Epstein Called Donald Trump the Worst Person He’d Ever Known and ‘Dangerous’

Jeffrey Epstein called President Donald Trump “dangerous” in a newly-shared email included in a trove of documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, Nov. 12.

House lawmakers released more than 20,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate this week, including an alleged conversation between former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Epstein on Feb. 8, 2017.

The exchange took place nearly three weeks after Trump’s first inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017.

Epstein told Summers in the alleged email, “Recall ive told you,, — i have met some very bad people ,, none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body.. so yes- dangerous,” according to ABC News.

When reached for comment by PEOPLE, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, “These emails prove literally nothing. Liberal outlets are desperately trying to use this Democrat distraction to talk about anything other than Democrats getting utterly defeated by President Trump in the shutdown fight,” referring to the recent government shutdown battle ending before Democrats were able to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits.

Jackson added, “We won’t be distracted, and the entire Administration will continue fulfilling the promises the President was elected on, including Making America Affordable Again.”

Trump’s relationship with Epstein — who mentioned the president multiple times in messages over the years — has fallen under renewed scrutiny since the release of the emails. Among the collection of documents, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shared three redacted email correspondences on Wednesday: one that Epstein, a convicted sex offender, wrote to his personal confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, and two he wrote to Trump biographer Michael Wolff. 

The first email exchange, dated April 2, 2011, was between Epstein, who was once friends with Trump, and Maxwell.

“I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump,” Epstein wrote. “[Redacted victim’s name] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.”

Maxwell replied, “I have been thinking about that…”

In an alleged exchange with Wolff dated Dec. 16, 2015, the journalist and author appeared to warn Epstein that CNN would ask Trump a question about their relationship during an upcoming presidential debate.

“If we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?” Epstein asked.

Wolff appeared to have responded: “I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. 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.”

“Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime,” he said.

Citing a transcript of the debate, The New York Times reported that Trump was not ultimately asked about Epstein.

A third email to Wolff was dated Jan. 31, 2019. Epstein wrote, “[Redacted victim’s name] mara lago,” followed by another redacted segment. “Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”

When previously reached by PEOPLE for comment on the emails between Epstein, Maxwell and Wolff, the White House shared a statement from press secretary Karoline Leavitt that accused House Democrats of pushing a “hoax” to distract from Trump’s “historic accomplishments.”

“The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump,” Leavitt said. “The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions.

“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,” she added.

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The emails have been shared amid ongoing pressure to release the Epstein files, a cache of documents that are related to Epstein’s criminal cases.

Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors. He pleaded not guilty but died by suicide while inside his jail cell in New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019.