Nearly a month before Donald Trump's 2018 Helsinki meeting with vladimir putin, Jeffrey Epstein tried to convey a message to the russian leadership: if you want to understand Trump, talk to me. This is evidenced by emails released by the US Congress on Wednesday.
This is according to Politico.
In a message dated June 24, 2018, Epstein addressed the then-president of the Council of Europe, former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland. He suggested that he hint to Sergey Lavrov, the russian Foreign Minister, that he could gain "valuable insight into Trump" by talking to him [Epstein - ed.].
In the letter, Epstein noted that he had previously discussed the American President with Vitaly Churkin, russia's former representative to the UN, who died in 2017.
"Churkin was great. He understood Trump after our conversations. It's simple: he needs to be given something to feel like he's winning," Epstein wrote.
After the documents were released, the White House said the emails "contain no evidence of wrongdoing by the President." Trump himself wrote on Truth Social that "Democrats are trying to resurrect the 'Epstein case' to distract from the shutdown fiasco."
It's unclear whether the promised meeting between russian officials and Epstein ever took place. However, shortly after the Helsinki summit, he wrote to former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers, criticizing Trump's behavior, calling it "predictable" and "apathetic even by his standards."
Other emails show Epstein bragging about gifts from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, joking with businessman Tom Pritzker, and advising Arab partners on whether to attend Trump's inauguration.
As a reminder, the US House of Representatives Oversight Committee has released emails from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in which he wrote that then-President Donald Trump "spent hours" at his home with one of victims.
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