House Democrats on Wednesday released emails in which Jeffrey Epstein wrote that President Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims. The messages suggest that the convicted sex offender believed Trump may have known more about his abuse than he has publicly acknowledged.
Trump has emphatically denied any involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. He has described his past relationship with Epstein, the financier who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019, as a former friendship that ended years ago.
The emails, selected from thousands of pages of documents obtained by the House Oversight Committee, raise new questions about the relationship between the two men. In one message, Epstein asserted that Trump “knew about the girls,” many of whom were later confirmed by investigators to be underage. In another, Epstein discussed how to respond to media questions about their relationship as Trump was rising to national political prominence.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The newly released correspondence is likely to reignite debate on Capitol Hill over the Trump administration’s handling of Epstein-related files and the decision by top officials to backtrack on fully releasing them. The issue, which has caused tension between Republicans and some right-wing supporters, had receded amid a government shutdown.
“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,” said Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee.
The three email exchanges, all dated after Epstein’s 2008 plea deal in Florida, included correspondence with Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell and author Michael Wolff. Maxwell was later convicted for her role in facilitating Epstein’s crimes.
In one April 2011 email to Maxwell, Epstein wrote, “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump,” referring to a victim who “spent hours at my house with him… he has never once been mentioned.” Maxwell replied, “I have been thinking about that.”
In a January 2019 email to Wolff, Epstein wrote, “Of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.” Democrats noted that Maxwell is reportedly preparing to request a commutation of her federal prison sentence.
The emails were provided along with a larger collection of documents from Epstein’s estate as part of the committee’s investigation into Epstein and Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence on sex-trafficking charges. Committee staff redacted victims’ names and identifying information. It remains unclear whether these excerpts represent the full context of the conversations.
Trump has dismissed continued inquiries as a “hoax” by Democrats, describing Epstein as a “creep” and insisting he never engaged in wrongdoing with Epstein or Maxwell.
Trump and Epstein were friends during the 1990s and early 2000s, splitting around 2004. Accounts differ on the reason for the fallout; one version suggests a dispute over Palm Beach real estate, while Trump later claimed Epstein “hired away” spa attendants at Mar-a-Lago, leading to his removal from the club. One of the women involved, Virginia Giuffre, has alleged she was recruited by Maxwell into Epstein’s ring while working at Mar-a-Lago as a teenager.
The 2011 “dog that didn’t bark” email came while Trump was a reality TV star and tabloid figure, years before his presidential bid. Epstein was simultaneously managing negative media coverage about abuse occurring in his Florida home.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration released a transcript of a courthouse interview with Maxwell, who acknowledged a social relationship between Trump and Epstein but denied any connection between Trump and the trafficking operation.
The January 2019 email to Wolff, which claimed Trump “knew about the girls” and asked Maxwell “to stop,” came just months before Epstein’s federal arrest. Wolff, a political author, also exchanged emails with Epstein in December 2015, advising him on how to handle media questions about Trump. Wolff suggested inaction might allow Trump to deny a close association, creating “valuable P.R. and political currency.” Trump was not asked about Epstein during that debate.
The release of these emails comes as Speaker Mike Johnson prepares to swear in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, whose seating has been delayed. Her presence will allow a House vote on a measure demanding the Trump administration release all investigative material related to Epstein—a move the White House opposes.
