Executive Summary
- House Democrats released emails from Jeffrey Epstein alleging President Donald Trump was aware of his sex trafficking activities.
- One 2011 email claims Trump “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with a victim. Another alleges Trump asked Ghislaine Maxwell to stop bringing girls around.
- President Trump has consistently denied any involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
- The release is part of a push by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee for the full release of Department of Justice files on the Epstein case.
WASHINGTON – Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released email exchanges from the late financier Jeffrey Epstein which allege President Donald Trump was aware of his illicit activities and spent time with a woman later identified as a victim of sex trafficking. The release raises new questions about the extent of the relationship between the two men.
In a 2011 email to his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein wrote that Mr. Trump had “spent hours at my house” with an unnamed victim. In a separate 2019 email exchange with author Michael Wolff, Epstein claimed of President Trump, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.” The committee published three email exchanges in total, asserting they suggest Mr. Trump was more aware of Epstein’s actions than he has publicly stated.
President Trump has consistently denied any involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. He has previously acknowledged a friendship with Epstein but stated they had a falling out more than two decades ago. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the newly released emails.
The publication of the correspondence is part of a broader effort by some members of Congress to compel the administration to release its complete files on the Epstein case. “These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the president,” said Representative Robert Garcia, the senior Democrat on the committee. “The Department of Justice must fully release the Epstein files to the public immediately,” he added.
This is not the first time the committee has released documents related to the two men. In September, it published a lewd birthday message allegedly sent from Mr. Trump to Epstein, which the White House denied, stating the signature did not match the president’s. Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence on sex-trafficking charges, stated in July that she had “never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way.”
The emails could renew scrutiny of the president’s past associations as lawmakers anticipate a future House vote on the matter. It is important to note that allegations contained within private correspondence do not constitute legal findings, and all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.