Epstein Emails Reveal Biographer Urged Late Financier to Attack Trump for Crucial Political Cover
Newly disclosed emails from the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reveal a 2015 exchange with author Michael Wolff, who allegedly advised Epstein to publicly criticize Donald Trump to gain “valuable PR and political currency.” The correspondence, released by House Democrats, details Wolff’s counsel for Epstein to let the then-presidential candidate “hang himself” by denying their association, suggesting this move could generate a positive benefit for Epstein’s own heavily scrutinized reputation. This revelation comes amid a broader release of documents from the Epstein estate intended by Democrats to raise questions about President Trump’s relationship with the disgraced financier and his knowledge of the sex trafficking network before Epstein’s death in 2019.
The specific email exchange between Epstein and Wolff, a prominent biographer who has written extensively about President Trump, took place in December 2015, just before a Republican primary debate where Wolff had heard a major news network was planning to question the future President about his relationship with the convicted sex offender. Epstein reportedly sought Wolff’s advice on how to “craft an answer” for Mr. Trump, to which Wolff responded by recommending a strategy of calculated silence and distance. Wolff’s advice was to encourage Trump to deny any long-term or close relationship with Epstein, creating an opportunity for Epstein to subsequently challenge those denials and use the ensuing public contradiction to improve his own image.
Beyond the suggested public relations strategy, the newly released documents include other highly contentious correspondence from Epstein, notably a 2019 email to Wolff where Epstein claimed that President Trump “knew about the girls as he asked [Ghislaine Maxwell] to stop.” This allegation directly contradicts President Trump’s consistent public denials of any knowledge regarding Epstein’s criminal conduct. The White House, in a formal statement, has swiftly and emphatically dismissed the entire document release as a politically motivated “hoax,” accusing Democrats of selectively leaking emails to deliberately smear the President and divert national attention from the important legislative progress made, including the recent resolution to the protracted government shutdown.
