The White House defended President Trump’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein, accusing Democrats of “selectively” releasing emails from the deceased sex offender that reference the president.
The comment comes after House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Democrats released three email exchanges from Epstein as he corresponded with his associate Ghislaine Maxwell as well as columnist and author Michael Wolff.
In the emails, Epstein says Trump “spent hours” at his house while another says the president “knew about the girls.”
In a 2011 email to Maxwell, who was later convicted on charges of trafficking young girls to Epstein, the disgraced financier wrote: “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump… [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75%there”
And in a Jan. 31, 2019, email to Wolff, Epstein wrote: “[VICTIM] mara lago. [REDACTED]. trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop”
The White House on Wednesday blasted Democrats for redacting information that was not shielded in the files, saying the victim referenced was Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most vocal accusers who died by suicide this year and who said she worked at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort when she was 16 years old in 2000.
“The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump. The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre,” Leavitt said. “These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”
Trump allies have pointed to a posthumous memoir from Giuffre published last month in which she recounts working at the spa at Mar-a-Lago. Giuffre wrote that she met Trump once and that he “couldn’t have been friendlier.”
Trump earlier this year alleged Epstein “stole” Giuffre and other workers from Mar-a-Lago, which led to Trump kicking Epstein out of his club. Giuffre’s family called Trump’s comments “shocking” and said the comment suggested Trump might have greater insight into Epstein and Maxwell’s criminal dealings.
“It was shocking to hear President Trump invoke our sister and say that he was aware that Virginia had been ‘stolen’ from Mar-a-Lago. It makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend Jeffrey ‘likes women on the younger side … no doubt about it.’ We and the public are asking for answers; survivors deserve this,” the family said in a statement.
The president has for months railed against demands for transparency in the Epstein case as a “hoax,” even as members of his own party and his MAGA base have called for the release of additional documents and held press conferences with Epstein’s victims.
Trump has previously faced scrutiny over reports of a birthday message he wrote to Epstein in 2003 that featured the outline of a woman’s figure with a hypothetical conversation between the two men.
In the message, Trump references a “wonderful secret” and notes the men “have certain things in common.”
Trump has denied writing the message, but House Oversight Democrats compared his signature on the image to other documents signed by Trump, arguing there was little doubt it is authentic.
Epstein’s death in 2020 has spawned numerous conspiracy theories and allegations the government is protecting powerful people. Epstein ran in high-powered circles with figures that included Trump, former President Clinton, Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and a number of other celebrities and ultrawealthy people.
Maxwell met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche this year amid heightened scrutiny of Trump’s connection with Epstein.
Trump has repeatedly declined to rule out a pardon for Maxwell. A whistleblower complaint released earlier this week showed Maxwell has requested a commutation of her sentence and indicated she has received special treatment after being transferred to a new prison.
In one of Epstein’s emails with Wolff, the columnist suggests the financier could earn points with Trump by staying quiet after the then-candidate was expected to have questions about their relationship.
“I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You 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,” Wolff wrote.
“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.”
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