US Democrats have released an email from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, alleging that former President Donald Trump was aware of women involved in sex trafficking.
The documents, which form part of 20,000 pages of files published by the US House Oversight Committee, include correspondence between Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and related offenses. Epstein’s email to Maxwell, dated 2011, contains references to Trump, indicating that he was aware of the women who were involved in the trafficking. In a separate email to journalist Michael Wolff, Epstein stated that Trump ‘knew about the girls as he asked (Ghislaine) to stop.’ These communications reveal the extent of Epstein’s involvement with the Trump administration and the nature of their relationship.
The emails show that Epstein frequently communicated with Trump, and his language describing the former president is highly critical, with terms like ‘borderline insane,’ ‘maniac,’ and ‘f**king crazy.’ In a 2018 email to Kathryn Ruemmler, an Obama-era White House counsel, Epstein remarked, ‘I know how dirty Donald is.’ These statements highlight the volatile nature of their relationship and the level of suspicion surrounding Trump’s role in the trafficking allegations.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, asserting that the documents released do not prove anything but that he ‘did nothing wrong.’ He has criticized Democratic efforts to use the case for political deflection, arguing that the focus should be on resolving the government shutdown. ‘There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!’ Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
The renewed interest in the case was sparked earlier this year when federal agencies confirmed that Epstein’s 2019 death in a Manhattan jail, ruled a suicide, involved no foul play. Investigators also found no evidence that Epstein maintained a ‘client list,’ which has further complicated the investigation and led to calls for a more comprehensive review of the documents released by the House Oversight Committee.