Newly released congressional emails reveal that Jeffrey Epstein claimed former President Donald J. Trump knew about his sexual abuse of underage girls and once spent hours at Epstein’s home with one of the victims.
The emails, disclosed by House Democrats on Wednesday, show Epstein asserting in 2011 that Trump was “the dog that hasn’t barked,” referring to the fact that Trump had not been publicly linked to the scandal. Epstein wrote to his confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell, that “one of the girls spent hours at my house with him,” suggesting Trump’s awareness of Epstein’s activities.
In another 2019 message to author Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote, “Of course he knew about the girls — he asked Ghislaine to stop.”
Trump has repeatedly denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s sex-trafficking network, calling questions about it a “Democrat hoax.” He has said the two men were once friendly but had a “falling out” in the early 2000s, years before Epstein’s 2008 plea deal for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
The White House declined to comment on the newly surfaced emails, which were drawn from thousands of pages obtained by the House Oversight Committee.
Representative Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking member, said the revelations “raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the true nature of Trump’s relationship with Epstein.”
Republicans, however, accused Democrats of cherry-picking the messages to smear Trump, noting that over 20,000 pages of Epstein estate documents were handed over to the committee.
Among the redacted names in the emails was Virginia Giuffre, a victim who said Maxwell recruited her as a teenager while she worked at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, had previously stated in a deposition that she never saw Trump participate in abuse but believed he had visited Epstein’s home.
The emails reignite debate over the Trump administration’s handling of the so-called “Epstein files,” which officials have so far refused to fully release — a decision that has caused tension among Republicans and scrutiny from Congress.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting federal sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping him exploit underage girls.
As the House moves to end the government shutdown, the release of these emails ensures that the Epstein-Trump connection will once again dominate Washington’s political spotlight.
