Transcript excerpt about Trump, Epstein was unsealed in 2019, is not new | Fact check

Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Documents unsealed Jan. 3 confirm Trump didn't visit Jeffrey Epstein’s properties

A Jan. 3 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows part of a transcript of a deposition and claims its release is a new development that vindicates a former president.

“Breaking: Epstein documents confirm Donald Trump did not visit Jeffrey Epstein’s homes or Epstein Island,” reads the text of the screenshotted post on X, formerly Twitter, by conservative commentator Jack Posobiec.

It was liked more than 2,000 times in less than a day. Both the original X post and others like it accumulated thousands of shares.

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Fact check roundup: What's true and false about Jeffrey Epstein and the individuals on his list

Our rating: False

The excerpt presented as breaking news was unsealed in 2019, not in 2024, as the post claims. The woman’s statements that she did not remember seeing Trump at those locations are anecdotes from a single witness, not proof he did not visit them.

Transcript shown in post was unsealed in 2019

Hundreds of pages of court filings related to Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, were unsealed Jan. 3. Among those documents are transcripts of depositions, and they contain the names of dozens of Epstein's friends, associates, victims and opponents. Former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are mentioned in the documents, though neither are accused of wrongdoing.

But the exchange shown in the Instagram and X posts is not found among the nearly 950 pages released in 2024 because it is not new. It was made public more than four years ago, though the use of the term “breaking” in the post presents the transcript as being from the batch of documents unsealed on Jan. 3.

The Instagram and X posts show a screenshot of a transcript in which an Epstein victim said she does not remember seeing Trump at Epstein's properties.

Fact check: Claim that Jeffrey Epstein is hiding at a ranch near Santa Fe is false

The post shows a partial transcript of a November 2016 video deposition of Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre as part of her lawsuit against Ghislane Maxwell. It was unsealed by a federal judge on Aug. 9, 2019, the Law & Crime network reported at the time. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell of an apparent suicide the next day.

In that deposition, Giuffre was asked if she saw Trump at Epstein’s home, on his island or at properties in New Mexico or New York. She responded each time that, to her recollection, she did not.

But it's a significant logical leap to present this as Posobiec does as proof Trump didn't visit those locations. Giuffre's account reflects one person's experience and memory, not a comprehensive accounting of comings and goings as would be required to prove someone was never there.

Trump's name appears four times in the documents released Jan. 3. Epstein said he called Trump before visiting his Atlantic City casino, and victim Johanna Sjoberg said she and Epstein went to Trump’s casino, and she was not asked to engage in sexual relations with Trump or massage him.

USA TODAY reached out to Posobiec and to the Instagram user who shared the post but did not immediately receive responses.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Epstein document unsealed in 2019 misrepresented as new | Fact check