PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The friendship between Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump frayed in 2004, four years before Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution.
But in a 2011 email from Epstein to his partner Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein writes Trump "spent hours at my house" on Palm Beach with one of Epstein's victims and that encounter "has never once been mentioned" by police.
"There's no smoking gun that indicates that President Trump was involved in any criminal activity," said former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg.
Aronberg has followed the Epstein case closely and read some of the Epstein emails.
One was in 2019 to author Michael Wolff, who once had access to the president. Epstein wrote of Trump, "Of course he knew about the girls."
"Where this hurts is in the court of public opinion amongst his base," Aronberg said.
"This is a self-inflicted wound, and it's not going away. This could all be overcome by releasing all the Epstein files. Say to the public that yes, you were friends with Epstein, but that ended."
Epstein died by suicide while in jail in 2019.
National News
House Democrats uncover Epstein correspondence with claims involving Trump
Democrats on the Oversight Committee claim the emails show the president may know more about Epstein's activities than he's said.
"Thus far Donald Trump and the White House have refused to disclose the DOJ documents that are clear on what the FBI investigated, who was facing potential criminal charges," said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-New Mexico.
The White House is fighting back.
"These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong, and what President Trump has always said is that he was from Palm Beach and so was Jeffrey Epstein," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Epstein
White House continues pushback against newly released Epstein emails
This afternoon, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released 20,000 documents related to the Epstein investigation, after claiming Democrats were cherry-picking the emails potentially most damaging to the president.
I'll continue coverage as I learn more about the content of the Epstein emails.
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