only some of the files have been released prior to the deadline.
The Justice Department announced that the full release of the Epstein files could take a “few more weeks,” once again delaying the past deadline of December 19 set by Congress, in a statement to the Associated Press last Wednesday (December 24).
“We will release the documents as soon as possible,” the department said. “Due to the mass volume of material, this process may take a few more weeks.”
The Justice Department said the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan and FBI both found more than a million additional documents in relation to the Epstein case, but didn’t clarify when it was informed of the new findings. The department claimed its lawyers were “working around the clock” to review the documents and make the necessary redactions in adherence with the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed by Congress and signed into law last month.
A group of alleged Epstein victims have accused the Department of Justice of legal violations, which includes the partial release of files related to the investigation into the late convicted pedophile, ABC News reported on December 22. The Justice Department released thousands of files, which included investigative documents and grand jury testimony, but delayed a full release by the set December 19 deadline.
“Instead, the public received a fraction of the files, and what we received was riddled with abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation,” a group comprised of 19 women, including two identified as Jane Does, said in a statement obtained by ABC News on Monday. “At the same time, numerous victim identities were left unredacted, causing real and immediate harm.”
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