US President Donald Trump has had another tumultuous week. Even after approving an end to the government shutdown, Republicans face new pressure. Democrats have released more than 20,000 pages of documents and emails from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in which he repeatedly references President Trump, rekindling old allegations that the president is trying to bury.
The House Oversight Committee last week released a massive new set of files from Epstein’s estate that were requested in a subpoena earlier this year. The documents, which include emails exchanged by the billionaires over a 15-year period, have once again put Trump at the center of public debate.
In the conversations revealed, Mr. Epstein mentions Mr. Trump several times, pokes fun at his mental state, hints at divulging secrets and discusses episodes involving people close to the Republican Party. The messages also show Epstein coordinating communication strategies with Ghislaine Maxwell regarding sexual abuse allegations.
The White House downplayed its contents, with press secretary Caroline Leavitt saying the document “proves absolutely nothing” against the president.
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“I know how dirty Donald is,” Epstein said.
The emails reveal that Epstein made harsh comments about the Republican Party at various times. In 2017, he called the then-future president a “completely insane person” in a message to a New York Times reporter.
The following year, Trump told former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers that Trump was “almost crazy” and told former White House adviser Kathryn Lemmler, “I knew how dirty Donald was,” referring to the potential scandal.
The exchange came at a time when Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to the Stormy Daniels case.
The files also suggest that Mr. Epstein has hinted that he has dangerous material involving the current U.S. president. In 2015, he said he could release “photos of Donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen” and cited a 1990s model who was “delivered to Donald.” Nothing has been proven, and President Trump has always denied any wrongdoing.
Other excerpts from the document show Epstein disputing Trump’s version of their breakup. In a message to writer Michael Wolff, he said he was “not a member” of the Mar-a-Lago club, denied the theory that he was kicked out for harassing female employees, and even suggested that Trump “knew about them.”
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The photo was taken in 1997. Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump attended an event held at the Mar-a-Lago Club Resort
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Jeffrey Epstein
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Jeffrey Epstein case
- Former billionaire investor Jeffrey Epstein is accused of running a sex trafficking ring that targeted underage girls in the 1990s and 2000s.
- Initial complaints gained momentum in 2005, leading to years of police investigations.
- In 2008, Epstein reached a plea deal in which he admitted some of the charges and received a reduced sentence, serving just over a year in prison for another administration before being released in 2009.
- The case returned to the headlines in 2019 when a new federal investigation led to his arrest on sex trafficking charges. Less than three weeks later, in August of the same year, Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan cell.
- Authorities concluded he committed suicide.
Emails containing cryptic phrases
The document also describes a mysterious episode with the expression “a dog that didn’t bark.”
On April 2, 2011, Epstein wrote in an email to Ghislaine Maxwell that “the dog that didn’t bark is Trump,” suggesting that Virginia Giuffre (identified as such by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee) had spent hours with the then-future president at his home without ever mentioning Trump in her accusations.
Reactions in Brasilia: From Trump to Lula to Bolsonaro
The release of the document revealed an unexpected reference to Brazil. In one email dated 2018, Epstein wrote, “Chomsky called Lula. From prison. What a world.”
This phrase suggests that Noam Chomsky mediated the telephone conversation between Epstein and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT), who was serving a prison sentence in Curitiba at the time.
fart big city, The Presidential Office of Communications flatly denied that such a call had taken place. However, this record coincides with Chomsky’s visit to Lula on September 20, 2018, the day before the message was sent.
Another email shows Epstein referring to then-presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro as “that guy.” The document does not provide any additional context for the dialogue or identify the interlocutors, leaving the reason for the mention unclear.
President Trump slams Democrats, announces federal investigation
Amid political exhaustion and declining popularity due to the government shutdown, U.S. leaders are grappling with new blows. On social media, he called the release of the files a “travesty,” accused Democrats of “shifting focus,” and ordered the attorney general to launch a wide-ranging investigation into Epstein’s ties to Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman and JPMorgan executives.
Mr. Bondi opened an investigation and authorized Jay Clayton, the attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead the case.
The release of the emails also sparked a fight in Congress. Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was sworn into office, marking the 218th vote needed to force the House to consider the full release of Justice Department files related to Epstein.
Meanwhile, Republican women such as sexual assault survivors Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace refused to remove their names from the petition. The chamber’s president, Mike Johnson, announced that he would vote next week on a project that would require full disclosure of the files.
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