Jeffrey Epstein allegedly mentioned Donald Trump by name multiple times in private correspondence over the last 15 years.
The emails to longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking after Epstein’s death, and the author Michael Wolff include conversations in which Epstein asserts Trump spent significant time with a woman whom Oversight Democrats describe as a victim of Epstein’s sex trafficking. The emails also include a message in which Epstein asserts Trump “knew about the girls” — seemingly in reference to Trump’s claim that he kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club for poaching young women who worked there, according to the newly released emails.
The emails were released Wednesday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, who obtained them after subpoenaing Epstein’s estate earlier this year. Trump did not receive or send any of the messages, which largely predated his time as president, and he has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or Maxwell. CNN has reached out to the White House and Wolff for comment.
In one email dated April 2, 2011, which CNN has independently reviewed, Epstein emailed Maxwell: “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump. (REDACTED) spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there.”
Maxwell responded: “I have been thinking about that…”
The context of the message was not immediately clear. About three years earlier, in June 2008, Epstein had been sentenced to 18 months in a minimum-security prison after pleading guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18. He was released from prison in July 2009, having served just 13 months. Years later, his plea deal would face media scrutiny, including from the Miami Herald, and face widespread criticism as being too lenient.
Maxwell told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in an interview earlier this year that she “never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way,” and that she didn’t recall ever seeing Trump at Epstein’s house.
