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Donald Trump has posted a $175m (£140m) bond in New York – preventing the state from seizing his assets.

The former US president had been given 10 days to make the payment after his lawyers successfully asked for the bond to be reduced from $454m (£362m).

However, Mr Trump will be liable to pay the full amount – plus daily interest – if he loses an appeal in the civil fraud case.

New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, had been prepared to start seizing the 77-year-old’s real estate unless the bond was posted.

In February, he was found guilty of scheming for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.

Mr Trump, who has secured the Republican nomination for this year’s general election, has frequently claimed to be worth billions of dollars and last year said he had $400m in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.

He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and argued the statements actually underestimated his fortune.

Trump ordered to stop attacking judge’s family

There have also been developments in a separate trial that Mr Trump is facing, which relates to a hush money payment made to the porn star Stormy Daniels.

On Monday, he was ordered to stop verbal attacks on the family members of the judge in this upcoming case.

It comes after Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter was described as a “rabid Trump hater” in a social media post.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump listens as his lawyer Todd Blanche argues with Judge Juan Merchan (not seen) during a court hearing on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election, at a court in New York, U.S., February 15, 2024 in this courtroom sketch.
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Courtroom sketch of Mr Trump during hush money payment trial. Pic: Reuters

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo had warned: “Family members of trial participants must be strictly off-limits.

“Defendant’s insistence to the contrary bespeaks a dangerous sense of entitlement to instigate fear and even physical harm to the loved ones of those he sees in the courtroom.”

The order extends on one already in place that bars Mr Trump from publicly commenting about witnesses and court staff.

If Mr Trump violates the order, he could face jail time. But it does not stop him from criticising Mr Merchan or Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the charges last year.

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The trial is due to start on 15 April in Manhattan. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and denies an alleged sexual encounter with Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Truth Social parent company losses

In a further blow for Mr Trump, his social media company has disclosed it lost nearly $58.2m (£46.2m) last year, a week after its stock market debut.

Trump Media and Technology Group – whose flagship product is social media platform Truth Social – mark a stark decline compared with the profit of $50.5m million that the former president’s company reported for 2022, according to a company filing with securities regulators.

FILE PHOTO: The Truth social network logo is seen displayed behind a woman holding a smartphone in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Reuters file pic

Truth Social had been seen as a potential financial lifeline for Mr Trump during his ongoing legal and financial challenges.

However, early investors into the media company are taking a hit after stocks closed at $48.66 on Monday, which was below their initial offering price of $49.95 (£39).

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Epstein files appear to show Andrew asking Ghislaine Maxwell for ‘inappropriate friends’

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Epstein files appear to show Andrew asking Ghislaine Maxwell for 'inappropriate friends'

A trove of newly released Epstein files include emails that appear to involve Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, while another suggests Donald Trump travelled on the billionaire’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported”.

The US Department of Justice released at least 11,000 more files on Tuesday.

It went on to claim that some of them “contain untrue and sensationalist claims” about President Trump.

Here are some of the latest news lines from this release of Epstein files. Being named in these papers does not suggest wrongdoing.

Who is ‘The Invisible Man’?

Among the documents released is an email sent to Ghislaine Maxwell that speaks about “the girls” being “completely shattered” at a Royal Family summer camp at Balmoral.

It is dated 16 August 2001 and sent by a person referred to as “The Invisible Man”, who signed off the message as “A” – and is believed to be Andrew.

Sky News has come to that conclusion from reviewing the email address used, which is assigned to the Duke of York in Epstein’s contacts book and the chain of correspondence.


Who is ‘A’? James Matthews looks at the evidence

In the correspondence, “The Invisible Man” asks Maxwell: “How’s LA? Have you found me some new inappropriate friends?”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any allegations against him.


Andrew pictured laying on women

The Peru trip

Another email appears to show Maxwell arranging “two-legged sight seeing” for “The Invisible Man” during a trip to Peru.

She appears to forward to “The Invisible Man” part of a conversation between herself and another person.

The email says: “I just gave Andrew your telephone no. He is interested in seeing the Nazca lines. He can ride but it is not his favorite sport ie pass on the horses.”

“Some sight seeing some 2 legged sight seeing (read intelligent pretty fun and from good families) and he will be very happy. I know I can rely on you to show him a wonderful time and will only introduce him to friends that you can trust,” Maxwell said.

The context of the email is unclear and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.


Epstein survivor speaks to Sky News after latest release of files

Trump on Epstein’s jet?

The latest bunch of files also includes an email from an unidentified prosecutor dated 7 January, 2020, in which President Trump is mentioned.

The email accuses him of travelling on Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported”.

It adds that President Trump “is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present”.

The email’s sender and receiver have been redacted. However, at the bottom of the email it says assistant US attorney, Southern District of New York. The name has also been redacted.

President Trump has denied any wrongdoing in relation to his relationship with Epstein, and being on any of Epstein’s flights does not indicate any wrongdoing.

Read more:
Trump defends ‘big boy’ Clinton after Epstein files release
Why Andrew photo in Epstein files is awkward for Royal Family

Limousine driver report about Trump

One of the documents in the release shows a report made to the FBI that was recorded on 27 October 2020.

It includes an unverified claim by a limousine driver that he overheard the US president discussing “abusing some girl” in 1995.

The driver also mentions Trump said “Jeffrey” while on the phone during a journey to Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas.

A significant part of the statement, along with the driver’s identity, has been redacted.

The US justice department has said that some of the documents in the latest Epstein files release “contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election”.

“To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,” it said.

Postcard mentions ‘our president’

Also among the documents is a postcard that claims to have been sent by Jeffrey Epstein, but has been refuted by the justice department.

In it, the sender tells the recipient: “Our president also shares our love of young, nubile girls.”

It’s not clear who “our president” refers to and the context of the postcard is also unclear.

The US justice department initially said it was “looking into the validity” of the postcard but later said on X that the “FBI has confirmed” the postcard is “FAKE”.

It cited reasons including a claim that the writing does not appear to match Epstein’s and another that the letter was postmarked three days after his death.

Row over unreleased documents

It is believed that many files relating to Epstein are yet to be made public.

There has been anger at the justice department’s slow release of the files, with politicians threatening to launch legal action against Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The deadline for the release of all the documents has passed.

“The DOJ needs to quit ⁠protecting the rich, powerful, and politically connected,” Republican congressman Thomas Massie said.

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Epstein survivor speaks of moment she met Andrew on private island

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Epstein survivor speaks of moment she met Andrew on private island

A survivor of Jeffrey Epstein has spoken of the moment she met Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on the disgraced financier’s private island.

Lisa Phillips says that revealing the true extent of Epstein’s abuses is important for the protection of future generations.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any allegations against him.

Speaking to US correspondent James Matthews on the day a new tranche of documents was released, she said she believes the “really important stuff” wasn’t released.


What’s in the largest batch of Epstein files?

She recalled meeting Epstein in 2000 when she was working as a fashion model.

Ms Phillips said she was working on an island near Saint Thomas in the Caribbean and went over to Epstein’s island for a day, and met Epstein himself at dinner that evening.

More on Jeffrey Epstein

“It took a few hours of him speaking to me one-on-one at the table, basically asking me a lot of questions about my life and my relationship with my family and my ambitions.”

She said Epstein was “very big” on her goals and became excited when he heard she had lived in Oxford, England, as a child.

“He asked me if I wanted to meet a prince, and I said yes.”

Epstein files latest: New batch of documents released

Ms Phillips explained that a man walked up and was introduced to her, and that he spoke to some people there and then said goodbye.

“It was very brief,” she said, adding that only years later did she realise that this was the former prince, Andrew.

She was asked about an email in the recently released files that appears to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor asking Ghislaine Maxwell about “inappropriate friends”.

“That is a very revealing email, isn’t it?” Ms Phillips said. “It’s very creepy, disturbing, and I mean, that’s why she’s in jail, right?”

The context of the email is unclear, and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any allegations against him and Sky News has contacted Andrew’s representatives for comment on the latest release.

Asked about the impact being in Epstein’s orbit has had on her life, Ms Phillips said: “It hasn’t felt good to know that so much of my past that I worked hard for was really just smoke and mirrors and part of a bigger web.”

On the delays in releasing the files, she claimed “the really important stuff wasn’t released”.

She also spoke about her and other survivors’ ongoing fight for justice.

“We’re still doing our research, and we will still be bringing whatever we find to the proper authorities. And we’re not going to give up.”

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Epstein files don’t join the dots to broader conspiracy – but his survivors could

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Epstein files don't join the dots to broader conspiracy - but his survivors could

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse are already looking beyond the release of the files in their pursuit of justice. It would seem sensible. 

For the second time, a tranche of images and documents was released by the US Department of Justice and, for the second time, it didn’t detail the facts and failures which allowed Epstein to thrive.

If those key elements were in there, they were redacted.

The release of the files had been anticipated as a moment to unveil the whole story, to identify its characters and their crimes.

But this is a book with pages missing and piecing together the broader network that enabled sex-trafficking on an industrial scale won’t be easy.


What we learned from latest Epstein files

It remains the fierce ambition for survivors, aware that Epstein was no one-man operation.

They know because they were there.

“I think the really important stuff wasn’t released,” Lisa Phillips told me.

Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell. Pic: U.S. Department of Justice via AP
Image:
Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine Maxwell. Pic: U.S. Department of Justice via AP

A survivor of Epstein’s abuse, she said women who suffered at his hands had been sharing information and would have something to report in the New Year.

“We’re still fighting, we’re still doing our research and we will still bring whatever we find to the proper authorities. This is really important to us, we’re all mothers now and have kids the same age as we were, so this fight is to the heart.”

They have seen their story wrapped in politics, in all its management and manipulation.

The resistance to publish, the timing of release, the redactions – they are matters beyond their control that could scarcely matter more.

Read more:
Epstein survivor describes ‘blindness’ around financier

Trump defends ‘big boy’ Clinton after Epstein files release
Why Andrew photo in Epstein files is awkward for Royal Family

We have seen thousands of files released but they come without context or explanation.

While they each say something about Epstein, his crimes and depravity, they don’t join the dots to the broader conspiracy. No one is better placed to do that than its victims.

This news story is their story. Ultimately, it may be for them to tell because we’re hearing it from no one else.

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