WASHINGTON — Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, led by Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), released several newly obtained, never-before-seen emails Wednesday from the estate of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The documents, which were shared with outlets including PBS News, are part of a massive 23,000-page production subpoenaed from Epstein’s estate. The released emails detail Epstein’s written references to President Donald Trump both before he was elected (in 2011 and 2015) and in the run-up to the 2020 election (in 2019).
The White House immediately blasted the release as a “selectively leaked” and “fake narrative” designed to “smear President Trump.”
Key Claims in the Released Emails
The emails, which do not include any messages sent by Donald Trump, detail correspondence between Epstein, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and author Michael Wolff.
- The 2011 Email: “That Dog That Hasn’t Barked” In an April 2011 email to Ghislaine Maxwell (who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking ring), Epstein referred to Trump as “that dog that hasn’t barked.” He continued, alleging that a specific, redacted victim “spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.”
- The 2019 Email: “Of Course He Knew” In a January 2019 email to author Michael Wolff, Epstein appeared to dispute Trump’s public statements about their falling out. Epstein wrote, “Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever.” He then made the direct claim: “of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine [sic] to stop.”
- The 2015 Email: Debate Strategy A December 2015 exchange shows Wolff warning Epstein that CNN planned to ask Trump about their relationship at an upcoming Republican primary debate. When Epstein asked what the “craft[ed] answer” should be, Wolff advised: “I think you should let him hang himself… or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt.”
White House Response: “A Hoax and a Smear”
The White House issued a swift and forceful denial. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt condemned the release as a “fake narrative to smear President Trump” and a “hoax” by Democrats to distract from other issues.
- Trump’s Position: The White House reiterated that “President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep.”
- Victim Identification: Leavitt identified the redacted victim mentioned in the 2011 email as Virginia Giuffre. The White House noted that Giuffre herself never accused Trump of wrongdoing and described him as “friendly” in her memoir.
Political Context and Republican Counter-Move
The release is part of a broader political battle over the DOJ’s “Epstein files.” In response to the Democrats’ release, House Republicans on the committee released a much larger trove of 20,000 documents from the estate, accusing Democrats of “cherry-picking” three emails to “generate clickbait.”
Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) stated the emails “raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding” and called on the Department of Justice to “fully release the Epstein files to the public immediately.”
