On Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Democrats released a new set of documents tied to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein — and among them were several emails mentioning Donald Trump. One message, dated 2011, was sent from Epstein to his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. It read: “i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump.. [victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there[.]” (The odd grammar and punctuation are Epstein’s own.)
By now, it’s clear what “spent hours” meant in the context of Epstein’s world of wealthy men and underage victims — especially given the reference to “barking,” seemingly implying speaking to the police or the press.
Epstein also emailed author Michael Wolff in 2019, writing: “[victim] mara lago … trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop[.]” The message appears to refer to Maxwell allegedly recruiting victims from Mar-a-Lago, raising the question of whether Trump’s anger was over Epstein’s actions — or over, as Trump reportedly once said, “taking our people.”
This new evidence emerged as Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) became the 218th lawmaker to sign the discharge petition to release the full Epstein files — a move fiercely resisted by the Trump administration.
But the deeper question remains: what happened to Merrick Garland’s Justice Department? Was President Biden’s pick for attorney general simply out of his depth? The piece’s author argues Garland’s tenure may represent “the greatest law enforcement failure in American history,” calling Biden’s nomination “the most catastrophic personnel decision by any Democratic president since James Buchanan.”
For years, outlets like The American Prospect have documented the deep and disturbing ties between Trump and Epstein. The evidence spans decades:
- 1992: Trump and Epstein are filmed partying together with young cheerleaders at Mar-a-Lago.
- 2002: Trump tells New York magazine: “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy … He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
- 2003: As part of an incredibly revolting book celebrating Epstein’s 50th birthday, Trump sends a birthday note with a hand-drawn note of a pubescent, nude female form, and a poem reading in part: “Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that? … A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
- 2008: Epstein is finally investigated for sexual abuse of minors. Then-U.S. attorney Alex Acosta grants Epstein one of the most bizarre sweetheart deals in American legal history, in which Epstein not only secretly pled to a much lesser charge of soliciting an underage prostitute, but also got all his unnamed accomplices immunized forever.
- 2011: Epstein sends the above email.
- 2016: Epstein claims in another email that he is hanging out in Trump Tower a week after the election.
- 2017: Trump nominates Acosta, who has no relevant experience, to run the Department of Labor, which he does until 2019.
- 2019: Epstein is finally indicted for sexual abuse. A few months later, he apparently commits suicide under the most suspicious circumstances imaginable.
- 2022: Maxwell is convicted of conspiring with Epstein to abuse children, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
- 2025: Trump, back in office, fires the prosecutor who successfully prosecuted Epstein. His lawyers have a meeting with Maxwell. She subsequently says that Trump definitely didn’t do anything wrong, and then she is transferred to apparently the cushiest prison cell in the Western Hemisphere, according to a recent whistleblower report, which includes a service puppy.
Epstein himself once said on camera that Trump was “my closest friend for 10 years.” And while the latest email may be the most incriminating single item to surface, the cumulative evidence paints an overwhelming picture.
So why, the author asks, are we only learning about these emails now? They were from Epstein’s personal Gmail account — hardly difficult for federal investigators to obtain. “It simply beggars belief,” the piece states, that the Biden-era Justice Department could not access such basic materials when the Trump DOJ clearly had.
Given that Maxwell’s “Gmax” email was already known from prior court filings, the claim that these messages were inaccessible strains credibility.
Adding to the criticism, Garland’s Justice Department famously dragged its feet in prosecuting Trump for January 6th. As reported by Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis, Garland even paused the probe for weeks to avoid “political optics” during the 2022 midterms.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats also share blame. The House Oversight Committee existed under Democratic control from 2019 to 2022, yet no subpoena for Epstein’s correspondence was ever issued.
And politically, Democrats largely ignored Trump’s Epstein connection across three presidential runs. Despite photo, video, and written evidence, the topic was barely mentioned in Democratic messaging — while Trump himself invoked Epstein conspiracies against his opponents.
The author concludes that Biden and Garland’s refusal to publicize or act upon these emails represents not just a political blunder but a constitutional failure. “Preventing a fascist from becoming president is more important than stuffy adherence to the letter of Department of Justice internal rules,” the piece argues.
In the end, the existence of emails suggesting Donald Trump knew about or was connected to Epstein’s trafficking network — and the failure of the current administration to act — may prove to be one of the most consequential oversights in modern American history.
