Newly released emails from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have revealed several references to US President Donald Trump, according to documents made public by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, CNN reported. The private exchanges, which kept happening for over 15 years, were reviewed by CNN and show Epstein discussing Trump in messages sent to his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell and author Michael Wolff.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the released emails as politically motivated. She said Democrats “selectively leaked” the documents to smear Trump and distract from other issues.
Jeffrey Epstein claimed he ‘knew how dirty Donald is’
In an August 2018 email to Kathryn Ruemmler, who earlier served as White House counsel under President Barack Obama, Jeffrey Epstein wrote, “I know how dirty Donald is,” hinting at possible scandals that could surface, according to CNN. “My guess is that non-lawyers, ny biz people have no idea. what it means to have your fixer flip,” the email read further.
The emails are part of more than 20,000 documents obtained from Epstein’s estate by House Democrats through a subpoena. They were made public on Wednesday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
According to CNN, the conversation between Epstein and Ruemmler began on August 23, 2018, when she shared a New York Times opinion piece titled “Donald Trump’s High Crimes and Misdemeanours.” The article discussed Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, including hush money payments.
Ruemmler wrote to Epstein, “I thought you’d find this interesting.” She also added that it didn’t matter whether the money came from Trump directly, adding that lying about it showed he knew it was wrong.
In one of the emails, Epstein claimed that Trump “spent hours at my house” with a woman identified by the committee as one of Epstein’s sex trafficking victims. Another message showed Epstein saying that Trump “knew about the girls,” likely referring to Trump’s past claim that he had banned Epstein from his Florida mansion, Mar-a-Lago, according to CNN.
An April 2, 2011, email to Maxwell read: “I want you to realise that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump… (REDACTED) spent hours at my house with him, but he has never once been mentioned. Police chief. etc. I’m 75% there.” CNN reported that the meaning of this message remains unclear.
In another message from December 2018, an unidentified person texted Epstein saying that the political storm around Trump would “blow over.” Epstein replied, “Yes, thanks. It’s wild. Because I am the one able to take him down.”
Earlier this year, Trump’s administration repeated its claims that Epstein’s 2019 death in prison was a suicide, and it refused to release further details.
Trump camp responds
In a White House statement, press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said, “The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”
Leavitt also claimed the unnamed victim in the emails was the late Virginia Giuffre, who had said Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing and was always polite to her. She added that Trump had thrown Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club “decades ago” for behaving inappropriately toward female staff. “These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s accomplishments,” she said.
At the time of that email, Epstein had already served a 13-month jail sentence after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution, including with a minor. His plea deal later sparked criticism for being too lenient.
Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Epstein’s trafficking network, reportedly told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche earlier this year that she had never witnessed Trump acting inappropriately. She said, “The President was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”
Maxwell also said she didn’t recall ever seeing Trump at Epstein’s house. The name of the woman mentioned in Epstein’s emails was redacted by the committee to protect her identity.