'Trump stared at bare legs': Epstein accuser shares chilling encounter with US president, suggests how Trump might appear in Epstein files

Maria Farmer, an artist who first accused Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell of sexual assault almost 30 years ago, said that she urged law enforcement officials to investigate powerful people in their orbit, including Donald Trump. This comes as speculations grow over whether the US president's name is mentioned in the "Epstein files".

According to a New York Times report, the accuser's account is among the "clearest indications yet" of how Trump's name might have been there in the files of a sex offender.

Farmer was among the first women to report Epstein and his partner Maxwell for sexual crimes back in the 90s. During an interview with The Times, she identified Trump among the close ones to Epstein.

She said that when she was reinterviewed by the FBI about Epstein in 2006, she stressed that she raised Trump's name specifically because of an unsettling encounter with him late one night in 1995 in Epstein's offices. The artist said that she recounted that incident to the law enforcement agents and even publicly.

Farmer said that she had no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Epstein; however, she was alarmed by what she saw as Epstein's pattern of pursuing girls and young women while making friendships with prominent people, including Trump.

Farmer brought Trump in her complaints in 1996 and later in 2006. She did this not just because Trump was close to Epstein, but because of an encounter she had.

Farmer's encounter with Trump

In 1995, as Farmer was preparing to work for Epstein, she met Trump. According to the New York Times, she told the authorities that late one night, Epstein unexpectedly called her to his offices in a luxury building in Manhattan. Farmer arrived to meet Epstein in her running shorts.

Later, Trump arrived there, wearing a business suit, and started to "hover over her", she told the authorities. She further claimed she recalled feeling scared as Trump "stared at her bare legs".

Epstein then entered the room and told Trump, "No, no. She’s not here for you.” Epstein and Trump then left the room, Farmer said that she recalls hearing from Trump that he thought she was 16 years old, according to the NYT report.

Following that incident, Farmer said she had no interactions with Trump and did not see him engage in inappropriate conduct with girls or women.

White House defends and clarifies

Earlier on Friday, the White House reportedly contested Farmer's statement, citing Trump's long-ago decision to end his friendship with Epstein.

Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said, "The president was never in his office", referring to Epstein. “The fact is that the president kicked him out of his club for being a creep," the NYT reported.