Takeaways from the new Epstein emails mentioning Trump

The federal government shutdown provided President Donald Trump a weekslong reprieve from major revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

But as Congress looks to reopen the government this week, it’s clear Trump’s Epstein problem hasn’t gone away.

The big news Wednesday morning was that House Oversight Committee Democrats released three emails obtained from Epstein’s estate that mention Trump. Those emails came amid another huge release from the GOP-led committee of Epstein documents that CNN is still reviewing.

In one 2011 email, Epstein describes Trump as the “dog that hasn’t barked.” He writes that someone who Democrats identify as an Epstein victim (but whose name is redacted in the released email) “spent hours at my house with him,” apparently referring to Trump.

Republicans on the committee have since said the redacted victim who supposedly spent time with Trump is Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent survivors, who died by suicide in April. (Giuffre never implicated Trump in any wrongdoing.)