ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday termed the latest Epstein-related emails released a hoax, urging Republicans not to fall into a "trap."
According to the leaked emails, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — in an April 2011 message to longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell — suggested that the US president knew about the disgraced financier's abuse and "spent hours" with one victim at his house.
The pressure on Trump grew later on Wednesday, when a newly sworn-in Democratic representative added her name to a petition that now has enough signatures to force a vote on the release of the full Epstein files.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would hold a vote next week on a bid to force the Justice Department to release the remaining Epstein files.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged Republicans not to fall into a "trap," and top officials hosted hard-right Republican Lauren Boebert in the White House Situation Room to push her to keep her name off the petition.
"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," Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the sex-trafficking activities of his former friend — who died by suicide in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial —and accused Democrats of trying to "deflect" from their own failings.
But the scandal has proved tough for Trump to shake, and Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the three new emails "raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein's horrific crimes."
Boebert refused to back down, and the petition passed when Democratic congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was sworn in after weeks of delay and immediately signed the petition.
In the message to associate Maxwell, Epstein had asserted that Trump spent significant time with a woman whom the White House later identified as Epstein's main accuser, Virginia Giuffre.
Epstein wrote that Trump's name has "never once been mentioned."
Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking after Epstein's death, replied: "I have been thinking about that..."
'Of course he knew'
In another email to the author Michael Wolff, dated Jan. 31, 2019, Epstein allegedly wrote: "of course he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop."
Republicans later released a trove of thousands of mails, obtained after Democrats subpoenaed Epstein's estate earlier this year, including one in which Epstein called Trump "dirty."
The Epstein furor is still roiling Trump's administration more than four months after his Justice Department sought to close the case.
Keen to capitalize on the simmering controversy, Democrats in the House have been trying to force a vote to compel the publication of the full Epstein case files.
MAGA base furious
The White House went into fightback mode, accusing Democrats of selectively leaking the mails to "create a fake narrative to smear President Trump."
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Virginia Giuffre, who herself died by suicide in April, had declared that Trump "'couldn't have been friendlier' to her in their limited interactions."
The Epstein scandal has dogged Trump for months, after his Justice Department, in a July memo, reaffirmed he died by suicide, and that a "client list" Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed to have been reviewing did not in fact exist.
It sparked a furious backlash from Trump's "MAGA" (Make America Great Again) support base, who felt betrayed after being told for years that a "deep state" cover-up was protecting figures in the Democratic Party whom they accused of being Epstein's clients.
Trump's MAGA lieutenants — including two allies who now run the FBI — made careers of fanning the conspiracy theories, including that Epstein's suicide was actually a murder ordered by his powerful clients.
Trump's ties to Epstein are extensive. The pair were pictured partying together during a 15-year friendship before they reportedly fell out in 2004 over a property deal, and when Trump subsequently denounced his former ally.
The ripples from the scandal have also spread across the Atlantic. Trump said last month he felt "very badly" for the British royal family after the former prince Andrew, who was accused of abuse by Giuffre, had his titles revoked.
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