Jeffrey Epstein privately discussed Donald Trump in multiple email exchanges over more than a decade, according to documents released Wednesday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. The newly unveiled correspondence, obtained from the Epstein Estate under subpoena, adds to the public record surrounding Epstein's communications with prominent figures before his 2019 death in federal custody.
In one 2011 message to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein wrote, "I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump." He added that an unnamed woman - identified by committee investigators as a redacted alleged victim - had "spent hours at my house with him" but "he has never once been mentioned." Maxwell replied, "I have been thinking about that..."
The exchange took place weeks after British tabloids ran reports on Epstein, Maxwell, and their social circle of political and business elites. Committee members said the full context of the email is unclear, though its reference to Trump drew immediate attention as Democrats seek to expand oversight into the Justice Department's handling of Epstein's case.
A separate set of emails released by the committee shows Epstein corresponding with author Michael Wolff, known for his books chronicling Trump's presidency. In December 2015, Wolff warned Epstein that "CNN [is] planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you-either on air or in scrum afterwards." Epstein replied, "If we were to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?" Wolff answered the next day: "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."
Another exchange, dated January 2019, during Trump's first term in office, includes Epstein claiming that Trump misrepresented their relationship after Epstein's ban from Mar-a-Lago. "Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever," Epstein wrote. "Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop."
The White House has previously said that Trump barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago "for being a creep," while Trump himself told reporters in 2019 that he hadn't spoken to Epstein in 15 years and had "a falling out long ago." Maxwell, in a deposition to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche earlier this year, stated, "The President was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects."
Democrats on the Oversight Committee released the emails as part of a broader push to compel the Department of Justice to disclose all records related to Epstein's sex-trafficking investigation. Representative Robert Garcia (D., Calif.), the committee's ranking member, said, "The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover. 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."
The emails come from a tranche of 23,000 documents provided by the Epstein Estate in response to the committee's subpoena. The Oversight Committee had previously joined bipartisan calls to force a vote on a House bill that would require the Justice Department to release its full investigative files. The legislation, which has 217 supporters, is expected to gain its final signature once Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D., Ariz.) is sworn in.
Epstein's communications, dating back to his years after serving a 13-month sentence in 2008 for sex-related offenses in Florida, have been central to ongoing congressional efforts to trace his network of political, financial, and international connections. The Justice Department has so far declined to release its full case file, stating there was no evidence of a "client list" or of Epstein "blackmailing prominent individuals."
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal trafficking charges. Maxwell, his longtime associate, is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Texas for sex trafficking and conspiracy. Trump has denied wrongdoing or impropriety in his past dealings with Epstein.
