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FROM SECRECY TO SPECTACLE: BEHIND WHY TRUMP AND CLINTON ARE IN THE EPSTEIN FILES

Updated Published
Mieka Broadwood D'souza Student Contributor, University of Leeds
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Leeds chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

The most recent scandal to follow Donald Trump in his second presidency are the emails between Jeffrey Epstein and his brother Mark, which were released with the Epstein files, essentially implying that Trump and former president Bill Clinton had been engaged in a sexual act. Crazy, I know. Before explaining this situation, I feel some background knowledge is needed. If you somehow didn’t know, Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier, and in 2019, at the age of 66, he was arrested on sex-trafficking charges for running a circuit of minors being used for sex. A month after his arrest, in August, Epstein was found dead in his cell after committing suicide while awaiting trial. Before this, in 2008, he was charged as a sex offender for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl at his home in Florida.  

For weeks, Trump’s administration resisted the calls to release the Epstein files to the public. However, Trump changed his mind on the 16th of November 2025 and urged Republicans in the House to vote for the release of the files, claiming that they “have nothing to hide”. The House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously, with 427-1, on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Clay Higgins, a Republican representative for Louisiana and avid Trump supporter, was the only opposing vote, posting on X that the files will “absolutely result in innocent people being hurt”. The Senate also approved the bill before Trump signed it on November 19th. The files include evidence regarding Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes, including witness statements, legal documents regarding Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and of course, the emails which have grasped the internet’s attention. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021 for “conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor,” as the U.S. Attorney’s office states. 

The internet has exploded in response to the emails, with many taking to social media to share their responses. The email in question, causing this debate, reads as follows: 

Mark: “…What is your boy Donald up to now?” 

Jeffrey: “All good. Bannon with me”. 

(March 2018) 

To break this down, Bannon refers to Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s advisor. Additionally, we can clearly see how Trump is a good friend of Epstein’s, as his brother refers to him as “your boy”, despite Trump claiming he ended his friendship with Epstein after he tried to recruit staff from Trump’s country club, Mar-a-lago. This ‘stealing’ of staff started in 2000, when Maxwell recruited Virginia Giuffre (aged 16 at the time) to the underground sex ring. Therefore, Trump’s timeline of the Epstein friendship doesn’t quite add up, as the 2018 emails prove the close nature of their relationship. 

Mark: “Ask him if Putin has to photos of Trump blowing Bubba?” 

This is the main message that social media has been exploding over. Bubba is Bill Clinton’s Secret Service name. Many members of the public have been posting their reactions on platforms like TikTok and X. For example, @YourAnonCentral shared a suggestive photo (with many commenters debating whether it is real or AI) and captioned it, “A wholesome moment where Donald Trump is helping his close friend Bubba get ready for his day.” 

While the emails might not mean that Trump gave Clinton oral sex, what else could they mean? Besides the sexual denotation of the text, some are debating whether it was meant as a political insult or a blackmail idea. However, there is no evidence of this. 

Trump’s administration has denied the allegations publicly and has argued that the emails “prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that Trump did nothing wrong”, says press secretary Karoline Leavitt. She blatantly stated how they believe the situation was a “manufactured hoax by the Democrat Party”, placing all blame onto their opposition while refusing to comment on the content of the emails. Trump has avoided replying to the proof of his and Epstein’s close friendship, proven by these emails and his nickname being used often. It seems he plans to ignore this spectacle and move on silently… 

Editor: Grace Lees

First year Media and Communications student at the University of Leeds!