Epstein's messages revealed. Emails discredit Trump. “He knew”
The documents — a small batch released by Democrats and a larger one released by Republicans — shed light on the disgraced financier's private musings about Trump and the extent to which Trump might have known about his criminal activities.
The Trump administration on Wednesday rejected allegations of impropriety, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accusing Democrats of “selectively disclosing emails to liberal media in order to create a false narrative intended to smear President Trump.” Trump, in a social media post, also accused Democrats of “trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein case again because they will do anything to distract from how poorly they handled the government shutdown and so many other issues.”
Here are a few the most surprising information disclosed in the latest set of documents.
“Donald is a clown”
It appears in Epstein's inbox several times Larry Summersa prominent economist who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations.
In one exchange, Summers shares clips from a 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia, including a tongue-in-cheek remark that the “general view” of Saudi officials was that “Donald is a clown, increasingly dangerous in foreign policy.”
In another email, Summers writes: “I noticed that half of the IQ in the world is held by women, not to mention that they constitute over 51% of the population.”
“I'm trying to understand why the American elite thinks that if you murder your child by beating and abandoning it doesn't matter for admission to Harvard, but if you hit on a few women 10 years ago, you can't work at a network or a think tank,” Summers added, before turning to Epstein: “DO NOT REPEAT THIS INFORMATION.”
Summers came into the spotlight because of his statements about women in the past, including a 2005 speech in which he cited the controversial theory that men are more susceptible to extremely high or low IQs than women, which is allegedly one of the reasons for the underrepresentation of women in science and engineering. The negative reaction to this speech contributed to Summers' decision to resign as president of Harvard University in 2006.
A representative for Summers did not respond to a request for comment on this exchange.
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How to deal with Trump
In a series of emails dating back 10 years, Epstein discussed his situation and ties to Trump with writer and journalist Michael Wolff. Wolff gave Epstein advice several times on how best to publicly handle his relationship with Trump, who was in the middle of the 2016 presidential campaign at the time.
In a 2015 email, Wolff offered advice on what to do if Trump stays when asked about his relationship with Epstein. Epstein asked Wolff how Trump would respond to such a question. “I think you should let him hang himself,” Wolff wrote of Trump in a 2015 email. “If [Trump] If he says he wasn't on the plane or at home, it will give you a valuable PR and political advantage.”
In a 2019 email to Wolff, Epstein wrote that “Trump said he asked me to resign, I was never a member. Obviously he knew about the girls because he asked Ghislaine to stop.” The message appears to refer to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club and Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted Epstein co-conspirator who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for Epstein-related crimes.
The following year, Epstein and several of his associates received information that Reuters was preparing a story about a lawsuit filed against the disgraced financier and Trump over an alleged 1994 sexual assault.
“Well, I think if there's anyone who can brush this off, it's Donald. Let me know if there's anything I can do,” Wolff wrote.
Wolff's attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
“I know how dirty Donald is.”
Another one also showed up in Epstein's inbox member of the Obama administration: former White House adviser Kathryn Ruemmler.
In a 2018 correspondence, Ruemmler — then a partner at the law firm Latham & Watkins — discusses the criminal case against Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with Trump to pay porn star Stormy Daniels money to remain silent during a criminal investigation in New York.
In one of the messages, Epstein stated: “See, I know how dirty Donald is. In my opinion, New York business people who are not lawyers have no idea what it means to have a dirty guy.”
Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump in 1997Davidoff Studio/Getty Images
In another text exchange, Ruemmler shared her apparent disdain for New Jersey residents in an email about a planned car trip to New York.
“I think I'll go by car,” she wrote. “Then I'll stop to pee and gas at a gas station on the New Jersey highway, I'll watch all the people who are at least 100 pounds [ok. 45 kg] overweight, this observation will give me a mild panic attack, and then I will decide not to eat a single bite for the rest of my life for fear of ending up like one of these people.”
Ruemmler did not respond to a request for comment. She is currently chief legal officer at Goldman Sachs, which declined to comment.
Island in the Caribbean
In one 2018 exchange, Epstein asked PayPal founder Peter Thiel — an ally of Vice President J.D. Vance — whether he liked Los Angeles. Epstein also praised Thiel for his “exaggerated but not deceitful statements.”
“I can't complain so far…” Thiel replied. “Visit me in the Caribbean in December,” Epstein replied.
Epstein's private island near St. Thomas in the Caribbean has long been the subject of speculation about which potential co-conspirators may have visited her. Epstein allegedly used the location for hiding their criminal activities.
Thiel's spokesman said he had never visited the island.
Epstein and Steve Bannon
In several conversations with business partners and friends, Epstein boasts about his own relationships with influential personalities from the world of media, technology and foreign affairs.
In a 2018 conversation with Bannon, Epstein stated that “there are a number of country leaders with whom we can arrange meetings for you” if Bannon agreed to spend eight to 10 days in Europe.
“If you want to play here you have to put in the time, Europe doesn't work remotely,” Epstein wrote.
Bannon's representative declined to comment.
The matter with the Kremlin
Epstein apparently used his foreign policy contacts in at least one instance: Before Trump's bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, Epstein suggested that Sergei Lavrov, Russia's longtime foreign minister, ask him to opinion about Trump.
“I think you might suggest to Putin that Lavrov gain insight into his conversation with me,” Epstein wrote in an email to Thorbjorn Jagland, the former Norwegian prime minister who headed the Council of Europe at the time.
Jeffrey Epstein in 2004Rick Friedman/Getty Images
During the exchange, Epstein said he had already spoken to Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, about Trump before Churkin died in 2017.
“Churkin was great,” Epstein wrote. “After our conversations, he understood Trump. It's not complicated. You have to see him to understand something, it's that simple.”
The Russian embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
Epstein and the stars
Among the changing figures Epstein turned to for advice was apparently the family of disgraced director Woody Allen.
In one email, Epstein shared an article about James Woolsey, who headed the CIA during the Clinton administration, joining Trump's 2016 presidential campaign as an adviser along with Soon-Yi Previn — Allen's wife and the adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow, with whom Allen was in a relationship.
Previn replied that “Woody said it didn't mean anything.”
Previn and Allen could not be reached for comment on the exchange.
A controversial artist
While several emails highlight Epstein's apparent ties to Trump, in one conversation he appears to express himself doubts about support for the presidential campaign the then candidate.
In an October 2016 exchange, Epstein discussed the election with artist Andres Serrano. His controversial 1987 photograph “Piss Christ” – showing a crucifix immersed in urine – was met with criticism universal condemnation.
Epstein wrote to Serrano that there was no “good choice” in the election. “I was willing to vote against Trump for all the right reasons, but I'm so disgusted by the 'grab 'em by the c***' outrage that I might vote for him out of sympathy,” Serrano replied. Serrano was referring to a widely known Access Hollywood recording of Trump boasting sexual harassment of women.
“I'm sure Bill C said things like that too,” Serrano added, apparently referring to former President Bill Clinton.
Serrano did not respond to a request for comment about these emails. Clinton has previously denied having a close relationship with Epstein. Through spokespeople, he stated that he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes.
