Left photo: Jeffrey Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, with Donald and Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, before Epstein was charged and convicted. (Fox News reports: “Trump banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago estate ‘because Epstein sexually assaulted an underage girl at the club,’ according to court documents filed by Bradley Edwards, the lawyer who has represented several Epstein accusers.” – also here.) Right photo: Ghislaine Maxwell at Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010 (after Epstein’s conviction). Clinton flew on the “lolita Express” at least 26 times. (Composite image from American Herald Tribune post of the article)
Michael Wolff, who was close with both men in the early aughts, writes in Fire and Fury that Epstein was outed to authorities soon after he threatened to expose Trump as a financial fraud.
It all started in 2004 when Epstein, who was still friends with Trump at the time, invited the real estate scion to see a foreclosed property in the tony enclave that he planned to purchase and then flip.
And it all ended with Trump pocketing more than $50 million in profits and Epstein behind bars, though both men did manage to negotiate sweet deals.
Epstein was planning to pay $36 million for the property, information he shared with Trump because he was certain the still-struggling developer would not be able to come up with the capital to submit his own bid.
That assumption proved to be wrong, and after learning of Epstein's plan to list the home at a sizable profit million after renovations, Trump snapped up the oceanfront villa by bidding $5 million more than his pal.
He would list it for $125 million after minor renovations, which resulted in an enraged Epstein threatening to expose Trump.
It was shortly after making those threats that Epstein found himself under criminal investigation writes Wolff.
'Soon after negotiating the deal for the house in Palm Beach, Epstein took Trump to see it, looking for advice on construction issues involved with moving the swimming pool,' writes Woff.
'But as he prepared to finalize his purchase for the house, Epstein discovered that Trump, who was severely cash-constrained at the time, had bid $41 million for the property and bought it out from under Epstein through an entity called Trump Properties LLC, entirely financed by Deutsche Bank.
Local reports reveal that the two men did in fact battle it out at the auction, with Trump saying: 'I won't be living there because I already live in the best house in America.'
He later mentioned: 'I'm the largest developer in New York so this isn't a big deal to me.'
That claim is not true.
Property records confirm that an LLC with Trump's name bought and then sold the massive mansion, and made a tidy sum in the process.
The property sold for $96 million, more than doubling Trump's initial investment even after renovation costs.
Epstein was apoplectic and threatened to expose the precarious nature of Trump's wealth.
'A furious Epstein, certain that Trump was merely fronting for the real owners, threatened to expose the deal, which was getting extensive coverage in Florida papers,' writes Wolff.
'The fight became all the more bitter when, not long after the purchase, Trump put the house on the market for $125 million.'
And Trump in turn helped usher in the PBCSO investigation by exposing Epstein's secrets.
'Just as the enmity between the two friends increased over the house purchase, Epstein found himself under investigation by the Palm Beach police,' writes Wolff.
'And as Epstein's legal problems escalated, the house, with only minor improvements, was acquired for $96 million by Dmitry Rybolovlev, an oligarch who was part of the close Putin circle of government-aligned industrialists in Russia, and who, in fact, never moved into the house.'
Trump likely had knowledge of the alleged criminal enterprise due to the fact that Epstein recruited from his private club.
Two Epstein victims claim they were approached while employees of the spa at Mar-a-Lago.
President Trump in turn banned Epstein from the club, but according to Wolff did not sever the friendship entirely until years later.
Comment: That claim - that Trump banned Esptein - comes from another non-fiction book, Filthy Rich, by James Patterson, John Connolly and Tim Malloy. It seems no one has been able to verify it, however, including the prosecutor in the older case against Epstein.
The sale of the home did later prove to be problematic for Trump when news of Russian meddling during the election came to light.
In 2016, it was torn down and divided into three lots that were each sold for over $30 million.
Think! If there was dirt to be had on Trump don't you think the angry dems would have found it with their 2-1/2 year witch hunt?