Donald Trump has always maintained that he was unaware of the financier's criminal activities. But a document, drawn from the millions released by the US Department of Justice, contradicts this version.

Ten days after the Justice Department released millions of documents related to the Epstein case, secrets remain to be uncovered. Late Monday, February 9th, our colleagues at the Miami Herald revealed the transcript of a 2019 interview between an FBI agent and a former Palm Beach police chief.

Released a few hours after Ghislaine Maxwell refused to testify and requested a presidential pardon, this FBI document implies that Donald Trump was aware of Jeffrey Epstein's actions long before his sexual crimes were made public.

A longtime friend of the financier, Donald Trump severed ties with Jeffrey Epstein after his first conviction in 2008 for sex trafficking, subsequently downplaying their relationship. He has always maintained that he had no knowledge of Epstein's criminal activities.

The transcript of the interview between an FBI agent and Michael Reiter - a former Palm Beach police officer whose name is redacted by the US Department of Justice but which was revealed by the US media - the latter claims that he received a call in the mid-2000s from Donald Trump.

"Trump told him that in New York, people knew Epstein was disgusting."

Speaking to the Miami Herald, Michael Reiter, now retired, confirmed that the current US president was indeed questioned by FBI agents in 2019 and specified that the exchange with Donald Trump took place in July 2006.

"Donald Trump called the Palm Beach police to tell them: It's a good thing you arrested him, everyone knows he's doing this," the document reads, which also indicates that Donald Trump "fired" Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.

"Trump told her that in New York, people knew that Epstein was disgusting. Trump said that Maxwell was Epstein's agent: she is evil and we need to focus on her," the document states.

According to this source, "Trump said that he once found himself in Epstein's presence when teenage girls were there and that he left the scene."

"No evidence" of the appeal, says the US justice system

This account is just a small part of the four-page transcript of the interview between Michael Reiter and the FBI agent. It reveals, among other things, that Epstein made several significant donations to the Palm Beach police.

When questioned by American media about the phone call between Donald Trump and Michael Reiter, the White House referred the press to the U.S. Department of Justice. "We are not aware of any evidence to support the claim that the president contacted law enforcement 20 years ago," a Justice Department official stated.

The document is being shared by US media outlets as Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, refused on Monday to answer questions from a congressional committee. However, she stated she was willing to do so in exchange for a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.

Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers, in her final appeal against her 2022 conviction and 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking, had warned that she would invoke her right against self-incrimination, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If she were granted clemency, Maxwell would be prepared, among other things, to testify that "President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing," her lawyer asserted.