What’s in the explosive Jeffrey Epstein emails accusing Trump?
The Jeffrey Epstein case took a new turn Wednesday when House Democrats released emails in which the disgraced financier said he mentioned President Trump. A few hours later, Republicans released a trove of 20,000 pages of documents.
Epstein, who died in prison, was accused of organizing the sex trafficking of young girls. President Trump, a longtime friend of Epstein’s, had a falling out with the convicted sex offender before his election to the nation’s highest office and has denied any wrongdoing.
Emails
- “Of course he knew about the girls,” Epstein said of Trump in an email to author and journalist Michael Wolff in early 2019, as Trump was nearing the end of his first term as president.
- In another email dated December 15, 2015, Wolff emailed Epstein ahead of the Republican presidential primary debate: “I hear CNN plans to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you—either live on air or in the later attack.” Epstein responded: “If we could formulate an answer for him, what do you think it would be?”
- In the third email, sent in 2011 to British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein wrote: “I want you to understand that the dog that doesn’t bark is trump. [Victim] “I spent hours with him in my house… he was never mentioned.” Maxwell replied: “I was thinking about it…”
Read the excerpts here:
Reaction
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democrats “selectively leaked emails to liberal media to create a false narrative to smear President Trump.”
“These stories are nothing more than malicious efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments,” he said in a statement, “and any American with common sense sees through this deception and a clear distraction from reopening the government.”
But Democrats say the emails break new ground.
“The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) said in a speech. expression when he published the documents. “These latest emails and correspondence raise salient questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the President.”
Background
Despite many investigations, no official findings linking Trump to Epstein’s crimes have been found.
Epstein, a wealthy financier with many powerful friends, died in a New York City jail in August 2019 while facing federal charges in an increasingly widespread child sex trafficking conspiracy.
The charges come after the Miami Herald reported on a scandalous sweetheart deal brokered by federal prosecutors in Florida that allowed Epstein to spend months in prison, avoiding federal charges that could have resulted in life in prison.
In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump sent Epstein a suggestive 50th birthday letter that included a sketch of a naked woman, her breasts, and a squiggly “Donald” signature that mimicked her pubic hair. The President refused to write the letter.
“These are not my words or the way I speak,” Trump said. he wrote on the social media platform. “Also, I don’t draw.”
