A 2019 email written by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein claimed that President Donald Trump “knew about the girls,” according to documents released Wednesday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. However, the message offered no clarification about what Trump allegedly knew, and the White House immediately blasted the release as a politically motivated “smear.”
Among the newly disclosed documents are three emails referencing Trump, including one from 2011 in which Epstein told Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump had “spent hours” at his home with a young woman later identified as Virginia Giuffre. Democrats said the emails were part of a larger cache of 23,000 documents obtained from Epstein’s estate.
Republicans quickly countered the release, accusing Democrats of “weaponizing selective leaks” to damage Trump amid a government shutdown fight.
White House Denounces ‘Fake Narrative’
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Democrats had “selectively leaked emails” to “create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump dismissed the release as “another desperate distraction,” writing: “They’re trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein hoax again because they’ll do anything to deflect from their failures with the government shutdown and everything else.”
He added that any Republican “should be focused only on opening up our country and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats.”
Trump has long maintained that he cut ties with Epstein years ago, even claiming in July that he banned him from Mar-a-Lago for “taking people who worked for me,” including Giuffre, who he said was “taken out of the spa, hired by him — in other words, gone.”
What the Emails Reveal
In a 2019 exchange with journalist Michael Wolff, Epstein allegedly wrote, “Of course he [Trump] knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.”
Another email, dated April 2, 2011, from Epstein to Maxwell, stated: “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump. Virginia spent hours at my house with him … he has never once been mentioned.”
Maxwell replied the same day: “I have been thinking about that.”
The Democrats’ redacted version withheld the victim’s name, but Republicans later confirmed it was Virginia Giuffre — who died earlier this year and who had long stated that Trump was never involved in Epstein’s sexual crimes.
Giuffre, in sworn testimony and in her memoir, described Trump as “friendly” during a single encounter at Mar-a-Lago, saying he “couldn’t have been friendlier” and never acted inappropriately. She added that he once offered to help her find babysitting jobs at the club.
Other members of Epstein’s household staff also testified that while Trump occasionally visited Epstein’s home, they never saw him engage in misconduct.
Giuffre’s Death and Renewed Scrutiny
Giuffre, who had accused Prince Andrew and other influential men of sexual abuse, died by suicide in April. The renewed release of Epstein’s emails comes months after FBI and Justice Department officials declined to disclose further Epstein-related materials, frustrating online theorists seeking new revelations.
The White House emphasized that Giuffre herself repeatedly cleared Trump of wrongdoing. “The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees,” Leavitt said. “Any American with common sense sees right through this hoax.”
Maxwell’s DOJ Interview Clears Trump
In a July interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Maxwell — now serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking — denied ever seeing Trump act inappropriately.
“I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting,” she said. “He was a gentleman in all respects.”
Giuffre had first come forward after Epstein’s 2008 plea deal in Florida, which allowed him to serve just 18 months in jail for soliciting prostitution, avoiding federal prosecution. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on new federal charges.
Maxwell, who prosecutors said helped recruit girls for Epstein between 1994 and 2004, continues to maintain her innocence and is serving her sentence at a minimum-security prison camp in Texas.
Source: Associated Press
