Just hours after the White House publicly accused congressional Democrats of selectively leaking emails related to Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released tens of thousands of additional pages of documents. These include email exchanges between Epstein and prominent journalists.
A significant portion of the new material shows correspondence between Epstein and writer-turned-biographer Michael Wolff. Wolff reached out to Epstein multiple times, discussing not only Epsteinโs public image but how to leverage criticism of Donald Trump for strategic benefit.
In February 2016, Wolff wrote to Epstein:
โNYT called me about you and Trump,โ
โAlso, Hillary campaign digging deeply. Again, you should consider preempting.โ
A month later they discussed plans ahead of the release of Filthy Rich โ a true-crime book by James Patterson about Epstein, who was Pattersonโs neighbor in Palm Beach. Wolff suggested to Epstein:
โBecoming an anti-Trump voice gives you a certain political cover which you decidedly donโt have now.โ
And he added:
โPatterson can be counted on to produce a bestseller, and while he isn’t regarded as a serious writer, he’ll surely be unloading a lot of tabloid copy โฆ Because this will be tied to the election, the Trump-Clinton angle will amp up the attention 10-fold, in fact, possibly, a hundred fold. Possibly more than anything you’ve encountered before.โ
When Epstein asked Wolff what he should say publicly about his relationship with Trump, Wolffโs advice was pointed:
โIf he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency,โ
โYou can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt. Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime.โ
In further correspondence, Wolff requested introductions for Epstein to two figures close to Trump: business leader and inaugural-committee chair Tom Barrack and former federal prosecutor Kathy Ruemmler. He told Epstein he sought โan off-the-record perspective on White House procedures,โ while researching his book about Trumpโs first 100 days in office. He also asked whether former President Bill Clinton would confirm he had never been to Epsteinโs private U.S. Virgin Islands island, Little St. John โ a place Clinton has publicly denied visiting. Epsteinโs longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell has also denied seeing Clinton there.
The documents show that Epstein and Wolff planned to meet as recently as May 2019 โ months before Epstein died in a federal jail cell while awaiting trial.
Read some of the emails below:
Some of the newly released material included a short video of a dog and what appear to be chew toys modeled after Trump and the 2016 presidential rival Hillary Clinton. Others appear to be slides from an adviser working to generate positive search-engine results for Epstein following his 2008 conviction for child-sex crimes.
Earlier, Democrats had released documents that included an especially cryptic email from Epstein to Maxwell โ one that mentions Trump by name, and refers to an unnamed victim of Epsteinโs trafficking network. The email read:
โI want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump,โ Epstein wrote on April 2, 2011.
โ[VICTIM] spent hours at my house with himโฆhe has never once been mentioned. Police chief. etc. I’m 75% there.โ
Officials later identified the โunnamed victimโ as well-known Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year. Giuffre repeatedly stated that Trump was not involved in wrongdoing and โcouldnโt have been friendlierโ to her in their limited interactions. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, responded:
โThe fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre.โ
In his own post on Truth Social, Trump weighed in:
โThe Democrats cost our Country $1.5 Trillion Dollars with their recent antics of viciously closing our Country, while at the same time putting many at risk โ and they should pay a fair price,โ he wrote.
โThere 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!โ
As a reminder: Epstein secured a highly-controversial so-called โsweetheartโ deal in 2008 for child-sex crimes. He was arrested again in 2019 on more serious trafficking charges โ but died before the case went to trial. Maxwell was convicted of grooming and procuring girls and young women for Epstein; she is appealing and continues to assert her innocence.
Key Takeaways for a Republican Audience
- The timing of the document releases and allegations of selective leaking by Democrats raises questions about political motive and media stratagem.
- The correspondence shows efforts to frame Epsteinโs narrative around Trump โ part of a broader attempt to tie the story to the 2016 presidential election and cast Trump in a negative light.
- Trumpโs defenders argue the documents reinforce his long-standing disassociation from Epstein, as well as serve to remind voters of Democratsโ role in political maneuvering, rather than holding criminals accountable.
- For Republicans focused on institutional integrity and media accountability, the episode reinforces concerns about selective exposure of documents, agenda-driven leaks, and manipulation of public perception.
