House Democrats released a new set of documents on Wednesday that included emails between Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and others discussing President Donald Trump. The material is part of more than 23,000 records turned over by Epstein’s estate and now under review by lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee.
Among the disclosed emails is a 2011 message in which Epstein told Maxwell that Mr. Trump “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims, whose name is redacted. In a separate 2019 message to author Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.” Maxwell is serving a 20-year federal sentence for conspiring in Epstein’s trafficking operation, and Wolff has written several books about Mr. Trump.
The Oversight Committee also released more than 20,000 pages of files from the estate, including court records, deposition transcripts, and correspondence. House Republicans accused Democrats of selecting provocative material “to generate clickbait,” while Democrats said the documents warrant full public review, according to CBS reports.
Mr. Trump has long said he ended his relationship with Epstein years before the financier faced renewed scrutiny. He has not been accused of wrongdoing. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Democrats leaked the emails to “create a fake narrative” and said the unnamed victim referenced in the messages was the late Virginia Giuffre.
Giuffre, who met Epstein in 2000 while working at the Mar-a-Lago spa, had not accused Mr. Trump of misconduct. In her memoir, she described him as polite when she visited his office. Leavitt added, “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.” She called the renewed attention to the emails a political distraction.
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Several of the newly released messages show Epstein discussing how Mr. Trump might respond to questions about their relationship. In a 2015 exchange, Wolff told Epstein that Trump’s answers could be used either to damage him or to gain “valuable PR and political currency.”
Mr. Trump and Epstein socialized frequently in the late 1980s through the early 2000s before what the president described as a falling out. Epstein later pleaded guilty to state charges in 2008 and died by suicide in federal custody in 2019.
The timing of the document release comes as House Democrats push for full transparency. Newly elected Rep. Adelita Grijalva is expected to sign a discharge petition that would force a vote on a bill compelling the Justice Department to release all Epstein files. A vote is unlikely before next month.
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Mr. Trump responded on social media, calling the renewed interest an “Epstein Hoax” and urging Republicans not to “fall into that trap.” Rep. Robert Garcia, the committee’s top Democrat, said the panel “will continue pushing for answers and will not stop until we get justice for the victims.”
Investigators have also requested information from former law enforcement officials, including Alex Acosta, who negotiated Epstein’s 2007 nonprosecution agreement and later resigned as Labor secretary under Mr. Trump.