Dem lawmaker flags ‘ties’ between Trump and recipient of Epstein ‘torture’ email
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) hit Attorney General Pam Bondi hard Wednesday over her agency’s redactions of “powerful predators” in its release of files on Jeffrey Epstein, including one now-infamous email about a supposed “torture video,” the recipient of which Jayapal connected directly to President Donald Trump.
“In violation of the law, your department has shown a pattern of redacting the names of powerful predators,” Jayapal said, speaking to Bondi who was testifying before the House Judiciary Committee at the nation’s Capitol Wednesday.
Jayapal’s aides then displayed a large print-out of the email in question: a 2016 email from Epstein to an unidentified individual about having “loved" a "torture video.”
After pressure from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), the DOJ has since revealed the identity of the mystery recipient to be Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, an Emirati billionaire and CEO of DP World, a logistics company that generated more than $20 billion in revenue in 2024.
“Only after members of Congress demanded that we see the unredacted files did the world learn the name of this individual,” Jayapal continued, the large print-out of the email directly behind her. “Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman and CEO of a company that had financial ties to President Trump's business, and personal ties to Trump's advisor, Steve Bannon.”
The “financial ties” to Trump's business Jayapal referenced presumably refer to the business relationship between the Trump Organization – which owns 17 golf resorts and clubs – and the DP World Tour, a European professional golf circuit sponsored by DP World that entered into agreements to host tournaments at Trump-owned courses – arrangements that generate substantial revenue for the Trump family.
As to Jayapal’s claim that bin Sulayem had “personal ties” to Bannon, emails released by the DOJ revealed that Trump’s former White House strategist had communicated directly with bin Sulayem about meeting together in the United Arab Emirates in 2018.