Overview
- Democrats made public three Epstein emails, including a 2011 note to Ghislaine Maxwell saying a victim “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with Donald Trump and a 2019 message asserting “of course he knew about the girls.”
- The emails come from roughly 23,000 pages supplied by Epstein’s estate to the House Oversight Committee, after which committee Republicans posted what they said were about 20,000 additional pages and accused Democrats of cherry‑picking.
- The White House called the release a selective smear, and President Trump labeled it a “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax” while urging Republicans to avoid discussion of the matter and focus on ending the shutdown.
- Republicans said the redacted victim in the 2011 email was Virginia Giuffre, who had previously stated under oath she did not believe Trump was involved and described him as friendly in her memoir.
- Legal analysts and outlets note the emails are hearsay and contextually ambiguous, and House Democrats moved to force a vote on full non‑classified release after newly sworn‑in Rep. Adelita Grijalva signed a petition.