'I know how dirty Donald is': Jeffrey Epstein email gold mine shows he watched Trump's legal issues closely in years before his death

House Democrats and the New York Times, at just about the same time on Wednesday, unveiled emails from the estate of infamous sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, including one from 2011 that claimed a victim once "spent hours at my house" with Donald Trump.

The president, whose defamation lawsuit remains pending against the Wall Street Journal over reporting on a "bawdy" 50th birthday letter for Epstein from 2003, was described in the email exchange between Epstein and his convicted sex-trafficking accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell as the "dog that hasn't barked."

"I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump," Epstein told Maxwell in April 2011, according to estate records handed to the House Oversight Committee. "[Redacted victim name] spent hours at my house with him,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75% there."

Maxwell replied hours later saying, "I have been thinking about that…"

CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported, citing Republican committee members, that the unidentified victim in the email was Virginia Giuffre, who did not accuse Trump of any wrongdoing in a memoir released after her suicide in April. Giuffre's sexual abuse allegations against Prince Andrew, however, recently led Buckingham Palace to evict him and strip him of his titles.

The latest developments dropped amid claims that Maxwell has been receiving special treatment behind bars and as questions swirl about whether Congress will vote to release the "Epstein files" that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi controversially declined to make public.

Notably, the email exchange took place eight years after the "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret" Epstein birthday book submission that Trump claims he did not author, draw, or sign.

When Trump first sued, he said the letter described in the Wall Street Journal's reporting did not exist. Epstein's estate, pursuant to subpoena, subsequently released the birthday book to Congress, which in turn published the contents.

When Trump's former criminal defense attorney turned Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed the incarcerated Maxwell in July, she said she "never" saw "gentleman" Trump act inappropriately with anyone. At the same time, Maxwell said it was "true" that she put together the Epstein 50th "birthday book" and claimed she did not remember a Trump letter.

During the same interview, Maxwell also said of Trump and Epstein, "I don't think they were close friends or I certainly never witnessed the President in any of — I don't recall ever seeing him in his house, for instance."

In an another newly released email from 2015, author Michael Wolff, who is currently suing First Lady Melania Trump, apparently tipped off Epstein to rumblings that CNN was going to ask then-candidate Trump about his Epstein ties.

"[I]f we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?" Epstein replied, the documents said.

"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," Wolff answered with advice. "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."

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"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," Wolff continued, again, according to the documents.

According to an additional 2019 email Congress released, Epstein told Wolff of Trump that "of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop."

Also referencing an unidentified victim's name, perhaps Giuffre, Epstein noted "trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever" regarding Mar-a-Lago.

In another batch of emails, Epstein watched various legal developments from Trump's first term closely, discussing a 2018 column by New York Times columnist Bret Stephens headlined "Donald Trump's High Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Kathy Ruemmler, who appears to be the former Obama White House counsel turned Goldman Sachs general counsel, discussed the implications of former Trump fixer Michael Cohen pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and flipping regarding hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal before the 2016 election.

Epstein replied by seeming to reference former special counsel Robert Mueller's then-ongoing Russia probe and a conversation Epstein had about it with his former attorney, the late Ken Starr.

"I think he makes the argument that it was his, [sic] trumps money, making it not illegal. though he also said he only found afterwards? and the fact according to the indictment was billed as services rendered and gross up," Epstein wrote in 2018, seeming to draw the distinction that Cohen made the payments, not Trump. "I'm sure his acct has flipped anyway. I did talk in detail to starr yesterday regarding indictments how trump can make a deal (special counsel)."

"clintons trash can yes starr gave me more. YECHHHH!" he added.

"It makes no difference whether it was his money. Issue is failure to disclose, Plus, fact the he has lied his a** off about it makes clear that he knew it was illegal," Ruemmler replied.

"you see, I know how dirty donald is," Epstein answered. "my guess is that non lawyers ny biz people have no idea. what it means to have your fixer flip."

According to the documents, the same year, Ruemmler and Epstein discussed a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, "Mueller's Fruit of the Poisonous Tree," by David Rivkin and Elizabeth Price Foley, which former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon had forwarded to Epstein.

After Bannon described the piece's contentions as a "Big deal," Epstein cautioned: "maybe, but southern district. money laundering.. any actions that 'offends the constitution'. corrupt intent … many open questions .. flippers will dictate (my view.)"

In a separate dialogue with Ruemmler, Epstein said "i htink weak thoughts?"

"Yawn," said Ruemmler. "And David Rivkin is a hack. Zero — and I mean zero — chance that a court would find a due process violation on these facts. Fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine does not apply."

"exactly my view," Epstein answered, before appearing to unrelatedly describe Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's wife Priscilla Chan as "nice but boring."

"on facebook, I thought you might look at the recent internet and privacy opinions and pose some open questions. to be discussed. mark wants to bring the internet to the rest of the world.. and healthcare .. his wife is nice but boring.. what do you see as the challenges what does she or he see . social," Epstein added.

As recently as July, Trump said he booted Epstein from Mar-a-Lago because "[p]eople," young women, "were taken out of the spa — hired by him — in other words, gone."

"And other people would come and complain, 'This guy is taking people from the spa,'" the president said. "I didn't know that. And then when I heard about it, I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people, whether it was spa or not spa, I don't want them taking people.' And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.'"

"He stole people that worked for me. I said, 'don't ever do that again.' He did it again. And I threw him out of the place persona non-grata," Trump added.

Of Giuffre, Trump said, "I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people. [Epstein] stole her. And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever."

In a 2002 interview, Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy" he had known for 15 years, while noting Epstein's interest in "beautiful women" on the "younger side."

"He's a lot of fun to be with," Trump told New York magazine. "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life."

By 2019, and in the course of defending his then-Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta — the former U.S. attorney who signed off on a sweetheart plea deal and greenlit a non-prosecution agreement immunizing Epstein's potential co-conspirators — Trump had changed his tune, saying he "knew [Epstein] like everybody in Palm Beach knew him."

"I had a falling out with him a long time ago," Trump said. "I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan."

Epstein apparently kept an eye as well on the Acosta's nomination in 2017. An email showed him asking Roy Black, another defense lawyer who helped Epstein get the 2008 plea deal, "Who will represent Acosta at hearings."

The question was posed the day after the New York Times published the story "Labor Nominee's Role in Sex Case Could Draw Scrutiny."

"He will be by himself," Black said of Acosta in a reply the next day. "Perhaps a trump administration aide to assist and accompany him."

Two years and several months later, Epstein died by suicide in jail before he could face a sex-trafficking trial in New York.

In response to the document dump, Trump said the "Jeffrey Epstein Hoax" has been manufactured by Democrats to distract from "how badly they've done" on the government shutdown. He also said only a "bad" or "stupid" Republican would fall for it.

"The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they'll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they've done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap," a Wednesday afternoon Truth Social post said. "The Democrats cost our Country $1.5 Trillion Dollars with their recent antics of viciously closing our Country, while at the same time putting many at risk — and they should pay a fair price. There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!"

The documents can be found here.