Epstein boasted he could offer Russians valuable ‘insight’ into Trump, new emails reveal

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Disgraced former financier Jeffrey Epstein allegedly sought to position himself as a conduit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, according to a batch of emails released Wednesday, November 12, by the House Oversight Committee.

The correspondence, dated June 2018, shows Epstein reaching out to former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, who at the time was Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, suggesting that he could provide “insight” into dealing with Trump.

The revelation has prompted fresh scrutiny of Epstein’s international connections and his continued attempts to maintain influence even after his public downfall. 

Epstein urged Norwegian leader to pitch Putin on his ‘insight’ into Trump

In a June 24, 2018, email exchange, Epstein encouraged Jagland to recommend him to Putin and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“I think you might suggest to Putin that Lavrov can get insight on talking to me,” Epstein wrote.

“Vitaly Churkin used to. But he died,” he added, referring to Russia’s late ambassador to the United Nations, who died in 2017.

Jagland replied, “I’ll meet Lavrov’s assistant on Monday and will suggest. Thank you for a lovely evening.”

In response, Epstein referenced his past meetings with Churkin, claiming he had helped the diplomat understand Trump’s mindset. 

“Churkin was great. He understood Trump after our conversations,” Epstein wrote. “It’s not complex. He must be seen to get something. It’s that simple.”

White House defends Trump after release of Epstein emails

The White House addressed the emails during a Wednesday, November 12, briefing, arguing that the documents “prove absolutely nothing other than President Trump did nothing wrong.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of attempting to “deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown” by releasing the material.

When a reporter asked Leavitt, “Did the president ever spend hours at Jeffrey Epstein’s house with a victim?”

She fired back, saying, “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."

She further added, “So I will go ahead and say it. Virginia Giuffre. And it was CBS’s own reporting, Weijia, that recently wrote that Ms. Giuffre maintained - and God rest her soul- that she maintained there was nothing inappropriate she ever witnessed, that President Trump was always extremely professional and friendly to her.

“And so I think it’s a question worth asking the Democrat Party, and you should all go ask them after this briefing, why they chose to redact that name of a victim who has already publicly made statements about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and is unfortunately no longer with us,” Leavitt defended. 

Trump also responded on Truth Social, charging that Democrats were trying to distract from their own failures. “They’re doing this to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown,” Trump wrote, dismissing any wrongdoing.