US citizens are not convinced about Donald Trump’s clean hands in Epstein files

Jeffrey Epstein with Steve Bannon both are seen in photographs. On the desk, a framed photograph of a woman lying down is visible. Part of that photograph has been redacted by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. Americans think US President Donald Trump knew about Epstein’s alleged crimes.

Jeffrey Epstein was first accused of sexually abusing girls in Palm Beach in 2005. Police were alerted by a woman who claimed that her 14-year-old stepdaughter had been molested by a wealthy man named Jeff. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was soon involved. Further accusations began to surface, and, by the time the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida.

Friday featured yet another drop in the drip-drip-drip of new information from the Jeffrey Epstein files. New pictures released by House Democrats that feature US President Donald Trump and other powerful people like Bill Clinton, Steve Bannon and Richard Branson, culled from tens of thousands of photos from Epstein’s estate.

But Epstein’s associations with these men — none of whom has been accused of wrongdoing by law enforcement — have been a matter of public record, and the pictures by themselves don’t tell us a whole lot.

Indeed, the more surprising news on this front Friday morning might have come from a different source: a poll. The survey reinforced how troublesome impending document drops could be for Trump, especially ahead of next Friday’s big deadline for the Justice Department to turn over what it has to Congress. That’s because lots and lots of Americans – and even Republicans – are inclined to believe, or at least entertain the idea, that Trump was aware of something unsavory.

The Reuters-Ipsos polls asked whether Americans believed that Trump was not aware of Epstein’s alleged crimes before they became public. Just 18% said it was “somewhat” or “very” likely that Trump didn’t know. Fully 60% said it was “not too” or “not at all” likely that Trump didn’t know. That’s a 3-to-1 margin believing Trump knew something.

Even among Republicans, slightly more felt Trump was probably aware (39%) than leaned toward him not knowing (34%). Trump has repeatedly denied involvement in the Epstein crimes.

But it’s not just this poll that has suggested the public believes he has something to hide.

Just to underscore the remarkable things these polls are telling us: Three-quarters of Americans suggested they remained open to the possibility that the president of the United States knew about or even engaged in crimes with a notorious pedophile. And even many Republicans thought he knew something about what Epstein was up to.