In a highly unusual and politically charged move, President Donald Trump has formally directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI to initiate an investigation into the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged ties to prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, and major financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase.
The order, issued late Friday, represents an extraordinary step by a sitting President to use the federal law enforcement apparatus to pursue political adversaries, and it came just hours after a fresh release of congressional documents renewed focus on Mr. Trump’s own past relationship with the late financier.
The Target: Democrats and Financial Institutions
President Trump’s directive, delivered via a social media post, accused Democrats of orchestrating a “hoax” to distract from the recent government shutdown and divert attention from the newly public documents concerning Epstein.
Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly acceded to the President’s demand, announcing that she had assigned Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead the investigation.
The specific figures and institutions named for federal scrutiny include:
- Former President Bill Clinton: Who socialized with Epstein and traveled on his private jet multiple times in the early 2000s.
- Larry Summers: Former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President.
- Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn founder and a prominent Democratic donor.
- JPMorgan Chase: Which was Epstein’s primary bank between 1998 and 2013 and recently paid $290 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by Epstein’s survivors.
Mr. Trump insisted the investigation should determine “what was going on with them, and him,” and called the matter “another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats.”
Erosion of Independence
The decision by the Attorney General to immediately launch a probe at the specific request of the President drew immediate criticism from legal experts and Democrats, who warned it represented a severe breach of the DOJ’s longstanding tradition of apolitical independence.
The move is also in direct contrast to a July 2025 memo from the Justice Department and FBI, which stated that a comprehensive review of the Epstein files found no credible evidence that warranted an investigation into any uncharged third parties.
The President’s order was viewed by critics as a clear attempt to shift the narrative and deflect from the thousands of documents released this week by the House Oversight Committee. Those documents included an email written by Epstein in which he claimed that Mr. Trump knew about his sexual abuse of underage girls but never participatedโa claim the President vehemently denies.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase, which settled with Epstein’s victims last year, released a statement saying the bank regrets its association with the man but did not help him commit his “heinous acts.”
The newly ordered probe ensures the Epstein saga will continue to consume federal resources and dominate the political landscape as the nation awaits the results of an investigation initiated at the highest level of the executive branch.