Jeffrey Epstein
9 min read
Epstein Claimed Trump ‘Knew About The Girls,’ Email Shows—White House Claims It’s A ‘Fake Narrative’
By Alison Durkee, Forbes Staff
Topline
House Democrats released a tranche of emails Wednesday in which Jeffrey Epstein criticized Donald Trump and suggested the president knew about Epstein’s abuse of women, raising new speculation about Trump’s relationship with the late financier—though the White House has continued to decry the latest revelations as a smear campaign against the president.
Key Facts
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released more than a dozen emails provided by Epstein’s estate in which the financier discussed the president—most notably suggesting in several email exchanges that Trump knew about Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse of women, many of whom were underage.
House Republicans on the Oversight Committee also released a tranche of 20,000 files from the Epstein estate, accusing Democrats of “cherry-pick[ing]” the files they released “to generate clickbait.”
In the two most controversial exchanges, Epstein wrote to associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2011 that an unnamed victim of his “spent hours at my house” with Trump, and then told writer Michael Wolff in 2019, “Of course [Trump] knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.”
The exchanges suggest Trump had knowledge of Epstein’s relationships with women, though they do not explicitly say the president was at all directly involved with abusing women or participated in Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme himself.
Epstein and Wolff also discussed Trump in 2015, with Wolff suggesting to Epstein that Trump had been on Epstein’s private plane and in the financier’s home, and emails sent during Trump’s first presidency show Epstein repeatedly criticizing the president, calling him “dumb” and “gross.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed in a statement that House Democrats “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump,” also claiming the unnamed victim Epstein referenced was the late Virginia Giuffre, who has said she met Trump at Mar-a-Lago but never accused the president of wrongdoing.
Chief Critic
“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre,” Leavitt said Wednesday, calling the emails “nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”
Epstein Suggests Trump Spent Time With Victim
In his 2011 exchange with Maxwell, Epstein described Trump as the “dog that hasn’t barked,” noting the president allegedly spent time with one of Epstein’s victims and saying Trump “has never once been mentioned.” All of Epstein’s email exchanges regarding Trump took place after at least some knowledge of the financier’s alleged abuse had become known, as Epstein signed a non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors in 2008.
Epstein’s Emails With Michael Wolff: ‘knew About The Girls’
Epstein’s 2019 email to Wolff—which was sent in January, prior to Epstein being arrested in July—is partially redacted due to comments about Epstein’s victims. Epstein referenced Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and wrote, “Trump asked me to resign, never a member ever.” He then went on to claim Trump “knew about the girls.” Wolff told Epstein in their 2015 exchange that he had heard CNN was planning to ask Trump about his relationship with Epstein during a debate for the Republican presidential primary, with Epstein responding, “If we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?” Wolff responded by saying Epstein should “let [Trump] hang himself,” claiming that if Trump “says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency.” Epstein could use any alleged lies Trump made about the pair’s relationship to “hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you,” Wolff suggested, or, if Trump looked like he could win the election, Epstein “could save him, generating a debt.” The writer then mused it was also possible Trump could say “Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness.” House Democrats’ second tranche of emails also included more exchanges with Wolff, including a message the writer sent Epstein in October 2016 saying, “There's an opportunity to come forward this week and talk about Trump in such a way that could garner you great sympathy and help finish him. Interested?” No response from Epstein is provided.
Epstein Tells Larry Summers How ‘dumb’ Trump ‘really Is’
Epstein discussed Trump with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers in 2017, musing on Trump’s then-lawyer Marc Kasowitz being unable to find law firms willing to work with the president. Summers told Epstein it’s “very hard to be law firm representing [Trump] and know what to do when potus lies to u,” adding “his world thinks poorly” of attorney Jamie Gorelick for representing Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and asking if Epstein agrees Trump was guilty of colluding with Russia in his 2016 campaign. “Your world does not understand how dumb he really is,” Epstein responded, referring to Trump. “He will blame everyone around him. for bad results. .gary cohn in good place. as is jared. all others, not long for this world.” In another 2017 exchange with Summers, Epstein promised to tell Summers about his “wild” stories of being in Washington, D.C., which Summers responded to by telling Epstein that Trump is the “world s luckiest guy in terms of opposition, economy etc,” but Summers “still think[s] his world will collapse.” The ex-Treasury Secretary went on to muse “why American elite think if u murder your baby by beating and abandonment it must be irrelevant to your admission to Harvard, but hit on a few women 10 years ago and can't work at a network or think tank.” Summers ended the message by telling Epstein, “DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT.”
Epstein’s Messages With Steve Bannon
Democrats also released an exchange between Epstein and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon from June 2019 about Trump appearing with Prince Andrew during the president’s state visit to the U.K. “prince andrew and trump today. tooo funny,” Epstein wrote to Bannon, adding, “recall prince andrews accuser came out of mara lago.” Bannon responded that he “can't believe nobody is making u the connective tissue,” to which Epstein said, “f and b only.” It’s unclear who “f and b” refers to, but the reference to Prince Andrew’s accuser likely refers to Giuffre, who worked at Mar-a-Lago before Maxwell introduced her to Epstein. She accused Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew of sexual abuse prior to her death earlier this year, and Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal title last month as the publication of Giuffre’s memoir revived scrutiny of his relationship with Epstein. Other emails released Wednesday show a journalist from The Mail on Sunday reaching out with questions about Maxwell, Andrew and Epstein’s alleged abuse, with Andrew appearing to say in an email to Maxwell about the request, “What's all this? I don’t know anything about this! You must SAY so please. This has NOTHING to do with me. I can't take any more of this.”
Epstein Suggests Trump Is ‘gross’
Epstein criticized Trump in 2017 messages with Kathy Ruemmler, an attorney and former White House counsel to President Barack Obama, after she commented in an email to the financier, “Trump is so gross.” Epstein responded by saying the president is “worse in real life and upclose.” In another exchange with Ruemmler, the lawyer sent Epstein a 2018 New York Times op-ed arguing Trump should be impeached for his hush-money payments to two women before the 2016 election. Epstein responded by suggesting that Trump using his own money for the payments could make it “not illegal.” Epstein also said he “talk[ed] in detail to starr yesterday re indicments how trump can make a deal,” referring to Kenneth Starr, the attorney best known for serving as a special counsel in the investigation that led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment. In a third exchange with Ruemmler from 2014 discussing an upcoming meeting in New York—and Epstein’s busy schedule meeting such people as billionaire Peter Thiel, Summers, former CIA director Bill Burns, former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and billionaire Leon Black—the attorney at one point told Epstein, “Most girls don’t have to worry about this crap.” In response, Epstein quipped, “‘Girls?’,, careful I will renew an old habit.”
Epstein And Tom Barrack
Democrats also released an email Epstein sent to Thomas Barrack, who now serves as ambassador to Turkey after previously advising on Trump’s 2016 campaign and chairing his first inaugural committee. Epstein told Barrack in May 2016 he “receive[s] many calls a [week] about both Donald” and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from reporters, noting that about Trump the questions are about Trump’s ex-wife Marla Maples, Mar-a-Lago, beauty pageants and something else that’s redacted in the document. “My answers are always i have nothing to say. or i try to ignore altogether. A few times i have been ambushed on the street with questions. but am more careful now,” Epstein told Barrack.
News Peg
The Epstein files are once again gaining attention as the government shutdown comes to an end. Rep-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., will be sworn in Wednesday after waiting more than a month to take office, and is expected to become the final signatory needed to bring legislation to the House floor that would force the government to release its full files on Epstein. That bill could now come up for a vote in the House by early December, though the Senate would also need to pass the legislation and Trump would have to sign it before it could become law. The Trump administration is also reportedly trying to get Repulicans who have signed on to the petition to renounce their support, though it’s unclear if any will. The House Oversight Committee is also still in the process of receiving the government’s documents on Epstein from the Justice Department, after the committee subpoenaed the DOJ for the files as part of a broader investigation into the Epstein case. That handover appears to have stopped during the government shutdown, Democrats have suggested, but could now resume once the shutdown ends. The House Oversight Committee has said it will make the documents it receives public with redactions to protect victims’ identities.
Key Background
Trump and Epstein were known to be friends in the 1990s and early 2000s before having a falling out, which the president has said was because the financier stole workers from Trump who had been employed at Mar-a-Lago’s spa. There is no evidence suggesting Trump ever took part in Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme, but questions about the nature of the president’s relationship with Epstein have intensified in recent months, after Trump’s DOJ made the sudden announcement over the summer that it would not release any further Epstein files. The emails released Wednesday come after the Wall Street Journal reported on, and the House Oversight Committee then released, a letter Trump allegedly sent to Epstein for the financier’s birthday, which includes a drawing of a woman’s silhouette and Trump telling Epstein, “Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump has denied writing the letter, and his defamation lawsuit against the Journal for reporting on the letter remains pending. The emails released Wednesday also come after Bloomberg reported on separate emails between Epstein and Maxwell shortly after the financier was criminally charged in 2006, in which Epstein told Maxwell to “remove Trump” from a list of high-profile people. The context of the list is unclear.
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