US President Donald Trump is facing growing pressure to release all documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse scandal. A vote on the issue is scheduled for next week in the House of Representatives, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters.
The release of previously unpublished emails has given the president's critics a new boost. After Democrats released three excerpts of emails allegedly from Epstein's estate on Wednesday, Republicans also released nearly 20,000 pages of email correspondence. The documents demonstrate the close ties of influential American multimillionaire Epstein to high society as well as international politics.
Politico reports on an email from Epstein in which, ahead of a bilateral meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018, he suggested that Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s long-serving foreign minister, should ask for his assessment of Trump. “I think you might suggest to Putin that Lavrov gain some insight by talking to me,” Epstein wrote in an email to Thorbjørn Jagland, the former Norwegian prime minister who at the time chaired the Council of Europe.
During the exchange, Epstein explained that he had already spoken to Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, about Trump before Churkin died in 2017. “Churkin was brilliant,” Epstein wrote. “After our conversations, he understood Trump. It’s not complicated. You have to see it to understand something, it’s that simple.” Emails with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon also show how much Epstein tried to exert influence.
In a 2018 exchange with Bannon, Epstein said that “there are many world leaders we can set up one-on-one meetings with for you” if Bannon was willing to spend eight to 10 days in Europe. “If you want to be in this game, you have to invest time; Europe doesn’t work remotely,” Epstein wrote. American multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein ran a sex trafficking ring for years, taking dozens of young women and minors as victims. He also abused his victims himself.
Following his arrest and conviction, the New York financier died in his prison cell in 2019 at the age of 66. The autopsy report listed suicide as the cause of death. Epstein's sudden death and his extensive connections to American high society sparked speculation about the possible involvement of influential circles. Before his arrest, celebrities and billionaires were frequent visitors to his home. The brother of the British king is directly implicated in the abuse scandal. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor lost his princely title as a result.