Democrats from The House Oversight Committee released three email chains Wednesday morning, including correspondence between Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. They also released emails between Epstein and journalist Michael Wolff, who has written numerous books about Trump. Within hours, House Republicans released a large number of documents in response to what they called a Democratic attempt to selectively choose files. They also claimed it was an attempt to create a false narrative to smear the president. Although he was friends with Epstein for years, Trump has stated that they drifted apart in the early 2000s, two years before the financier's first arrest. The US president has also consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. The BBC has not independently verified the emails published on Wednesday and is still analyzing them.

Here's what we know so far and the White House's response.

“That dog that hasn't barked is Trump”

The first email published by the Democrats dates back to 2011 and is an exchange between Epstein and Maxwell.

In it, Epstein writes to Maxwell: “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is Trump… (the victim) spent hours at my house with him.”

Epstein goes on to write that Trump “has never been mentioned,” not even by a “police chief.”

Maxwell responds:“I’ve been thinking about that…”.

Although the victim’s name was redacted in the email released by the Democrats, the unredacted version is in the document published by the committee. In this last one, the name “Virginia” appears.

The White House stated that it refers to the late Virginia Giuffre, a prominent accuser of Epstein who committed suicide in April of this year.

In a statement, the White House indicated that Giuffre “repeatedly stated that President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing and that he ‘could not have been nicer’ to her in their few interactions.”

When asked why the name was initially redacted, Representative Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Oversight Committee, stated that the party will never release the names of victims, in accordance with the wishes of the families.

Epstein and Wolff

In his exchanges with writer Michael Wolff, Epstein discusses his relationship with Trump, who at the time was participating in the Republican primaries for the 2016 presidential election, which he would eventually win.

In In a second email exchange released by the Democrats, Wolff writes to Epstein in 2015 to notify him that CNN plans to ask Trump about their relationship, “either live or at a post-interview press conference.” Epstein responds: “If we could work out a response for him, what do you think it should be?” Wolff writes: “I think you should let him incriminate himself. If he says he wasn’t on the plane or at the house, that gives you a valuable PR and political advantage. You can damage him in a way that potentially benefits you, or, if he really looks like he could win, you could save him, by creating a debt.” He adds: “Of course, it is possible that when asked, he will say that Jeffrey is a good guy, that he has been treated unfairly, and that he is a victim of political correctness, which will be illegal under a Trump regime.” In another email from October 2016, days before the presidential election In a US email, Wolff offers Epstein the opportunity to give an interview that could “take down” Trump. “This week you have the opportunity to talk about Trump in a way that could win you a lot of sympathy and help take him down. Are you interested?” Wolff writes to Epstein. A third email released by the Democrats is dated January 2019, during Trump’s first term. In it, Epstein tells Wolff, “Trump said he asked me to resign,” apparently referring to his membership in the president’s Mar-a-Lago club, adding, “I was never a member.”

Epstein adds that “of course he knew about the girls, since he asked Ghislaine to stop.”

“I’ve been trying to talk about this story for a long time,” he added.

“I’m the only one who can take him down.”

Among the emails released Wednesday by U.S. lawmakers is one apparently between Jeffrey Epstein and Kathryn Ruemmler, a lawyer who served as a White House counsel during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Trump was convicted in Manhattan last year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents in connection with those payments.

“I thought you might be interested,” Ruemmler, now chief legal officer and general counsel at Goldman Sachs, wrote to Epstein.

“It doesn’t matter that it was his money,” she wrote in the conversation.

“The problem is the lack of transparency,” Epstein replied. “You see, I know how dirty Donald is.”

The BBC contacted Goldman Sachs for comment. The bank declined to comment.

In another text message chain from December 2018, an unidentified person wrote to Epstein: “This will all pass!

“They’re just trying to take down Trump and are doing everything they can to do it!”

Epstein replied: “Yes, thank you. It’s amazing. Because I am the only one capable of taking him down.”

The context and what the other person predicted would “happen” are unclear.

The White House Response

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the emails were selectively leaked by House Democrats to progressive media outlets to create a false narrative that smears President Trump.

“The fact is that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for harassing his employees, including Giuffre,” she stated.

She added: “These stories are nothing more than bad-faith attempts to deflect attention from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any sensible American clearly sees this deception and this blatant distraction to prevent the reopening of the government.”

When asked at a press conference on Wednesday about the release of documents by the House Oversight Committee, Leavitt said they proved “absolutely nothing, except that President Trump did nothing wrong.” Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson told the BBC on Wednesday, “These emails prove absolutely nothing.” Click here to read more stories from BBC News Mundo. Subscribe here to our new newsletter to receive a selection of our best content of the week every Friday. You can also follow us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, and our new WhatsApp channel. And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate them.