White House communications director Steven Cheung dismissed a House Judiciary Committee Democrat report on President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein as a political fabrication, calling it the kind of attack the media and Democrats mount before every election.
Cheung made the comment in a post on X, responding to coverage of a report released Monday by Democrats on the committee that included allegations from a woman who claims Trump assaulted her in 1993.
The communications director said the report fits a recurring pre-election pattern and argued Americans would see through it.
“Complete bullshit. This is what the media and Democrats do right before every election cycle— peddle lies and ridiculous accusations against the President for political gain,” Cheung wrote on X. “The American people see right through this garbage. The media/Left needs a new playbook.”
The report centered on Beatrice Keul, a former Miss Switzerland, who alleged to committee staff that Trump assaulted her at a Plaza Hotel suite in Manhattan when she was in her 20s, according to TIME. Keul has spoken publicly about her allegations before.
TIME, which first detailed the report’s contents, said it was unable to independently verify Keul’s account.
Beyond Keul, the report compiled allegations from four other women who have accused Trump of rape or sexual assault in connection with the Epstein investigation. The claims span from the mid-1980s to the 1990s and had all been made public previously through media interviews or FBI testimony released as part of the Epstein files.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the committee, used the report to press the Department of Justice (DOJ) to appoint an independent special counsel.
“An independent special counsel must investigate Epstein’s co-conspirators and DOJ’s cover-up and ensure that state and foreign prosecutors have the evidence they need to pursue justice,” Raskin said in a statement.
The White House denied the allegations and said Trump has been “fully exonerated of anything related to Epstein,” according to TIME. Spokeswoman Lauren Bis called the report a desperate attempt by Democrats to distract from Republican momentum before the midterms.
The report landed just over a week before Election Day, as Democrats continue to signal that they would use subpoena power if they win control of either chamber of Congress. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee previously released Epstein emails referencing Trump, which the White House called a “fake narrative” built on selectively leaked documents.