Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday released emails in which convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein wrote about Donald Trump, before his time as president as well as after he was in office.
The oversight committee, which is overseen by Republicans, released a second batch of emails hours later that included further communication by Epstein about Trump, including notes sent to former Harvard president Larry Summers, author Michael Wolff, and then-New York Times reporter Landon Thomas Jr., and others.
Here are the highlights.
Epstein apparently set meeting for Summers with son of Senegalese leader — 3:58 p.m.
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
Former Harvard president Larry Summers appeared to be doing a favor for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2016, according to documents released on Wednesday.
In a November 2016 email, eight years after Epstein had pleaded guilty to federal charges for procuring a minor for prostitution, Summers asked about an upcoming meeting.
“Who is the guy you have set me up with?” Summers wrote to Epstein on Nov. 29, 2016, in a note time-stamped 2:34 a.m.
The “guy,” Epstein replied, was Karim Wade, son of Abdoulaye Wade, who served as president of Senegal from 2000 to 2012.
“He is well educated and one of the most important figures in west africa,” Epstein wrote. “However full disclosure, he was put in jail to remove him from running against the current president. He is in qatar awaiting his political return to power which is almost guaranteed. He is the most charismatic, and rational of all the Africans and has theire [sic] respect.”
“Always quiet advice to anybody who can use it,” Summers replied. “Try always discreet. If u become associated publicly [with] something the reputations converge. Looking forward to meeting Karim.”
In the same message chain, Summers also warned Epstein not to set him up with Donald Trump, who had been elected president for the first time a few weeks earlier.
“Spend zero effort on anything about me w trump,” Summers wrote. “Seeing his approach to conflict of interest, his Putin proximity, and his mindless response on Castro death I’m best off a million miles away.”
A spokesman for Summers declined to comment on Wednesday on the newly released emails.
Summers has no comment on new Epstein emails — 3:40 p.m.
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
Former Harvard University president Larry Summers on Wednesday declined to comment on fresh revelations about his communications with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Emails from 2018 between Summers, who also served as treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, and Epstein were among thousands of documents a congressional committee released Wednesday.
On July 15, 2018, one year before Epstein’s arrest on the federal charges, the pair exchanged messages, which were included in the documents, about President Trump and other topics.
A spokesperson for Summers declined to comment on the newly released emails. “Summers has made clear previously he deeply regrets his association with Epstein,” the spokesperson said.
Summers has previously expressed regret for his relationship with Epstein.
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that Summers had sought a $1 million donation from Epstein for an online poetry project his wife was developing and invited Epstein to dinner. Epstein donated $110,000 to the project. The interaction, starting in 2014, was years after Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.
Summers “deeply regrets being in contact with Epstein after his conviction,” his spokesperson told the paper in 2023. And Summers’ wife’s project “regrets accepting funding from Epstein.”
During Trump’s 2016 campaign, reporters turned to Epstein — 3:08 p.m.
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
Journalists questioned convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein about his relationship with Donald Trump in the midst of Trump’s first campaign for the White House, according to an email released on Wednesday.
Landon Thomas Jr., then a financial reporter at the New York Times, emailed with Epstein in June of 2016 about coverage of Trump.
By that point, other Republican candidates for president had already withdrawn from the race and Trump was the party’s presumptive nominee, while also coming under greater scrutiny for his past ties with Epstein.
“Are you still getting calls from reporters re Trump?” Thomas asked.
“Every day,” Epstein replied.
“Everyone except the NYT it seems :),” Thomas replied. “yes or no question: does he win?”
“Ask me [in] august,” Epstein wrote.
Epstein emails include praise for Trump’s Irish golf course — 2:42 p.m.
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
The batch of Epstein emails released on Wednesday included references to President Trump’s business interests, such as his golf course resort in Ireland.
Golf course developer Gerald Barton corresponded with Epstein on May 17, 2016 about the resort that Trump had purchased in County Clare two years earlier. Trump renamed the resort, which included a golf course designed by Greg Norman, the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel.
In the email, Barton praised Trump’s handling of the property. “To date, to my surprise, he is managing it reasonably well, probably because he is presently devoted to an endeavor that amuses him,” Barton wrote in a May 17, 2016 email.
Barton, who died in July 2016 of melanoma, also referenced Epstein’s “unique amusements” in the same missive.
“My Extraordinarily Talented, Outrageous Friend,” Barton wrote. “Thank you for asking how I am doing. The short answer is very well. I hope that you are in good health and continue to use your special talents to make the world a better place for your somewhat unique amusements.”
Grijalva’s swearing-in could bring movement on full release of Epstein files — 2:39 p.m.
By Julian E.J. Sorapuru, Globe Staff
There may finally be some movement towards the full release of the government’s Epstein files, though, since Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona is scheduled to be sworn in later Wednesday. Grijalva, whose swearing in was delayed by the House being out of session for nearly two months, is expected to add her name to a petition that will force the continuation of the process towards releasing the files.
Representative Ro Khanna of California, the House Democrat who has been pushing for the release of the documents most vocally, sounded confident Wednesday that Grijalva’s vote will be decisive.“We’re going to get the 218th signature today, that means by early December, we’re going to get a full vote on the Epstein files,” Khanna said.
Democrats have speculated that Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, kept the House out of session for so long to delay Grijalva’s swearing in and, in turn, a vote on the Epstein files.
Garcia, for his part, said he thinks “absolutely there had to have been a connection” between Grijalva’s delay and the Trump administration’s reticence to release all the Epstein files.
“The obsession right now with the Trump White House in trying to stop this vote and trying to get Republicans off the petition,” Garcia added. “He’s personally making phone calls. Why? He doesn’t want the files released. ”
For House Democrats, the new Epstein emails have ‘raised so many more questions’ — 2:27 p.m.
By Julian E.J. Sorapuru, Globe Staff
Upon returning to a House in session for the first time in 54 days, Democrats face not only a vote to reopen the government, but fresh developments surrounding the relationship between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and President Donald Trump.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Representative Robert Garcia of California, the highest ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the newly released emails linking Epstein to Trump have “raised so many more questions.”
“It’s clear that Donald Trump had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” he continued. “Jeffrey Epstein is talking about, I think, pretty serious stuff, disturbing stuff, in these emails. And I think, once again, ask the questions: Why won’t Donald Trump fulfill his campaign promise and release all the files?”
Trump’s connection to Epstein — and his administration’s about-face on his campaign promise to release all the files the federal government has on Epstein — is an issue that has ebbed and flowed in prominence throughout the president’s second term. Despite Trump’s best efforts, the issue has refused to die. Lawmakers and Americans on both sides of the aisle remain highly interested in finding out who else among Epstein’s prominent group of friends had knowledge of his sexual misconduct.
Trump says Democrats using Epstein case to ‘deflect’ from shutdown failure — 2:12 p.m.
By the Associated Press
In his first comment since additional files were released this morning, the president said Republicans should ignore the latest developments.
“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,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”
He added that “any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!”
White House says Epstein emails are a ‘manufactured hoax’ by Democrats — 1:59 p.m.
By the Associated Press
“These emails prove absolutely absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said of the documents released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
She said Trump knew Epstein from Palm Beach but that the president kicked the financier out of his Mar-a-Lago club “because Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile and he was a creep.”
Leavitt was also asked about reports that the White House met with US Representative Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, to discuss the Epstein files and she said it shows “transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress.”
Leavitt then seemed to indicate that White House officials met with Boebert in the White House situation room to discuss the Epstein files, saying, “I’m not going to detail conversations that took place in the Situation Room in the press briefing room.”
Physicist Lawrence Krauss called Trump a ‘showman’ in correspondence with Epstein — 1:49 p.m.
By Katarina Schmeiszer, Globe correspondent
In a March 2017 email correspondence with Epstein, Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist and cosmologist who worked at Arizona State University at the time, insulted Trump regarding the bill Trump signed to back a mission to Mars.
“All this will do is give him glory and not contribute to science,” Krauss wrote in an email. “sorry.. All SHOW .. he is a [expletive] showman.. A carnival huckster .. this, and the military budget and health care are all show… no substance.. Just the ‘biggest ever’ .. for a guy with small hands..”
Epstein wrote in response “you told me you were worried about space and not and I told you not to worry, he will decimate climate change and support, verifiable projects.”
Epstein called Trump a ‘maniac’ in one email to his lawyer — 1:40 p.m.
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
Epstein derided Trump as a “maniac” in one December 2018 email to his attorney Reid Weingarten.
“you might want to tell your dem friends that treating trump like mafia don , ignores the fact that he has great dangerous power,” Epstein wrote to Weingarten on Dec. 20, 2018. “tightening the noose too slowly , risks a very bad situation. . gambino was never the commander in chief. there was little gambino could do as the walls closed in. not so with this maniac.”
Epstein corresponded with email that appeared to belong to Peter Thiel — 1:27 p.m.
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
Epstein also corresponded with tech billionaire Peter Thiel, according to the records released Wednesday.
“Are you enjoying la?” Epstein wrote to Thiel on Nov. 6, 2018. “I liked your Trump exaggerations not lies.”
“Can’t complain thus far,” Thiel replied.
Larry Summers chatted with Jeffrey Epstein via email, records show — 1:00 p.m.
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
Former Harvard University president Larry Summers corresponded by email with Jeffrey Epstein about a year before the financier died in custody while awaiting trial on federal child sex trafficking charges, records show.
The emails between Summers, who also served as treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, and Epstein were among thousands of documents a congressional committee released Wednesday.
“new york soon?” Epstein wrote to Summers on July 15, 2018, one year before Epstein’s July 2019 arrest on the federal charges.
“Unsure,” Summers replied. “What is up.”
The following day, Epstein wrote, “wed presidnt [sic] of united nations, interesting person for you.”
Shortly after midnight, Summers responded, “Do the Russians have stuff on Trump? Today was appalling even by his standards.”
“My email is full with similar comments,” Epstein wrote back. “wow. Im [sic] sure his view is that it went super well - he thinks he has charmed his adversary. . Admittedly he has no idea of the symbolism - he has no idea of most things.”“Will call later,” Summers replied. “What number?”
Material from the Associated Press and previous Globe stories was used in this report.
Epstein emails say Trump knew about his conduct — 10:54 a.m.
By the Associated Press
Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein wrote in a 2011 email that Donald Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with a victim of sex trafficking and said in a separate message years later that Trump “knew about the girls,” according to communications released Wednesday.
The emails made public by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee add to the questions about Trump’s friendship with Epstein and about any knowledge he may have had in what prosecutors call a yearslong effort by Epstein to exploit underage girls. The Republican president has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s alleged crimes and has said he ended their relationship years ago.
The messages are part of a batch of 23,000 documents provided by Epstein’s estate to the Oversight Committee. The release resurfaces a storyline that had shadowed Trump’s presidency during the summer when the FBI and the Justice Department abruptly announced that they would not be releasing additional documents that investigators had spent weeks examining, disappointing conspiracy theorists and online sleuths who had expected to see new revelations.
Grijalva will be sworn in as the House’s newest member, paving the way for an Epstein files vote — 9:25 a.m.
By the Associated Press
As the House returns Wednesday for the first time in months, Democrat Adelita Grijalva will be sworn in as its newest member, nearly seven weeks after winning a special election in Arizona to fill the seat last held by her late father.
Grijalva’s swearing-in is expected to be among the first actions by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had previously declined to seat her until the chamber reconvened following a deal to end the government shutdown. The official ceremony is set for 4 p.m., shortly before the House is expected to begin voting.
For Grijalva, it’s the end of a weekslong delay that she and other Democrats said was intended to prevent her signature on a petition to eventually trigger a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein. In an interview with The Associated Press, she said the thought of finally being sworn in was “emotional” and “very much a roller coaster.”
“We’ve been waiting for this so long that it’s still surreal,” she added.
