Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Nov. 12, 2025, released three emails from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate that reference President Donald Trump. The messages, dated 2011, 2015 and 2019, have intensified partisan clashes as the House reconvened after a record shutdown and newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva added the 218th signature to a bipartisan push to force a vote on broader Epstein file disclosures. The White House dismissed the release as a politically motivated smear.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday published three emails they say were produced by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, each referencing President Donald Trump. The release came as the House returned from what multiple outlets report was the longest federal shutdown on record and swore in Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), whose signature supplied the crucial 218th name on a discharge petition to compel a vote on releasing unclassified Epstein-related records backed by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
According to documents shared by committee Democrats, a 2011 email from Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell called Trump the “dog that hasn’t barked” and said a redacted individual “spent hours at my house with him” and “he’s never once been mentioned.” The White House said the redacted name is Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April and who had publicly stated Trump was not involved in Epstein’s crimes and “couldn’t have been friendlier” in their limited interactions, according to TIME and excerpts of Giuffre’s posthumous memoir reported elsewhere. News organizations noted they have not independently verified the identity of the redacted person.
In a separate 2019 email to author Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.” Coverage has linked this to Trump’s long-asserted claim that he barred Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in the mid-2000s after inappropriate conduct, which contemporary reporting places around 2007; Trump and Epstein were socially acquainted in the 1990s and early 2000s. A 2015 exchange shows Wolff advising Epstein on how to handle potential debate questions about Trump; no such question was asked at the CNN debate that day, according to reporting by The Nation and the Daily Wire.
Republicans on the Oversight Committee later released more than 20,000 additional pages they said they received from Epstein’s estate, which included emails in which Epstein criticized Trump. One 2017 message to former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers read: “I have met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump. Not one decent cell in his body.”
The White House blasted the Democratic release as “selectively leaked” material designed to create a “fake narrative” and distract from the shutdown fight. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated Trump’s claim that he expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for being inappropriate toward female employees, and asserted that Giuffre was among those involved in that context. Trump, posting on Truth Social, called the episode a “deflection” from the shutdown and claimed Democrats had cost the country $1.5 trillion.
The timing intersected with the House’s return to business and Grijalva’s swearing-in, which cleared the way for the Massie–Khanna discharge petition to move forward. The Washington Post and CBS News reported that all Democrats and four Republicans had signed the petition as of Wednesday, triggering the countdown toward a floor vote. “The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover,” said Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) in a statement pushing for fuller disclosure of Justice Department records.
Trump has denied wrongdoing related to Epstein for years. When Democrats released pages from Epstein’s 2003 50th‑birthday “book” in September, including a letter bearing Trump’s name and signature, Trump called it fake and sued The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on the artifact. No criminal charges have been brought against Trump in connection with Epstein’s crimes, and the newly released emails by themselves do not prove criminal conduct.
