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Republicans are frantically trying to defend President Donald Trump, after House Democrats released a trove of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails Wednesday.
In the exchange between Epstein, his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and author Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote that Trump not only knew about his "girls," but that Trump spent time with at least one of the victims at Epstein's home.
The White House Rapid Response team dismissed the emails as "a tired CON JOB to smear the President."
And House Speaker Mike Johnson called the release “another publicity stunt by the Democrats.”
"They're trying to mislead people,” he added.
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina also complained that Democrats released the emails today to overshadow the House's vote to reopen the government.
“As a survivor I find it deeply offensive that DEMOCRATS would use Epstein victims to bury headlines about the vote to reopen the government today. Today of all days,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, New York Times reporter Anni Karni reported that Trump is personally calling Republicans who signed a petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files, hoping to get them to back down. The petition is set to get a majority of votes Wednesday, when Johnson swears in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona.
“Trump himself called [Rep. Lauren] Boebert, regarding her signing onto the Epstein petition and spoke to her yesterday, I am told,” Karni wrote on X. “Trump playing phone tag with Mace. So far, they are not planning to remove their names from the petition.”
Related | Jeffrey Epstein said in bombshell emails that Trump 'knew about the girls'
CNN reported that Trump administration officials are even planning to bring Boebert to the White House so Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel can make their pitch on why she should remove her signature.
It’s unclear whether this has occurred yet, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the meeting.
“Doesn't it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress?” Leavitt said during Wednesday’s press briefing.
Aside from the three damning emails, House Democrats released other damning communications in which Epstein reveals dirt on Trump.
In other emails and messages provided by Epstein's estate, he wrote about Trump's effort to cover up an affair with pornographic film actor Stormy Daniels.
“I know how dirty donald is,” Epstein wrote.
There is also what appears to be an email chain between Epstein and Trump ally Steve Bannon, where they discuss Trump and Prince Andrew—who has since been stripped of his royal title and evicted from the royal palace due to his ties to Epstein.
"prince andrew and trump today. tooo funny," Epstein wrote to Bannon in 2019, when Trump met with Andrew during a visit to the United Kingdom.
"recall prince andrews accuser came out of mara lago,” Epstein added.
Bannon then replies, "Can't believe nobody is making u the connective tissue."
But as Republicans defend Trump, Democrats are slamming them for it.
“Credit where credit is due, the White House is mobilizing an aggressive effort to prevent healthcare premiums from going up,” Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii wrote on X. “Sorry - typo - where it says ‘prevent healthcare premiums from going up’ pls delete and insert ‘block Epstein file release.’”
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