FACT CHECK: Instagram Post Shows Excerpt From 2016 Deposition, Not Newly Released Epstein Documents

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

A post shared on Instagram purports newly released court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein confirm former President Donald Trump did not visit the late financier turned sex offender’s homes or Epstein Island.

 

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A post shared by J H (@trump_mania)

Verdict: False

The Instagram post references an excerpt from a 2016 deposition given by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre’s deposition was unsealed by a federal judge in 2019, according to the Law & Crime network.

Fact Check:

Model Ruslana Korshunova was flown to Epstein’s Little St. James Island as a teenager, according to newly unsealed court documents, the New York Post reported. Korshunova killed herself by jumping from the ninth-floor balcony of her New York apartment, according to the outlet.

“BREAKING: EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS CONFIRM DONALD TRUMP DID NOT VISIT JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S HOMES OR EPSTEIN ISLAND,” the Instagram post, which has received over 2,000 likes, purports. The Instagram post features a tweet from conservative commentator Jack Posobiec, who originally made the claim on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.

Both posts include an excerpt of a document asking questions about Trump in relation to Epstein and if Trump was ever seen at the late financier’s homes or Epstein Island.

Neither post references the newly released Epstein documents, however. The excerpt included in the Instagram post and Posobiec’s tweet stem from a 2016 deposition given by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre as part of her lawsuit against Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. During the deposition, Giuffre was asked if she’d seen Trump at any of Epstein’s homes or Epstein Island, and she said that she had not.

Giuffre’s deposition was later unsealed by a federal judge in 2019, according to the Law & Crime network.

Trump was referenced four times in the Epstein documents released on Jan. 3, 2024, but is not accused of any wrongdoing. Epstein victim Johanna Sjoberg said she had visited Trump’s Atlantic City casino with Epstein. Epstein had called Trump prior to visiting, and Sjoberg “was not asked to engage in sexual relations with Trump or massage him,” according to USA Today.

Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell following an apparent suicide in August 2019, The Associated Press reported.

Check Your Fact has contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

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