Dems Release Epstein Emails Mentioning Trump by Name, Urge DOJ to 'End This Cover-up and RELEASE THE FILES'

Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released new email exchanges from Jeffrey Epstein's estate on Wednesday, saying they say raise fresh questions about his past interactions with President Donald Trump.

The material — three emails from a tranche of more than 23,000 documents subpoenaed from the Epstein Estate — includes a 2011 message in which Epstein told his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell that a victim had "spent hours at my house" with Trump, describing him as "the dog that hasn't barked." Maxwell responded: "I have been thinking about that ..." The names of alleged victims were redacted.

The emails were made public as the committee continues to review the broader set of documents, most of which have not yet been released.

In a separate exchange from December 2015, author Michael Wolff told Epstein he heard CNN might question Trump about his relationship with him. Epstein replied: "If we were to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?" Wolff said Trump should answer publicly and risk "hanging himself," noting it could create "PR and political currency" for Epstein.

Another email from January 2019 shows Epstein appeared to dispute reports that Trump had barred him from Mar-a-Lago, writing: "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 full context of the exchange is unclear.

None of the newly released documents contain allegations of criminal conduct by Trump. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrats issued a formal statement describing the material as evidence that Trump has attempted to "cover up the Epstein files." Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking member on the committee, said the new documents "raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the President."

On social media, committee Democrats also shared the documents along with a caption that read:

"BREAKING: Oversight Dems have received new emails from Jeffrey Epstein's estate that raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein's horrific crimes... It's time to end this cover-up and RELEASE THE FILES"

Republicans accused Democrats of selectively releasing communications "to generate click-bait," saying Democrats were "intentionally withholding records that name Democrat officials," as ABC News reports. A spokesperson said the majority would release documents after victim-identifying information is redacted and urged Democrats to "stop politicizing this investigation."

Congress continues to press the Department of Justice on the scope of records in its possession. The Oversight Committee issued a bipartisan subpoena in August for all federal material related to Epstein and Maxwell but the DOJ has produced only a portion of documents gathered during multiple investigations.

A House vote forcing release of the DOJ files could occur in early December.