Jeffrey Epstein's Brother Believes Trump Delayed Release of Files Because 'There's Things in There He Doesn't Want People to See' By Vanessa Etienne 10

Mark Epstein is sharing why he believes President Donald Trump took so long to release the files related to his late brother, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

On Thursday, Nov. 20, Mark called into CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront and admitted that he thinks Trump’s delay in supporting the release of the long-awaited Epstein files was purposeful.

“Well, I think it’s an obvious question, not just for me,” he said. “It’s just there’s things in there he doesn’t want people to see. I mean, that… seems to be obvious.”

There is currently no evidence to support his claim, which appears to be speculative.

Additionally, Mark told Burnett that his brother and Trump were “very good friends” and used to fly together on their respective private planes, which he said is something investigators should look into.

“They say Donald was on Jeff’s plane like seven times, but I question, have they checked Donald’s flight logs from those days to see how many times Jeffrey was on his plane?” Mark said. “I know Jeffrey told me on a number of occasions that he flew up or flew down with Donald. And Donald was in Jeffrey’s office quite a bit back in the 90s. They were good friends, everybody around knew that.”

Mark then alleged that Jeffrey cut ties with Trump because he “realized that Trump was a crook” — a comment from his brother that he claims was caught somewhere “on tape.”

In the interview, Mark also claimed that the pair spoke to each other following the 2016 presidential election.

“Jeffrey told me that it was after the election, Trump called him and it was sort of like ‘Can you believe this?’ Because nobody believed Trump was going to win. Trump was sort of surprised himself that he won,” Mark alleged.

Trump has maintained that he hadn’t spoken to Jeffrey in several years prior to his death.

Related Stories

Jeffrey Epstein Claimed Donald Trump ‘Knew About the Girls’ and Spent Time with a Victim in 3 Newly Released Emails

Donald Trump Says He’s Signed Epstein Files Bill, Ordering DOJ to Release Documents

The latest comments from Jeffrey’s brother come shortly after he claimed in a phone interview with NewsNation that an unnamed source told him that names of conservative politicians were being axed from the Epstein files to prevent Republicans from getting incriminated.

“I’ve been recently told, the reason they’re going to be releasing the files and the reason for the flip is that they’re sabotaging these files,” Mark said on Monday, Nov. 18, further alleging that administration officials are “scrubbing the files to take Republican names out.”

“That’s what I was told, by a pretty good source,” he added.

Additionally, Mark alleged that his brother had information on Trump when he was running for his first term in office in 2016, claiming that it was incriminating enough to “cancel the election.”

“He didn’t tell me what he knew,” Mark told the outlet, “but Jeffrey definitely had dirt on Trump.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Asked about Mark’s recent claims, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson shifted the conversation to Democrats who were also seemingly in Jeffrey’s orbit, suggesting that their affiliations with Jeffrey deserve attention too.

“Instead of amplifying baseless claims, the media should start asking real questions: why was Democrat Stacey Plaskett live texting Epstein in 2019 during a congressional hearing after he was a convicted sex offender and why did she accept thousands of dollars from him? Why was Hakeem Jeffries soliciting money and dinner from Epstein after he was a convicted sex offender? Why did President Bill Clinton travel on Epstein’s plane 26 times? And why did one of Epstein’s victims write that she saw Clinton on Epstein’s island with two young women?” Jackson said in the statement.

“These are just some of the many questions that the American people deserve to have answered,” she added.

Plaskett has addressed her text exchanges with Epstein during a 2019 House hearing by defending to CNN that she “believed that Jeffrey Epstein had information” and “was going to get information to get at the truth.” She claimed, “Having a friendship with him is not something that I would deem to have.”

House Minority Leader Jeffries recently shrugged off a newly released Epstein email — which showed that a fundraising firm invited Epstein to one of Jeffries’ campaign dinners in 2013 — telling CNN, “I have no recollection of the email. I’ve never had a conversation with him, never met him, know nothing about him other than the extreme things that he’s been convicted of doing.”

Clinton’s spokesperson, meanwhile, has maintained for years that the former president was unaware of Epstein’s crimes. In another of the recently released emails from Jeffrey’s personal address, the late wealth manager wrote, “CLinton [sic] was never on the island.”

Related Stories

Donald Trump Responds to Shocking Epstein Emails by Asking DOJ to Seek Evidence on Bill Clinton

Jeffrey Epstein’s Brother Says ‘Bubba’ Isn’t Bill Clinton After Epstein Email About ‘Trump Blowing Bubba’ Goes Viral

Trump has distanced himself from Jeffrey over the years, though there have been documented ties between the two for years prior to the disgraced financier’s arrest and downfall. 

Jeffrey was arrested in July 2019 and charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors. One month later, while he was awaiting trial at Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, Jeffrey died in an apparent suicide.