New York, New York - Jeffrey Epstein's brother claimed President Donald Trump's efforts to distance himself from the infamous sex offender are nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Mark Epstein told CNN that Trump and his sibling used to be "very close," and said the president is "trying to cover his butt" by insisting they weren't.

"Look, I understand people trying to distance themselves from Jeffrey because of what he was charged with and the circumstances he found himself in," Epstein said. "I understand that, you know, but I know that they were good friends and I witnessed it myself."

Epstein recalled how his brother and Trump used to joke with each other, which demonstrated just how close they were.

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During a plane ride in 1999, "Jeffrey asked [Trump], 'How come you sleep with so many married women?' and Donald said, 'Because it's so wrong.'"

"For Jeffrey to ask him that question, he would have to know that Donald slept with a lot of married women, and he probably got that information from Donald," Mark Epstein said.

"That's not the kind of question you ask a casual acquaintance. That's a question you ask a good friend that you can get away with asking those kind of questions."

When asked about the president's recent denial that he ever visited Jeffrey's office, Epstein described it as a "blatant lie," and claimed his brother's former staffers could attest that Trump was seen there "on numerous occasions."

Trump and his administration have been facing heavy backlash after the Department of Justice and the FBI released a final report on Jeffrey Epstein's case, dismissing theories that he was murdered in prison or kept a "client list" featuring prominent figures.

The Republican has since been desperately trying to quell the public's obsession with the case, despite having campaigned on the promise to release the explosive documents.

During his interview, Mark Epstein described his brother's death as "unsolved," and recalled how he was called in to identify the body the day after.

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"They came out of the autopsy a couple hours later and they both concurred that they could not call this a suicide because it looked too much like a homicide," he said of a doctor and pathologist the family hired to perform an independent autopsy. "They were very clear about that."

In recent days, President Trump has reverted to dubbing the scandal as a Democrat-led "Epstein hoax," and has urged his MAGA base to move on – to no avail.