The White House on Wednesday denounced Democrats for what it called a âselective and bad-faithâ release of Jeffrey Epstein documents after emails surfaced showing celebrity biographer Michael Wolff privately advised Epstein to attack Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign to gain âpolitical cover.â
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the newly released materials were âa deliberate distraction from the Democratsâ shutdown fiascoâ and accused the minority of âmanufacturing a smear against President Trump.â
Leavitt said the âunnamed victimâ referenced in Epsteinâs 2011 correspondence was the late Virginia Giuffre, who had repeatedly stated Trump âwas not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and couldnât have been friendlierâ in their limited interactions. She added that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago decades ago for harassing female employees and called the document release âa desperate effort to rewrite history.â
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee echoed the White Houseâs statement, accusing Democrats of âcherry-picking documents to generate headlinesâ while withholding other records that name prominent Democratic officials. A GOP committee spokesperson said Democrats âshould stop politicizing this investigation and focus on full transparency and justice for the victims.â
The controversy erupted hours after Democrats released a new batch of documents from the ongoing bipartisan Epstein investigation, including 2016 email exchanges between Epstein and Michael Wolff, the journalist known for his anti-Trump bestsellers Fire and Fury and Siege.
The emails show Wolff repeatedly advising Epstein to use anti-Trump messaging to repair his image as scrutiny mounted over his earlier sex-trafficking conviction and connections to powerful figures.
In early 2016, Wolff told Epstein that both The New York Times and the Hillary Clinton campaign were investigating his ties to Trump and advised him to âpreemptâ the narrative. Weeks later, Wolff wrote that âbecoming an anti-Trump voice gives you a certain political cover which you decidedly donât have now.â
He warned that James Pattersonâs upcoming book âFilthy Rich,â about Epsteinâs crimes, would draw intense attention because of the election and said the âTrump-Clinton angle will amplify the attention tenfold.â
When Epstein asked how to handle questions about Trump, Wolff replied that if Trump denied visiting Epsteinâs home or flying on his plane, it would provide âvaluable PR and political currency.â Wolff said Epstein could âhang him in a way that generates a positive benefit,â or âsave himâ if it appeared Trump would win, âgenerating a debt.â
The emails also show Wolff asking Epstein to connect him with Tom Barrack, who chaired Trumpâs inaugural committee, and Kathy Ruemmler, a former Obama administration prosecutor, while researching his later book on Trumpâs presidency. He also asked whether Bill Clinton would confirm that he had never been to Epsteinâs private island â something Clinton has repeatedly denied.
The two men remained in contact through May 2019, months before Epsteinâs arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges. Epstein died in jail that August, officially ruled a suicide.
Democrats on the committee, led by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), said the new disclosures underscored the need for the Department of Justice to release all Epstein files. Garcia said the Oversight Committee âwill not stop until we get justice for the victimsâ and argued that âthe more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover.â
Republican leaders rejected that claim, calling the release a âpolitical stuntâ meant to distract from the administrationâs recent battles with Congress.
The House is preparing to vote on a discharge petition that would force the DOJ to release the Epstein records in full. The measure is expected to gain enough signatures to proceed once newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) signs on.
Epstein, a financier with ties to Trump, Clinton, and Prince Andrew, was first convicted in 2008. He was arrested again in 2019 on federal trafficking charges but died before trial. His longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell is now serving a 20-year sentence for aiding his operation.
The Wolff correspondence adds a new political dimension to the investigation, showing that one of Trumpâs most prominent critics in the media was privately advising Epstein on how to weaponize anti-Trump sentiment for personal rehabilitation during the height of the 2016 election.
