In one 2011 email to Ms Ghislaine Maxwell, a long-time Epstein associate who was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in sex trafficking, Epstein wrote, “I want you to realise that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump… spent hours at my house with him, … he has never once been mentioned,”  reports the Financial Times. A separate 2019 note claimed Trump “knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop”. House Democrats released the emails, arguing they indicate Trump was aware of Epstein’s trafficking of women.

The redacted “woman” in the 2011 email was identified by the White House as the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a trafficked victim who later published her memoir Nobody’s Girl, detailing how Epstein and Maxwell had forced her into sexual slavery. In her book, Giuffre described meeting Trump and said she believed he was not involved in wrongdoing.

The White House, via Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, dismissed the revelations as a partisan smear. “The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump had long ago banned Epstein from his club and that Giuffre herself had cleared him of misconduct.

While no law-enforcement charge has been filed against Trump in connection with Epstein’s trafficking network, the email disclosures have revived questions about the President’s relationship with Epstein and the extent of his awareness of the abusive scheme, a storyline certain to carry weight in the broader public and political debate.