Jeffrey Epstein’s name refuses to fade, and this time, it drags Donald Trump back into the spotlight.
House Democrats on Wednesday released a series of emails in which Epstein repeatedly mentioned Trump, claiming the US President “knew about the girls” and had “spent hours” at his home with one of his alleged victims.
The messages, obtained from Epstein’s estate after a subpoena, raise sharp questions about what Trump knew.
In an April 2011 email to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein wrote: “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump.. (REDACTED) spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there,” reported CNN.
The woman’s name is redacted. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee describe her as a victim of Epstein’s trafficking network.
Another message from 2019 paints an even starker picture. Writing to author Michael Wolff, Epstein said: “trump said he asked me to resign. never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked to Ghislaine to stop.”
Trump has always denied any involvement with Epstein’s crimes, insisting their friendship ended years ago. The newly released emails suggest Epstein believed otherwise, that Trump was well aware of what was happening behind closed doors.
“The more Donald Trump tries to cover-up the Epstein files, the more we uncover,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member of the Oversight Committee, reported NPR. “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.”
In another exchange dated December 15, 2015, Wolff tipped Epstein off that CNN might question Trump about their relationship during a Republican debate: “I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you–either on air or in scrum afterwards.”
Epstein responded, “if we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?”
Wolff replied, "I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt."
None of the emails were sent by Trump, but their content cuts through years of denials. Epstein’s words, “he knew about the girls”, echo with particular force given the US President’s repeated insistence that he “barely knew” the financier.
Maxwell, in a recent interview, defended Trump. “The President was never inappropriate with anybody,” she said. “In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.”
Still, Epstein’s emails suggest a story that Trump’s team has tried to bury. The 23,000 documents turned over by the Epstein estate are now being combed through by investigators, with Democrats hinting that more explosive material could surface.
This isn’t the first time Trump’s name has appeared in Epstein-related files. In September, Democrats released pages from Epstein’s “birthday book,” which included a lewd sketch and a note appearing to bear Trump’s signature.
The US President brushed it off, saying he had “no meaningful connection” to Epstein.
But the emails show Epstein himself saw Trump as a powerful ally, or a dangerous liability. “That dog that hasn’t barked is Trump,” he wrote, implying the silence around Trump’s name was no accident.
Epstein died by suicide in a federal prison cell in 2019.