‘Trump and Jeffrey were extremely close’ says Epstein’s brother

In Washington the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues to dominate the news agenda – no matter how many times the President denounces it as a ‘hoax’.

Last night the Vice-President denied reports that he was to meet top White House officials to plan how to handle public demands for the release of more information about the case of the late sex offender and his links to friends in high places.

We spoke to Jeffrey Epstein’s brother Mark on the phone, and without a camera at his request and we asked him why he thought Donald Trump couldn’t get away from the Epstein story.

Mark Epstein: Because there’s too much that he’s trying to hide. And the more he says, the more lies that come out, the more people are questioning it. And they don’t want to let this issue die because it’s obvious they’re hiding things.

Cathy Newman: So do you believe, despite denials from the Justice Department, that your brother had a client list of powerful people and that Donald Trump’s name was on that list?

Mark Epstein: I don’t know of any list. I don’t know if I can either confirm or deny it. I wasn’t involved with Jeffrey’s business. I’m really concerned about the circumstances surrounding his death or his murder. But I do know that he and Trump were extremely good friends back in the 90s into the 2000s.

Cathy Newman: Let me come back to that, but I mean, you describe the death of your brother as murder. I mean there’s no evidence to support that, is there?

Mark Epstein: Well, actually, there is evidence of support that the autopsy, the day after he was found dead in his cell by two very highly qualified pathologists, they said they couldn’t call it a suicide because it looked too much like a homicide. Now, that doesn’t appear in any of the reports.

Cathy Newman: Yet the Department of Justice carried out an exhaustive review, to use their words, of your brother’s death and found that he died by suicide. What was your response when you heard that?

Mark Epstein: Well, I don’t think they did an exhaustive review, because if they did, there’s a lot of things they missed. This has never been investigated as a potential homicide. By calling it a suicide early and Bill Barr calling it suicide early, that kind of stops the investigation, because, if it’s a suicide, there is really not much to investigate.

“This has never been investigated as a potential homicide.” – Mark Epstein on his brother’s death

Cathy Newman: I mean, a lot of people listening might say that the suggestion that he was murdered is akin to the kind of conspiracy theory about a child abuse ring based in a Washington pizza restaurant. What would you say to them?

Mark Epstein: Well, there’s no evidence of the child abuse or the pizzeria, which I thought was a pretty crazy story, but there is evidence of Jeffrey being murdered. For instance, the three broken bones in Jeffrey’s neck, studies have shown that that appears in less than 2 percent of hangings of this kind. That’s not 2 percent, but less than 2 percent.

Cathy Newman: Do you think you’ll find out the truth of what happened? Do you think that all the paperwork will in some way, at some time be released?

Mark Epstein: Well it’s not just the paperwork. We’re trying to get video footage from other cameras that they don’t show. You know, Bill Barr early on came out and said that he saw that nobody went in or out of the tier and that convinced him it was a suicide. And now the recent release of the videotape shows that you don’t see the door to the tier where Jeff was and somebody could go in or out of that tier without being seen by the camera.

Cathy Newman: Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he fell out with your brother. How close do you think they really were?

Mark Epstein: They were extremely close. I saw them together, many people have seen them together. They were very close. You’ve seen videos of them, parties and all over the place. You know, and photographs.

“They (Trump and Jeffrey Epstein) were extremely close. I saw them together, many people have seen them together.” – Mark Epstein

Cathy Newman: And maybe they were once close, but they fell out. You don’t buy that?

Mark Epstein: No, they had a falling out. I’m not sure exactly what the story was, but I do know that on the videotape that Steve Bannon has of Jeffrey, Jeffrey stated that he stopped hanging out with Trump when he realised Trump was a crook.

Cathy Newman: What do you make of the transfer of your brother’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to a minimum security jail?

Mark Epstein: Yeah, I don’t know what to make of that. I’m not involved with her case. I don’t know what took place. Like I heard somebody else say, the fact that someone went to talk to her is interesting, but without knowing what questions they asked, it doesn’t really make sense to comment on it.

Cathy Newman: I mean she could have in some way sort of exonerated the president and that would obviously help, wouldn’t it, him?

Mark Epstein: Well, it would help him, and maybe help her, because she was moved to a lesser security prison, so maybe it was some kind of deal that they cut.

Cathy Newman: How would you react, though, if Trump were to pardon her?

Mark Epstein: I would just assume they made some kind of deal. I don’t see why else he would pardon her.

Cathy Newman: This has become a huge political scandal for Donald Trump. Do you feel that the voices of the survivors, the women and girls who were abused and trafficked by your brother, that they’ve got forgotten in all of this?

Mark Epstein: It appears they have been to a certain extent, yes. I’m interested in the circumstances around my brother’s death. My brother’s dead, so the case against him and all that kind of stuff is not of much interest to me right now.

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