Image source, EPA

Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeated her call for the full release of the Epstein files. She says Democrats try to paint Donald Trump as if he was involved, but "victims themselves" have said he was not.

The Georgia congresswoman is one of just four Republicans who signed the petition for a vote to release the documents, which reached a crucial 218 signatures yesterday.

"The Epstein files MUST be released! Every name, every page, every connection," she says in a social media post. "Democrats keep trying to paint President Trump as if he was involved in these horrific acts, but the victims themselves have said he was NOT!"

"This shouldn’t be about political smears. It should be about justice," she adds.

For context, in a document released on Wednesday, the White House said an “unnamed victim” was Virginia Giuffre, who "repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever".

Giuffre said in a 2016 deposition that she never saw Trump take part in any abuse. And in a memoir released this year, she did not accuse the president of any wrongdoing.

Trump’s power has limits over Epstein storypublished at 14:50 GMT 13 November 2025

14:50 GMT 13 November 2025

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

In 2011, as media scrutiny of his conduct and allegations of sex trafficking swirled around him, Jeffrey Epstein wrote to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell that Donald Trump was the “dog that hasn’t barked”.

Fourteen years later and six years after his death, Epstein - with allegations surrounding his relationship to Trump - is the dog that won’t go away.

On Wednesday, the White House pressed Republicans not to sign on to a House of Representatives petition to trigger a vote in the chamber on releasing the entirety of the Justice Department’s Epstein files.

Trump said any Republican who focused on Epstein was “very bad, or stupid” and top aides met with Lauren Boebert, one of the signatories, in the White House in an attempt to convince her to withdraw her support.

Their efforts failed, another indication that when it comes to the Epstein story, Trump’s power has its limits.

The president may command daunting approval among conservative voters. He may, as he likes to say, be the man who created the “Make America Great Again” movement. But while Trump tends to be finely attuned to where his political base is on the issues, some Republican politicians, even ones typically loyal to him, appear to have concluded that when it comes to Epstein they, not he, are more in step with the party’s current mood.

The forthcoming vote on the Epstein files in the House, and a subsequent one in the Senate, is likely to further illustrate that point.

We've just had a response from the White House to messages contained in the thousands of files relating to Epstein released yesterday.

As we've been reporting, in one message to an unidentified person in 2018, Epstein said of Trump: "I am the one able to take him down."

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson tells the BBC: "These emails prove literally nothing."

Image source, Reuters

Jeffrey Epstein said in 2018 messages about Trump "I am the one able to take him down".

The exchanges, which the BBC has not independently verified, are among the more than 20,000 files obtained from the late sex offender's estate and released by US lawmakers.

In a text message chain from December 2018, an unidentified person wrote to Epstein: "It will all blow over!

"They're really just trying to take down Trump and doing whatever they can do to do that ...!"

Epstein replied: "yes thx. its wild. because I am the one able to take him down."

The context and what the other person was predicting would "blow over" is not clear.

Trump yesterday accused the Democrats of "using the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax to try and deflect from their massive failures", and the White House said some of the threads had been "selectively leaked" to "create a fake narrative to smear President Trump".

More than 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein's estate were published yesterday. Here's a recap of what happened:

• Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three new Epstein email exchanges in which Epstein mentions Trump several times in correspondence with now-jailed associate Ghislaine Maxwell and, separately, with writer Michael Wolff
• One email from Epstein to Maxwell, sent in April 2011, claims that Trump spent hours at Epstein's house with a person whose name was redacted. Epstein wrote: "I want you to realize that that the dog that hasn't barked is trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him"

• A few hours later, more than 20,000 pages of documents were released by the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee, which accused the Democrats of attempting to “cherry-pick” what was released
• The White House accused the Democrats of trying to create a "fake narrative", and Trump said they were "using the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax to try and deflect from their massive failures"

• Fresh emails also included an exchange showing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, stating that he “can't take any more of this”. It was in response to a forwarded right-of-reply email that the Mail on Sunday had sent Maxwell in March 2011, which made numerous claims about Andrew.

Image source, Reuters

We are resuming our live coverage after US lawmakers released more than 20,000 pages of documents relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Among those messages, Epstein said in 2018 about US President Donald Trump: "I know how dirty donald is" and "I am the one able to take him down".

Trump was a friend of Epstein's for years, but the president has said they fell out in the early 2000s, two years before Epstein was first arrested.

Trump denies any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, who died in 2019 in prison. Yesterday, the White House accused the Democrats of "selectively leaking" files to "smear" the president.

Hours after the documents were released, new Democratic Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva added her signature to the number needed on a petition to force the House of Representatives to vote on the release all justice department files on the Epstein case.

The vote is set to take place next week.

The move prompted Trump to warn members of his own Republican party not to fall into the “trap” of the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax”.

Stay with us as we unpack the details in the released documents and reaction to the looming vote.

Thomas Mackintosh
Live reporter

We've spent the last few hours combing through a batch of more than 20,000 pages of documents, images and emails released by the House Oversight Committee relating to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Three emails - initially published by Democrats on the committee - featured exchanges between Epstein and his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and separately with the author Michael Wolff.

One of the emails - from Epstein to Maxwell in April 2011 - reads: "I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump.. [Victim] spent hours at my house with him".

Although the contents contain Trump's name, none of the emails are to or from Trump directly - and he has always denied wrongdoing.

The White House came out in defence of the US president, and accused Democrats of "selectively leaking emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump".

Trump later said the documents were released by Democrats to "deflect from their massive failures, in particular, their most recent one — THE SHUTDOWN!"

Separately, hours after this latest batch of documents were released, newly-sworn in Democratic Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva signed a petition, forcing a vote on the release of the Epstein files by the justice department.

We're ending our coverage, but for further reading - here's what we know about the new Epstein emails that mention Trump.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Adelita Grijalva was just sworn giving Democrats one more seat in Congress.

But besides helping the majority, she’ll also assist those trying to release the Epstein files in their efforts.

She immediately signed a discharge petition to bring a vote on releasing the files to the floor - but signing that petition does not mean there will be immediate action, and there will be a wait for some procedural steps to take place.

It needs to sit for a seven legislative days before it can be called up for floor consideration - and then House leadership will be required to schedule a floor vote within two legislative days.

That's looking like it could be early December.

Image source, REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

A new member of Congress, Democrat Adelita Grijalva, signed a petition to force a vote on whether to direct the justice department to release the Epstein files - seconds after being sworn in.

She becomes the 218th signatory on the petition - pushing it to the required threshold to move forward.

Image source, Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images

Featured in the documents released today were a number of emails between Jeffrey Epstein and writer Michael Wolff.

Wolff has previously said he spoke to Epstein at length about Trump while writing books on his presidency.

The author, speaking publicly for the first time since the release of the documents, says in a video posted on his Instagram: “This morning, the House Oversight Committee released emails directly linking Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein."

“In fact some of those emails are between Epstein and me, with Epstein discussing his relationship with Donald Trump," he says.

Wolff adds: “I have been trying to talk about this story for a very long time now."

The emails released today appear to show Epstein asking for Wolff's opinion around Trump.

Wolff writes to Epstein in 2015 to notify him that CNN is planning to ask Trump about their relationship.

Epstein responds: "If we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?"

Wolff then offers his thoughts on how the interview could play out.

House Democrats on the Oversight Committee have released a fresh statement, hours after thousands of documents and emails relating to Jeffrey Epstein were released into the public domain.

“The official stance of Oversight Democrats is that we don’t confirm or deny the names of victims," Sara Guerrero says.

For context, in the first three emails Democrats released today they redacted the name of a victim. In the full batch of documents later, it wasn't redacted - as our colleagues at BBC Verify reported earlier.

Shortly afterwards, the White House put out a statement saying the “unnamed victim” was Virginia Giuffre who "repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever".

Guerrero says: "Oversight Democrats have promised all survivors and their families that we will keep their identities private out of respect for them, and our commitment is that we redact all of their names from these documents."

Ed Campbell
BBC News Investigations

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, responded to an email forwarded by Ghislaine Maxwell via Jeffrey Epstein in March 2011 about alleged sexual activity with a masseuse working for Epstein.

According to files released today by the House Oversight Committee, Andrew's reply reads: "Hey there! What's all this? I don't know anything about this! You must SAY so please. This has NOTHING to do with me. I can't take any more of this."

Maxwell had forwarded a "right of reply" email from the Mail on Sunday on 4 March, making numerous allegations about Maxwell, Epstein, and the then-Prince Andrew.

The right of reply email states that a woman, whose name is redacted in the released document, was introduced to Andrew by the disgraced financier in 2001, at Maxwell's house in London where she had sex with Andrew.

On 6 March 2011 the Mail on Sunday published a story including a photograph of Prince Andrew and Virginia Guiffre.

The right of reply email goes on to say that the masseuse and another girl were directed to sit on Andrew's knee in Epstein's New York flat, and that he groped both girls. The email goes on to say that one of the girls was directed by Maxwell to have sex with Andrew. It also states she was directed to participate in an orgy with Andrew at Little St James - Epstein's private Caribbean island.

It requests a reply by noon the next day, and is sent by Annette Witheridge of the Mail on Sunday.

The email is sent to Maxwell by her representative at 11:12 on 4 March 2011, forwarded on to Epstein and then to a redacted email address marked "The Duke" who responds to Maxwell at 11.46 on the same day.

On 6 March 2011, the day the Mail on Sunday published its Guiffre story, Epstein emails "The Duke" at 08.51 asking: "You ok?” and says “these stories are complete and utter fantasy”.

Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing and has not faced any charges.

Sense of urgency as Trump calls out members of his partypublished at 20:27 GMT 12 November 2025

20:27 GMT 12 November 2025

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

There are four Republican signatures on the House of Representatives petition that would force a vote to order the Justice Department to release all files related to its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

If any one of those four changed his or her mind, the petition would come up short. That may explain the efforts by the White House to unite the party behind blocking the petition.

It appears top administration officials are meeting today with one of the signatories, Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky is a co-sponsor of the petition. The other two are Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

Greene - a firebrand conservative - has recently stepped up her criticism of Trump on a range of subjects.

The president in his recent Truth Social post on the Epstein matter called out members of his own party, saying "only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap" of supporting further Epstein inquiries.

Once the petition is filed, which barring some change is expected to happen later today, the countdown to a House vote – which would could occur sometime in December – would be irreversible.

Hence the sense of urgency coming from the White House.

Half an hour after his first post on Truth Social addressing the release of the Epstein documents, President Trump has posted again.

He says: "In other words, the Democrats are using the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax to try and deflect from their massive failures, in particular, their most recent one — THE SHUTDOWN!"

It's a similar message to his first post, where Trump said: ""The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they've done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects."

The leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, is calling for the release of further documents, saying that he hopes today's release spurs the Trump administration to "fully release the Epstein files".

"They have right now the entire files," he says.

• For context: The 'Epstein files' are a vast trove of documents amassed from criminal investigations into Epstein.

The White House has accused Democrats of initially selectively releasing documents to spin "a fake narrative to smear President Trump".

Garcia says: "We release everything that we get, and so people can look and read the emails and make the judgement for themselves."

"We also think that Republicans should release everything they have in their possession as we do as well. We want every single piece of correspondence to be released."

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, BBC/Ana Faguy

I’m on Capitol Hill waiting for a vote on ending the government shutdown.

Epstein is not far from the minds of many here.

I’m waiting for a press conference to start on the steps of the Capitol and behind me I see folks holding signs calling for the release of the Epstein files.

Reporters and staffers are talking about the document dump, too.

We’re expecting an important vote on releasing the files to take place in December, but until then, the chatter continues.

We've just heard from Trump's Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt - and the president himself on social media - hours after US House Democrats released new Epstein emails referencing Trump.

If you're just joining us, let's get you up to speed:

• First, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee released three email exchanges, one of which is between Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in 2019, and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell
• The email from April 2011 reads: "I want you to realize that that dog that hasn't barked is trump.. [Victim] spent hours at my house with him"
• The White House says the unnamed victim is Virginia Giuffre "who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing" - and an unredacted version of the message includes the name "Virginia" - BBC Verify explains this here

• Leavitt accuses the Democrats of creating a "manufactured hoax" by releasing some of the Epstein documents this morning ahead of the House returning

• Republicans on the House Oversight Committee dropped a tranche of 20,000 pages of documents to counter what they call a Democratic effort to “cherry-pick"

• When asked about the emails, Leavitt says they prove "absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong"

• The documents also suggest that Lord Peter Mandelson had contact with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein as late as 2016, politics reporter Alex Partridge writes
• And in a post on Truth Social, Trump says: "The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the [government] Shutdown, and so many other subjects."

Image source, CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appears to have confirmed a meeting between senior administration officials and Republican Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert to discuss the Epstein saga.

CNN first reported the meeting that it said would involve Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Boebert is part of a bipartisan group of US House members who has pushed for the Department of Justice to release documents related to Epstein. When a new Democratic congresswoman is sworn in later today, the group will have enough votes to start the process of forcing the administration to release every file it has on Epstein.

Leavitt suggests the high-level meeting was another example of transparency from the administration.

"Doesn't that show the level of transparency when we are willing to sit down with members of Congress and address their concerns?" Leavitt says.

Donald Trump has commented for the first time following the release of new Epstein documents.

In a post on Truth Social he writes: "The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects.

"Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.

"The Democrats cost our Country $1.5 Trillion Dollars with their recent antics of viciously closing our Country, while at the same time putting many at risk — and they should pay a fair price.

"There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!"

Next up, a question about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor - formerly Prince Andrew.

A reporter asks Leavitt if President Trump thinks Andrew should testify to Congress on the Epstein scandal.

• For context: Andrew was stripped of his royal titles following months of pressure over his ties to Epstein. He has always denied wrongdoing. Members of the House Oversight Committee wrote to him earlier this month, asking him to answer questions as part of its investigation into the paedophile financier

Leavitt says she hasn't spoken to Trump about that specifically, but will ask the president and get back to him.

The White House briefing ends. As Leavitt walks out of the room, a reporter shouts another question about Epstein, which she ignores.