Virginia Giuffre’s family is shocked by President Donald Trump’s remark that Jeffrey Epstein “stole” her and other women from his Mar-a-Lago resort, first reported by The Atlantic on Wednesday, July 30. The family also urged Trump to not grant Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, clemency following reports Maxwell met with Justice Department offices.
Giuffre’s family released the statements Thursday, July 31, after Trump told a reporter that Epstein stole her and other workers from his resort. Their remarks came after Maxwell’s lawyer David Markus asked Trump to grant her clemency. Giuffre reached a settlement with Epstein in 2009, where she accused the man of trafficking her to Prince Andrew, who at the time was the Duke of York and a reported close associate of Epstein.
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CBS News shared parts of the family’s statement Thursday that read, in part, “It was shocking to hear President Trump invoke our sister and say that he was aware that Virginia had been ‘stolen’ from Mar-a-Lago.”
Trump made the comment when responding to reporters’ questions aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, July 29, about his relationship to Epstein and the financier’s experience at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. He believed Giuffre was among the people Epstein “stole.”
Giuffre sued Andrew in 2021, accusing the disgraced British royal in U.S. courts that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17. The two parties reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022.
Giuffre died by suicide on Friday, April 25, at her farm in Australia. She was 41.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019. His death and possible criminal actions have been subject to a multi-year investigation in the courts and by politicians.
Trump booted Epstein from resort
Giuffre’s family questioned if Trump was aware of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s criminal actions after learning the president mentioned Giuffre in a response to reporters’ questions.
“We and the public are asking for answers; survivors deserve this,” CBS News reported.
Footage from The Associated Press showed an unnamed reporter questioning Trump about who Epstein “took” from the resort, specifically naming Giuffre in their reply. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a Thursday briefing that Trump didn’t bring up Giuffre himself and was instead responding to the reporter’s question.
“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club for being a creep to his female employees,” she said.
Trump confirmed Leavitt’s statement at a later press briefing Thursday and said he didn’t know why Epstein was taking the women, according to pool footage from The Associated Press.
“I don’t know really why,” he said. “But I said if he’s taking anybody from Mar-a-Lago, he’s hiring or whatever he’s doing, I didn’t like it and we threw him out.”
Giuffrey family: No clemency for Maxwell
Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts, told CNN in a Thursday interview his sister was “preyed upon” by Maxwell and others. Maxwell’s meeting with the Justice Department shocked him as he said she was being given a platform to make a deal with the office.
He added that Maxwell needed to stay in prison for what she did to Giuffre and other accusers. Lanette Wilson, Giuffre’s sister-in-law, said that if Maxwell were to get immunity or a pardon, it tells survivors of sexual assault that their alleged abusers are “above the law.”
“It’s just sending a message to survivors that their voices and all of the hard work that they’ve done for the last however many years, 10-plus years, doesn’t matter,” she told CNN.
A House committee investigating Epstein’s sex crimes denied Maxwell’s immunity request after Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed her in mid-July. Markus responded on X with a letter stating Maxwell would talk to the committee only if she’s granted immunity and isn’t required to give testimony from prison.
Maxwell is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her 2021 conviction for sex trafficking. Trump, who faced questions about his own dealings with Epstein, said he doesn’t have plans to pardon Maxwell.
