MORE than 20,000 new files on millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been released – with new revelations about his friendship with disgraced former prince Andrew and his falling out with Donald Trump.
The enormous tranche of documents – including never-before-seen personal emails – was released last night by the House Oversight Committee in Washington DC.
It came amid bitter political fighting – with the Democrats first releasing three selectively-redacted emails from Epstein mentioning Trump, which were later blasted as being a baseless smear by the Republicans.
And then hours later, the Oversight Committee dropped the enormous vault of unredacted documents – giving a fuller picture into the twisted world of the powerful paedophile.
The House now set to vote next week on whether to force the Justice Department to bust open all the files relating to Epstein.
But here are seven bombshells from the latest release:
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Andrew photo is real and former prince begged Epstein for help
Epstein appeared to confirm the infamous photo of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with his hand around the waist of his sex accuser Virginia Giuffre is real – contrary to the former Prince’s repeated suggestions it was doctored.
The damning picture from 2001, which first surfaced in 2011, shows Andrew with his arm slipped around the then 17-year-old Giuffre – who at the time was being abused by Epstein.
Epstein’s infamous “madam” Ghislaine Maxwell – who British socialite and friend of the Prince who recruited teens for the millionaire – is seen beaming behind them.
Virginia – who killed herself earlier this year – later put this forward as evidence to support her claim she was forced to have sex with Andrew on three occasions.
In an email to a reporter in July 2011, Epstein wrote of Giuffre: “Yes she was on my plane, and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew, as many of my employees have.”
During his car-crash 2019 interview with Newsnight, Andrew said he did not recall the photo ever being taken, and claimed there were various reasons to believe it could be fake.
Andrew paid a large sum to Giuffre to settle these allegations in 2022, reported to be around $12million, but has always strongly denied the claims.
It was also been revealed that Andrew begged Epstein for help when he realised Giuffre’s claims were about to come out.
He told Epstein: “I can’t take any more of this,” and asked him to make clear the allegations had “NOTHING to do with me”.
Andrew’s association with Epstein has since led to his downfall – with him being stripped of all his titles by his brother King Charlie III.
Epstein demands to investigate Virginia
After Giuffre’s claims against Epstein and Andrew were made public in 2011, the paedo financier scrambled to discredit her story.
A newly-released email shows that he tried to enlist the help of media mogul Ariana Huffington – co-founder of the Huffington Post – in digging up dirt on Giuffre.
He wrote to a mutual acquaintance, publicist Peggy Siegal, where they discuss “the girl who accused Prince Andrew”.
Epstein says that Huffington should “send a reporter or reporters to investigate” Giuffre, and should “champion the dangers of false allegations”.
He continued: “the palace would love it, the girl in the photo, was nothing more than a telephone answerer,, she was never 15, according to her version she worked for trump, first at that age, at MAra lago. [sic]”
Peter Mandelson was in contact with him until 2016
Lord Mandelson was removed from his post as the UK’s ambassador to the US earlier this year, after the US Sun revealed Mandelson coached his “best pal” Epstein through the first case against him in 2008.
The emails released on Wednesday now confirm the pair were still in touch at least eight years after Epstein was jailed for child sex crimes.
Epstein wrote to Mandelson: “you were right about staying away from Andrew” – suggesting Mandelson gave him a warning about the former prince.
In September, Mandelson told The Sun’s Harry Cole Saves the West that he maintained a friendship with Epstein for “far longer than I should have done”.
He said the ghost of Epstein had been an “albatross around his neck” since the monster died in August 2019 – and that he regretted “falling for his lies”.
Epstein offered his services to the Kremlin
The new emails reveal another murky association of Epstein’s – this time with the Kremlin.
He offered to give advice to Putin on how to approach a meeting with President Trump in 2018.
Epstein emailed Thorbjorn Jagland, a former prime minister of Norway who was leading the Council of Europe, asking him to pass on a message to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
He wrote on June 24, 2018: “I think you might suggest to putin that lavrov can get insight on talking to me [sic]”.
Epstein said he believed the key to winning over Trump was that “he must be seen to get something its that simple. [sic]”
Jagland replied by saying he was meeting Lavrov’s assistant the next day and would recommend Epstein’s offer.
Trump kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago
Trump kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago resort when he discovered he was recruiting girls from the spa, one of the three emails released by Democrats confirms.
It shows Epstein’s bitter response in 2019 after Trump condemned Epstein’s predatory behaviour, and revealed he had forced him to give up his resort membership.
Grumbling about public slap down, Epstein wrote to anti-Maga author Michael Wolff: “trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever…” – appearing to claim he didn’t have a membership at Mar-a-Lago.
Earlier this year, Trump reiterated that Epstein “stole” young women from Mar-a-Lago – which is why they fell out and the paedo was booted.
Maxwell, Epstein’s twisted sidekick, was convicted in June 2022 of sex trafficking children for him to abuse, among other offences, and is currently serving a 20-year sentence.
Trump told Maxwell to stop recruiting girls
The messages released by the Democrats also show that Trump told Maxwell to stop recruiting girls from the Florida resort.
In the same January 2019 email to Wolff, Epstein wrote: “of course he [Trump] knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop [sic]”.
Giuffre was working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2000 – and this is how she was recruited to become one of Epstein’s sex slaves.
According to Republicans, Giuffre is the victim whose name was redacted in the three Democrat-released emails.
She said in 2016 that she had met Trump a few times,
But the victim was clear he had no involvement in Epstein’s sick sex racket.
Mysterious emails with Obama lawyer
The window into Epstein’s inbox also reveals repeated references to a lawyer for the Obama administration – White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler.
In 2018, Ruemmler – by then a partner at law firm Latham & Watkins – discussed the criminal case against former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
In the exchange, the paedophile moans about President Trump – who was two years in to his first term – after they had appeared to fall out with years prior.
Elsewhere, Ruemmler gives Epstein a bizarre walk-through of her planned road trip to New York.
She wrote: “Think I am going to drive.
“I will then stop to pee and get gas at a rest stop on the New Jersey turnpike, will observe all of the people there who are at least 100 pounds overweight, will have a mild panic attack as a result of the observation, and will then decide that I am not eating another bite of food for the rest of my life out of fear that I will end up like one of these people.”
What happens next?
FOLLOWING the two separate releases of Epstein files on Wednesday, there will be a House vote next week on whether to force the publication of all remaining material.
Representatives will vote on a measure which would mandate the Justice Department to release all files relating to the late paedo financier.
Mike Johnson, the US House speaker, said: “We are gonna put that on the floor for [a] full vote next week, [as] soon as we get back.”
Under House rules, Johnson could have waited until early December to bring the vote – but he decided to go early.
Even if the bill passes the House, it still needs to get through the Senate and be signed by Trump.
Senate leaders have shown no indication they will bring it up for a vote, and Trump has blasted the bid as a “Democrat hoax”.
