Explosive new emails released by Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee have revealed that Jeffrey Epstein plotted to manipulate Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, with author Michael Wolff advising the disgraced financier to "let him hang himself."
The Coordinated Media Manipulation
The correspondence, made public on Wednesday, shows Epstein discussing Trump with both Wolff and Ghislaine Maxwell over at least eight years. Wolff, who recorded over a hundred hours of conversation with Epstein between 2014 and 2019, described their relationship as collaborative work on several major book projects, including Fire and Fury, his account of the first Trump administration.
In a particularly revealing exchange dated December 15, 2015 - the day of a CNN-televised Republican primary debate - Wolff emailed Epstein with the subject line "heads up" to warn that the network planned to question Trump about his relationship with the billionaire financier.
"I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you—either on air or in scrum afterwards," Wolff informed Epstein.
When Epstein asked if they should help prepare an answer for the presidential candidate, Wolff responded with calculated advice: "I think you should let him hang yourself. If he says he hasn't been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency."
Political Calculations and Damaging Claims
Wolff elaborated on his strategy in the email chain, suggesting Epstein could either damage Trump or potentially save him for future leverage. "You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt," Wolff wrote.
The emails also contain a 2011 exchange between Epstein and Maxwell that references Virginia Giuffre, who was recruited by Maxwell while working as a spa attendant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in 2000 when she was just 16 years old.
Epstein wrote to Maxwell: "i want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump.. virignia [sic] spent hours at my house with him, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75% there."
Maxwell responded cryptically: "I have been thinking about that…"
White House Response and Ongoing Fallout
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt immediately condemned the email release as a politically motivated "smear" campaign, noting that Democrats had selectively redacted Virginia Giuffre's name from the documents, replacing it with "VICTIM."
"The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump," Leavitt stated. "The 'unnamed victim' referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever."
The White House emphasised that Trump had expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago around October 2007 "for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre." Trump later revealed more details about the split, saying he banned Epstein after twice hiring away spa employees despite warnings.
In another email from January 2019, Epstein referenced his expulsion, writing: "Trump said he asked me to resign... never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked to Ghislaine to stop."
Notably, Trump did not send or receive any of the released emails and has not been charged with any crime related to Epstein or Maxwell. In a recent interview, Maxwell reiterated that Trump "did nothing wrong" and was never involved in Epstein's criminal activities.
The House is expected to vote on releasing additional Epstein-related Justice Department files once members return to Washington to resolve the government shutdown, keeping the pressure on the White House to provide full transparency.
