As scrutiny over President Donald Trump’s relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein continues, newly released messages indicate a connection between Trump and one of Epstein’s victims. The emails are part of a collection of material that House Democrats have made public, and this revelation may be followed by more information as the move to release the Epstein files picks up steam.

Emails claim Epstein victim spent ‘hours’ with Trump and say Trump ‘knew about the girls,’ with the White House calling their release a ‘smear’

The mention of Trump comes in a 2011 email exchange laden with typos between the now-deceased Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former right-hand woman, who’s currently serving a federal prison sentence for her key role in the sex trafficking of underage girls for Epstein.

In a message to Maxwell, Epstein wrote, “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump.”

Epstein then referenced one of his victims, whose name was redacted in media reports, and Trump, saying that she “spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.”

Maxwell responded, “I have been thinking about that…”

The messages were contained in one of three email exchanges released Wednesday by House Democrats serving on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which recently received over 20,000 documents related to the Epstein case.

The other two email chains are between Epstein and Michael Wolff, the author of a popular biography about Trump. In 2015, the two men discussed what Epstein should tell reporters who asked him about then-candidate Trump.

Wolff advised Epstein about Trump, “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.”

Wolff also suggested that, if Trump appeared likely to win, Epstein “could save him, generating a debt.”

In the third exchange, a set of messages sent in 2019, during Trump’s first presidential term, Epstein appeared to respond to assertions made by Trump and others on his team that he banned Epstein from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort because Epstein was poaching staff or because Epstein was being a “creep.”

In one of the newly released emails, Epstein told Wolff, “trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever,” adding, “of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”

In a White House press briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” mentioning that Virginia Giuffre was the victim referenced in the email in the unredacted version, who had said, “President Trump was always extremely professional and friendly to her.”

The Associated Press reported that Leavitt said the Democrats “selectively leaked emails” to “create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”

Epstein files may soon be released

The Trump mentions by Epstein come amid continuing speculation over Epstein’s potential clients. Several of Epstein’s victims have alleged that other men also victimized them. The United Kingdom’s King Charles recently stripped his brother, Andrew, of all royal titles over allegations that Andrew had sex with a then-17-year-old Giuffre, who died by suicide this year after writing a book about her exploitation by Epstein and Maxwell and naming Andrew among her other abusers. Speculation that other rich and powerful men were among the clients to whom Epstein trafficked girls has led to calls for Congress to release the files gathered in the investigations against Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while jailed on charges of sex crimes. Trump, who once had a public friendship with Epstein, has opposed publicizing the files.

He took to Truth Social, writing in part, “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”

More information may be released soon as the government appears set to reopen after a deal was struck to end the government shutdown. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had refused to convene the House during the shutdown or to seat newly elected Democratic Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva; Johnson’s moves have been seen as delaying an effort in the House to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files, with Grijalva giving Democrats and a handful of Republicans enough votes to force the issue. Grijalva is set to be sworn in on Wednesday. She is expected to provide the last signature necessary for a discharge petition that would force a House vote on releasing the Epstein materials.

Trump and his allies have attempted to downplay and discredit speculation about the president’s relationship with Epstein. Despite this resistance, the latest revelations will only increase scrutiny concerning Trump, and the returning House of Representatives may soon release much more information about Epstein and those connected to him.