Wolff: Now Epstein’s explanation for why this friendship ended is as follows.In 2004, Epstein believed himself to be the high bidder on a piece of real estate in Palm Beach—a house. His bid was $36 million.He took his friend Trump around to see the house, to advise him on how to move the swimming pool.Trump thereupon went around Epstein’s back and bid $40 million for the house—and got the property.Epstein, who was well acquainted and in fact deeply involved with Trump’s scattered finances, understood that he didn’t have $40 million to pay for this house.Now, if that was the case, it was someone else’s $40 million.At the time, Epstein believed this to be the $40 million of a Russian oligarch by the name of Rybolovlev.Less than two years later, this same house that Trump had bought for $40 million was sold for $95 million—and it was in fact sold to Mr. Rybolovlev.This is all a red flag of money laundering.And what Epstein did—and he was furious about losing this house—I mean, there’s something about these guys, these men, that nothing rouses them so much as a real estate betrayal.Epstein, after this—the sale of this house, after Trump went around his back, got this house—Epstein began to threaten with lawsuits, with going to the press and saying that Trump was a frontman for a money laundering deal.Trump panics at this point, and Epstein believed—that it was Trump who went to the police and, as Epstein said, dropped the dime on him.That is to say, informed the police of what was going on. And an investigation began, and all of Epstein’s legal problems for the next 15 years began to unfold.This story about this piece of real estate and their falling out was first published in June 2019. It’s published actually in my book Siege, the second book I had written about the Trump White House.Epstein had recounted this story to me. I put it in this book. Epstein, at that moment, was in Paris. He read the book. He called me with some alarm, and he said he was afraid that he might have said too much.Three weeks later, he returned to the United States from Paris and was promptly arrested on the tarmac of Teterboro Airport in New Jersey when his plane landed.
