Criminal defense attorney David Schoen, who represented deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, told Newsmax on Wednesday that "many prominent people appear in these emails" tied to Epstein and that "it doesn't mean they did anything wrong."
He framed the renewed attention on Epstein records as a debate over inference, evidence, and the presumption of innocence.
"They are trying to make it as hard as they can. They're trying to make Epstein policy at every possible juncture," Schoen said on "American Agenda" when asked about claims that Democrats are continuously trying to tie Epstein records to President Donald Trump.
"Every time President Trump's name appears, along with other prominent people, they try to draw some bad purpose from the mention of the name. It's not there."
He argued that even unredacted names or photographs can be suggestive without establishing misconduct.
"Many prominent people appear in these emails. It doesn't mean they did anything wrong," Schoen said.
"It's difficult to keep this in mind" when images look provocative, he said.
Asked about photos that "don't look good" even absent accusations, Schoen said, "You're absolutely right. And it's fair enough to ask questions."
He then pointed to a well-known example.
"You see [astrophysicist] Stephen Hawking between two bikini-clad women, that's a salacious-seeming photograph," Schoen said.
"I'm not sure you can really draw the conclusion that Stephen Hawking was doing bad things with them."
He said he thinks some public commentary skips legal standards.
"I don't think it's fair to say we've lost track of the presumption of innocence," Schoen said.
"Every time they see a photo with someone scantily clad, they want to draw every conclusion to malign somebody with it. It's not fair. It's not true."
Pressed on why he believes Trump should not be treated as implicated by association, Schoen grounded his claim in what he said Epstein told him as a client.
"He hired me to take over his case nine days before he went to trial," he said, adding that Epstein "had every incentive in the world to implicate Donald Trump at that time to maximize the leverage he could have in his case."
But Epstein "made clear that Donald Trump did nothing inappropriate with him," he said.
Schoen said he reviewed earlier material and concluded the public record does not support the insinuations he described.
"I went back over one of the old emails that had surfaced," he said.
"You've seen thousands of documents now. There's no bad information about Trump."
In recent weeks, the Justice Department said it released "nearly 3.5 million pages" of Epstein-related records, along with additional videos and images, under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Schoen said the political fight over remaining material will continue, calling it, "their [special counsel Robert] Mueller redux in my view."
"This is going to be now what they want to use to try to paralyze the Trump administration," he said.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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