STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
What do 23,000 documents reveal about Jeffrey Epstein and President Trump?
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Coming up, we'll speak with Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna. He sits on the House Oversight Committee, which made those documents public. Now, opinions vary on what the documents say about Trump and Epstein, the convicted sex offender and alleged sex trafficker who was a friend to the rich and famous. Now NPR has made its own review of the documents, and they show that in the last years of his life, Epstein paid a lot of attention to his former friend who became president.
INSKEEP: NPR's Stephen Fowler has been reading. Stephen, good morning.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: I want to make clear what these documents are. Are these the Epstein files that a lot of people in both parties seem to want?
FOWLER: Well, no. There is a fight over releasing everything the Justice Department has on Epstein, but this is a separate set of documents that Congress obtained from Epstein's estate.
INSKEEP: Got it.
FOWLER: They came out in two different bunches yesterday. Democrats highlighted a few emails to and from Epstein that mentioned Trump. One was a suggestion from author Michael Wolff in 2015 that Epstein should let Trump, quote, "hang himself" answering questions about the relationship, or if it really looks like Trump could win, quote, "you could save him, generating a debt." Republicans then released all of the latest things they'd received from the estate - things like court records, financial documents, books, text messages and emails. A few of us spent the day reading those. And, Steve, it was surprising how many more pages mentioned Trump - easily more than a thousand references among the pages we reviewed.
INSKEEP: What sort of references?
FOWLER: Well, Epstein said he had photos of Trump with girls in bikinis in his kitchen, Trump, quote, "almost walking through the door, leaving his nose print on the glass" as women were swimming in the pool, reference to a girlfriend that, quote, "after two years, I gave to Donald." But most of these emails were obsessively tracking Trump's ascent to the presidency from 2015 to 2018. Epstein mocked Trump. He chronicled the various scandals. There's even a 2017 message where Epstein wrote to former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers that, quote, "I have met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump," and also, quote, "not one decent cell in his body.
INSKEEP: The reference to Lawrence Summers there, a reminder that Epstein knew a lot of rich and famous and powerful people in both political parties. But a lot of references to Trump. Has the president said much about that?
FOWLER: Well, the president posted on his Truth Social and has said the whole time that any Epstein-related questions are a hoax. White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt said these emails released by Democrats prove, quote, "absolutely nothing other than the fact President Trump did nothing wrong." And, Steve, it did little to change the push in the House to get more answers about Epstein.
INSKEEP: OK. So those are the Epstein files in possession of the House - lots of references to the president. What about those other files that you mentioned?
FOWLER: I mean, that is an effort of a few Republicans and Democrats to get the Justice Department to release all unclassified files around the life and death of Epstein, who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been opposed to this effort. Just last night, he said the House oversight subpoena process has been a, quote, "treasure trove" of helpful information about Epstein.
But now that Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn in after a more-than-seven-week delay, that means there's 218 members who've signed the discharge petition, which will force a floor vote on the Epstein files bill. Once it gets to the floor, potentially next week, it's expected to pass the House. Some Republican supporters predict even more of their colleagues will join and vote for the measure. To have any force, though, it would need to pass the Senate and have Trump sign it, which, given how much Trump's tried to silence any discussion on the Epstein files, seems unlikely.
INSKEEP: NPR's Stephen Fowler, thanks for your reporting and reading.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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