President Donald Trump on Friday directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI to investigate links between Jeffrey Epstein and notable Democrats, the president’s latest attempt to deflect scrutiny over his connections to the late disgraced financier by focusing on his political opponents.

In a social media post, Trump pushed Bondi to target former President Bill Clinton, Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman and former Harvard President Larry Summers, who served in senior positions in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, along with the bank JPMorgan Chase.

“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘Island,’” he wrote. “Stay tuned!!!” None of the Democrats named by Trump have been accused by prosecutors of wrongdoing.

Bondi quickly assigned Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, who heads the office that prosecuted Epstein and won the conviction of his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, to run point on the probe.

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Bondi wrote. “SDNY U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton is one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country, and I’ve asked him to take the lead. As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people.”

Clayton, however, may be hamstrung in his efforts to further investigate Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. In July, the Trump administration fired one of the last remaining prosecutors in the Manhattan office who worked on the Epstein and Maxwell cases: Maurene Comey.

Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, wasn’t provided an explanation for her firing, and she is suing the Trump administration over her termination.

The White House has spent much of the week struggling to contain the fallout after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released emails in which Epstein said Trump “knew about the girls” without providing further evidence. Trump and his allies have denied that he knew about Epstein’s crimes, and no evidence has suggested that Trump took part in Epstein’s trafficking operation.

Epstein killed himself in jail while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019.

Administration officials have argued that Democrats dropped the emails to distract from Republicans’ success in ending a record-long government shutdown and that none of them incriminate the president.

Also this week, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) succeeded in triggering a discharge petition to force a vote in the House on the release of all the Epstein files. Senior GOP officials believe that dozens of House Republicans could join Democrats in voting for the disclosure bill.

Trump and Epstein were friends, but the president has maintained for years the two had a falling out decades ago and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing associated with Epstein.

“Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish,” Trump wrote in another Truth Social post Friday. “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!”

Trish Wexler, head of policy and advocacy communications for JPMorgan Chase, said in an email Friday that “the government had damning information about [Epstein’s] crimes and failed to share it with us or other banks.”

“We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts,” she said. “We ended our relationship with him years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges.”

The Department of Justice pointed to Bondi’s post on X when asked for more information about any steps it is taking to comply with Trump’s request. Representatives for Clinton and Summers did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Hoffman denied having a relationship with Epstein beyond solicitations for donations revealed in the emails released by Oversight Democrats, and called on Trump to release all files connected to the Epstein investigation.

“I want this complete release because it will show that the calls for baseless investigations of me are nothing more than political persecution and slander,” Hoffman wrote on X.

At least one House Republican was critical of Trump’s call for an investigation. Retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) — who indicated earlier this week that he’d vote in favor of the House bill demanding the DOJ release the Epstein files — said he doesn’t think Trump’s ask is “appropriate,” saying the Justice Department shouldn’t act on cases because of pressure from the White House.

“We should leave the DOJ and make them as independent as we can,” he told CNN on Friday. “When the president gives orders to Pam Bondi and our law enforcement arms of the federal government — what it does is it undercuts the credibility of our law enforcement.”

JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, did business with Epstein for many years, including lending money to the financier and helping to move his assets overseas. The bank ended its association with Epstein in 2013 and in 2019, it filed a suspicious activity report regarding Epstein and his associates’ transactions. Senate Democrats recently opened a new line of inquiry into the bank regarding its association with Epstein.

The bank has previously expressed regret for its involvement with Epstein, and has emphasized that it did not have knowledge of his illegal activities. JPMorgan Chase settled lawsuits in 2023 with the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a compound, and with some of Epstein’s victims.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was among a coterie of Wall Street executives who met with the president for dinner earlier this week. He has previously said that he would comply with an Epstein subpoena.

Aiden Reiter, Faith Wardwell and Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.