Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday tapped one of the most powerful prosecutors in the country to lead an investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s past involvement with prominent Democrats and institutions.
Jay Clayton, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, was selected to lead the probe that President Trump ordered as his administration has been scrutinized for his past relationship with the convicted sex offender.
Their ties were thrown into the spotlight again when House Oversight Democrats this week released emails showing Epstein discussing Trump and the president’s knowledge of his conduct.
Trump suggested that the investigation could span from former President Clinton to JPMorgan Chase and other institutions, even as his Justice Department said earlier this year a “systematic review” did not uncover any evidence on which charges against “uncharged third parties” could be based.
In a post to the social platform X announcing the pick, Bondi called Clayton “one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country.”
“As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people,” the attorney general said.
The Southern District of New York is widely viewed by legal experts as one of the most powerful federal prosecutor’s offices in the country. It has long been conferred a greater degree of independence than the nation’s other 92 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and is known for handling high-profile prosecutions of corruption, national security, sex trafficking and white-collar crime.
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Clayton was chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Trump’s first administration. He previously was a partner at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, specializing in major corporate mergers and acquisitions and returned to the firm in 2021. He had never been a prosecutor before taking over the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.
After Clayton’s 120-day interim term at SDNY ran out, Manhattan’s federal court judges retained him in the role until the Senate could confirm someone to the role.
Clayton’s confirmation has been stalled by Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who invoked the Senate “blue slip” tradition to block the nominee.
As he leads the Epstein probe, Clayton will lack the help of at least one SDNY prosecutor who worked on the prosecutions of Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell: former prosecutor Maurene Comey, the daughter of ex-FBI Director James Comey who was abruptly fired from the office earlier this year.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York City prison in 2019 while awaiting trial, while Maxwell was convicted on sex trafficking charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Trump announced the investigation Friday on Truth Social, casting it as a response to Democrats’ efforts to use his old ties to Epstein as a weapon against his White House. The emails released by House Democrats showed Epstein telling associates in the 2010s that “of course” Trump knew about his relationship with underage girls and “spent hours” at his home.
The president claimed Democrats are using the “Epstein Hoax” to deflect from the government shutdown and that Epstein is more tied to their party.
In addition to Clinton, Trump named Larry Summers, who was Clinton’s former Treasury secretary and Harvard’s former president, and LinkedIn co-founder and top Democratic donor Reid Hoffman as other possible targets.
One of the released email exchanges, from 2015, showed Epstein saying Clinton had “NEVER EVER” been to his private island, where some of Epstein’s abuse took place. Summers remarked on women and Trump in some messages with Epstein.
But Trump remained adamant that his probe would yield answers.
“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” Trump said. “Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island.’ Stay tuned!!!”
It’s a new arm of Trump’s legal campaign against his political foes, carried out by his Justice Department.
James Comey, the ex-FBI director; New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who probed the president’s business empire; and John Bolton, a former national security adviser to Trump, all face criminal charges. Other investigations into the president’s adversaries are ongoing.
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