Epstein wrote Trump "knew about the girls," newly released emails show

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails Wednesday, including one from 2019 in which disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein alleged that President Trump "knew about the girls."The big picture: Democrats assert the emails "raise serious questions" about Trump and his knowledge of Epstein's crimesTrump had earlier dismissed demands for additional files tied to the Epstein investigation as a Democratic "hoax." He's acknowledged he was once friendly with the convicted sex offender but said that they had a falling out.Context: In the 2019 email, Epstein's line that Trump "knew about the girls" appears to refer to the president's past claim that he banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club for allegedly approaching young women who worked there.Driving the news: House Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said the emails "raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the President."In a 2011 email, Epstein alleged that an individual whose name was redacted as "VICTIM" spent hours with Trump at Epstein's house.Trump was not accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, who said in her interview with the DOJ earlier this year that she never saw Trump "in any inappropriate setting."What they're saying: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democrats "selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump."The panel's GOP majority and Leavitt both alleged that the unnamed victim, whose name Republicans said was not redacted in the files provided to the committee, was the late Virginia Giuffre."The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre," Leavitt said.Trump said earlier this year that Epstein "stole" her from his club's spa. Giuffre described Trump as friendly in her posthumous memoir and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing.But her family has been critical of the president, telling The Atlantic earlier this year that Trump's comment "makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions."The other side: A spokesperson for Republicans on the committee said in a statement that Democrats were "intentionally withholding records that name Democrat officials." Republicans also released a batch of 20,000 documents from the Epstein estate later Wednesday morning.The intrigue: The release of the email exchange comes the morning Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is scheduled to be sworn in after a historic 50-day delay.Grijalva is set to provide the necessary 218th signature on a discharge petition that would trigger a vote to force the Justice Department to release the files on its case into Epstein.The timing of her swearing in was "partially" the reason for the release of the documents Wednesday morning, according to a senior House Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive process details.Several Democrats on the Oversight Committee posted on social media Wednesday morning, tying the emails to the discharge petition, calling it further evidence of the need for the vote.Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), one of the two leaders of the effort to release the files, said, "This is why I'm working with Rep. Massie to force a full release of the Epstein files. The public deserves transparency and the survivors deserve justice. And today, we will have the 218th signature from Adelita Grijalva on our discharge petition."Zoom in: The January 2019 email was sent from an address associated with Epstein to journalist Michael Wolff. Wolff sued first lady Melania Trump last month over an alleged attempt to silence his claims about her links to Epstein.In the message, Epstein wrote of Trump, "of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine [sic] to stop."The email is redacted, but in the middle of a redacted sentence, it reads "mara lago."Friction point: The messages will likely inflame congressional scrutiny over the president's ties to Epstein and the financier's powerful network.Grijalva's swearing in all but guarantees the House will vote on releasing the Justice Department's Epstein files in the coming weeks.However, the measure is unlikely to pass in the Senate.A Democratic Oversight Committee member also predicted to Axios that there will "definitely" be more bombshells as the estate continues to turn over documents to the panel.Go deeper: FBI director says he's never spoken to Trump about the Epstein filesEditor's note: This story has been updated with additional context throughout.

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