Facts matter: No evidence Trump made thousands of wire transfers to Epstein

As news reports regarding files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are sporadically published, some social media users share the information in selective or misleading posts.

A recent Facebook post, following a senator’s speech, claimed President Donald Trump exchanged thousands of wire transfers with Epstein, who was convicted in 2019 and later died in prison.

“Major breaking news,” read the caption on the July 27 Facebook post, which was also posted on X. “Trump made 4,725 wire transfers to Epstein. Totaling over $1.1 billion!” The post included a video showing a speech by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon.

But there is no evidence for this claim, according to PolitiFact. Wyden spoke of wire transfers involving Epstein but did not say it was with Trump.

The clip of Wyden is real. The senator, who is a Senate Finance Committee member, was addressing a July 17 Senate session and referred to a 2024 finance committee review of Epstein-related bank documents.

“Treasury’s Epstein file details,” Wyden said in the video. “Four-thousand-seven-hundred-and-twenty-five transfers. Let me repeat that: 4,725 wire transfers, adding up to nearly $1.1 billion flowing in and out of just one of Mr. Epstein’s bank accounts. If you ask me, that is more than 4,000 potential lines of investigation right there.”

During the speech, Wyden didn’t mention Trump, but urged the release of more Epstein files.

Ryan Carey, a finance committee spokesperson, told PolitiFact that none of those documents were about Trump, “but they did not review the entire Epstein file in the possession of the Treasury Department.”

Wyden has written to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and FBI Director Kash Patel in an effort to have more of Epstein’s financial documents available for the Senate to review.

Johnson photo is with his first wife

A social media post supposedly shows British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hanging out with Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors.

The post has a photo of a woman with her arm draped over the man’s shoulder and includes the caption, “Mossad agent Robert Maxwell’s daughter Ghislaine and one of her lovers. Boris something or other.”

But this photo is miscaptioned, according to Reuters. It is a photo of Johnson, but the woman is his first wife.

The Facebook post shows Allegra Mostyn-Owen with “Boris something or other” Johnson in 1986. Mostyn-Owen and Johnson were married from 1987 to 1993.

The image was taken by photographer Dafydd Jones at the 1986 Sultans Ball held at Oxford Town Hall.

Numbers don’t justify claim

President Donald Trump claimed violent crime was out of hand in Washington D.C. While sending in National Guard members, the president misstated crime data to justify his actions, according to The New York Times.

“Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don’t know what that means because it just goes back 25 years,” Trump said during an Aug. 11 news conference.

But that’s not accurate, The New York Times said. The number of homicides have decreased and it’s not currently at “the highest rate probably ever.”

The highest rate in the nation’s capital in more than 20 years was in 2023 when there were 274 homicides. With a population of nearly 679,000, it was a rate of about 40.4 per 100,000 people. In 2024, it decreased to 187 homicides with a population of 720,000 people, or 26.6 per 100,000. Through 2025, the number of homicides is down compared to the same time last year.

The crime data in Washington D.C., which has been reported since the 1960s, shows the highest rate of homicides was in 1991 when it was 80 homicides per 100,000 people.

Aerosmith moment created with AI

Social media posts earlier this month show Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler on stage with an elderly woman.

The Aug. 9 Facebook post included photos of Tyler and the woman singing and hugging, and the caption, in part, said, “At an emotional performance, Steven Tyler, the legendary lead singer of Aerosmith, suddenly stopped in the middle of his song. Looking out into the crowd, he noticed an elderly woman with silver hair and bright eyes standing at the front, her gaze full of anticipation. Without hesitation, Tyler walked over, smiled, and extended his hand, inviting her onto the stage.”

But this post is fake, according to Snopes. This heartwarming moment was brought to you by artificial intelligence, or AI.

There were no actual news reports of this event happening. Aerosmith’s official website doesn’t list any concert dates for the band and The Associated Press reported that the group retired from touring after Tyler suffered permanent vocal cord injuries in 2023.

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.