Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released a batch of private emails from Jeffrey Epstein that repeatedly mention former President Donald Trump, igniting fresh political controversy in Washington. The documents, obtained through a subpoena of Epstein's estate, span more than 15 years of correspondence.
Key Revelations from Epstein's Correspondence
The newly disclosed emails include exchanges between Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as communications with author Michael Wolff. In one particularly notable message from 2011, Epstein wrote to Maxwell about Trump, stating: "i want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump.. (REDACTED) spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there."
Maxwell responded cryptically: "I have been thinking about that..." The emails also contain Epstein's claim that Trump "knew about the girls," which appears connected to Trump's previous assertion that he banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club for targeting young female staff members.
Virginia Giuffre's Connection to Trump
Republican committee members identified the woman mentioned in the emails as Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most prominent accusers who tragically died by suicide in April. Giuffre had previously written about her experiences at Mar-a-Lago in her memoir Nobody's Girl, where she described working at the resort in 2000 while her father was employed as maintenance staff.
In her book, Giuffre recalled Trump being "friendly" and asking if she liked children and whether she babysat. She noted that Trump explained he owned several houses near the resort that he lent to friends who needed childcare. Importantly, Giuffre never accused Trump of any misconduct in her memoir or public statements.
Political Fallout and White House Response
The email release has triggered immediate political backlash. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt condemned what she called "selective leaking" by Democrats, accusing them of creating "a fake narrative to smear President Trump."
Leavitt stated: "These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump's historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax."
The committee confirmed that Trump neither sent nor received any of the released emails, most of which predated his presidency. Trump has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing related to Epstein or Maxwell.
Maxwell's Defense of Trump
In earlier testimony this year, Ghislaine Maxwell provided a defense of Trump during an interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Maxwell stated she "never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way" and couldn't recall seeing Trump at Epstein's residence.
She emphatically added: "The President was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects."
The email release comes amid ongoing efforts in Congress to secure more documents related to Epstein, with the House Oversight Committee successfully obtaining materials from Epstein's estate while other lawmakers push for the release of government files.
