What’s inside the thousands of Epstein estate documents released by House committee
By CNN Staff
(CNN) — The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released an additional 20,000 pages of documents the GOP-led panel received from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender whose death by suicide spawned intense scrutiny of the high-profile people he knew.
The emails include a message in which Epstein asserts President Donald 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. Epstein also wrote, “I know how dirty Donald is,” referring to potential scandals that might come out about Trump in a 2018 email to a White House counsel under former President Barack Obama. The disgraced financier also emailed about Trump’s mental state in 2018.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the emails, saying they prove “nothing.” Trump accused Democrats of bringing up Epstein to “deflect” from their handling of the government shutdown.
CNN reporters went through the thousands of files, and you can read highlights below:
Here’s what’s written in some of the emails
From CNN’s Kaitlin Collins
CNN reviewed some of the emails released from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee this morning in which Jeffrey Epstein mentions President Donald Trump by name.
In one email dated April 2, 2011, which CNN has independently reviewed, Epstein emailed his longtime associate Ghislaine 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.”
GOP members of the House Oversight committee identified the person as Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent survivors who died by suicide in April, and accused Democrats of hiding her name because she had not alleged Trump to have done anything wrong.
The latest release also included emails between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, including one from January 2019 during Trump’s first term.
According to the email reviewed by CNN, Epstein wrote to Wolff apparently to address Trump’s claim that he asked Epstein to resign his membership at the president’s Mar-a-Lago Club.
“trump said he asked me to resign,” Epstein wrote, adding, “never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.”
The White House has said Trump barred Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club “for being a creep,” and Trump himself has said Epstein “stole” young women who worked at the Mar-a-Lago spa while explaining why their relationship ended. In longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s interview earlier this year with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, she denied recruiting at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s association with Epstein has long been public, though the president has denied any wrongdoing.
Epstein called Trump ‘borderline insane’ in 2018, newly released documents show
From CNN’s Marshall Cohen
In one of the thousands of documents released by the House Oversight Committee today, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein called President Donald Trump “borderline insane” in a 2018 email exchange with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
“Trump – borderline insane,” Epstein wrote on December 22, 2018.
It’s unclear what prompted the exchange between Epstein and Summers.
Epstein associates sent him updates on Trump selling his jet, newly released documents show
From CNN’s Marshall Cohen
Some of the emails among the thousands of documents released by the House Oversight Committee today show Jeffrey Epstein getting updates about Donald Trump selling a private plane.
In a message from April 2011, someone told Epstein, “I hear Trump has a contract on his B272” but “no money has changed hands” yet. The sender is redacted.
Someone told Epstein in a May 2011 email, “Trump’s B727 sold for 2.7M.” The sender is redacted, but Epstein and an accountant and lawyer were copied.
Epstein called Trump ‘f**king crazy’ in January 2017 email, new documents show
From CNN’s Em Steck
A week after Donald Trump was inaugurated to his first term as US president, he signed an executive order banning the entry of foreign nationals from Muslim majority countries for 90 days, widely referred to as the “Muslim ban.”
Jeffrey Epstein said in an email to a New York Times reporter on January 28, 2017: “IT helps as he is seen as keeping his word.”
He added later in the email: “That being said Donald is f**king crazy, I told you that.”
Epstein discussed Trump’s 2016 campaign with Soon-Yi Previn, new documents show
From CNN’s Marshall Cohen
The emails show an interesting exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Soon-Yi Previn, the wife of controversial filmmaker Woody Allen.
Epstein sent an article to Previn, titled, “Bill Clinton’s CIA chief joins Trump campaign.” The article, published by The Hill in September 2016, was about the former Clinton-appointed CIA director James Woolsey joining Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“Woody said it doesn’t mean anything,” Previn wrote in response to Epstein.
It’s unclear why Epstein flagged the news to Previn and what if any interest she or her husband would have had in Woolsey’s involvement with Trump.
Epstein and Maxwell coordinated public response after 2015 lawsuit alleged sexual abuse
From CNN’s Em Steck
In January 2015, an anonymous woman – later revealed to be Virginia Roberts Giuffre – filed a lawsuit alleging that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell groomed and sexually abused her between 1998 and 2002. The lawsuit alleged they forced her to become a “sex slave” to powerful men – including a royal prince later revealed to be Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Mountbatten-Windsor, who has been stripped of his prince title, has denied the allegation and later settled a lawsuit Giuffre filed against him.
In several email exchanges on January 10, 2015, after the lawsuit was filed, Epstein and Maxwell coordinated their public response to the allegations.
“Initial response, too many unanswered question [sic] raised, relationship with jeffrey/…I am writing to writin [sic] to respond to alleagtinoin [sic] that have been made wchich [sic] are categorically untrue,” Epstein wrote Maxwell.
Maxwell responded by asking if her lawyer could speak with a lawyer, then wrote: “I have to distance myself from you in statement too. And they need me to say I was not aware of massage w/ andrew in my house. These things they have to stay along w/ meeting [REDACTED] and rebutting those allegations. I needs it asap.”
After Epstein assured Maxwell he was on the phone with his lawyer about getting her a lawyer, she replied, “I need it written out in full.”
“Call me,” Epstein replied.
Maxwell later settled a defamation lawsuit with Giuffre in June 2017 for an undisclosed sum.
In an interview with the Justice Department this summer, Maxwell said her relationship with Epstein was “almost nonexistent” between 2010 and 2019 outside of corresponding over legal matters.
Epstein emailed about Trump’s mental state with his personal attorney and a former Obama official
From CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski
In a March 24, 2018, email chain with Kathryn Ruemmler, a former White House counsel under President Barack Obama, Epstein shared a Daily Beast article titled, “How Close Is Donald Trump to a Psychiatric Breakdown?”
The exchange shows Epstein forwarding the story early that morning to Ruemmler, with her replying: “Not confidence inspiring.”
Epstein then responded: “but – accurate.”
A year earlier in July 2017, Ruemmler wrote an email to Epstein saying, “Trump is truly stupid.”
“Duh,” Epstein replied several hours later.
It is not clear why Ruemmler and Epstein were corresponding at the time.
But the Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that a spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, where Ruemmler was then employed, said she had a professional relationship with Epstein in connection with her role at law firm Latham & Watkins LLP.
Ruemmler did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.
In December 2018, Epstein emailed Ruemmler about Trump’s behavior, writing:
“you might want to tell your dem friends that treating trump like a mafia don, ignores the fact that he has great dangerous power. tightening the noose too slowly, risks a very bad situation. gambino was never the commander in chief. there was little gambino could do as the walls closed in. not so with this maniac.”
That same day, Epstein forwarded the same comment to Reid Weingarten, an attorney who worked for him.
Weingarten replied that Trump was “starting to behave very erratically.”
Epstein wrote back: “borderline insane. and corroborated by some that are close.”
Epstein questioned whether Trump had ‘early dementia’
From CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski
In early January 2018, as questions swirled about Trump’s behavior following the release of Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury,” Epstein exchanged a series of emails with a reporter at The New York Times discussing the president’s mental state.
Epstein sent the reporter an excerpt of the book that ran in New York Magazine.
The reporter remarked that Trump was “looking/sounding increasingly unhinged,” Epstein replies, “no questions donalds statement is goofy. . early dementia?”
Epstein emailed then-Prince Andrew: ‘you ok?’
From CNN’s Kara Scannell
In March 2011, as the Epstein scandal was picked up by British tabloids focusing on then-Prince Andrew’s involvement, Epstein reached out to Andrew to ask how he was doing.
“you ok?” Epstein wrote to an email identified as “The Duke,” an apparent reference to Andrew, known at the time as the Duke of York. “these stories are complete ant (sic) utter fantasy.”
King Charles stripped Andrew of his prince title last month and forced him to move out of the royal residence. Andrew relinquished his title as Duke of York weeks beforehand.
Jeffrey Epstein in 2018: ‘I know how dirty Donald is’
From CNN’s Marshall Cohen
In an August 2018 email to Kathryn Ruemmler, a former White House counsel under President Barack Obama, Epstein wrote that, “I know how dirty Donald is,” referring to potential scandals that might come out about Donald Trump.
Epstein sent the message on August 23, 2018, after Trump’s longtime fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to federal campaign finances crimes. As part of a cooperation deal with prosecutors, Cohen implicated Trump in a 2016 hush-money scheme involving payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair, which Trump denies.
“You see, I know how dirty Donald is,” Epstein wrote in the email. “My guess is that non-lawyers NY biz people have no idea what it means to have your fixer flip.”
The email conversation began when Ruemmler sent Epstein a New York Times column about the Cohen guilty plea and what it might mean for Trump.
Her email said, “The principled case for impeachment is clear. What’s missing is the courage,” quoting the column.
Trump was not impeached and he never faced any federal charges over the matter despite a lengthy investigation. However, the Manhattan district attorney later won an indictment of Trump on state charges in connection with the matter. Trump was convicted last year of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up the payments.
Epstein corresponded with Steve Bannon about then-Prince Andrew and Trump
From CNN’s Em Steck
In early June 2019, President Trump made a state visit to the United Kingdom, where he was welcomed by the former Prince Andrew. A photo shows Andrew grinning as he shakes Trump’s hand.
In a June 2019 email exchange with Steve Bannon, Trump’s former White House chief strategist, Jeffrey Epstein wrote, “prince andrew and trump today.. Tooo [sic] funny.” And then he added, “recall prince andrews accuser came out of mara lago [sic].”
Bannon replied, “Can’t believe nobody is making u [sic] the connective tissue.”
It’s unclear what exactly Bannon meant by the message. Trump fired him from the White House in 2017, though Bannon remained influential in conservative politics as he does today.
Trump and Andrew socialized together in the 1990s and 2000s, per newspaper reports, alongside Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, sometimes at Mar-A-Lago. King Charles stripped Andrew of his prince title in October.
CNN reached out to Bannon for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Epstein said he ‘gave’ his young girlfriend to Trump in the 1990s. Trump has denied wrongdoing
From CNN’s Aaron Blake
Many of the exchanges from the emails feature people implying Epstein had damaging information about Trump and suggesting that he go public with it.
Epstein generally didn’t engage with these suggestions. But at one point in late 2015, he told a New York Times reporter that he could produce “photos [sic] of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen.”
Later in the same email string, Epstein also alluded to a woman he claimed both he and Trump had dated in the 1990s.
“my 20 year old girlfriend in 1993, , that after two years i gave to donald,” Epstein said, linking to a webpage featuring the woman.
A previously published lewd 2003 birthday album for Epstein’s 50th birthday alluded to a similar situation. It included a joke about Epstein having sold “a ‘fully depreciated’ woman to Donald Trump.”
Trump says the documents are a “hoax” and has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
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