Inside the 23,000 emails: Epstein’s relationship with Trump, associates
Thousands of emails the House of Representative’s Oversight Committee released shed light into Jeffrey Epstein’s life as a convicted sex offender, alleged sex crimes against children and his relationship with President Donald Trump. The emails came as the House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on releasing more files.
Emails House Republicans released detailed a once-close friendship Trump shared with Epstein, that since faltered and shaped the president’s second term as he assured files would be released — albeit, without the speculated “client list.” Among emails Epstein sent and received were digests of news articles, whole copies of books and the financier’s frustration with things people said about him.
The emails range from 2008 to 2019, when Epstein died in his New York City jail cell. Straight Arrow News has independently reviewed the files.
His death, which federal authorities ruled to be a suicide, has been a focal point of conspiracy theories about whether it was a homicide and the prison officers’ conduct. Information released this week originated from an August subpoena of Epstein’s estate records.
It’s not immediately known if the emails are part of the bipartisan push for the Justice Department to release all Epstein-related files. The House Oversight Committee didn’t immediately respond to an SAN request for comment.
In one correspondence, Epstein told former White House Deputy Counsel Kathy Ruemmler, “I know how dirty Donald is,” in an email chain about a New York Times opinion piece about Trump failing to file a 2017 financial disclosure related to lawyer Michael Cohen.
“You see, I know how dirty Donald is,” Epstein wrote. “My guess is that non lawyers ny biz people have no idea. what it means to have your fixer flip.”
Minority party members on the committee released three emails earlier Wednesday they claimed proved Trump’s knowledge of Epstein’s conduct. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Democrats are using “the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax” to deflect from the shutdown and claimed that only “very bad or stupid” Republicans would believe it.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated Trump’s claim that he kicked Epstein out of his Mar-A-Lago club decades ago for “being a creep to his female employees,” and called the emails a “clear distraction” from the now-ended shutdown, The New York Times reported.
Epstein, associates mention Trump in emails
In several of the emails, Epstein wrote to his associates about how Trump’s presidency would affect his financial portfolio, Trump’s presence around him and Ghislaine Maxwell, who has now applied for commutation of her 20-year sentence.
“[Redacted] worked at Mara Lago,” Epstein wrote on Feb. 1, 2019 to himself. “Trump knew of it. and came to my house many times during that period. The testimony of the houseman John allessi confirmed it. He never got a massage.”
“John Allessi” refers to Epstein’s housekeeper, Juan Alessi, who testified in 2021 about Ghislaine Maxwell instructing staff to “see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing” about the pair and their guests, CNN reported in 2021. House Republicans redacted the Mar-A-Lago worker’s name in the email release.
Epstein told journalist Michael Wolff, who later wrote the 2018 book Fire and Fury, about the president’s behavior during his first term and 2016 campaign. Wolff advised Epstein on how to respond to media questions while also prodding for his own stories, according to the emails.
He said during an episode of “The Daily Beast’s Inside Trump’s Head” podcast, which he co-hosts, that he spoke with Epstein to get a better understanding of Trump and to convince the financier to speak out with what he knew about Trump. Wolff said that Epstein has feared talking about Trump’s behavior since before his 2016 election win.
An email that’s captivated many on the internet is Epstein writing on Jan. 31, 2019, that Trump “knew about the girls.” Democrats released a redacted version of the exchange. Meanwhile, Republicans revealed the exchange centered on Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April.
Wolff defended the emails in the podcast and said he had to be “nice” to Epstein in order to get a story on Trump, The Daily Beast reported.
“One of the things that I was focused on is trying to get Epstein to come forward,” he said.
That didn’t happen despite Epstein asking former New York Times reporter Landon Thomas Jr. in 2015 if he wanted images of Trump pictured with girls in bikinis in his kitchen. Thomas accepted the request.
“Landon Thomas Jr. has not worked at The Times since early 2019 after editors discovered his failure to abide by our ethical standards,” Danielle Rhoades Ha, senior vice president of communications for The Times, said in an email to Straight Arrow News.
She shared the publication’s Wednesday story, where Thomas shared he never received the images. The newspaper added that it wasn’t clear if the financier actually had the photos or not.
Congress pushes for more disclosures
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., swore in Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat, seven weeks after she won a special election for the seat. She has awaited the moment as she declared being the 218th signature on Reps. Thomas Massie. R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., bipartisan bill to compel the Justice Department to release all Epstein-related documents.
Her signature meant the House would vote on the legislation — Epstein Files Transparency Act — next week. It has four Republicans’ and all 214 Democrats’ signatures. It’s unknown how the Senate will vote on the measure.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
