Washington DC [US], February 17 (ANI): US President Donald Trump yet again brushed away claims of being associated with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and said that he has been 'exonerated'.

In a press gaggle on Air Force One, when asked about Epstein, Trump said, 'I have nothing to hide. I've been exonerated. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. They went in hoping that they'd find it and found just the opposite. I've been totally exonerated. In fact, Jeffrey Epstein was fighting that I don't get elected with some author'.

Earlier in February, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that U.S. President Donald Trump has been consistent and kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club at Mar-a-Lago because he was a 'creep.'

While addressing her press briefing, Leavitt asserted that the release of Epstein files now shows the transparency Trump has.

She said, 'The president has always remained consistent and that he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club at Mar-a-Lago because Jeffrey Epstein was a creep. And unlike many other people who are named in these files, President Trump cut off his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and was honest and transparent about that for years and years. I think what the president has said all along has always remained true. The release of more than three million documents related to Jeffrey Epstein and his heinous, disgusting crimes just shows the level of transparency that this president and administration have committed to in bringing these files to light.'

Trump's name has repeatedly come up amid the whole controversy. However, he has denied any wrongdoing and distanced himself from Epstein before the scandal fully erupted.

Trump has repeatedly downplayed his relationship with Epstein, including by saying that he cut ties with Epstein in the early 2000s after Epstein recruited one of his employees from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, had connections to numerous high-profile figures across politics, business, and entertainment. (ANI)