Recommendations of the Editorial team
A series of emails from Jeffrey Epstein released by House Democrats on Wednesday (Nov. 12) reveal that the late convicted sex offender wrote in 2019 that Donald Trump “knew about the girls” in Epstein’s sex trafficking case – even though the president had consistently denied this for years.
In another email to his confidant Ghislaine Maxwell in 2011, Epstein wrote that Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims and described the future president as “the dog that didn’t bark,” noting that “he was never mentioned,” the New York Times reports. It’s unclear exactly what Epstein meant when he said Trump wasn’t mentioned.
Thousands of documents and explosive details
The three emails were found among thousands of pages of documents obtained by the House Oversight Committee related to the Epstein case. Two of the emails were between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, who was writing a tell-all book about the Trump administration at the time, while the other email was a conversation between Epstein and Maxwell, who was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in the sex trafficking case.
Trump’s Justice Department moved Maxwell to a minimum-security detention center earlier this year – and the president has not ruled out pardoning her.
Democrats demand clarification – Republicans talk about distraction
“These latest emails and correspondence raise pressing questions about what else the White House is hiding and what the relationship between Epstein and the president really is,” said Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), chairman of the Oversight Committee.
In an email from January 2019 – just months before Epstein’s death – Epstein wrote: “Of course knew [Trump] from the girls because he asked Ghislaine to stop.” This statement calls into question Trump’s assertions that he had no knowledge of the allegations against Epstein.
The Republicans on the committee reacted sharply: “Democrats continue to carelessly cherry-pick documents to generate clickbait that is not based on facts.” They accused Democrats of withholding documents naming Democratic officials.
Trump himself later wrote: “The Democrats are trying to rehash the Jeffrey Epstein hoax because they will do anything to distract from how poorly they did on the shutdown and so many other issues.”
Pressure on the White House is growing
The Epstein scandal is likely to become more explosive again after newly elected Representative Adelita Grijalva (Arizona) took her seat in Congress. She wants to push forward a measure that would require the White House to release all Epstein files.
Since the Justice Department announced earlier this year that it would not release any further records, new revelations have emerged. The Wall Street Journal reported on an alleged birthday letter from Trump to Epstein from the early 2000s, in which he shared a suggestive drawing and the comment that he and Epstein had “certain similarities.” Trump sued the newspaper, claiming the letter was fake.
Old friendship, new questions
The Wall Street Journal also reported that the Justice Department informed Trump that his name appeared in the Epstein files.
Trump later called Epstein a “vile” and said the friendship had broken down after Epstein “stole” young women employed at Mar-a-Lago – including Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein victim who died by suicide earlier this year.
Giuffre’s family told The Atlantic: “It was shocking to hear President Trump say he knew Virginia had been ‘kidnapped’ from Mar-a-Lago. This makes us wonder whether he knew about the criminal actions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Trump has always maintained that he knew nothing about Epstein’s illegal activities – even though he publicly praised the financier for years. In 2002, he told New York magazine that Epstein was a “great guy” who he had “known for 15 years.” He added: “It’s even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do – and many of them are on the younger side.”