Around the world, there have been resignations of top government officials, politicians, and lawyers, and new law enforcement investigations launched. Yet at the White House, officials' ties to Jeffrey Epstein are not resulting in a mass exodus, seemingly demonstrating "the Trump administration's ability to repel even the most harsh public scrutiny," the New York Times reports. Occasionally dubbed "Teflon Don" for his ability to withstand scandal, President Trump was a longtime associate of Epstein and is mentioned thousands of times across the files, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is mentioned more than 250 times. Other Trump officials also appear in the records, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare chief Mehmet Oz.
"I have nothing to hide. I've been exonerated. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein," Trump said this week, per NDTV. Lutnick has admitted visiting Epstein's private island in 2012—four years after Epstein's conviction in a sex case involving a minor and seven years after Lutnick previously claimed to have cut ties with him. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that Lutnick "remains a very important member of President Trump's team," amid bipartisan calls for his resignation.
The stance contrasts sharply with the fallout beyond Washington: Hyatt heir Thomas Pritzker exited his executive chairman role, Goldman Sachs' general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler departed, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's top aide resigned over the move to recommend Peter Mandelson, a former pal of Epstein, as ambassador to the US. The contrast shows "there's more accountability to the public" with a parliamentary system like Britain's, Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush, tells NPR. Similarly, corporate America must "answer to a board," crisis communications expert Gene Grabowski tells the Times. "The closest thing [Trump] has is the voters." (Hillary Clinton is alleging a cover-up.)
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