Jeffrey Epstein Offered to Help Russia 'Understand Trump,' Newly Released Emails Reveal: 'It Is Not Complex' By Greta Bjornson

Jeffrey Epstein seemingly offered to provide Russia with information about President Donald Trump during the celebrity businessman’s first term in office, according to a new batch of emails released by House Republicans.

In old messages released on Wednesday, Nov. 12, Epstein — who died in prison in 2019 — implied that he had discussed Trump with Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, before Churkin’s 2017 death.

“Churkin was great,” Epstein wrote, per Politico. “He understood trump after our conversations. it is not complex. he must be seen to get something its that simple.”

The outlet also reported that Epstein appeared to have tried to convince Russia’s longtime foreign minister to meet with him about Trump before the president was scheduled to speak with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018.

About a month before Trump’s meeting with Putin, Epstein shared the following message with former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, who was leading the Council of Europe at the time.

“I think you might suggest to putin that lavrov can get insight on talking to me,” Epstein wrote on June 24, 2018, per Politico, which reported that Epstein was likely referring to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Jagland said in the email exchange that he was meeting Lavrov’s assistant the next day and would propose connecting with Epstein, according to Politico, which reported that “it’s unclear if anything ever came of the proposed contact.”

After Trump did meet with Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018, Epstein responded to an email from former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who described the meeting between the two leaders as “appalling.”

Epstein replied, “Im sure his view is that it went super well,” per Politico. “he thinks he has charmed his adversary.. Admittedly he has no idea of the symbolism. He has no idea of most things.”

When reached for comment by PEOPLE on Wednesday, a White House spokesperson said, “These emails prove literally nothing.”

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The details about Russia were revealed the same day Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published three email exchanges between Epstein — who was a convicted sex offender — and others that appeared to pertain to his relationship with Trump.

On April 2, 2011, Epstein wrote to his personal confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump. [Redacted victim’s name] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned.”

In another email sent to Trump biographer Michael Wolff on Jan. 31, 2019, Epstein wrote, “[Redacted victim’s name] mara lago,” followed by another redacted segment. “Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop.”

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In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”

“The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre,” Leavitt claimed, “who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions,” referring to the Epstein victim who died by suicide in April.

“The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre,” she continued. “These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”